With light southwest winds overnight and a low ceiling, I thought that birds might be concentrated closer to shore this morning. Therefore, I headed to the migrant traps of South Portland.

I was wrong. It was rather slow. Bug Light Park held little – although a Swainson’s Thrush and a Canada Warbler were nice finds there - and very little (other than a few Bobolinks) were moving inland overhead. But, I didn’t arrive at the Bug until about an hour after dawn, so it may not be fair to judge the night’s flight based on my observations here – or lackthereof. The habitat here is so poor (made worse by lots of blowdowns of the remaining trees during the last storm) that warblers, etc tend not to linger here long. Unless fall-out conditions render them exhausted, they tend to briefly visit the park and then begin to fly farther inland to richer feeding grounds.

So, with that optimism still in mind, I headed over to Hinckley Park. Here too, the birding was slow; suprisingly slow. 10 species of warblers were present, but small numbers of each species. Fort Williams Park added a Wilson’s Warbler and a Blackpoll Warbler to the day’s warbler count, but it also produced two recently arrived Alder Flycatchers.

A quick stop at tiny Joe’s Pond Park produced a surprising diversity of migrants: 1 Canada Warbler, 1 Swainson’s Thrush (feeding in the canopy of a large maple), 1 Northern Waterthrush (warbler species number 14 on the morning), 3+ American Redstarts, 1 Northern Parula, and 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler. Huh, maybe there was stuff on the move around here last night!

My final stop, which I almost skipped, turned out to be my most productive. My “best” birds (and I use that term here VERY loosely) were a pair of Mute Swans in Mill Cove. Still – thankfully – rare in Maine, this highly invasive and suprisingly destructive, but yet, incredibly beautiful birds, were busy uprooting vegetation in the small saltmarsh at the creek’s mouth. Crossing the street into Mill Creek Park, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a bit of activity along the creek. 4 Blackpoll Warblers (including my first two females of the spring) and 5-10 American Redstarts joined 2 Blackburnian, 2+ Yellow, 3+ Chestnut-sided, 2 Common Yellowthroats, and another Swainson’s Thrush. Clearly birds were moving last night!

While I can’t explain why Hinckley Park was so quiet, relatively speaking, I was much less surprised to see a good mix of birds in these small urban parks that act as oasises for tired migrants. Birds were in fact on the move last night – and reports from Central Maine this morning confirm that. Apparently for us down here in Southern Maine, however, many of last night’s migrants went overhead. But, with conditions so good for night migrants the past few nights, one can’t blame them for wanting to make some progress!

That, or they knew how wicked hot it was going to be today! It’s 90 degrees as I type this (setting a new record). Phew, I’m not used to this!

Oh, and before I forget – if it’s not too late already – the World Series of Birding is going to be featured on the Martha Stewart Show today. The winning team in the Youth Grades 1-5 category will be on the set.

By the way, remember that I mentioned the Yellow-nosed Albatross was released in Massachusetts? Well, unfortunately, it’s back in rehab. It was picked up only about 15 miles away, once again sitting on the beach. It’s once again receiving treatment at Tufts. I’ll let you know if I receive any additional updates.

Farther afield, here’s a story on the satellite tracking of northbound Bar-tailed Godwits.

Closer to home again, take a look at this week's Southcoastal Maine Rare Bird Alert - it was a very good week! Lots of "upper-case" birds and "asterixes." That's what I like to see! Lots of people birding, lots of people reporting, and lots of really good birds!