There was only a light movement of birds overnight Sunday into Monday, according the radar. And, once again, it seemed that more birds departed than arrived. That certainly seemed to be the case for Luke and I as we covered a lot of ground, birding from Cape Elizabeth through Sprawlborough Marsh.

We began at Dyer Point with a little seawatching that produced, among other things, one Northern Gannet and one Great Cormorant within a flock of Double-crested. We then thoroughly birded Kettle Cove, Crescent Beach and Two Lights State Parks, the Great Pond Trail, the Runaway Farm Trail, and Massacre Pond. There was only a smattering of landbird migrants, led by Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Song Sparrows.

27 Ring-necked Ducks were in Grondin Pond, and the two Ruddy Ducks at Prout’s Pond were the birds of the day. A goodly three pairs, plus an additional drake, Northern Shoveler behind the Pelreco building was the Sprawlborough Marsh highlight, along with my first Little Blue Heron of the spring. 75 or so Glossy Ibis had just picked up out of the marsh, disappearing across the tracks, when we arrived, foiling our hopes of finding a vagrant White-faced Ibis. Otherwise, our total – among our various stops – of 12 Snowy and 5 Great Egrets, and 2 Greater Yellowlegs, were surprisingly low. Was everything out roosting at Stratton Island as the astronomically high tide – augmented by the easterly winds – flooded much of the marsh? Perhaps, but overall the birding here today was eerily quiet.

Light movements of birds occurred overnight both Monday-Tuesday and Tuesday-Wednesday. Clear and calm conditions once again allowed birds to proceed unimpeded. However, I enjoyed a very nice concentration of Yellow-rumped Warblers (100+) and “Yellow” Palm Warblers (30+) at Florida Lake Park on Tuesday morning, although this is probably mostly a remnant of the 300+ Yellow-rumps and 100+ Palms that Jeannette was treated to here on Sunday morning. Later, I also heard my first Blue-headed Vireo of the year at Bradbury Mountain. On Wednesday morning, a trickle of migrants was moving through Hedgehog Mountain Park, including 26 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 5 Pine Warblers, and 3 Blue-headed Vireos.

Meanwhile, these warm days with southwesterly winds have been making for some excellent hawkwatching! I’m very curious to see what Dane will tally today (Wednesday) – on slightly stronger SW winds ahead of an approaching cold front, a perfect scenario for a bog flight. Yesterday, I counted for the day, assisted by Jeannette and Luke, and Dane and Lionel for the first half. And, what a day it was!

347 raptors of 8 species were tallied (our previous season high was 160!) as migrants (plus local Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawk, and an awesome view of a close-up Northern Goshawk): 190 Broad-winged Hawks, 78 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 43 American Kestrels, 22 Osprey, 5 Merlins, 3 Cooper’s Hawks, 3 Red-shouldered Hawks, 2 Northern Harriers, and 1 Bald Eagle. A Sharp-shinned Hawk at 3:45 EDST was our 2,000th bird of the season – last year we tallied 2,123 by the end of the season, so we’re well on our way to eclipsing that (and I think it might just happen today!). Luke and I also kept a “Big Sit” list for the day, which finished at 40 species.

Excellent hawkwatching conditions are predicted to persist for the next handful of days. And, with this being our usual “peak week,” we should expect some great days. Meanwhile, most nights in the near future should see mostly clear and calm conditions, allowing passerines to march steadily on. Actually, it would be nice for a day or two of lousy conditions for nocturnal and/or diurnal migrants to back them up a bit to produce a big day, or a sudden change in the weather to produce a fallout. In fact, if thunderstorms do develop along the cold front that will pass through our area tonight, a possible fallout scenario could develop.

So, why are you still reading this!? Go birding!