August means shorebirds, and most of my birding this month is centered around this great group of birds.

On Sunday, I spent half of the day birding around Biddeford. I did my usual routine: park at East Point, bird there, and then check the rocks along Ocean Avenue. Walk Biddeford Pool Beach, check the pond near the parking lot there, and then cross over to the Pool behind Hatties.

Nothing too exciting was to be found today, but a pair of Black Scoters off of the beach was unseasonable. The tide was a bit lower than I would have preferred by the time I arrived at Hattie’s, but there was a good amount of birds in the Pool (the low tide, however, means that they are more widely spread out across the whole area, however). Nevertheless, I tallied:
112 Semipalmated Sandpipers
56 Semipalmated Plovers
28 Black-bellied Plovers
17 Willets
13 Short-billed Dowitchers
8 Ruddy Turnstones
4 Lesser Yellowlegs
4+ Least Sandpipers
3 Whimbrels
1 Greater Yellowlegs

Then, I completed my circuit by checking Vine’s Landing, Great Pond, and a few of the remnant woodlots in the neighborhood before returning to my car and heading over to Hill’s Beach. I arrived at dead low tide, just when I prefer to start my visit here. And today, Hill’s Beach did not disappoint.

There was a good number of shorebirds scattered about the mud/sand flats:
85 Semipalmated Sandpipers
82 Semipalmated Plovers
68 Short-billed Dowitchers
54 Sanderling
14 Ruddy Turnstones
2 Willets
1 Black-bellied Plover

However, as is often the case in early August here, it was the terns that stole the show. In fact, I recorded 5 species in the two hours that I spent here today. Many Common Terns were roosting on the mudflats at low tide, joined by a handful of Roseate Terns. Juveniles of both species were present as well, some of which were being delivered small fish by their parents. A lone Least Tern was roosting as well.

I didn’t carefully sort through the “Commic” (aka Common and/or Arctic) terns, but I did note at least one adult and one juvenile of the much-less-common Arctic Tern. Besides, I was too busy enjoying the Roseates!

In fact, my goal today was to digiscoped some juvenile Roseates. Mission accomplished!

This one shows more white in the head than I recall ever having seen in a kid Roseate.

However, I really wanted to get that “keeper” comparison shot with a juvenile Common, but when I finally found two close together in good light, a guy with his dog (which are most definitely not allowed here after 9:00am), inconsiderately walked right in front of me and through the group of terns. This was the best that I could do:

And some juvenile Commons for good measure.

As the tide began to creep in, the shorebirds and terns were concentrating (and the 125+ Bonaparte’s Gulls), providing a better opportunity to tease out a rarity. By noon, the tide had inundated most of the beach, but the tern show continued as birds fished in the shallows. The activity attracted a migrant Black Tern, already in non-breeding plumage, a real treat and a great way to end a perfect morning with perfect weather (cool breeze, low humidity, sunny skies) and good birding.

Monday morning, I spent a couple of hours at Wharton Point in Brunswick. Wharton Point is the northern end of Maquoit Bay, and is the closest good shorebird location to my home. However, the very shallow bay empties and fills rapidly, so the window of viewing opportunity is extremely small. It was spot-on this morning, however, and my tallies were as follows:
151 Lesser Yellowlegs (more and more juveniles arriving each day)
76 Short-billed Dowitchers
~ 50 Peep
42 Semipalmated Plovers
26++ Semipalmated Sandpipers
17 Glossy Ibis (my highest count for this spot to date)
12 Bonaparte’s Gulls (2 juveniles)
10 Black-bellied Plovers
8+ Greater Yellowlegs
8 Snowy Egrets
2++ Least Sandpipers
2 Great Blue Herons
1 Great Egret
1 Killdeer
1 Laughing Gull