Yesterday, I guided for Ed and Melissa of Gilbert, AZ. We had a great day, finishing with 83 species (I had an additional 8 species that Melissa did not see or hear, like the Red Knots at Pine Point that were flushed by a Peregrine, just as I was turning my scope over for her to get a look). We had 16 species of warblers on the day, including truly stunning looks at many of our Eastern forest jewels. While we had better looks at some species at other places, we actually had all 16 at just Phippsburg's Center Pond Preserve alone.

We began in the saltmarsh at Popham Beach, running around after the one Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow that had arrived. Then, we checked the beach, enjoyed shorebirds there and at Fort Popham, and had some very good birding at Fort Baldwin – including side-by-side Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes sitting on a branch in perfect sunlight a mere 20 or so feet away. A pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and great looks at many warblers – especially Blackburnian – were also enjoyed there.

After our previously mentioned 16 species of warblers at Center Pond, Melissa and I headed down to Scarborough Marsh (as Ed spent the afternoon in the Maine Maritime Museum). Cleaning up on some of the day’s target birds – and growing Melissa’s life list (she was making her first trip to the Northeast), we didn’t even have to get out of the car for lingering Long-tailed Ducks at Pine Point, and barely had to get out of the car for point-blank views of two Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows – finally, and it made up for the effort we put into that earlier Nelson’s! - but we “dipped” on the Saco Ruff. As excited as we were to see the Peregrine, I would have liked to have shown Melissa the Red Knots, and I still do not know what that small, dark shorebird was that was hanging out with the roosting Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones. Hmm…

Today, Jeannette and I spent the morning in Evergreen Cemetery. The clear, calm skies allowed a bunch of birds to both move in, and out, last night. Although there weren’t huge numbers of any species, there was very good diversity. Jeannette and I tallied 19 species of warblers. We tried chasing around a Prairie Warbler that rich found, attempting to reach the big 2-0. We also missed a Bay-breasted Warbler that was reported earlier. Here’s our total for the morning:
Tennessee Warbler (1; first of spring)
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler (most common warbler of the morning)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson’s Warbler
Canada Warbler (surprisingly common, 20+)

In other news, on Sunday, the Yellow-nosed Albatross found in a Cape Neddick field was released in Massachusetts. There’s an article in yesterday's Boston Globe. If the direct link to the Boston Globe article does not work, or asks for a password, you can use Google News. Type in “Albatross far from home” in the search box, and that should get you there.

And finally today, the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch Final Update:

Well, the Inaugural Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch, sponsored by the Wild Bird Center of Yarmouth, came to and end on Sunday. It certainly started out with a bang, but – thanks to this wretched weather – ended with a whimper. After 41 birds last Tuesday – the first day of week 9 – only 2 more raptors were tallied through today, the last day of the count for this season. But, two and a half of the last 5 days have been rained and/or fogged out.

So, the first season has come to an end. Jeannette and I thank Lionel for his hard work and dedication, as he has persevered through some miserable weather. Thanks also to Dan Nickerson for filling in a couple of times, and for all the folks who contributed to the count. I hope everyone got a chance to head see some hawks up there and visit with Lionel on some of those dreadfully slow days. Certainly, the highlights of the season were the Black Vulture and Sandhill Crane, but the 3 Rough-legged Hawks (especially the first one that passed within the first 15 minutes of the count!) were also exciting. We tallied 4 Northern Goshawks, but regularly observed a local breeding pair. I was more than pleased with our tallies of 29 Red-shouldered Hawks and 178 Red-tailed Hawks as well.

The following totals are for Week 9 (Tuesday, May 15 through Sunday, May 20). The first number is this week’s tally, the second number is the season-to-date total.

BLACK VULTURE: 0, 1
Turkey Vulture: 0, 70
Osprey: 10, 288
Bald Eagle: 3, 38
Northern Harrier: 2, 48
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 65, 390
Cooper’s Hawk: 0, 25
Northern Goshawk: 0, 4
Red-shouldered Hawk: 0, 29
Broad-winged Hawk: 20, 805
Red-tailed Hawk: 0, 178
Rough-legged Hawk: 0, 3
American Kestrel: 0, 175
Merlin: 0, 24
Peregrine Falcon: 0, 1
Unidentified: 1, 18

Total Week 9: 43
Total, Season to Date: 2,123