Last Thursday, I compiled my final edition of the Southcoastal Maine Rare Bird Alert. This was not an easy decision, but time constraints forced me to make a choice on how best to spend my time. (Read the explanation of the decision here, on the Final Edition of the SCMRBA)

Instead of compiling this weekly report, which all too often was composed mostly of my own observations – especially in the so-called “off-seasons”, I am now an “eBirder!” Basically, I have decided to participate in the eBird project from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. eBird users submit their sightings – from anywhere in the country, from their backyard to the most popular migration hotspots – to a permanently archived database that is searchable, open and accessible to anyone, and it can be used for advanced analyses of bird populations and trends.

In other words, my sightings can now be used to help develop the “big picture.” Scientists can access the info for developing population trend analyses of a declining species, while birders visiting Maine for the first time can find out where to look for a specific species. Plus, eBird’s new “Rare Bird Google Gadget” provides instantaneous information – rare bird sightings are automatically sent to your desktop!

Furthermore, eBird automatically maintains and updates various lists for me, based on the data I submit, and I can even make maps and graphs of my data! A very cool tool indeed! And, now that my data are part of a massive database, anyone can view and explore all of the data, including sightings of a particular species and sightings from a particular location. In other words, my observations are not “just gathering dust in old notebooks,” as my friend Marshall – eBird’s newest Project Leader - likes to chide me about.

With all of this in mind, I have begun entering data nearly daily to eBird, including my observations of the past two days.

On Tuesday, Jeannette and I took friends visiting from Jersey for a hike at Pleasant Mountain in Denmark. It’s the closest “real mountain” to us, its only moderately-difficult (my friends Beth and Steve are real city-slickers, so we didn’t want to kill them!), and it offers impressive views out to the Presidentials and Mount Washington. Typical of the season, the birding was not great, but we did tally the following species. What you see here is the automatically generated report of the data that I submitted to eBird:

Location: Pleasant Mountain
Observation date: 8/21/07
Notes: Interesting semi-stunted Red Oak woods on ridgeline.
Number of species: 23

Turkey Vulture 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 2
Common Raven 4
Black-capped Chickadee 34
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 2
Cedar Waxwing 4
Nashville Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Canada Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Dark-eyed Junco 11
American Goldfinch 2

But, the birding highlight for the day was actually while we were having lunch in Naples. I’ve been meaning to try Bray’s Brewpub, but the few times we have been in this area, it was not mealtime. Today it was, so we got a “life restaurant” as well – and it was quite good (I recommend the sausage platter, but Steve thought their lobster salad sandwich was the best that he has had during this, his first, visit to Maine). While taking advantage of this exceptionally beautiful weather we’re having of late, the four of us ate outside, where we observed two Fish Crows in trees next to the restaurant. One sounded like a begging juvenile, and that bird then followed another out of spruce tree. The first bird was carrying something, and the second, begging bird, clearly wanting to be fed.

Last year, a dozen Fish Crows were found around the fast food hell of North Windham. I, and others, have noted a few in this area again this year, evidence that a new colony is forming (other known colonies are along the coast, in Brunswick, Falmouth, and somewhere in Wells). Were these two Fish Crows today part of that colony that is breeding somewhere around Sebago Lake or are they now breeding somewhere along Long Lake as well? Either way, this species is obviously expanding in Maine (I’d love to hear from any readers who live on lakes in the area as to their observations – or lack thereof – of Fish Crows in their areas.)

But, I digress . . . back to eBird. This morning, I visited my local patch, Hedgehog Mountain Park, and once again tallied all species that I encountered. Here’s my eBird report from this morning:

Location: Hedgehog Mountain Park
Observation date: 8/22/07
Number of species: 27

American Kestrel 3
Mourning Dove 2
Barred Owl 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Red-eyed Vireo 8
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 36
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 3
Veery 1
Cedar Waxwing 6
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 4
Common Yellowthroat 5
Scarlet Tanager 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Common Grackle 30
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 9

The highlight was definitely the marvelous view I had of the Barred Owl. Two Scarlet Tanagers were mobbing it, and I soon spotted it on an exposed branch, dappled with sunlight. The owl looked less-than-thrilled about these irksome tanagers, so it barely noticed I was there, gawking at it as well.

And, by submitting my data to eBird, the owl, and all of my other observations are permanently archived, where they can be accessed by all. I think this is a great new tool, that as it develops – and especially as more folks participate – it will only get better and more valuable. To check it out for yourself, go to www.ebird.org.