What a day for witnessing migration! From warblers and sparrows to hawks and eagles, things were really on the move. I began the day just as the sun rose at Sandy Point Beach on Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth.

It was a classic late September passerine flight, with more sparrows and kinglets than warblers. A very roughly estimated 700-800 birds passed over and through Sandy Point between 6:25 and 7:45am. At least 75-100 of them were Northern Flickers! Of the smaller birds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and Blackpoll Warblers led the way.

The cumulative total for all birders present was 17 species of warblers (I missed the Blackburnian, Tennessees, and a very rare Yellow-breasted Chat myself). A Red-bellied Woodpecker flew over among the Flickers, a Lincoln’s Sparrow was in the bushes, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird buzzed through, and 8 Rusty Blackbirds flew overhead.

At 7:45, I hurried back to the store, to meet my group for our 8:00 birdwalk. Every Saturday, all year long, we offer a FREE birdwalk. We meet at the store, and then carpool to a local park. I consider the size and experience of the group, the weather, tides, season, etc – and I take requests – so I never know where I am going until the group arrives and we chat for a few minutes. (Shameless plug #1: See Bird News page of Yarmouthbirds.com for more info. Here, I post the sightings from each Saturday’s outing, so you can see two months worth of trips at any one time. Come join us!).

This morning, however, I knew immediately we would be returning right back to Sandy Point. So we did. And, we were not disappointed.

Monhegan Island is one of the best places in Maine for birding. Lying 10 miles off the mid-coast of Maine, Monhegan acts as “trap” for wayward migrants and especially, vagrants. Birds migrating offshore descend upon the island – it’s at least 10 miles to the next safe landing. The birds are hungry, and depending on conditions, exhausted. Trees, and even shoreline rocks, can be covered with tired migrants – from warblers to sparrows, and just about everything else.

Northwest winds will carry waves of migrants offshore, and come daybreak, many of the nocturnal migrants will look for cover from predators (hawks, gulls, jaegers) and food to refuel for the next night’s journey. This is true of all islands. However, Monhegan is one of the best. Thanks to a combination of geography, habitat (so much of the island is preserved), and accessibility (regular ferries, places to stay, lots of walking trails, and the limited size of the island), Monhegan is a true birding mecca for both Maine and visiting birders during migration.

This week, I had an opportunity to spend a couple of days on the island. Two clients from the Bay Area of California, Burt and Gloria, vacationing in Maine, hired me to guide them around on Wednesday.

I arrived in Port Clyde early enough to spend some time in the area, walking the streets looking for migrants. Finding an Orange-crowned Warbler at the edge of the village was a very good start. I met Burt and Gloria at the dock at 10:00, and at 10:30 we departed for the hour-long boat trip to the island. A few Black Guillemots, Common Eider, etc were all that we saw on the boat ride over.

When we arrived, we were surprised to find the island as warm as it was! Southerly winds had pushed temperatures up into the 70’s. It was an absolutely beautiful day – but nice weather is not what birders who visit Monhegan want! Fewer birds are on the move, and fewer end up on Monhegan on southerly winds, and coupled with the fact that we were there on a warm, windy afternoon, our work was really cut out for us!

The weather put a damper (pun intended) on me and Jeannette’s plans to go hawkwatching on our day off today, so instead we headed out for a morning of birding around Biddeford Pool.

Few passerines were moving overnight last night due to the southerly winds and fog, so the trees at East Point Sanctuary were rather quiet. A handful of warblers, mostly Yellow-rumped and Common Yellowthroats were around, and we did see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo – always a treat. A bright ochre sparrow in the weeds at the point may have been one of the interior subspecies of the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow (I would be happy to email you my notes on that, if it is of interest, but I’ll avoid subjecting everyone else to the tedium of subspecific identification of little brown jobs!). I have sent my notes to a few other birders who may be more familiar with the interior subspecies of Neslon’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow (the subspecies that breeds here in Maine is Ammodramus nelsoni subvirgatus by the way). I like being stumped by the identification of a bird – it shows how much I need to learn!

A walk around the neighborhood produced little, other than quite a few more Common Yellowthroats, and a decent total of 5-6 House Wrens. A few White-throated Sparrows and a couple of Dark-eyed Juncos were sure signs fall is upon us.

As we walked Biddeford Pool beach, tallying shorebirds (mostly Sanderling and Semipalmated Sandpipers, but also including at least 40 White-rumped Sandpipers – the most I have seen in Maine so far this fall), a thunderstorm was slowly approaching, hidden by the dense fog. When the drizzle became larger, heavier, and steadier drops, and the wind picked up, and the thunder crashed, we quickly realized standing on the beach holding a metal tripod was probably not the best thing to be doing. Double-timing it back to the car, we were rather wet, but just made it before the skies really opened up.

Tomorrow I head to Monhegan Island for two days – one spent guiding two clients, other on my own. I have very much been looking forward to this trip since it was booked a couple of months ago. It is prime time for birding on Monhegan – one of the best places in the state to find rarities!

But, I’ll leave you today with a bit of good news. The hazardous of migration through the Eastern Megapolis are innumerable, but at least one leg just got a little safer as New York City is turning out the lights!