Virtually no migration occurred overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, as the day’s storm was slow to clear and northwest winds followed. Hedgehog Mountain Park was exceptionally quiet, with the only migrants being single Purple Finch and Pine Siskin, and 5 Blue Jays, overhead. The Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch was another story. After being backed up for 3 days, birds were on the move early. 29 raptors in the first hour included 26 Broad-winged Hawks, many of which had lifted off from the surrounding woodlands. 25 more raptors, including 18 Broad-wings, had already been tallied when I had to leave at 11:00am. (By day’s end, a very good 128 birds were tallied).

Earlier in the week, the extended weather forecast was calling for the low pressure system that passed through to stall, and usher in a period of unsettled weather. Happily, that has not been the case. The low pulled away on Wednesday, and high pressure has built in that should last into the weekend.

I had expected the clear skies overnight Wednesday into Thursday to produce a good flight of songbirds, but a light westerly – becoming northwesterly – component was just enough to keep migration to a minimum. At Florida Lake, Dan and I had about 60 Yellow-rumped Warblers and about 35 “Yellow” Palm Warblers, and one Black-throated Green Warbler. Afterwards, I checked out Hidden Pond, which hosted 2 drake Ring-necked Ducks and 13 Cedar Waxwings.

While the morning’s songbird-ing was a bit slower than expected, the hawkwatching atop the Brad was once again rockin’. When I left at 11:00, we had already tallied 44 Broad-winged Hawks, 12 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 7 Osprey, plus 94 Double-crested Cormorants, three Common Loons, and a calling Barred Owl. Not a bad way to start the day once again! (And the 191 tallied by day’s end was fantastic!)

A light to moderate flight finally occurred overnight Thursday into Friday, with significantly more birds arriving than departing. I spent the first half of the morning in the New Gloucester marsh, which yielded three “first of years” for me: 2 Eastern Meadowlarks, 1 Nashville Warbler, and one heard-only Sora. A trickle of Yellow-rumped Warblers were passing overhead and a total of 21 singing Swamp Sparrows were tallied. I heard two whinnying Wilson’s Snipe, and I also spotted a pair of Blue-winged Teal. 8 Greater and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs were foraging in a flooded farm field nearby as well.

It was then back up to Bradbury Mountain for a short spell. By 11:00, 19 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 16 Broad-winged Hawks, and 2 Bald Eagles were tallied as we quickly approach the 3,000 bird milestone – which should happen within the next day or two!

On Sunday (the 4th), I will be leading a free Birdwalk for the Friends of the Eastern Promenade in Portland. We’ll be meeting at the gazebo at Fort Allen Park at the end of the promenade at 8:00am. We’ll bird for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, and then return to the gazebo for a discussion about the mechanisms that produce some very good birding at the Prom and the habitat management issues that effect the birdlife here. The walk will go rain or shine. Hope to see you there.

And for the record, on May 1st, there was still – technically – some snow in our Pownal yard. It wasn’t much, but in the shade at the base of our driveway, there was still one last remnant patch, that survived until the late afternoon. Our yard, is now, finally, “officially” snow free!