Much to my surprise, very little moved on Saturday night. In fact, I’m not even sure if what little showed up on the radar were even birds! The winds began as westerly Saturday night, but were SW by 2:00am. Was the SW wind strong enough to keep birds from moving? I didn’t think so, but the radar showed very little, and we didn’t have a lot of birds on Sunday’s Merrymeeting Audubon Sparrow Big Day trip – with almost nothing at Sandy Point Beach, our first stop, shortly after sunrise.

We did have a very successful day, however, in part thanks to the fact that temps increased – on those aforementioned southwest winds – into the low 70’s. Heck, I was in shorts by lunch! The moderate breeze did not help our cause however, as it kept birds, especially in Scarborough Marsh, low in the grass. Plus, the beautiful weather drove the crowds outdoors, and a lot of people on the Eastern Road Trail and the Eastern Promenade didn’t work in our favor. Also, our group was big – real big – as 18 participants showed up for the outing.

In other words, our work was cut out for us, but we still managed a record (for this trip) 11 species of sparrows. The highlights were a Field Sparrow along the Eastern Promenade and a Vesper Sparrow at Maxwell’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth. And yes, we did look at other things besides sparrows, with those highlights including an uncooperative Orange-crowned Warbler along Eastern Rd, 50 American Pipits in Maxwell’s Farm, and the most ridiculously cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo that was sitting on a fence for over 15 minutes in the wide open at the South Portland Transfer Station.

Here's Ed Hess' great digiscoped shot of said cuckoo.

We tallied 55 species, and 10 different locations in 5 towns (Yarmouth, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth). We covered a lot of ground, a lot of great birding spots (and yes, once again, I gave up a couple of my “secret spots.”), and had a great time in unbelievably pleasant (albeit too warm for my tastes!) weather. (Complete list below).

Light SW winds continued overnight, and increased once more on Monday morning. Once again, very few, if any, birds appeared on the radar. And, once again I was surprised – I though it would have been light enough for birds to proceed. But, the radar images show very little, and I’m not sure if this even shows birds or not. I sure hope we’re not out of migrants yet!

Here’s the 2am Base Reflectivity and Velocity images, for example.

I spent Monday morning around Biddeford Pool, covering East Point, the Biddeford Pool neighborhood, Biddeford Pool Beach, Hatties’, and Hill’s Beach. Despite the fact that few birds were on the move last night, it was a very productive day.

There were a lot of Yellow-rumped Warblers around, and a smattering of the expected migrant sparrows. Not surprising given our mild weather, some lingering birds were around, including a Red-eyed Vireo at East Point and a Field Sparrow in the neighborhood. A very truant Northern Waterthrush was in the shrubs along First St. at the edge of Great Pond – this corner seems to always hold a treat or two at this time of year! I then spotted yet another Yellow-billed Cuckoo – but this time the more usual fleeting glimpse of the bird flying away.

A decent group of shorebirds on Biddeford Pool Beach included 100+ Sanderlings, 6 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Dunlin, and one late American Golden-Plover. However, the assemblage on Hill’s Beach was more impressive, highlighted by 23 Red Knots, but also including 77 Black-bellied Plovers, 55 Sanderling, 37 Ruddy Turnstones, and 33 Dunlin. Most of these shorebirds were roosting on the jetty of the Saco River at the beach’s northwest wind, and another 100 shorebirds – a mix of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Dunlin I believe – were roosting on the jetty on the other side of the river, but too far to identify conclusively.

So, here I was, counting shorebirds on Hill’s Beach in shorts and a t-shirt. Was it August again? I checked the date on my watch, and just to confirm that I wasn’t mistaken, three Snow Buntings – my first of the fall – fly overhead, calling to assure me that this really is October!

Here’s the list from Saturday’s Merrymeeting Audubon trip:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Common Eider
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Greater Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow
FIELD SPARROW
VESPER SPARROW
Savannah Sparrow (most common bird of the day)
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (one eventually cooperative bird along the Eastern Rd Trail)
Song Sparrow (second most common bird of the day)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (one along the Eastern Promenade)
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow