We were once again on the “warm” side of a quick-moving low on Saturday, which produced a mostly rain event. Despite fog, wind, and steady, light rain with temperatures in the mid-30’s, two hardy, Gore-Tex clad souls made it out for our store’s Saturday morning birdwalk. Given the weather, we decided to have more of a bird-drive than a bird-walk, heading south to Cape Elizabeth for some seawatching, and then working our way up the coast, checking for sheltered coves. 8 Dovekies, 4 Razorbills, and 3 Iceland Gulls later, no one was complaining about the weather!

Plus, upon returning to the store, we enjoyed 3 Bohemian Waxwings within a flock of 75+ Cedar Waxwings feeding on fruit in and around our garden. (A more complete summary is on our website, as usual). That flock was ravaging the crabapples at the Rite-Aid next to us later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, that same walk with Sasha produced a flock of 150+ Waxwings, roughly evenly split between the two species, over at Royal River Park. It seems that at least some of the waxwings from Freeport have moved down the road! And, that flock continues to frequent the vicinity of the store through Monday morning.

Temperatures were once again above normal (the high was 40!) with light winds, which made for a very pleasant day as Ed, Doug, and I spent the day tallying chickadees for the Brunswick-Freeport Christmas Bird Count. This is the territory that Jeannette and I have covered for the last 5 years. It is the western-most crescent of the count circle, which includes all of Freeport west of I-295, plus the northern corner of Yarmouth and the easternmost edge of Pownal (including, just barely, our yard). My routine here involves A LOT of walking (about 8 miles per person), as we leapfrog with a car to walk just about all of the roads in the territory. (The thought of getting out early before daybreak for some owling was squashed by the damn NY "Tennants" making a real game out of it against the Patriots Saturday night!)

The only open water (at least in some years, but there was very little open water here this year) is mouth of Pratt’s Book and the beginning of the Cousin’s River, but the rest of the territory is woods, fields, and yards. Although our section rarely gets the diversity of species that the other territories (which include extensive shoreline), we are often treated to great numbers of the common “yard” birds (due to our thoroughness), good winter finch potential, and always a surprise or two. This year, we were not disappointed, as highlights included a total of 46 Pine Grosbeaks in 9 different groups of 1 to 11 birds, two different groups of Bohemian Waxwings (one of 10, and the other of 15), a single fly-over Evening Grosbeak, 3 different Northern Shrikes (very exciting! I have now already seen 13 this season!), two Ruffed Grouse eating buds in a tree, 9 Common Redpolls, and a whopping 385 Black-capped Chickadees!

A female Pine Grosbeak snacking on crabapples.

Here’s the complete list:
* signifies a new territory high.
** signifies a new species for the territory.
*** signifies a new low for the territory.

American Black Duck: 0***
Ruffed Grouse: 2*
Wild Turkey: 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1**
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Herring Gull: 59*
Rock Pigeon: 8
Mourning Dove: 111* (including 43 at my feeders during our feeder-watching lunch break).
Downy Woodpecker: 18*
Hairy Woodpecker: 7 (including one courting pair – spring isn’t too far off!)
Pileated Woodpecker: 2
NORTHERN SHRIKE: 3* (and immature at the corner of East Main and Granite in Yarmouth, and adult at the Merriconeag Waldorf School in Freeport, and an adult fighting with a Blue Jay along Beech Hill Rd in Freeport)
Blue Jay: 103*
American Crow: 104*
Common Raven: 6*
Black-capped Chickadee: 385*
Tufted Titmouse: 28*
Red-breasted Nuthatch: 13
White-breasted Nuthatch: 23*
Brown Creeper: 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet: 4
EASTERN BLUEBIRD: 1 (female along Eider Point Rd in Yarmouth.)
American Robin: 36*
Cedar Waxwing: 1
BOHEMIAN WAXWING: 25**
European Starling: 21
American Tree Sparrow: 34
Dark-eyed Junco: 11
Northern Cardinal: 3
PINE GROSBEAK: 46*
House Finch: 1***
COMMON REDPOLL: 9
American Goldfinch: 39
EVENING GROSBEAK: 1**
House Sparrow: 4