Wow, we really have had some glorious spring weather this week, haven’t we? Well, I think its safe to say that we earned it this year! Unfortunately, this weekend’s weather isn’t looking too great.

My plans for the second half of the week have also turned out quite nicely (as opposed to the first half; see the previous blog). On Wednesday afternoon, I headed south to spend the evening birding in Kittery before heading over to Rye, NH for my presentation on Alaska’s St. Paul Island for the Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon. My first stop was Fort Foster, but I didn’t arrive until nearly 4:00pm. Although this is far from the most productive hour of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed a pleasant hour wandering around the park. 5 Brant were offshore, and the nearby Seapoint Beach produced my first Greater Yellowlegs of the season, while Legion Pond hosted 5 Ring-necked Ducks.

After dinner at Loco Coco’s Taco, I headed over to the Science Center at Odiorne State Park. The program went very well, I believe, and I don’t think I forgot the names of any of the plants in my slides this time. 40 people attended, including a gentleman who was in St. Paul last summer and a woman who was heading there this summer.

On Thursday morning, I was once again up on Bradbury Mountain, where we successfully filmed a segment for Bill Green’s “Green Outdoors.” It was exceptionally beautiful out, with a light west wind. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many birds in the air this morning (in fact, when I left at 11:00, we had only tallied 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 2 Red-tailed Hawks, despite relatively favorable conditions), but a couple of the local Turkey Vultures and Bald Eagles made close passes for the camera. Just like Wednesday, I’m hoping things will pick up by noon – we tallied a season high of 66 raptors by the end of the day yesterday. Look for the Green Outdoors this Monday night on the local NBC 6:00 news.

When I checked the radar upon arrival at the store, I noticed that we had a pretty good passerine flight overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Here’s the midnight radar for example:

Although the radar showed little on the move overnight on Thursday, my 6-mile Pownal loop was quite productive. There were a lot of Dark-eyed Juncos around, and I tallied 11 Eastern Phoebes and 3 Eastern Bluebirds. Two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers – one drumming its version of Morse Code along Tuttle Road, and another was tapping away on a telephone pole along Libby Road – were my first of the spring, as were two Yellow Palm Warblers foraging at the edge of a lawn on Verrill Road. The highlight for me, however, were three Killdeer in a field along Tuttle Road that were engaged in a serious territorial dispute. For well over 5 minutes, the three birds faced each other, erect as possible, wings drooped, and body feather puffed out in an attempt to look as big and intimidating as possible. Arranged in a triangle, the three birds sang face to face, from less than a foot or so apart. When one bird shuffled its feet, the other two would quickly reorganize into their triangle of posturing. Who would back down first? With Sasha now tugging at her leash, I would not linger to find out, and left the three to their battle.
News and Notes:

Our next event, the “Woodcocks Gone Wild” walk at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester that was scheduled for this Saturday night (4/12) has been postponed due to the weather forecast for NEXT Saturday, 4/19. We’ll be meeting at the Pinelands Visitors Center at 7:00pm. See www.yarmouthbird.com/travels.asp for more information.

“As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Program.”
With serious ramifications for a number of declining grassland bird species, the increase in grain prices is taking millions of acres of land out of the Conservation Reserve Program that pays farmer NOT to farm.

“Did Your Shopping Kill a Songbird.”
This excellent op-ed piece shows how our decisions as consumers can affect bird populations. By the way, organic, fair-trade, bird-friendly, shade-grown – and extremely tasty – coffee is available right here at the Wild Bird Center of Yarmouth.