OK, things are not going quite as planned so far this week. Unusually jam-packed with various events and activities this week, I knew I was going to be busy, but hopefully a bit more productive than I has been so far.

No problems on Monday, as I spent the day counting at Bradbury Mountain to give Dane the day off (instead of Tuesday). A rather damp and chilly east wind was blowing off the water, but the clear blue skies and strong April sun made things more than pleasant. In fact, it was simply gorgeous out. And, since this was the first sunny day in the past 4 days, a few raptors were taking to the air. I tallied 11 raptors by 11:00, including my first Osprey of the year. Unfortunately, the east winds picked up a bit, and the count slowed down – only 6 more birds, for a total of 17 by day’s end.

However, local birds were quite active, especially Bald Eagles. At one point, all three local pairs were in the air, circling together. There was a lot of talon-dangling, and some brief dogfights, but mostly they just circled in the deep blue sky, all 6 often in the same binocular field of view. It made we want to sing the Star Spangled Banner. The show continued for a while, in fact, at least 2 birds were visible from about 10:45 through about 12:15! Two Merlins made close passes, and 12 Bohemian Waxwings dropped in for a visit. A flock of 11 Horned Larks passed by near the day’s end, my 32nd species tallied from the summit this day (I always keep a “big sit” day list when I’m counting for a whole day. It gives me something to do when the hawk flight is slow, and it’s a good way to keep the mind alert and the eyes sharp. Plus, I enjoy it).

On Tuesday, Jeannette and I got an early start, enjoyed breakfast at the Brunswick Diner, and then headed east to Rockland. The plan was to take the ferry to Vinalhaven to meet up with a local boat captain for a two-hour cruise – the reason we gave Dane Monday off instead of his usual Tuesday, when our store is closed. We have not taken this ferry before, so we discussed the plan with a friend on the island, and we called the respective ferry terminals for more info. We decided to take the car over, so we can bird and hike on Vinalhaven with Sasha – as opposed to rushing to and from home. We just didn’t want to drive 1 ½ hours each way and pay for the ferry just for a 2-hour tour. Instead, we wanted to relax, take our time, and see some more birds and places.

So, we were instructed to arrive 30-minutes early for the ferry. We arrived 35 minutes early, got our tickets – including a reservation on the return ferry, which apparently can be problematic, even at this time of the year – and got on line. The ferry began to board. We crept slowly towards the boat. Then, a gentleman in an orange vest walked up to the car and informed us that the ferry was full. Only two cars were in front of us, but it didn’t matter, of course. The boat pulled away.

Even if we had taken the next ferry, at 11:15, we would have been hard-pressed to make it back for our 2:45 reservation (and there were no reservations available for the 4:30 departure from Vinalhaven), and we wouldn’t have had any time to walk or explore the island. So, we gave up our spot in line and left.

Upset with our rookie mistakes, and dejected from our failure at getting out on our day’s adventure, we moped along on a stroll through Rockport’s Beech Hill Preserve (one American Kestrel), and a short stop at Weskeag Marsh in Thomaston (our first Lesser Yellowlegs of the year, plus 8 Great Blue Herons and a Great Egret). The silver lining for the day was that we could, and therefore did, have lunch at Morse’s Sauerkraut in Waldoboro, and satiated by a tasty and hearty meal, our spirits did improve a bit. Hundreds of ducks at the mouth of the Abagadasset River helped even more – including about 75 Ring-necked Ducks, hundreds of Mallards and American Black Ducks, and 31 Northern Pintails.

My regular Wednesday morning stroll with Sasha at Hedgehog Mountain Park was quite productive - birds were definitely on the move last night. Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos increased significantly, lots of Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds were in the air overhead, and 2 Winter Wrens (both singing their glorious, complex songs) and a Hermit Thrush were new arrivals, and my first of the spring.

Later at the store, I confirmed this big influx of birds with the overnight radar images. Here's the 10:00pm radar and velocity images.

And, here's the 5:00am radar from this morning. This is by far our largest passerine flight night of the spring so far. Here they come!!!

(Here's my radar primer post from the fall, in case you have no idea at all what this gobbledy-gook is!)

By 9:00, a nice layer of high cirrus clouds and a light southerly wind greeted Dane and I as we arrived at the summit of the Brad. Bill Green was coming up today to film a segment for his show, and we were excited by the conditions – hopefully there will be some birds to film! Unfortunately, Bill had to reschedule, so once again my plans had fallen apart. Well, we’ll try again tomorrow, when conditions may be even better. Unfortunately, as is always the case when such unfortunate events occur, the birds know it, and like to rub it in. Moments after getting off the phone, a very low, and very close Osprey came gliding in and circled right overhead. Figures. Although by 11:00, when I finally had to head to the store, we had only tallied 9 raptors. However, many were quite close, and thing seemed to be picking up. I’m hoping for a good couple of days, and let’s hope they cooperate for the cameras tomorrow!

OK, now I’m off to New Hampshire for my program tonight for NH Audubon’s Seacoast Chapter on St. Paul Island, Alaska. My current PLAN, is to get some work done here at the store (in progress), head south to bird a little in Kittery (I love birding Fort Foster, but I hate driving 1 ½ hours to get there, so I always take advantage of things when I’m “passing by,” get some dinner, and present the program. Let’s hope this, and the rest of the week, go according to plan!