Yesterday, we conducted the 2nd Annual Merrymeeting Audubon Birdathon (but the first full-day affair) .We limit our route to towns that fall within our chapter’s catchment area (roughly Pownal east to Wiscasset, and Richmond south through Georgetown, Phippsburg, Harpswell, and Freeport). During our 15 ½ hour day, we birded in Georgetown, Arrowsic, Woolwich, Bath, West Bath, Brunswick, Topsham, Freeport, Pownal, and Phippsburg.

Ted Allen, John Berry, Mike Fahay, Mark Mahnke, and I met in a parking lot in Bath, which in addition to providing a location for us to carpool from, also provided our first birds of the day: Eastern Phoebe, American Robin, and Chipping Sparrow. We then headed down to Reid State Park – picking up Virginia Rail, Marsh Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and others along the way. Seawatching at Todd’s Head, was followed by walking Half-Mile Beach (Piping Plover and other shorebirds).

Departing Reid, we checked a couple of feeders before walking around the village of Five Islands (producing a Carolina Wren and a Blackpoll Warbler among others). We made a number of shorter stops - some of which added a few new birds - as we made our way towards Topsham’s Bradley Pond Preserve. Northern Waterthrush and Bank Swallow were important “gets” here, but as the day warmed up and the wind increased, song was being greatly reduced, and the woods were falling quiet – even by 9:30am.

Unfortunately, this dearth of song limited our detection of forest birds throughout the rest of the day, greatly impacting our day list. Heading into my local “patches,” however, we were able to start filling in some of the holes on our checklist, like Canada Warbler and Alder Flycatcher at Florida Lake, along with the two continuing Ring-necked Ducks – a great bird for this time of year in our area. Hedgehog Mountain Park produced Black-throated Blue and Chestnut-sided Warblers EXACTLY where I expected them (always nice on a big day), along with a lucky spot of a silent Brown Creeper.

“The Hog” also produced one of our highlights for the day, when we finally got a Barred Owl – in a big way! All morning I have been calling for one, trying to get a response. While waiting for the Chestnut-sided Warbler, I made a single Barred Owl call. A couple of minutes later, as a few Blue Jays began to make a racket – a Barred Owl hoots from a mere 50-75 feet away! It was soon spotted, glaring towards us, fluffed out in anger (towards me and the Blue Jays). When we finally walked away, with the owl keeping an eye out for the intruder, it was calling repeatedly. Boy, I got him worked up. Oops. Although we missed a few target species for this stop – like Wood Thrush – this close encounter of the owl kind more than made up for it.

For a change of scenery, I decided to try my luck birding around Androscoggin County. I really should have been birding Sagadahoc County, doing a bit more scouting for Tuesday’s Merrymeeting Audubon Birdathon. I’m not exactly sure how I got roped into this (actually, I may have offered!), but it is for a good cause. This year, were are raising money for both the chapter’s scholarship fund, and for the acquisition of additional land for the Hamilton Sanctuary. We’re going to be birding from about 4:00 am to 8:00pm (in theory!), only birding locations that fall within the chapter’s catchment area. (For more info, and to pledge your support if you so desire, see the Merrymeeting Audubon Website). Also, if you know where we can find owls (Barred, Great Horned, or Saw-whet), and Whip-poor-wills in Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phippsburg, or West Bath, please let me know!)

But, instead, I began this morning at Riverside Cemetery in Lewiston. Quiet, very quiet. The only warblers (Pine, Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided, American Redstart, and Ovenbird) all likely breed there. Not a single definitive migrant.

I vaguely remember someone mentioning an arboretum at Bates College. I tried to find that. Clearly my memory was mistaken. I spoke with a handful of employees that were bust setting up for graduation, and they had no idea what I was talking about. I did finally have a migrant – a single Blackpoll Warbler – at the edge of Andrews Pond, however. I then decided to try my luck birding in the other half of “Great Falls,” so I headed over to Auburn.

I checked Lake Shore Rd, on Lake Auburn’s north side, that I always thought looked like a good place to check for migrants. Not today! (Do you see a pattern here?) On our way to dinner at Mac’s Grill the other night, I made a mental note to check the Auburn airport for grassland birds – especially Upland Sandpiper. A few stops along the perimeter did produce an Eastern Meadowlark carrying nesting material, and a singing Savannah Sparrow, but the closest I came to “Uppies” were a pair of Killdeer.

My final stop of the morning was at Range Pond State Park, a site that I have often passed the signs for, but I have yet to visit. So, no “life birds” today, but at least I did have a “life park.” Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by it – there were more trails, and nicer habitat than I was expecting. The woods were fairly active, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a look at Bald Eagles chicks – that the ranger at the guardhouse mentioned. Afterall, it is the American symbol, and it is Memorial Day weekend!

The brown lumps on the left, that's them.

The older of the two chicks was a little more active, as it spent a few minutes preening before going back to sleep.

The still-downy head of the younger bird is barely visible, just behind the pine needles, on the left of the nest.

With light southwest winds overnight and a low ceiling, I thought that birds might be concentrated closer to shore this morning. Therefore, I headed to the migrant traps of South Portland.

I was wrong. It was rather slow. Bug Light Park held little – although a Swainson’s Thrush and a Canada Warbler were nice finds there - and very little (other than a few Bobolinks) were moving inland overhead. But, I didn’t arrive at the Bug until about an hour after dawn, so it may not be fair to judge the night’s flight based on my observations here – or lackthereof. The habitat here is so poor (made worse by lots of blowdowns of the remaining trees during the last storm) that warblers, etc tend not to linger here long. Unless fall-out conditions render them exhausted, they tend to briefly visit the park and then begin to fly farther inland to richer feeding grounds.

So, with that optimism still in mind, I headed over to Hinckley Park. Here too, the birding was slow; suprisingly slow. 10 species of warblers were present, but small numbers of each species. Fort Williams Park added a Wilson’s Warbler and a Blackpoll Warbler to the day’s warbler count, but it also produced two recently arrived Alder Flycatchers.

A quick stop at tiny Joe’s Pond Park produced a surprising diversity of migrants: 1 Canada Warbler, 1 Swainson’s Thrush (feeding in the canopy of a large maple), 1 Northern Waterthrush (warbler species number 14 on the morning), 3+ American Redstarts, 1 Northern Parula, and 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler. Huh, maybe there was stuff on the move around here last night!

Yesterday, spent a second day guiding for Ed and Melissa from Arizona. We had a busy itinerary again, jam-packed with boat trips and life birds!

I arrived a bit early and spent a half-hour seawatching from the lighthouse. 104 Black Scoters were a good late May tally, as were the 10 Red-throated and 14 Common Loons, all still heading north. Ed, Melissa, and I then began our day together with a stroll around Pemaquid Point, checking for migrants. Not much was going on, but we were certainly surprised to already see a FLEDGLING House Finch!

We then boarded the Hardy Boat out of New Harbor and motored on over to Monhegan. Unfortunately, our seabirding wasn’t too eventful to say the least. Actually, it was really non-existent. Only a few Common Terns and the usual gulls were about.

From a Monhegan Island perspective, the birding was slow – very, very slow. However a slow day on Monhegan in the third week of May still yielded 14 species of warblers, Least and newly arrived Alder Flycatchers (a target bird for the day), a Carolina Wren, and 39 other species – in just 5 hours! Certainly the “best” birds of the trip were a total of 8 White-winged Crossbills. First, Melissa and I enjoyed tremendous views of a male near the Ice Pond, and later we spied a family group of 6. Crippling looks at Blackburnian and other warblers, however, were also more than welcome. Quite possibly our best view of any bird on the island, however, was of a female Bay-breasted Warbler feeding on flies around the rocks right next to the pier! We were soon pointing it out to an entire Elderhostel group.

Yesterday, I guided for Ed and Melissa of Gilbert, AZ. We had a great day, finishing with 83 species (I had an additional 8 species that Melissa did not see or hear, like the Red Knots at Pine Point that were flushed by a Peregrine, just as I was turning my scope over for her to get a look). We had 16 species of warblers on the day, including truly stunning looks at many of our Eastern forest jewels. While we had better looks at some species at other places, we actually had all 16 at just Phippsburg's Center Pond Preserve alone.

We began in the saltmarsh at Popham Beach, running around after the one Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow that had arrived. Then, we checked the beach, enjoyed shorebirds there and at Fort Popham, and had some very good birding at Fort Baldwin – including side-by-side Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes sitting on a branch in perfect sunlight a mere 20 or so feet away. A pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and great looks at many warblers – especially Blackburnian – were also enjoyed there.

After our previously mentioned 16 species of warblers at Center Pond, Melissa and I headed down to Scarborough Marsh (as Ed spent the afternoon in the Maine Maritime Museum). Cleaning up on some of the day’s target birds – and growing Melissa’s life list (she was making her first trip to the Northeast), we didn’t even have to get out of the car for lingering Long-tailed Ducks at Pine Point, and barely had to get out of the car for point-blank views of two Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows – finally, and it made up for the effort we put into that earlier Nelson’s! - but we “dipped” on the Saco Ruff. As excited as we were to see the Peregrine, I would have liked to have shown Melissa the Red Knots, and I still do not know what that small, dark shorebird was that was hanging out with the roosting Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones. Hmm…

Today, Jeannette and I spent the morning in Evergreen Cemetery. The clear, calm skies allowed a bunch of birds to both move in, and out, last night. Although there weren’t huge numbers of any species, there was very good diversity. Jeannette and I tallied 19 species of warblers. We tried chasing around a Prairie Warbler that rich found, attempting to reach the big 2-0. We also missed a Bay-breasted Warbler that was reported earlier. Here’s our total for the morning:
Tennessee Warbler (1; first of spring)
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler (most common warbler of the morning)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson’s Warbler
Canada Warbler (surprisingly common, 20+)

Despite the very cool, and continued wet, weather this weekend, the birding was actually pretty darn good. While few migrants seem to be on the move at the moment, there is a little turnover each day, and there are definitely plenty of birds lingering around. Often foraging low to the ground, these clammy mornings can produce great views of warblers – much better than dealing with “warbler neck” symptoms that develop by looking up into the tallest trees for extended periods of time.

Our store’s birdwalk tallied 15 species of warblers at Yarmouth’s Bayview Preserve – along with a clean sweep of the 5 regular species of swallows (Barn, Bank, Cliff, Northern Rough-winged, and Tree) over the pond. Fantastic views of Wilson’s and Canada Warblers, American Redstarts, and many others reward the folks who joined me yesterday morning (but, since the predicted heavy rain never materialized, we were rewarded with not only good birding, but a few hours in the field with no precipitation!)

The highlight of the afternoon was a stunning male Indigo Bunting that dropped into the store’s feeding station. The cool, damp weather is driving this species to feeders with unusual frequency, but we really were not expected to add this gem to our yard list - #112! With only a small strip of brush and woods sandwiched between two parking lots, this is not the classic open space (brushy edges of fields, large powerline cuts, etc) frequented by this species. He continues to brighten the dreary day today.

This morning, I led the field trip portion of my Merrymeeting Adult Education class. We met at Bradley Pond Farm Preserve in Topsham. Another 15 species of warblers – including a few that I had before the class arrived - including some excellent looks at a number of them; an excellent intro to the joys of birding indeed!

OK, so the weather hasn’t been too great the last few days – another day of rain and HIGH temps only in the upper 40’s again today. However, it’s the third week of May, and there are migrants on the move. This weather may slow them down, but it doesn’t mean the birding can’t be great. In fact, the birding the last few days has been very good indeed.

Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if the birding was a little slower – it would allow me to get a little rest! Wow, I have once again exhausted myself – and there’s still lots of May left! Early morning birding, very busy days at the store, followed by evening activities (a Winslow Park Commission meeting Tuesday, a Merrymeeting Audubon Birdathon planning session on Wednesday, and the classroom session of my “Introduction to Birding” class that I am teaching for Merrymeeting Adult Education last night) have left me a bit sleep deprived. I’m not sharing this to whine, but I am explaining the bags under my eyes! But the summer is for sleeping, this is spring (well, at least according to the calendar!), and spring is for birding!

On Wednesday morning, I began at Hedgehog Mountain Park (12 species of warblers), then over to Florida Lake Park (added Canada Warbler and Northern Waterthrush to my day’s warbler list, along with my first Lincoln’s Sparrow of the season, and a surprising flock of 16 Spotted Sandpipers – a very large number for this species – that flew off from the dike. Finally, a Pine Warbler singing in our yard provided warbler species #15 for the day.

Thursday morning, I opted for some seawatching at Dyer Point in Cape Elizabeth, where I ran into Lysle and Robbie, whom I haven’t seen for a bit. It started out quite active – lots of Northern Gannets in particular – with a decent NNE wind. However, when the wind shifted to the north, activity decreased. Here’s the totals of birds deemed migrating:
Start: 6:35am. Moderate NE winds. Excellent Visibility. Seas 3-5ft.
End: 7:45am. Moderate N winds. Excellent Visibility. Seas 3-5ft.
Northern Gannet: 81
Common Loon: 45
Unidentified shorebirds: 35 in one distant flock
Laughing Gull: 29
Surf Scoter: 26
Red-throated Loon: 13
Common Loon: 12
White-winged Scoter: 7
Black Scoter: 6
Double-crested Cormorant: 6
Black Guillemot: 3
Harlequin Duck: 1 immature male or female
Landbirds coming in from the water:
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow

As the last of the morning showers moved away, I headed up the hill at noon, for the last of my stints at the Inaugural Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch. I was hoping the hole in the weather, with a light southwest breeze blowing, would produce a few more birds to add to the season total. Happily, it did.

While I only saw 13 migrant raptors between noon and 2:30, Jeannette picked up 28 between 2:30 and 5:00pm. Most of the birds (led by Broad-winged Hawks and Ospreys) passed during the few partly sunny moments – when a little insolation produced some helpful lift.

We also tallied a handful of other migrants, including 1 Common Loon, 1 Great Blue Heron, single Blackburnian and Black-throated Green Warblers, 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 4 Eastern Kingbirds, 7 Tree Swallows, 7 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 13 Barn Swallows, and 18 Double-crested Cormorants.

Earlier in the day – during periods of light rain – we visited the New Gloucester Marsh (where I usually walk a few times each spring, but today was actually my first visit this year). Highlights were two calling Virginia Rails, and a displaying Wilson’s Snipe. I also added a bunch of “First in Maine for the spring” arrivals, such as Bobolinks and Warbling Vireos.

I don’t think there’s actually a word for how I feel right now, “uber-exhaustion” perhaps? Whatever the word is, boy, am I tired! Ya know, when you think about it, the World Series of Birding (WSB) is a ridiculous event: 24 hours of non-stop birding following days of sleep-deprivation for scouting and planning. Poor nutrition, no sleep, running on nothing but sugar and caffeine – and you don’t even get a chance to look at birds!

But, it really is a lot of fun (most of the time), and it raises a heckuva lot of money – the total dollars raised for conservation since the 1st World Series is approaching 9 million dollars!

Eddie Woodin, founder of Friends of Birds and Nature, presents Luke with a check to sponsor The Skuaz in the 2007 World Series of Birding.

But on Saturday, there’s little else on your mind except pure competition. The youth team, The Skuaz - that I (and Heidi Seitz) was driving for (and “coaching,” if you will) - was captained by Luke Seitz of Falmouth, and included Ian Davies and Kai Reed from Massachusetts, and Ethan Kistler from Ohio, began (as most of the state-wide competitive teams do) at midnight in the Great Swamp. It was then on to the beautiful, bucolic northwest corner of the state.

Ian, Luke, Kai, and Ethan enjoying a sunny afternoon in Morristown, making our final plans for the Big Day.

Birding through High Point State Park, Stokes State Forest, the Delaware Water Gap and various nooks and crannies in between, searching for breeding warblers, migrants, lingering sparrows, and much more, the team was off to a great start (as were both drivers, thanks to the 1-hr nap while the teams was waiting for the Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows to begin to sing in the pre-twighlight stillness).

Luke adds a bit of flair to the run back from the Golden-winged Warbler on Van Ness Rd.

Actually, this greeting is from Milford, Pennsylvania – just across the river from NJ. This is where we are stationed for our all-too-brief two days of scouting for Saturday’s World Series of Birding.

Heidi (Luke’s Mom) is on her way to the airport to pick up our 4th and final team member, Ethan, who’s on his way in from Ohio. Luke, Heidi, and I picked up Ian in Massachusetts and met up with Kai in Connecticut (but he’s from Western MA) and arrived here in Milford yesterday evening.

Today was spent scouting the northwest corner of New Jersey, mostly in the Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park area. This is a gorgeous part of the state, much, much, much different from the Northeastern part of the state – which is what everyone thinks of when they think of NJ. Rolling wooded hills, farm fields, small, narrow, quiet roads. Very bucolic, and very beautiful!

Since we only have to days to scout, we decided to focus on the first half of the day. Actually, our 2 days of scouting will really only be for about 5 hours (4:00am through 9:00am) on Saturday! Our goal today – in addition to learning roads, learning locations, and studying some unfamiliar birds – was to “nail down” some important targets for Saturday. We ended up seeing 88 species – including 18 species of warblers, and although we didn’t find anything as important as an occupied woodpecker hole or a raptor nest, we did get a great feel for many of the sites we will be rushing through Saturday morning.

For me, highlights included a great look at a Cerulean Warbler – the first that I have seen in years! We also heard 4-5 others throughout the course of the day. We also had great looks at a male Golden-winged Warbler – quite possibly one of the last Golden-wings left in the state – which is always a treat. A very cooperative Louisiana Waterthrush, at least 8 different Blue-winged Warblers, and about 6 Yellow-throated Vireos were also highlights for me. More importantly, from a World Series perspective, we had a couple singing Brown Creepers, 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Ravens, etc, that are very rare breeders in NJ, and are all “must gets” for the WSB.

At the motel this evening, a bunch of teams got together for a “swap meet” of scouting information. This is one of the great aspects of the WSB – all these highly competitive teams getting together to exchange information in order to help each other see more birds. Yes, the competition is there, but the real goal of seeing all of these birds is to raise money for conservation causes – so the more birds more teams see the better it is for everyone!

Tomorrow will be more scouting, maybe a dry run, and then hopefully a couple of hours of shut-eye before the 24-hr marathon on Saturday. I’ll talk to you soon – if I survive!

A good flight Sunday night produced some new arrivals for Monday morning, and a great flight Monday night produced a slug of new arrivals for Tuesday. A quick visit to Hedgehog Mountain Park on Monday produced my first Ovenbird of the season, as well as a very noticeable increase in Black-and-white and Black-throated Green Warblers, and White-throated Sparrows. Later in the morning, a Gray Catbird arrived at our store’s feeding station, and immediately began to work on the grape jelly offering.

Tuesday morning, Jeannette and I began the day at Florida Lake Park, where we were treated to 10 species of warblers, including “FOY’s” Nashville, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow, and Prairie (my first of this species at this park). A calling Least Flycatcher greeted us when we returned home, also a first-of-year sighting.

Then, it was up to “The Brad.” And, boy, was I excited. Southwest winds, very warm air, and a thin layer of high cirrus wisps to help spot birds high overhead. I really believe that the count – although winding down – still has one big day left in it (led by a pulse of immature Broad-winged Hawks, perhaps) and I was sure yesterday was going to be the day!

I all but ran up the mountain, set up the count site (sign, table, scope, etc), and began to scan. And scan some more, and scan some more. I waited. Then, I waited some more. Finally, small groups of Broad-wings (4) rose up from the trees and moved out, heading due north. OK, here we go! So I waited some more.

The weather was right – and heck, you don’t get too many days of hawkwatching in Maine in shorts and a t-shirt! – but the birds were not to be found. When Jeannette left the site at 5:00, we had tallied only 29 raptors – not exactly that big flight we were hoping for! I did, however, finally see the local pair of Northern Goshawks. In fact, I saw them very well on multiple occasions, as the pair was very active during the day. The male made a couple of relatively close passes, and at one point took a run at a displaying male Cooper’s Hawk! The local pair of Red-shouldered Hawks also put on a good show. What could have been my best bird of the day, however, was a distant – and backlit silhouette – of what I think was an Upland Sandpiper (that would have made a great addition to the count’s list!). But, I guess I’ll never know.

Clear skies and light winds overnight the past few nights have indeed provided for some good movements of migrants; lots of new arrivals are being seen each day. Finally getting caught up from being away in Louisiana, I am now preparing to head out of town again, so as you can expect, I’ve been a bit busy. But no worries, I’ve still snuck in at least some birding each morning!

On Friday, birding around the Portland Peninsula didn’t turn up anything of note – but there were definitely migrants around, but our store’s Saturday morning birdwalk to Florida Lake produced 7 species of warblers and our first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the season (that cooperatively perched and sang in the sun for 20 minutes while we all gaucked at it through the scope!), and the first Baltimore Oriole returned to the store’s feeders a little later in the morning.

Today, with a little more time, I headed down to Scarborough Marsh (after staying up past "my bedtime" to watch my NJ Devils complete their meltdown against Ottawa. Well, I guess I won't be having any more Devils games to distract me from getting a good night's sleep before early-morning birding outings). Highlights were a pair of Gadwall and two drake Northern Shovelers, along with a handful of personal “first-of-seasons”: Willet (33), Least Sandpiper (3), Little Blue Heron (3), and Brown Thrasher (1). Also, there’s been a significant increase in the numbers of other shorebirds and waders in the marsh, such as Greater Yellowlegs (67 today) and Glossy Ibis (60) for example. My final “first of spring” today was a White-crowned Sparrow at the feeder at the Scarborough Public Works building – and followed soon thereafter by another at our store’s feeder (which I was happy about, as I am a big fan of White-crowned Sparrows).

While I’ll likely sneak in a couple of early morning hours in the field each of the next three days (plus the hawkwatch on Tuesday, of course) I’ll be pretty busy preparing to head out of town again. This time, I am heading to New Jersey for the World Series of Birding. The World Series of Birding, hosted by NJ Audubon, is a 24 hr (midnight to midnight) race to see as many species of birds as possible within the borders of New Jersey. Last year’s winner recorded 229 species (yes, in only 24hrs)! In addition to being a heckuva lot of fun, the event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for conservation causes around the country

Clear and calm conditions last night made for another good night for flying. With no early morning showers, many migrants continued on - or at the very least, they weren’t concentrated as they seemed to be yesterday morning. Activity was significantly reduced at Florida Lake Park, but it was still quite busy. 100+ Yellow-rumped Warblers and 20+ “Yellow” Palm Warblers was my estimate, 1/5th of my count yesterday. However, my first Northern Parula and Northern Waterthrush of the spring joined the festivities. I also added my first Black-throated Green Warbler of the spring at Hedgehog Mountain Park. So clearly there was some turnover from yesterday, with some new birds arriving, but many of the previously grounded migrants departing. The next few nights all look very good for migration, so I would expect more of the same – “new” birds each day, but no major fallouts. But, since each morning will be a little different from the last, it should be a great stretch to get out – both weather- and bird-wise.

Despite how much I enjoy birding in Maine (as I hope you have noticed in my ramblings here!), I must admit that my recent trip to Louisiana has reinvigorated my wanderlust! Talking with friends who travel around the world, browsing the tour operator booths, etc, etc have all compounded my desire to resume my peregrinations.

Well, I do have a trip to New Jersey for the World Series of Birding next week (more on that soon), but my birding this summer will actually include quite a bit of traveling - at least around Maine.

While more exotic destinations from Ecuador to Siberia are on my “wish list,” some birding adventures closer to home will be coming to fruition this summer. Among them is my desire to increase my birding – and really, everyone’s birding – opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. Along these lines, Jeannette and I are pleased to be offering a total of 5 boat trips this summer to explore our offshore waters.

I do believe that I have mentioned here our 6-day, 5-night Windjammer Cruise aboard the Schooner French in July. This is going to be a truly unique, and memorable experience. While this is by no means a “hard-core” pelagic birding trip, we do have a good chance of seeing such summer Gulf of Maine specialties as Manx, Sooty, and Greater Shearwaters; Leach’s and Wilson’s Storm-petrels; Common, Arctic and Roseate Terns; Bald Eagles, and breeding alcids – Razorbill, Black Guillemot, and Atlantic Puffin. (And know knows what else???) Although we will be at the mercy of the winds, we will target opportunities to view seabird nesting islands, and productive marine waters for feeding seabirds and marine mammals. Not to mention the fact that we’ll be on a boat that’s a National Historic Landmark, and the trip will include everything from exploring islands to an all-you-can-eat Lobster Bake! (By the way, when I last spoke to the captain, only 3 cabins remained, so hurry!)

How can you not like birding in May? It’s a heckuva time to be out in the field. From raptors (see yesterday’s hawkwatch report) to warblers to rarities – stuff is a’ happening!

I hit Florida Lake this morning, and I was pleasantly surprised by the activity. I wonder if birds aloft last night were grounded by the scattered showers and clouds that rolled in early this morning. (I hope to see some reports from places like Evergreen Cemetery to confirm this suspicion.) As is typical for early in the season – before buds open – bird activity is concentrated near edges of fresh water. I’m assuming that is because of the availability of early-season insects (stoneflies and/or caddisflies and/or mayflies; maybe a fisherman can comment?) in this habitat. Most of our best spring birding in May is at the sunny edges (extra warmth for birds and bugs) of ponds, such as in Evergreen Cemetery, Hinckley Park, etc.

Such was definitely the case at Florida Lake this morning. I estimated 500+ Yellow-rumped Warblers and 100+ “Yellow” Palm Warblers (the Eastern subspecies), all darting around sallying and gleaning for insects on the warm, sunny edges. Activity was impressive: some Palm Warblers were content to just walk around on the grassy dike, others were darting back and forth across the lake. Yellow-rumps were everywhere, many of the males were singing between snapping up treats. This is certainly the densest concentration of warblers that I have seen in a while. It was fantastic!

Sorting through the masses, I turned up one “Western” Palm Warbler (much browner below, with lemon-yellow only on its throat and undertail), 1 Black-and-white Warbler (my first of the spring in Maine), 1-2 Pine Warblers, and a Black-throated Blue Warbler (also a first of the year for me) that was singing from the woods. 5 lingering Ring-necked Ducks and 3 Wood Ducks were in the pond, and an American Bittern (always a treat to see!) stalked its edges. Throw in a handful of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a small swarm of Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows overhead, and you make for a great start to any day!

A quick check of the field edge at Hedgehog Mountain Park produced little (no water nearby), but a handful (5) of Yellow Palm Warblers and a single Black-and-white Warbler were visiting our backyard (no water, YET!). Also, I was quite pleased to see a pair of Eastern Phoebes checking out the nesting ledge that we installed for them on our shed.

In other words, if you haven’t done so already, dust off your binoculars and hit the field!

And, if we didn’t need any more excuses to get out and do some birding for the usual May migrant marvels, there are certainly rarities around. A Black-tailed Godwit in Vermont, White-faced Ibises in Massachusetts, and a Purple Gallinule in Connecticut, just to name a few. Here in Maine, we have had two spectacular rarities, actually. Unfortunately, both were taken to a wildlife rehabber. Last week, it was a Purple Gallinule. This week, it was a (THE?) Yellow-nosed Albatross. Both were emaciated, and the Albatross was found in a York backyard! (Story and video from WGME-13) The Albatross was responding well thanks to forced-feeding, and it is being transferred to a facility at Tufts University. It is very likely that both of these extralimital individuals were directly related to last week’s massive storm. I wonder what else is out there (and hopefully faring better than these two)?

I was definitely looking forward to spending (most of) the day up at the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch today. Having missed all of the excitement of some great flights last week, I wanted to see some birds! I wasn’t overly optimistic however, as a northwest wind – not usually great for a good hawk flight over The Brad – was being predicted. But, since the weather was something other than rain and northeast winds, I was expected there to be at least some birds on the move. What I didn’t expect was our largest flight of the season (so far)!

When I arrived at 9am, the winds were light out of the west-northwest. Although they were picking up a bit already - and shortly shifting to the NW - I soon spotted a few Broad-winged Hawks high overhead. Then, the floodgates opened. By 10:00, I had tallied 157 raptors – 134 of which were Broad-winged Hawks. I also think I missed many more, and I was very conservative in my counting. Because I was on the hill alone (Jeannette was giving a program to the Yarmouth Village Improvement Society this morning), I had to take my eye off soaring birds. Small kettles, and a smattering of gliding birds, were scattered around the sky. As I tallied a group to the west, I would spot a group to my east. Counting them, I would then turn back to the west, with another group now “breaking kettle.” A few minutes later, turning back to the east, I would spot another larger, and higher, kettle of Broad-wings. Were some of these the same birds that I had just tallied? Normally, with others on the watch, we would keep track of what group of birds was moving where. In lieu of that, I took the conservative approach, and only counted the birds that I was relatively sure were “new.” I wonder how many I undercounted, and how many were passing high overhead – too high for me to see. I was surprised at how high the birds were getting already, despite the cool winds. That May sun was producing quite a bit of heat!

Then, at around 9:50, things slowed down as quickly as they had sped up. Although the next hour was far from slow, the pace during the 11am to 2pm period was pretty slow. I had to really “work” for birds. Birds were often fairly distant, and pretty high, but that pattern would occasionally be broken by a Sharp-shinned Hawk streaking right overhead. Jeannette came up at 2:00, and after having just tallied the day’s count so far, I realized we were only 1 bird away from the highest count of the season (250). Within 10 minutes, 3 more Broad-wings passed. I headed down the hill with 252 raptors being tallied (Jeannette finished the great day at 288).

In addition to the great hawk flight, other migrants were on the move as well. The most exciting of which, by far, was a Sandhill Crane that I spotted soaring to the SW of the mountain at about 10:14am. It soon began to glide, passing the count site at 10:16, heading to the NNE. What a sight! Two non-birders were present to witness the excitement, but this is actually the second Sandhill that I have seen from a top The Brad (the other was two springs ago). With a few pairs – or more – now nesting in Maine, this may become a more regular event!