I decided to check out a few migrant traps in Portland this morning, to see if anything has dropped in over the past couple of nights. I began at Back Cove, to check on shorebird numbers, and was promptly greeted by a Dickcissel calling overhead. This was my first of this rare, but regular, species for the fall.

I was a little too late in arriving at Back Cove this morning. The receding tide had already exposed a lot of mud. This is another shorebird spot with a narrow window of prime viewing opportunities. I did have a smattering of shorebirds, led by 56 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Peregrine Falcon flew overhead.

Quite surprising was the Tennessee Warbler that I encountered at Capisic Pond Park. This is another warbler (like my Bay-breasted at Dragon Field on Sunday) that doesn’t breed anywhere near here. This bird was also still in breeding plumage, so again, I guess this was another case of “molt migration.” Other migrants at Capisic this morning included a Northern Waterthrush, a Least Flycatcher, and a couple of fly-over Bobolinks.

Evergreen Cemetery didn’t yield much, except for a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron and a lone Spotted Sandpiper, but with some time to kill, I made a quick check at Dragon Field which produced a Least Flycatcher, a “Traill’s” Flycatcher, one other unidentified Empid, and at least 10 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

Speaking of hummingbirds, we've been watching our birds had home (at least 4 now, maybe as many as 6 in our yard). The activity around our feeders has been amazing of late - lots of battles from this highly territorial, pugnacious species. We've been noticing that it's not just more birds, but also each bird is spending a lot more time tanking up. There's little doubt that they are working on those fat reserves to fuel that dumbfounding trans-Gulf of Mexico migration! Yup, summer's winding down!