A small hole in the ice in the pond at Hedgehog Mountain Park has finally opened up, and yesterday, it hosted a dapper pair of Wood Ducks and 5 Hooded Mergansers. Hoping for more duck-watching opportunities, I set out this morning on a tour of some of my local waterfowl patches.

I began at Florida Lake, which is just now starting to open up as well. 6 Hooded Mergansers and one Common Goldeneye were present. A Great Blue Heron stalked the shore. Driving north – with some huge flocks of Common Grackles on the way, I checked Lisbon Falls, which was duckless, and a few stops along the Androscoggin River as I headed back east.

The mouth of the Abagadasset in Bowdoinham was still frozen solid, but open water at the Andros Mill on the Brunswick/Topsham border hosted 31 Common Mergansers, 2 Hooded Mergansers, and a single drake Ring-necked Duck. Wharton Point in Brunswick was my next stop, and definitely my most productive of the day. 400+ American Black Ducks, 200+ Red-breasted Mergansers, 100+ Canada Geese, 50+ Bufflehead, about 20 Mallards, and 3 Common Goldeneye were joined by 14 Greater Scaup, my first of the spring. 5 Great Blue Herons huddled in a sheltered corner, avoiding the day’s strong northerly wind as much as possible.

Finally this morning, I checked the South Freeport Town Landing and Winslow Park, looking to see if any Barrow’s Goldeneyes were still around. There were some very distant Goldeneyes upriver from the town landing, but the combination of heat shimmer, scope shake, and really choppy water made them impossible to identify (even if conditions were perfect, these birds were probably too far away to ID).

So before, the next wave of spring migrants arrive, can I suggest and/or request that you take a moment to help protect them? It is estimated that between 5 and 50 million migratory birds are killed each year due to collisions with lighted communication towers. We don’t know why, but nocturnal migrants can become disorientated by the lights on tall towers and fly around them until they collide with something, or even drop dead from exhaustion. (Read more about the issue from the American Bird Conservancy) The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently came up with a list of recommended guidelines to reduce the potential for avian mortality – without jeopardizing airplane safety, of course. Now, the Federal Communications Commission is considering whether or not it should address the birdstrike issue (such as by adopting the FWS guidelines). Currently, the FCC is requesting public comment on whether or not it should do anything. Read more about the FCC request, and follow the instructions for submitting comments, at www.towerkill.com. A few minutes of your time to write the FCC to tell them that you think they should be protecting birds could help to save MILLIONS of migrants!

The Bradbury Mountain Raptor Research Project’s Spring Hawkwatch is off to a great start! Here’s the totals for the first week of the project, Tuesday March 20th through Monday, March 26th.

Week 1
Turkey Vulture 27
Osprey 0
Bald Eagle 21
Northern Harrier 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk 8
Northern Goshawk 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 17
Broad-winged Hawk 0
Red-tailed Hawk 85
Rough-legged Hawk 2
Golden Eagle 0
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 1
Unknown 4

Total: 176

We are quite pleased with these results so far. I thought 100 birds in the first week was optimistic, and we shattered that goal! I am very happy with the 17 Red-shouldered Hawks, 2 Rough-legged Hawks, and 2 Northern Goshawks tallied to date. The 21 Bald Eagles and 85 Red-tailed Hawks so far is impressive. And, we really are just getting started. Hey, maybe this project really is a good idea!

Today, began the second week of the count. Jeannette and I spelled Lionel for the day (the birding adventures for us during the next two months are going to be quite predictable!). I took the early shift, and was greeted by thick fog. However, it was steadily lifting, and by about 10:00, visibility was quite good. Variable light winds – but always with a northerly component – put a damper on the day’s expectations however.

During the first hour, patchy fog reduced visibility at times, but a noisy flock of about 30 Dark-eyed Juncos kept me company. I also remained alert, tallying passing passerine migrants (130 Common Grackles, 68 American Robins, 50 Red-winged Blackbirds, 20 European Starlings, 7 American Goldfinch, and 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds). Later in the morning, I counted a few migrants waterfowl as well: 10 American Black Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers, and 4 Mallards.

My first “hawks” of the day were 4 Turkey Vultures that rose out of the trees to the south, slowly circled higher and higher, before breaking off and gliding northward. At least I wasn’t going to be skunked! Except, technically, I hadn’t yet seen a hawk – Turkey Vultures are stork relatives, not raptors. They just happen to look like, act like, and migrate like raptors, so we count them anyway (helps pad the numbers at least!!!).

Jeannette arrived at 12:30, and at 1:20, an American Kestrel flew by – our first true hawk of the day. OK, now we were officially not-skunked! I left Jeannette alone with her thoughts soon thereafter. And she was literally alone with her thoughts – no hawks in sight! (I went home to begin spring projects like painting a new bathouse and preparing our new weather station for installation).

By about 4:00, however, the skies finally broke a bit and some rays of sun peaked through. Sometimes, a little sunshine is all hawks need to make some progress. The sun had been teasing Jeannette all afternoon, but when it finally did show itself, some hawks soon followed. Between 4:20 and 4:45, she tallied 8 Turkey Vultures, 1 Northern Goshawk (I’m jealous!), 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, and 1 Red-tailed Hawk. A few very “good” birds to salvage a long, slow, day!

Luke and I birded from Kittery through Wells today. It was another lovely day (although rather cool along the ocean thanks to the breeze), and a few new arrivals added to the spring-like feel. However, we noted – as Mike and I also discussed on Friday – how March birding is somewhat odd. It seems that the expectations are often better than the birding!

For example, yesterday, Luke had a couple of Great Egrets and Tree Swallows. A few Eastern Phoebes were reported in the past week. With each new arrival – either seen by oneself or reported elsewhere – seems to heighten our anticipation of the next outing. But, just because Scarborough Marsh had two Great Egrets yesterday doesn’t mean that they’ll be others elsewhere (yet). On the drive home, we felt that is was a rather slow day of birding.

However, after counting 54 species observed, and summarizing the highlights, it was actually a very good day of birding for March 25th in Maine. Mute Swan, Double-crested Cormorant (our first of the spring), Purple Sandpipers, Common Mergansers, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Killdeer, Green-winged Teal, Great Blue Heron, Harlequin Duck, Fox Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Northern Harrier . . . That’s not a bad day at all! A mix of newly arriving migrants, winter visitors, and minor-rarities made for a rather diverse checklist. And we thought it was a slow day?

We began in Kittery, where we found the pair of Mute Swans had returned to Legion’s Pond, despite only a small patch of open water. A Double-crested Cormorant joined spiffy breeding-plumaged Great Cormorants on a rock off of Fort McClary. Two Common Mergansers flew over Fort Foster, while at least 35 Purple Sandpipers foraged on the exposed offshore rocks.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours in the morning checking in at a few South Portland locales. Not a whole lot to report, other than 9 Brant at Willard Beach, and a Fox Sparrow at Joes’ Pond Park. However, scattered handfuls and small flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows were evident, and small groups of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles were trickling northward overhead.

Today, Mike and I headed down to Biddeford Pool. But, before meeting him, I had my first Great Blue Heron of the spring, flyover our road in Pownal. Once down in Biddeford Pool, we began at East Point Sanctuary. At least 55 Purple Sandpipers were feeding on the exposed rocks, a Hooded Merganser flew by, and 2 Brant were along the shoreline.

A spin through the neighborhood produced small number so Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Song Sparrows as well. 32 Brant tallied at Vine’s Landing was a decent count, as were the 85 or so Dunlin that we tallied looking across over to Hill’s Beach. One hen Green-winged Teal looked out of place – and dwarfed – within the flock of Brant. One to two Snow Buntings were overhead as we scanned the marsh and mudflats behind Hatties.

Heading back from the Pool, we detoured down to Fortune’s Rocks Beach to see if the ponds had any open water in them yet. They did not. Next, was a quick check of Hill’s Beach followed by a visit to the Saco Yacht Club – which produced my first 5 Ring-necked Ducks of the spring. Last, but certainly not least, we found the drake Barrow’s Goldeneye that has been lingering in the Saco River off of Water Street.

Although we enjoyed a few decent sightings, and a couple first-of-spring species – always a treat – it was tough to not be distracted by how much we were enjoying the spring-like weather! And, the next few days should provide not just pleasant spring-like weather – and lots of melting snow – but also should provide a good stretch of hawkwatching conditions.

And, the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch is off to a great start. We tallied 97 birds in the first three days of the count (through yesterday), including 55 birds yesterday. Red-tailed Hawks are currently “in the lead,” with 45 individuals counted. However, I am most impressed by the 14 Red-shouldered Hawks to date. Hopefully this weekend will continue to provide good weather, and an opportunity for many more visitors to come out and enjoy the count with us!

The Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch begins!

When I was a young’in my Dad would take me up to two of Central New Jersey’s Hawkwatches: Chimney Rock and Montclair. There, I honed my fledgling raptor identification skills, and began to develop myself as a biologist. Friendships were made, conversation was had, and birds were tallied.

I have many fond memories of these days. Sometimes, my Dad would drop me off – especially as I got older, other times he would humor my interest and spend countless hours on wind-swept promontories in order to facilitate and encourage my interest. My first biology/birding “job” was as a volunteer assistant at the Chimney Rock Hawkwatch. My love of hawkwatching only continued to grow and develop.

Hawkwatches are unique birding environments. Very social in nature (Bird Watcher’s Digest even published an article of mine a few years back entitled the “Social Behavior of Hawkwatchers”, in which I discussed an experiment I conducted that equated the topic of conversation with the current rate of the raptor migration! By the way, if politics are being discussed, I found it safe to assume that there were no hawks in the air that day!). Outreach and education (sharing with people the joy of hawkwatching, and getting them to appreciate the birds – and therefore fostering a concern about protecting them; just like we’ve been discussing over the past few days) is combined with data collection. While the data from hawkwatching is rather subjective, and really only of value for long-term, broad-scale trend analysis, we have used it to document the rise and falls of some species. Long-running counts were documenting the decline – eventually linked to DDT – of Ospreys, Bald Eagles, and Peregrine Falcons, while today they continue to document these species’ returns. However, declines in Sharp-shinned Hawks and especially American Kestrels are now being detected – a signal that we need to look into this.

After graduating college, some of my many seasonal biologist positions were hawkwatches. Sandy Hook, NJ. Curry Hammock State Park in the Florida Keys. Cape May, New Jersey. Tussey Mountain, Pennsylvania. Whitefish Point, Michigan.

When I arrived at Whitefish Point, I met another “hawk head.” You know her now as my wife, Jeannette. Jeannette banded hawks for four seasons in Cape May and one fall in Veracruz, Mexico.

Yesterday, I was rambling about the “voice” (or perhaps, lack thereof) of birders. I think this is a very important topic, and one that needs to be talked about more. There is a significant disconnect between many birders and issues that concern birds and their well-being. I want to help bridge that disconnect!

On a personal level, we start bridging this disconnect by creating awareness. Then, we need to foster education. Then, comes action.

In those regards, let me do my part to assist in each of those categories. Hopefully, I create awareness regularly (any of my birdwalk participants can vouch for that, as they are often subjected to environmental “soap-boxing,” or, as my friend Brad calls it, “hippy propaganda.”) When I was asked to do this blog, for example, I realized that it was a tool to - first and foremost – share with you my love of birds and birding. Appreciation of birds will help lead to awareness.

When I was a young fledgling, if you will, I somehow developed an interest in birding (and I don’t know how!). I soon joined New Jersey Audubon. Through their organization - from their magazines to their great nature centers – I soon became aware of all sorts of issues concerning birds. I fully credit this organization with developing a conservation ethic within me. My disconnect between birding and bird conservation was therefore bridged at an early age. I feel lucky for that.

After awareness, comes education. Hopefully, I am sometimes getting that across here as well. Speaking of, I highly recommend the following link. In December, Kutztown University in Pennsylvania hosted a conference on the affects of wind power development on wildlife. While hardly “light reading” to cuddle up with on the couch along with a hot cup of tea and a warm blanket while watching the snow fall and listen to the fire crackle, I think it is definitely worth checking out. There’s some great information included here.

Yesterday’s snow (and ice) storm really drove a lot of birds to feeders, with numerous reports of multiple Fox Sparrows being received from around the southern half of the state. Fox Sparrows are spiffy little birds, and I always enjoy seeing these portly guys under the feeders.

Today, I headed down to Scarborough Marsh. With the high tides, high water from the storm, and more ice (than just a couple of days ago), I was looking for waterfowl that were concentrated in small areas. The Scarborough River, from Dunstan Landing to the bay was open, and brimming with the astronomical high tide. Meanwhile, the marsh was solid, and only a few short stretches of tributaries were open, meaning I could enjoy most of the marsh’s waterfowl from just a few locations!

Jones Creek, which runs under Pine Point Rd from behind the Pelreco building to the river, was partly open, and contained 10 Hooded Mergansers, 1 pair of Northern Pintail, and one drake Gadwall. From the Eastern Road Trail bridge, I tallied 583 Canada Geese in the river, three more Pintail, and 12 Hooded Mergansers. 12 Horned Larks foraged on the frozen marsh, added to the 15-20 that were at nearby Seavy’s Landing, along with 4 Snow Buntings. A Green-winged Teal was at Dunstan Landing, as were a dozen Snow Buntings. And finally, as I drove through the Scarborough Industrial Park, dozens upon dozens of Song Sparrows had been driven out of the brush by the snow and ice, and were feeding along the roadsides. 14 crowded the tiny feeders at the Public Works building as well.

In the coming weeks, more and more migrants will be returning. The sun is getting stronger, so even in the relatively cold air that is in place at the moment, ice is breaking up. What snow has fallen – and may still fall – will melt more and more rapidly. Each successive period of southerly winds – or at least not strong northerly – will produce wave after wave of migrants. Things will really begin to heat up in the birding world during the upcoming weeks.

We’ll have lots of chances to talk about what we’re seeing soon, but today, I do want to discuss more important topics than just birding. And by this, I am speaking of bird conservation. I am, unfortunately, unable to separate my enjoyment of birds from my desire to protect them. I cannot bird in a box. I cannot relegate avian wonders to a checkmark, and just move on. At times, I wish I could, but more often than not, I look at things a little deeper.

While I have been busy catching up from our trip during the last two days, spring apparently came and went! Purple Finches have been singing in our Pownal yard, and Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are visiting the feeders at the store. Meanwhile, during the course of the day, while carrying bags of seed to cars, I would look up to see passing flocks of blackbirds, and a few Turkey Vultures heading north. Temperatures in the 50’s was melting snow, and large patches of bare ground were appearing.

It’s the rapidly lengthening days that are triggering the urge to migrate, establish territories and sing. Meanwhile, the southerly winds this week facilitated the northbound movement of a number of species. Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Turkey Vultures, and many ducks are just some of the species on the move. Take a look at this week’s Southcoastal Maine Rare Bird Alert: just about all the species mentioned were migrants!

This morning was a little different. Temperature around 20, a stiff, raw northerly wind, and a big snowstorm is on its away. However, birding at some favored locations in Portland proved that the birds are affected more by the season than a particular day’s weather. But, yes this storm will impact some birds, but most will do just fine. I do expect, however, that feeders will be quite popular in the next few days as birds look to find easy, fat-filled meals to make it through this bout of winter weather. Feeder watching should be good this weekend!

But, back to today. I began at Portland’s Dragon Field. A few Red-winged Blackbirds are on territory already, there are more Song Sparrows in the bushes, and my first two Killdeer of the spring were foraging on the open ground atop Mount Trashmore. A Merlin buzzed by, and the local pair of Red-tailed Hawks were working on their nest in the quarry. My highlight, however, was an unexpected surprise – Dragon Field Patch List Bird #148! Two drake Green-winged Teal flew by, possibly having just checked out the marsh in the quarry – which was frozen solid. My patch list here has been stagnant for a while, so this lucky sighting was most welcome. While I have been seeking out specific birds there of late (Northern Shrike in particular), “finishing” off a patch list often involves dumb luck such as this. (This also exemplifies one of the benefits of patch listing: every bird, even common ones like Green-winged Teal count just the same!)

Not much was happening (yet) at Evergreen Cemetery, but Capisic Pond Park was its usually birdy self! Three more “First of Year” sightings (although I do not keep an official year list as many birders do – my Patch Lists are more than enough!): 1 Fox Sparrow – one of my favorites, a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a pair of Wood Ducks. Meanwhile, their were 30+ Red-winged Blackbirds, many of which were singing and displaying, 20+ Common Grackles, a small flock (15-20) of Dark-eyed Juncos, and more Song and American Tree Sparrows than there has been of late.

Spring, is in fact, springing, no matter what the upcoming storm will bring!

It seems spring has sprung while we were away! Red-winged Blackbirds were singing when I stepped out of the house this morning (my first of the year), and a few more joined some Common Grackles at the store’s feeding station. Snow is melting, and temperatures are in the 50’s!

Newly arriving migrants and warm temperatures were a nice consolation prize to having to return from our all-too-brief three-day visit Downeast. We had a great trip, with amazing scenery, and suprisingly pleasant weather!

Bird-wise, highlights included quite a few White-winged Crossbills, and some Red Crossbills, and a few close encounters with Boreal Chickadees. Our rarest bird of the trip was a leucistic Herring Gull that we saw a couple of times. Another highlight was the amount of Bald Eagles we saw – 26 in total! In fact, we never went more than 2 hours during daylight between Sunday morning and dusk on Tuesday without seeing at least one eagle!

We saw a some of the target birds of the trips, although with the exception of Bald Eagles, we saw much less of just about everything else that we expected or hoped to see. In fact, the birding really wasn’t very good! 52 species in 3 days along the coast isn’t something to brag about. Although we did see a few Boreal specialties, we also missed some of the birds we hoped for. No Gray Jay or Black-backed Woodpecker, only one lousy look at a Spruce Grouse, NO white-winged gulls, and no alcids (other than the common nearshore Black Guillemots).

But, our species total was not helped by long, leisurely breakfasts and a relaxed pace. This was in fact a “vacation,” however brief it was, so a high trip list was not our goal. Besides, if we were looking for a high trip-list, Washington County in early March would not be our destination of choice! However, seeing a corner of the state that I have been wanting to visit for a long time (I have not been east of Cutler prior to this trip), enjoying the breathtaking scenery, and relaxing with a welcome break were goals of this outing – birds were just the icing on the cake, really. Boreal and boreal-transition habitats are fascinating to see, and reminded us of our time in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

We stayed in Ellsworth Saturday night, and had planned on an early start. However, a cold, steady rain resulted in a lengthy sit-down breakfast instead. When we did begin the next leg of the trip, the rain fell the whole time, minimizing the road-birding potential. Fog hampered views as well. One drake Hooded Merganser and a drake Common Merganser were in the East Machias River, one of our few stops along the way. However, as we approached Lube, the rain began to taper off. Wanting to get out of the car for a bit, we took a walk at Commissary Point, despite the drizzle still falling. Not much in the woods at all – 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches among a flock of about 10 Black-capped Chickadees, and the calls from a couple Golden-crowned Kinglets were all that was to be detected. However, along the shoreline, 2 or 3 Bald Eagles were present, a sign of things to come for the next few days.

I woke up this morning, and noticed there was no wind. The front hadn’t yet arrived. However, it was cold out, 4 degrees to be exact. I was having a difficult time motivating. However, I promised Sasha a trip to Reid State Park this week – for a long walk and some beach time (we get in as much beach time as possible before most beaches close to dogs on April 1st, which is a rule – to protect Piping Plovers – that I steadfastly respect); it was her birthday yesterday, afterall – and Friday morning wasn’t sounding much nicer. Then, I looked out at the feeder, and a lone Pine Siskin was chowing down on hulled sunflower. It’s the first that I’ve seen in at least 3 months, and the first in a long time on our feeders. I took this as a sign. I donned plenty of layers and Sasha and I headed down to Reid.

I was glad I did. I stepped out of the car, and in the warming sun, I was serenaded by two White-winged Crossbills. Not too far into the woods, two males were singing back and forth, apparently working out their differences about a territorial boundary. Meanwhile, a Purple Finch was belting its own song from nearby. As we walked towards Griffith’s Head, another crossbill, a male, flew by. A Northern Harrier coursed low over the dunes of Mile Beach.

By the time I got back to the car, clouds had begun to build in and the breeze kicked up ahead of the approaching cold front. However, the two crossbills were still singing their hearts out in the woods near the entrance gate.

A quick stop at the New Meadows Ledges in Bath failed to produce any Barrow’s Goldeneyes - just some Commons. A little farther downriver, at the suspension bridge over the Androscoggin in Brunswick, I was surprised to see a Great Cormorant.

My last stop of the morning was the Lower Harraseeket River of South Freeport. Since we failed to get good video for Amy Sinclair’s piece on the birds (which should appear early next week; I’ll let you know when it would be on) yesterday, she asked me to stop by today to see if the birds were close.

After yesterday’s cold and wind, this morning’s sub-zero start to the day actually felt tolerable! Yeah, it was cold, but it was calm, and the strengthening sun felt good. A walk around Hedgehog Mountain Park produced all of the expected residents, many of which, including 2-3 Brown Creepers were in full song. (As opposed to yesterday’s walk around Pineland Reserve in Gray, which produced all of four birds: a few Chickadees, 1 creeper, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, and 1 Hairy Woodpecker thanks to the day’s 20-40mph winds!).

It was nice to see a Song Sparrow under the feeders at the store today, the first we’ve had in months, and quite possibly an early migrant. Having just completed the first draft of this week’s Southcoastal Maine Rare Bird Alert, it is evident that spring migration is underway: numerous reports of Red-winged Blackbirds and Turkey Vultures, and it seems that the first ducks are on the move as well. It sure as heck doesn’t feel like it, but spring is in fact on its way!

Meanwhile, some species are already clearing out. Barrow’s Goldeneye, for example, are definitely on the move. I visited Winslow Park and the South Freeport Town Landing late this morning with Amy Sinclair of WGME Channel 13 News. Amy is working on a story about the controversy around the proposed listing of the Barrow’s on the state’s Threatened Species list. My job was to find them some birds, but it was also my job to find them close enough for Jack to get some broadcast-worthy video.

I went 1 for 2 on those goals. Found the birds: 5 drakes and 2 hens (one less than a few days ago), off of Winslow, but they were wicked far. It was frustrating too, four of the drakes were actively displaying for the two hens – head tossing, neck-bowing, chasing each other, and presumably calling as well. What a show! It could have been perfect – perfect footage to show how beautiful and fascinating this bird is to foster the appreciation and concern about this great species – and to encourage viewers to support the effort of adding this to the state’s Threatened List.

But, in Jack’s viewfinder, we could only see a few black and white specks – not the award winning footage that he was looking for. Cell phone in hand, I’ll check the river tomorrow and hope that the ducks will oblige. After our success in getting great footage on previous outings (such as the Western Reef-Heron and the Scarborough Marsh shorebird survey), I did worry that our “good bird” karma had been used up! Meanwhile, Amy will be waiting for the Inland Fish and Wildlife Department’s expected announcement soon about a compromise on the dispute. I’ll let you know what comes out of this, and I’ll let you know when Amy’s piece will be airing.

Slightly farther afield, the Large-billed Reed-warbler has been rediscovered in Thailand after being presumed extinct for 130 years – and it was found, in all places, at a sewage treatment plant!

Sometimes a day of birding is less about the birds, and more about everything else. Yesterday was one such day. While the birding was less than spectacular, Mike and I enjoyed a great day, filled with exploring new areas, great conversation, much education, and even great food.

The original plan was to study gulls at the Hampden landfill, followed by some leisurely birding in the Bangor area. But, when we arrived at the landfill office, we found out that we would need to be escorted around. While that was certainly not a problem for us, we obviously wouldn’t be able to spend hour after hour studying each and every gull.

Kasey, the Landfill Safety and Environmental Coordinator was our guide. The second hole in our plan, however, developed when we began to drive up the landfill, and the gulls – about 300 of them – took off, and didn’t come back. So much for the Thayer’s Gull we planned on finding!

Expecting the gulls to return shortly, Kasey took us on a tour of the facility in the meantime. He pointed out a few corners of the property where birds congregated, and a number of American Crows and European Starlings were present. Furthermore, Casey pointed out many of the features of the landfill, teaching us about the finer points of waste management. From cell liners to proper capping to the planned methane recovery facility (to be used to produce energy – expected to be enough to power 3,000 homes for 30 years). Construction projects associated with the methane recovery infrastructure and the start of preparations for the 2009 closing of the landfill created numerous safety hazards, resulting in our escort, reflective vests, and hardhats (not TYPICAL birding gear!).

Yup, it’s really coming down out there! Good day for feeder watching if you live in a sheltered location, anyway. Here at the store, the wind is whipping around the building, and very few birds have made attempts at alighting on the feeders. At the house, where our backyard is quite sheltered, the feeders were pretty busy – our flock of 10 or so Dark-eyed Juncos were busy scratching for millet on the tray feeder before sunrise – and before the feeders were completely buried in snow!

March is an interesting month for birding. Our first northbound migrants (Turkey Vultures – which have actually already begun to arrive, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Common Grackles) return. Depending on the weather, varying numbers of other migrants, such as Eastern Phoebes and even Tree Swallows will be returning by month’s end. Waterfowls are on the move, and some finches may begin to head north (if they went south at all), while other finches, and some frugivores, may still be heading south if food sources to our north have been consumed.

March is a month of birding anticipation. While the first birds are in fact returning, it only hints at the flood of migrants soon to come. While the first Red-winged Blackbird is always exciting, by month’s end we’re craving something else! March doesn’t usually produce too many rarities – and when it does it may simply be caused by more people getting outside and overwintering birds beginning to wander.

The weather can vary from over 50-degrees one day to days like today the next! Throw in a warm spell, and migration – especially from things like blackbirds, phoebes, and ducks – will accelerate. An Arctic blast, and migration grinds to a halt.

Meanwhile, resident birds – as I wrote about yesterday – are singing with increasing frequency and intensity, again, only hinting at the action to come. Many birders would prefer to fast-forward through March, but since that’s not possible, we might as well enjoy what the month does in fact have to offer.

For those of you looking for something to do on this snowy day, here’s a few links to check out.

While I would never even READ, let along pass along, something from Fox “News,” I was forwarded this photo, which really is too good not to share. Clearly, this gentleman is not a birder!

In the good news department, Mexico has vowed to protect the Monarch Butterfly.

And finally today, I leave you with a game for the weekend: See how you do.

As I stepped out of the car at Portland’s Dragon Field this morning, the sounds of spring filled the air – birdsong, and lots of it, rang through the trees. Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees and a Northern Cardinal. A Brown Creeper chimed in from deeper in the woods, and a Downy Woodpecker drummed in the distance. Birds must be taking advantage of this calm before the storm!

In addition to the expected residents vocalizing en masse this morning, a single American Tree Sparrow was in a weedy patch. The chorus continued at Capisic Pond Park, but despite a decent quantity of fruit available, no frugivores were to be found. The woods at Evergreen Cemetery were equally alive this morning.

The highlight, however, was in the pond – or what small patch of open water passes for as a pond on March 1 in Maine. The concentration of waterfowl was impressive this morning, and many were posing in perfect light.

Among the multitudes . . .

Dominated by Mallards . . .

With a handful of American Black Ducks and hybrids thereof mixed in . . .

Was this spiffy drake American Wigeon.

This fellow has been hanging out around Portland all winter, traveling with Mallards between the cemetery, Back Cove, and the Eastern Promenade.