A very good flight of birds occurred overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Clear, calm, and cool conditions made for a great night of migration.

10:00pm Wednesday:

2:00am Thursday:

4:00am Thursday:

However, the lack of a northwest component to the winds likely meant that few birds would be flying through Sandy Point. That was a good thing, as I really didn’t have time to get over there yesterday morning. Jeannette had a long run in the am, so I took Sasha for a walk before heading in to the store for an early-morning meeting.

We visited Bliss Woods, one of the New England Forestry Foundation properties in Freeport, which produced a smattering of migrants. The woods were also thick – relatively speaking – with Red-breasted Nuthatches (that species’ irruption continues).

We then took a stroll at the new Fels-Groves Farm Preserve, a Land Trust property, in Yarmouth. There wasn’t much today, but this spot looks like it deserves some attention – the weedy fields could be great for sparrows in October, if it isn’t mowed, and those apple trees looked prime for waxwings come winter. Plus, the extensive sunny edge could be very busy on a good migration morning.

Today (Friday), I’ve been scrambling to prepare to leave town for a few days to attend the wedding of a good friend in Michigan. Since I found some great deals on airfare, lodging, and rental cars, I decided to take a couple of extra days to do some birding. Despite having lived in Michigan for two years, I only birded the Lower Peninsula a couple of times. Depending on the weather, I may visit the Lake Erie Metropark Hawkwatch or even make a run across the border to Point Pelee. Hopefully, I’ll be able to hook up with some of my MI birding friends for a visit to Point Mouillee as well. We’ll see; the only thing I know that I’ll be doing is watching the Rutgers game tonight – you knew I had to work that in somehow! - and the wedding tomorrow. The rest I’ll play by ear.

But anyway, I digress. Last night, passerine migration was stymied by the southerly wind. Notice the difference between the radar shots from last night, as compared to Wednesday night (above).

10:00pm Thursday:

2:00am Friday:

Knowing that there wasn’t going to be a big passerine flight this morning, I had planned to visit Scarborough Marsh, as the high tide fit nicely with my schedule. Instead, I made the decision to sleep in. Now, one of the few things that I hate more than missing a morning of birding – especially in a month like September - is being sick when I’m on vacation, and yesterday afternoon I began fighting off some kind of bug. I’m popping the Cold-eezes (I don’t care if it’s only a placebo effect – I swear by those things) today, and the few extra hours of sleep this morning seems to have made a difference.

And, while loading my luggage into my car, I looked up to spot a large flock of 25 Killdeer moving southeast overhead – so I got my migrant shorebird fix for the morning.

Looking at Maine’s weather for the next few days, it looks like I might end up missing some great flights around here. Depending on the timing of the next front and some other systems (like that potential tropical system south of Bermuda), there could be a good flight for Sunday morning, but when this whole mess clears backed-up birds will be on the move. Will this wait until Wednesday morning, when I get back to town? It just might! In the meantime, the southerly flow may stall migrant shorebirds and the strong southwesterly winds are great at producing vagrants (like Kites!). A tropical system moving up the coast would also provide some intriguing birding opportunities as well. Meanwhile, the weather forecast for Michigan looks like a complete mess right now! (I might just be watching a lot of football this weekend!)