On Saturday, our store’s birdwalk visited Portland’s Dragon Field. We tallied a very good – for the date – 7 species of sparrows, including one Fox Sparrow. 2 Savannah Sparrows were foraging in the short mowed grass atop the hill, and a single Snow Bunting was circling overhead. Two Horned Larks flew over, and an American Pipit briefly landed on the dirt trail at the top of the hill. All four of these species are open field specialists, and I hypothesize that they were pushed farther south from the fields of Central and Northern Maine by the recent snowfall. It’s getting late for Savannah Sparrows and American Pipits in Maine, so my guess is that these birds were lingering in prime habitat that is now under snow (at least for the time being), and were “encouraged” by that to continue on south. Quite a few American Tree Sparrows there today (11), and two newly arrived Dark-eyed Juncos at the store’s feeders also suggested that birds were on the move Friday night after the southerly winds and rain/snow of the past couple of days.

Meanwhile, it took an interception in the end zone with 11 seconds to play for my day not to be ruined, as Rutgers held on to beat Pitt 20-16, and keep my Sun Bowl (life bird potential!) hopes alive!

On Sunday, I met Don in Bowdoinham for some birding and exploring. By far the highlight, as is often the case in the area, was the mouth of the Abagadasset River from Brown’s Point Rd. A very truant pair of Blue-winged Teal joined 232 Green-winged Teal and 69 American Coots. Three Bald Eagles were perched in the distance, and we had another down the road. As we headed back over the causeway, an immature Northern Shrike flew across the road and landed on a sapling next to the bridge, and only about 25 feet in front of us, for an excellent view.

We then took a walk at the Merrymeeting Bay WMA, where I have not been before, and Don hadn’t been in at least 15 years, he figured. We had been talking for weeks about checking this place out, and finally we made it there today. The brushy powerline cut was probably very good for migrant sparrows – back when we were talking about visiting here! – but it was pretty quiet today. There’s a great view of the bay at the end of the path, but it was 100% duck-free. However, on the way down a flock of 7 Red Crossbills flew by, and on the way back, a flock of about 15 Common Redpolls flew in, alighting briefly. There’s also an impressive old Shagbark Hickory here, a rather northerly outlier.

Checking the Delorme Greater Portland Street Atlas, we decided to have a look at the Muddy River WMA, just a little bit further down the bay. However, we soon found that the road into the WMA as shown on the map, not only didn’t exist, but the WMA wasn’t even on that side of the road! There was a public-access trail into the private property however, and after poking around that a bit, Don and I spoke with a local couple who confirmed the error in the map. But, they pointed us to Pleasant Point Rd and the Baxter Memorial Demonstration Forest (ME public reserve land – which was not on the map) trails, which might call for some exploration during migration. The woods were expectantly quiet today, but learning a new location is always rewarding.

After Don headed back north, I headed south, and visited the new Tide Water Farm preserve in Falmouth, where a Western Kingbird was discovered yesterday. This was also a new location for me, so the kingbird was really just an excuse to check out a new place. I not only found the kingbird, but also enjoyed another immature Northern Shrike and a single Pine Grosbeak.