Yesterday (Sunday), Jeannette and I spent the morning birding along the Androscoggin River. Our first stop was a stroll along the Papermill Trail in Lisbon, which produced 18 Hooded Mergansers and 5 Wood Ducks – a most spiffy duo! Meanwhile, across the street at the end of the trail, a large flock of 75-100 Common Redpolls had descended on a yard. We were able to sort through a portion of them, when they alighted in trees above the roof. However, most quickly dropped down into the backyard, and besides, without a scope, we would have been hard-pressed to tease out a Hoary among the masses. But, there was that quick look at one bird that did look awfully white – and a bit bigger. Alas, we’ll never know!

Elsewhere in the area, highlights included a Turkey Vulture over Lewiston, 5 more scattered Hoodies, along with a total of 6 Common Mergansers at various locales; an out-of-place drake Lesser Scaup hanging out with the Mallards along the Auburn Riverwalk; an immature Great Cormorant in the river, just downstream of South Bridge; and a 1st Cycle Iceland Gull at that sketchy John Deere place along 136 in Auburn. We also checked out the Barker Mill Trail in Auburn, which looks to me to have some decent migrant - especially early spring – potential, so I’ll have to revisit this site in the future.

But really, the birding this day was secondary. Our primary motivation for heading in this direction was to partake in Maine Maple Sunday. Since it fell on Easter Sunday this year, and since our store is closed on Easter, we took advantage of it and visited Jillson’s Sugar House in Sabattus for their pancake breakfast (I’m STILL full from it!) and other sugary treats – I especially enjoyed the maple syrup “taffy” that was made on top of snow. And ice cream with maple syrup, and maple sugar candy, and maple kettle corn . . .

In the afternoon, I spent a couple of hours up at the Hawkwatch. The winds were finally dying down by afternoon, and therefore we were treated to a decent flurry of activity towards day’s end. A flock of about 30 Horned Larks passed by as well, but the non-raptor treat was the 9 Bohemian Waxwings that dropped into the summit to feed on Common Juniper (or Ground Cedar, or whatever you want to call it) berries. The waxwings landed a mere 25 feet or so from us, in absolute perfect sunlight. Good thing my camera was on the kitchen table!

The forecast for the next two days looks VERY promising for raptor migration, so I hope to see you up on the hill!

Now, you all know how much I like winter. And, unlike many others, I have been very happy with this winter – well, except for the frequency of snowblowing the driveway. But, I am now done. I WANT SPRING! The crocuses in the garden here at the store, and the trickle of migrants – Dark-eyed Juncos seem to be on the move now as well, by the way – are suggestive, but, honestly, they are no longer enough! No more chipping ice in my walkway, thank you (and I’m not close to seeing all of my steps yet).

And, this morning, I realized just how finished with winter I was. I woke up at my usually time – about 15 minutes before sunrise, which is currently about 6:15, and attempted to motivate. An hour later I was still laying in bed, unable to decide upon – and then act upon that decision – where to go birding this morning. So, I didn’t – save for some relaxing feeder-watching with a cup of tea and 15 minutes or so wandering around my friend’s yard hoping that his Hoary Redpoll would return (one Common Redpoll was the closest that I got today; this bird is shaping up to become my next nemesis for the state). But, don’t worry, I’ll be birding today – winds are forecasted to turn to the southwest this afternoon, and with that, I will be heading up the Brad.