After record high temperatures on Wednesday (90 degrees in Portland) during the day, a cold front, that began to produced a line of thunderstorms in the evening stalled over our area by Thursday morning. A wave of low pressure then moved along the front, producing some substantial, much-need rain.

I wasn’t expecting much to be on the move overnight, but I did here 26 calls between 9:33 and 9:43pm. Plus, a check of the radar this morning seemed to reveal birds were in fact on the move. The midnight radar shows a fair amount of activity . . .

. . . and the velocity images confirms that these were birds moving into the very light SW headwind, producing a NE to SW movement.

This morning, I checked out some of the migrant traps of South Portland (Bug Light Park, Spring Point Light, Hinckley Park, plus Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth and “Mercy Woods” in Portland). Not much. A smattering of migrants – and nothing to write home (blog?) about – with White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and Common Yellowthroats again being the most common migrants. Then, the rain returned, and I headed to work.

I decided to try my luck Monday morning at Fort Foster in Kittery. I had a feeling Sandy Point would be decent, but I try to hit Fort Foster once a month. I haven’t made it here yet this month, and Monday looked to be my last chance, so I gave it a go.

I might have been better off saving the gas and going to Sandy Point, as a report from there noted a good flight. Meanwhile, at Fort Foster, there were definitely some migrants around, but Monarch butterflies actually outnumbered birds! It was an impressive show, however, as hundreds of butterflies were covering wildflowers and swirling in the air, with many heading across the water to New Hampshire. This spectacle alone – one of the best Monarch concentrations that I have seen in Maine – made the trip worthwhile.

Leaving Fort Foster, the birding picked up a bit. 6 Rusty Blackbirds, a calling Carolina Wren, and an American Pipit were among the treats at Seapoint Beach, but today’s “One that got away” was a very small goose within a flock of 29 Canada Geese. Unfortunately, it was just too high and far to make out bill and head shape. Was this just a “Lesser” Canada Goose or did my state Cackling Goose just pass overhead?

After Friday’s big fallout on the Eastern Promenade, my birdwalk group on Saturday morning headed there as well. Interestingly, very few sparrows – or anything else – was present in the brush. Upon returning to the store, I downloaded the radar, and it showed what appears to be a great flight, but a great flight of birds heading out – and little coming in. Do you see how much was moving on the 10:00pm and 1:00am radar images?:

As opposed to the relative paucity of echos on the 5:00am image:

I interpret this to mean lots of birds left the area – and our “ground-truthing” on the birdwalk certainly reflected that. (Luckily, the walk was still a smashing success thanks to the Semipalmated Sandpipers: nearly twice as many – about 1,500 – were roosting on the rocks and the seawall a mere 15-20 feet away! Quite a spectacle. An early – and molting – Dunlin joined the group, as well)

Saturday’s fog never did burn off, and continued well past sunset. A weak, and dry, cold front finally passed through overnight, but the winds didn’t switch the to northwest until around 2:00am. (I use this NOAA page to see what winds were over the last 24 hours)

A very weak and dry cold front passed through yesterday (Thursday) evening. Although the winds were calm – or nearly calm – through most of the night, a light northwesterly component had developed by dawn. A HUGE number of birds (likely the biggest flight of the season so far) were on the move last night.

Here’s the 10:00pm, 12:00am, 2:00am, and 5:00am radar images:

Apparently that northwest breeze (more of a sneeze, really!) was just enough, and combined with the volume of birds in the air, produced a great flight at Sandy Point. I tallied 13 species of warblers, but the highlight by far was a Blue Grosbeak that I found in the scrubby powerline cut. It perched a top a small shrub for a minute or so, showing off its honkin’ snoz. Stella was able to get on it as it flew away, never to be seen again (although once or twice I MIGHT have had it in flight). A very good bird for the state and only the second that I have seen in Maine. And to think, I almost didn’t bother coming here this morning! (Complete list and totals below).

With errands to run in Portland, my next stop was the Eastern Promenade. Again, I almost didn’t go here, but thank goodness I did. It was spectacular! It began with about 800 Semipalmated Sandpipers roosting in tight groups on the rocks at the west edge of the parking lot.

This is some beautiful weather we’re having, isn’t it!? It’s also great weather if you’re a migrating bird. However, it’s not the best if you’re a birder looking for migrants. Simply put, it’s too nice out!

Lots of birds were on the move Monday and Tuesday nights on calm winds and clear skies. Both my 10 minutes of nightly listening, and my morning reviews of the radar confirm this. However, it seems most birds are simply passing right overhead.

What’s great about a month like September is that anywhere you go – backyard, local patch or birding hotspot – there will be some migrants of some sort around. But, in weather this good for flying, we don’t expect to see large numbers or concentrations of birds. When the going’s good, the birds get going!

Early morning over Wood Island, Biddeford Pool.

On Tuesday, Jeannette and I spent the morning around Biddeford Pool. Between East Point, the neighborhood, and the beach, I really don’t think we could have seen fewer birds! The Pool itself, as viewed from behind Hattie’s Deli was a bit more productive, with a peppering of shorebirds, including a fly-over American Golden-Plover and a tardy Whimbrel. Hill’s Beach hosted some more shorebirds, led by about 100 Semipalmated Plovers and 29 Sanderling. But, shorebird migration is definitely winding down.

I basically was taking it easy this morning. I “slept in” until sunrise (6:22am) instead of getting to Sandy Point or elsewhere for sunrise. Instead of checking out the morning flight there, I sampled the morning flight over and through the yard. As expected on a cool morning after a clear, calm night, there were definitely birds around and overhead, and a lot of birds were in the air again last night.

Here’s the Midnight radar, for example:

After a spell in the yard (a smattering of warblers and two continuing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, including one with a deformed bill), I took Sasha for a walk at Old Townhouse Park in North Yarmouth. This is a park that looks really good to me, but I’m often amazed by how few birds there are here, even on good migration days. And, other than the Swallow-tailed Kite that I saw from here this summer, I haven’t encountered anything “good” (but the Kite was really, really good!) here.

Today’s visit certainly changed that impression, however! Not only were there birds around, but there was one really good bird! I totaled 10 species of warblers and 5 species of sparrows, plus two Indigo Buntings. I had 3 “First-of-fall” sightings: 1 “Yellow” Palm Warbler, 3 Lincoln’s Sparrow, and 1 White-crowned Sparrow.

While pishing at a small group of sparrows in the swale between the Lower Field Loop and the River Loop, I was absolutely shocked when A SEDGE WREN pops into view! Not only is this a really good bird, but it’s the first that I have seen in Maine!

Completing the walk, I headed back home, changed, snacked, and grabbed my camera and headed back to the park to score these shots through my binoculars. Happily, I found the bird in the same patch of sedges (appropriately enough) within a minute. Not the sharpest photos in the world, but they do the job.

With a strong cold front passing through late in the afternoon yesterday, skies had cleared by sunset and birds were on the move. A steady NW wind slowly diminished, blowing very lightly by dawn.

10 minutes of listening last night (9:30-9:40pm) produced 40 calls. And clearly, by the looks of the 10pm and midnight radar images, there were lots of birds in the air . . .

But, by 2:00am, the volume of birds was reduced . . .

Birds were definitely on the move early last night. I heard plenty of calls when I listened at around 9:30pm. Check out the 10:00 radar image:

Definitely birds in the air. But, by midnight, there wasn’t too much – and the rain was approaching.

With the rain nearing by 2:00am, very few birds were on the move.

HUGE flight last night! Check out the radar images!

However, Sandy Point was very slow this morning (totals) below due to the overnight calm. After Sandy Point, I birded Winslow Park in Freeport and Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland, but I have very little to show for it! The birds apparently stayed inland last night, and dispersed rapidly this morning – as usually occurs on such benign weather.

10:00pm Thursday:

Midnight:

There was a great flight last night, so despite less-than-optimal conditions, I began my day today at Sandy Point. Moderate west winds at dusk diminished rapidly, and the air was calm most of the night (allowing this morning’s temps to bottom out in the low 40’s!). However, because of the volume of last night’s movement, there were in fact quite a few birds around here this morning. However, many were flying high, and most were departing Cousin’s Island to the south of Sandy Point, so my success rate of identification was even lower – these birds were just too high and too far away to do anything but tally. (The species list is below).

Here's the 10:00pm radar:

The 2:00am radar:

And the 5:00am:

Lots o' birds overhead last night!

Then, I met up with an old friend from NJ, Rick, who was in town visiting his brother. Rick and I headed down to Scarborough Marsh to poke around – this was Rick’s first visit to this location. We hit Pine Point Beach, Pine Point, and Pelreco, with very little to show for it, except for a “Western” Willet, the larger and rare-in-Maine western subspecies (for now) was feeding with 3 apparent “Eastern” Willets in Jones Creek. I say “apparent” only because I am not yet completely comfortable with separating these two soon-to-be species. Small numbers of the other, more expected, shorebirds were scattered about.

I returned late last night from 5 days in Michigan. This was the first trip back to one of our former home states since Jeannette and I left the Eastern Upper Peninsula and the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory a few years ago. I returned for a friend’s wedding, and after finding some good deals, I spent a few days extra to do some birding. I had not birded Southeastern Michigan before, so I hoped to add a few species to my Michigan State list, check out new locations, and visit a “life” hawkwatch.

With a Saturday night reception, you could be sure I wasn’t going to be checking for passerine come dawn, so after eventually moseying out the door, I headed south to the Lake Erie Metropark and the Southeast Michigan Raptor Research project. This fall hawkwatch produces one of the highest totals in all of North America, with spectacular numbers of Broad-winged Hawks leading the way. I was a bit early for the first big Broad-winged push, but I enjoyed two good days of hawkwatching, with over 500 and 400 raptors, respectively, being totaled.

Upon arriving at the count site, I promptly added Great Egret – increasingly common in the area – to my Michigan list. A slow start to the count, as low clouds were still being burned off, but soon a nice flight of Sharp-shinned Hawks developed, with a good late afternoon American Kestrel flight moving through as well. One of the highlights for me, however, were the 6+ Cape May Warblers that spent much of the day in the single small spruce tree adjacent to the count site – you’re not going to get any better views than this! (Complete species list and totals below; complete hawkwatch data here.)

Considering how cooperative these birds were, I really should have done better than this shot, of a fall adult male.

This, probably an immature female, was actually my favorite shot, however.

A very good flight of birds occurred overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Clear, calm, and cool conditions made for a great night of migration.

10:00pm Wednesday:

2:00am Thursday:

4:00am Thursday:

However, the lack of a northwest component to the winds likely meant that few birds would be flying through Sandy Point. That was a good thing, as I really didn’t have time to get over there yesterday morning. Jeannette had a long run in the am, so I took Sasha for a walk before heading in to the store for an early-morning meeting.

We visited Bliss Woods, one of the New England Forestry Foundation properties in Freeport, which produced a smattering of migrants. The woods were also thick – relatively speaking – with Red-breasted Nuthatches (that species’ irruption continues).

We’ve had another two good nights in the row for bird migration. However, they’ve really been TOO good! Birds just kept going! But, an increasing diversity of migrants can be found daily in the area.

Yesterday, Jeannette began our day dark and early at Sandy Point. However, the weak cold front had still not cleared the region by dawn, so the northwest winds had failed to develop. Therefore, there was not a whole lot going over and through Sandy Point. Between 6:05 and 6:35, we only tallied 39 unidentified warblers overhead, along with 4 American Redstarts, 1 Northern Parula, and 1 Purple Finch. We soon moved on.

We spent the rest of the morning birding various locations in Portland. Although there were not a ton of birds around – as I thought, many birds were just passing us by overhead – what was lacking in quantity was made up for in quality. The 9 species of warblers at Evergreen Cemetery were highlighted by a Cape May Warbler – always nice to see. A couple of Veeries and a few Blackpoll Warblers were among the migrants there as well.

At Capisic Pond Park, we were treated to another Cape May – and a very cooperative individual (unlike the earlier bird at the cemetery) that providing repeated crippling views at it foraged in a row of short Tamarack trees. We also spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher and a Prairie Warbler, along with a peppering of more common migrants.

After a brief stop at Back Cove – the tide was already too far out by the time we arrived, so it wasn’t possible to carefully scrutinize the shorebirds there, which included 150+ Semipalmated Sandpipers – we added a visit to Dragon Field to the morning’s itinerary. Considering Cape May Warbler is one of the few regular migrants that are lacking from my Dragon Field List, I had to give it a shot. No Cape May though, or a whole lot else for that matter. But, a Black-and-white Warbler there was our 10th warbler species of the day.

After returning home from a late dinner on Friday night with my visiting college buddies, I heard numerous call notes passing overhead. Despite being well past my bedtime already, I decided to set me alarm for 5:00am, to arrive at Sandy Point before sunrise. I moaned and groaned when that alarm went off, but when I heard migrants calling through the window, I was motivated to get out of bed.

And, I am sure glad I did! Sandy Point was really hopping. In fact, it was probably my best morning (in terms of diversity – 16 species of warblers – and volume) for this early in the season. I am certainly glad that I did not sleep through this! (February is for sleeping!). You can see the totals here.

Activity had calmed down significantly by the time I returned to Sandy Point with my birdwalk group, but we still had a handful of birds moving overhead, and a smattering of migrants in the trees, including a great look at a Philadelphia Vireo.

Here’s what the sky looked like overnight. The echos on the Doppler radar are birds. Lots, and lots of birds. Note the concentrations near the coast.

9:55pm:

1:57am:

4:53am: