The end of October and early November is “Rarity Season.” We’ve learned that this is a great time of year to find vagrants. A number of factors likely result in this. 1) Cold weather concentrates birds at concentrated food sources like feeders and thickets. 2) All of the vagrants wandering the countryside begin to concentrate at coastal locations and other migrant traps as they continue their peregrinations. 3) Strong cold fronts are pushing across the country, and perhaps pushing birds with them. 4) Coastal lows are intensifying, possibly carrying some birds with them. 5) There are fewer birds around to sift through for rarities. 6) There are fewer food sources to check for birds, and the lack of leaves helps in detecting birds. 7) Crazy birders like me are extremely actively searching for said vagrants. And, there are likely some more factors that I’m not thinking of at the moment, but you get the idea.

Anyway, hoping to kick off “Rarity Season,” with a bang, Jeannette and I headed down the southern York County coast yesterday. We began at Fort Foster, which was quite birdy. An “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow was my first of the fall – finally – and a decent amount of other sparrows were in the scrub. But, the bird of the day, was the Western Kingbird that we discovered flycatching from trees along the park’s easternmost shoreline. (A complete list and totals from the park are below)

We spotted the bird simultaneously, as it flew across the path a short distance ahead. I do believe the bird was called by both of us with a “What the . . . ?” Although one or more Western Kingbirds show up every fall in Maine – there was one on Monhegan a couple of weeks ago – this was my first for the state. And, to make it even more satisfying, I had called it earlier in the day.

As we usually do, Jeannette and I made our “requests” as we headed out in the morning. These requests are usually for 3 birds. One possible, one unlikely, and one very, very unlikely. While my “possible” Northern Shrike and “very, very unlikely” Chestnut-collared Longspur requests were not met, fulfillment of my “unlikely” request of a Western Kingbird was exciting enough.

We then had another treat at nearby Seapoint Beach. One small shrub held two immature White-crowned Sparrows, both facing away, but one of which looked noticeably larger. When it turned around, the clean lores and big, clear orange bill of the gambelli subspecies was clearly evident. This was my first “Gambel’s” White-crowned Sparrow in Maine, and with all of the White-crowns that were around this fall, I have been diligently searching for this western subspecies. Meanwhile, another “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow was seen, and huge flocks of hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants (with a peppering of Great Cormorants mixed in) were passing overhead.

The cold front did not pass until about 6:30 am on Sunday morning. Despite clearing skies overnight, a decent southwesterly breeze prevented migrants from taking to the skies. In fact, at Sandy Point at dawn, a half-hour produced all of 4 American Robins overhead, and only 1 Song Sparrow in the bushes. But, by sunrise, the winds had indeed shifted to the WNW and began increasing steadily.

Luckily, the cold air had yet to filter in (that came later!), as the stiff wind gusting through Scarborough Marsh was unpleasant enough. I have enough sand and dust in my eyes for a while. Also, the wind made birding rather difficult – especially for passerines.

I began at Prout’s Pond, where 3 American Coots, 4 Pied-billed Grebes, 3 Bufflehead, 2 Ruddy Ducks, and a lone American Black Duck were present. Grondin Pond, however, held only 9 American Black Ducks.

Pine Point and Pine Point Beach were much more productive, with a lot of waterbirds offshore of the beach (19 Horned Grebes – my first of the fall, 17 Red-necked Grebes, 2 Red-throated Loons, 7 Common Loons, 47 Red-breasted Mergansers, 61 Black Scoters, 31 White-winged Scoters, a single Surf Scoter, and a number of Northern Gannets feeding in Saco Bay. Around the corner, on the rapidly inundated mudflats of the Pine Point Narrows, a good late-season tally of shorebirds included: 150+ Dunlin, 73 Black-bellied Plovers, 14 Semipalmated Plovers, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers. 38 Bonaparte’s Gulls foraged in the chops.

Moving on, I hit the Clambake Restaurant (14 Great Blue Herons), Pelreco (4 flyover Horned Larks), Seavey’s Landing (50+ Dunlin, 3 Northern Harries), and the Scarborough Marsh Preserve, which was quite birdy (35+ American Robins, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Hermit Thrush, and 1 fly-over Evening Grosbeak among others).

The forecast for Thursday night called for light and variable winds becoming light to moderate East by the morning. Fine for migrants to pass through, but not great for a flight at Sandy Point. Well, the winds ended up being calm all night, but turned to the NW by 5:00am. And, there were quite a few birds in the air. However, it did look like a larger volume departed than arrived.

Here’s the 12:00am image:

And the 5:00am image:

I wonder if that was long enough to get enough birds over Casco Bay to produce a good flight at Sandy Point? I’ll never know, as I spent the morning trekking my 6-mile loop through my Pownal neighborhood. Shortly after I began the walk at dawn, an Evening Grosbeak called as it flew over (and I heard another single later). 3 Rusty Blackbirds flushed from a field edge, and a flock of over 100 Common Grackles passed high overhead (plus another flock of 20 later and about 10 in a yard). I also encountered a total of 7 American Pipits, heard at least 2 Horned Larks, and spied 5 Red-winged Blackbirds passing overhead. There were plenty of Dark-eyed Juncos around, and a lot of American Robins were passing overhead in small flocks. But, the highlight was the 6 White-winged Crossbills that flew by me, calling, and circled a few times before heading off towards Bradbury Mountain. Yes, it just might be a finch-tastic winter!

A quick check of Thornhurst Farm did not produce the Cackling Geese – although the majority of the flock were out of view – but I did see the 11 continuing Snow Geese and this one Canada Goose, that I think might be of one of the “Lesser” subspecies. The smaller size (although not as small as Cackling Geese), dusky chest, dark back, skinny neck (verses the bull-neck of Cackling), and moderate-length bill (not the stubby triangle of Cackling), lead me to believe this is a Branta canadensis parvipes. Or, is this just a dark, runt B.c.Canadensis – the “Atlantic” Canada Goose? But, I have minimal experience with “Lessers,” so comments are welcome.

I began my day on Thursday with a brief visit to Sandy Point, arriving at 7:10 and taking up my usual position on the bridge. I was expecting a big flight, but with light northerly winds, that big flight was not going to happen. 65 Dark-eyed Juncos, 14 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and 5 Yellow-rumped Warblers did make the crossing, however, while some Song Sparrows (4+), White-throated Sparrow (2+), and an American Tree Sparrow foraged along the parking lot’s edge.

But, I wasn’t complaining. I had to be in Portland at 8:00am, and I would have head to tear myself away, kicking and screaming, from Sandy Point if there was indeed a huge flight. Luckily, I quickly gave in to responsibilities and headed down to the Eastern Promenade.

This morning, I was meeting members of the Friends of the Eastern Promenade. Regina Leonard -a landscape architect who is working with the Friends group to make management recommendations to the city - recently contacted me for input to their management plan. Now, as readers of this blog and/or participants on my birdwalks here know, I have some rather strong opinions as to the (mis)management of this particular place, so I jumped at the opportunity to make my thoughts heard and affect the future direction of this property.

As you know from my blog entries about here, and my recent Patch Listing entry, I bird here rather frequently, and over the course of the past 6 or so years, have come to really know the birds and habitat of this patch. So today was a chance for me to discuss my concerns (invasive plants, mowing, ravaging of woody vegetation, etc) and share some suggestions for improvement from the perspective of birds and birders (native fruit sources, larger “islands” of mature trees, mowing later, plantings for specific birds and specific needs, etc). I also had ample opportunity for soapboxing, as I tend to delve into at times, as we strolled along the Prom.

While we spent most of our time talking, looking at plants, etc, I did of course note what birds were around. And frankly, there wasn’t much. Handfuls of Song and White-throated Sparrows were about it for migrants. So, there was little at Sandy Point this morning, and little at the Eastern Promenade (and not much in some of the Downtown lots and gardens I checked while running some errands), and this surprised me. As I mentioned yesterday, I was expecting a big flight last night.

Upon returning to the store, I checked the weather readings from overnight. North-northeast winds were light, and switched to north by early this morning. Without the westerly component, few birds are pushed out into Casco Bay, to either reorient inland via Sandy Point or to drop down to the Eastern Promenade. Furthermore, with the first good night for flying in 4-5 days, many birds probably simply passed right overhead.

Moderate southwesterly winds Monday night into Tuesday were more than enough to ground migrants, and the radar showed very little – as expected – on the move.

On Tuesday, Jeannette and I birded around Sebago Lake, with most of our time spent at Sebago Lake State Park. This under-birded location holds a lot of potential, I believe. Low water levels and lots of exposed mud and sand at the mouth of the Songo River yielded a decent count of shorebirds for an inland location this late in the season: 11 Greater Yellowlegs, 5 Killdeer, 5 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Black-bellied Plovers, and 1 Semipalmated Plover. 10 Bonaparte’s Gulls loafed offshore, and my first Bufflehead – a hen – of the season was in the river as well. One adult Bald Eagle passed overhead.

Elsewhere around the lake, we stopped at a handful of locations that allow access to the shoreline. Public access to the lake is severely limited, which definitely diminishes the birding potential here. With the mild weather of late, few ducks were present, although we did have our first Common Mergansers (5 in one group, and one solo) of the fall.

The rain held off all day on Tuesday, as the front was stalling. Rain didn’t begin to fall until after dark, and even then, it was just periods of rain, with some breaks in between. A light south wind gave way to a variable northwest to north-northwest flow by 1:00am. A look at the radar suggests that some birds were on the move.

Here’s the midnight base reflectivity image, for example. You can see the blobs of rain moving through, from SW to NE, but notice the echos from around the radar?

You can see in the respective velocity image that those echos – over the Greater Portland Area – were moving north to south, while the precip was moving SW to NE. This is easier to decipher in a loop, but I don’t have the ability to post video to this blog, so we’ll make do with what we have here.

Much to my surprise, very little moved on Saturday night. In fact, I’m not even sure if what little showed up on the radar were even birds! The winds began as westerly Saturday night, but were SW by 2:00am. Was the SW wind strong enough to keep birds from moving? I didn’t think so, but the radar showed very little, and we didn’t have a lot of birds on Sunday’s Merrymeeting Audubon Sparrow Big Day trip – with almost nothing at Sandy Point Beach, our first stop, shortly after sunrise.

We did have a very successful day, however, in part thanks to the fact that temps increased – on those aforementioned southwest winds – into the low 70’s. Heck, I was in shorts by lunch! The moderate breeze did not help our cause however, as it kept birds, especially in Scarborough Marsh, low in the grass. Plus, the beautiful weather drove the crowds outdoors, and a lot of people on the Eastern Road Trail and the Eastern Promenade didn’t work in our favor. Also, our group was big – real big – as 18 participants showed up for the outing.

In other words, our work was cut out for us, but we still managed a record (for this trip) 11 species of sparrows. The highlights were a Field Sparrow along the Eastern Promenade and a Vesper Sparrow at Maxwell’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth. And yes, we did look at other things besides sparrows, with those highlights including an uncooperative Orange-crowned Warbler along Eastern Rd, 50 American Pipits in Maxwell’s Farm, and the most ridiculously cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo that was sitting on a fence for over 15 minutes in the wide open at the South Portland Transfer Station.

Here's Ed Hess' great digiscoped shot of said cuckoo.

We tallied 55 species, and 10 different locations in 5 towns (Yarmouth, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth). We covered a lot of ground, a lot of great birding spots (and yes, once again, I gave up a couple of my “secret spots.”), and had a great time in unbelievably pleasant (albeit too warm for my tastes!) weather. (Complete list below).

Light SW winds continued overnight, and increased once more on Monday morning. Once again, very few, if any, birds appeared on the radar. And, once again I was surprised – I though it would have been light enough for birds to proceed. But, the radar images show very little, and I’m not sure if this even shows birds or not. I sure hope we’re not out of migrants yet!

I am convinced that being a Rutgers football fan takes a significant amount of time of the end of ones’ life. Yup, another 2 days lost to this game! But, they came away with a “W” against the #2-ranked team in the country, beating the Bulls of South Florida 30-27 late Thursday night. Heisman Trophy Candidate Ray Rice once again led the way, but some trickeration (something Coach Schiano is not known for) – a first down throw by kicker Jeremy Ito on a fake punt in the first quarter and a touchdown throw by the 3rd-string quarterback on a fake field goal in the 3rd quarter – were critical. Meanwhile, half-time adjustment on the RU “D” really clamped down on a very good Bulls offense. But, I think it was the Rutgers Offensive Line that really won the game – paving the way for Rice and neutralizing the excellent George Selvie, who came into the game leading the nation in sacks. Meanwhile, the 7 sacks by the defense held talented Matt Grothe in check. Hmm, all of the sudden dreams of a BCS Bowl are once again fluttering through our minds! (Do I smell oranges?)

OK, back to the birds. Little if anything moved on Thursday night – except for Rutgers fans flooding the field in Piscataway - with an east-northeast breeze, mist, and fog. But, I was out and about anyway on Friday morning (a bit tired, but still pumped up from the game) scouting for my Merrymeeting Audubon Sparrow Big Day Field Trip that I am leading on Sunday. Handfuls of sparrows were at Old Town House Park (but no new additions to the potential patch list) and 2 American Pipits were in the soccer field. Although not as amazing as the volume of White-crowned Sparrows that have been around, American Pipits have also been much more common this fall than is normal.

Twin Brook Recreation Area in Cumberland produced more of the same, but some Chipping Sparrows were still there, which may come in handy on Sunday. I won’t need to stop at Fels-Groves Farm Preserve, however, as the field has now been entirely mowed. My final stop of the morning was not for sparrow, but simply to check in on the Thornhurst Farm Cackling Geese. All three were present and accounted for - among the flock of over 1000 Canadas - along with 11 Snow Geese (5 adults and 6 immatures) that arrived there earlier this week.

Light rain developed by Friday afternoon, with heavier rain overnight. Combined with an onshore wind, migrants were once again on hold. A cold front pushed through Saturday morning, clearing things out. However, a gusty southwesterly wind produced downright balmy temperatures, with the high in Portland predicted to reach the low 70’s. Clear and calm conditions tonight – following two days of little to no migration – will produce a big flight tonight and potentially excellent birding for tomorrow. It may just be a perfect day for my Merrymeeting Audubon Sparrow Big Day!

On Sunday, I finally recorded my 150th bird in Portland’s Dragon Field, an immature White-eyed Vireo. This milestone “finished” off my goal of 150 species at this patch. While I am by no means “done” birding here – 150 species without any real body of water shows the value of birding here – it does mean I will be putting more effort into other patches.

I like patch listing because it give motivation on otherwise unmotivated days, it tests one’s knowledge of habitat (in choosing a patch), it minimizes chasing (as opposed to something like year-listing), and – most importantly, I believe – it maximizes how much one can learn about the seasonal ebb and flow of local birds by repeatedly checking the same place. As a patch list nears completion, it often becomes challenging to fill in holes on the checklist, or predicting the next addition, or focusing effort on a particular species. As if I really needed an excuse to go birding, Patch Listing provides many excuses. Plus, it satiates my apparent minor case of OCD.

Over the course of 6 years of birding Dragon Field, I have seen some great birds: Northern Shoveler (1 flyover), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (2), Short-eared Owl (1 or 2), White-eyed Vireo (1), Carolina Wren (multiple occasions), Orange-crowned Warbler (5+), Vesper Sparrow (1 or 2), Grasshopper Sparrow (1), Dickcissel (probably 20+ individuals), and Orchard Oriole (one pair seen repeatedly last year). But the sheer volume of regular migrant sparrows, in late September and October, is the real highlight of this place.

I have also learned a lot about this patch – which corners are best when, when’s the best time to look for what, etc. Plus, I have been able to witness, and in some cases document, the changes that have occurred. At Dragon Field, for example, I can quantify how mowing regimes effects species, how invasive plants have had an impact, etc. Basically, I think Patch Listing teaches me a lot more than just what birds can be seen where – but also why and how those birds are seen where, and when.

When we lived in Portland, my patches were Dragon Field, the Eastern Promenade, and South Portland’s Bug Light Park. I hit the 150 species goal for the Eastern Promenade shortly after moving to Pownal, but I gave up my Bug Light list as to minimize the amount of times I drove to South Portland, and in part due to the limitation of the birding potential here, especially after the cleared out half of the trees in half of the park. But, like Dragon Field, I continue to regularly bird the Eastern Promenade, and have since built that list up to 157 species, with such highlights as Tricolored Heron (1 flyby), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 on many occasions over the course of 4 years), Short-eared Owl (1), Carolina Wren (multiple occasions), Orange-crowned Warbler (suprisingly many, at least 10+ individuals over the years), Yellow-breasted Chat (2), and multiple Dickcissels (probably 10+ as well) over the years. Meanwhile, the occasional spring or fall fallout of migrants, a smattering of shorebirds, a good mix of waterfowl, and good numbers of gulls in winter (Including Iceland and Glaucous), keep me coming back for more.

With northwest winds in the forecast for Tuesday, Jeannette and I left Monday night for a quick trip down to New Hampshire to visit the Pack Monadnock Hawkwatch near Peterborough. We try and get down here once a year, and finally favorable winds were predicted for a Tuesday, so off we went.

We began the day, as we usually do when we visit Pack, and Edward McDowell Lake. It was pretty quite this morning, with a smattering of sparrows in the brush, a great look at and adult Bald Eagle passing low overhead in early morning sun, and a brief glimpse of an Otter.

Then, it was up to the hawkwatch. We had three species on our day’s “wantlist:” Red-shouldered Hawk (a hole on my New Hampshire state list), Northern Goshawk (just because we like them), and especially a Golden Eagle. Much to our consternation – and the basis for the running joke of the day – Lance, the Official Counter of the Hawkwatch, spotted a G-52 (as I like to call them) at 9:45am. We arrived at 10:30. D’oh. Well, at least we didn’t “just” miss one.

The view from the hawkwatch, looking north-northeast over North Pack:

It wasn’t a really busy day, with light to moderate westerly winds, but the day produced a total of 62 migrants (the complete list is here), including 5 Red-shoulders – some of which were extremely close and well seen. There was a good showing by the local Red-tailed Hawks, and the local immature Northern Goshawk did make a cameo. But, alas, no Golden Eagle for us. A fly-by White-winged Crossbill was the “hawk-food” highlight of the day.

The forecast last night called for light west-northwest winds to continue through the overnight hours, which would have produced another big flight at Sandy Point. However, at dawn, my weather station reported WSW, and very light. Depending on what time the wind shifted and diminished would influence whether or not there would be a good morning flight, but I decided to hit Sandy Point anyway.

There I found very little in the air, and even less in the bush. However, an Orange-crowned Warbler that I briefly saw foraging on the hillside was certainly a good bird. (Complete totals below). My next stop was the new Fels-Groves Farm Preserve on Gilman Rd. There, I tallied 209 White-throated Sparrows, and a handful of other species. Most suprisingly, I saw only 2 White-crowned Sparrows – apparently the changing of the guard is underway.

A meeting this morning would cut the day’s birding short, but as I was just about back to the car, a large, warm-brown bird with a massive beak and sharp call flushes from the weeds ahead of me and briefly alights on a young tree across the street. “Jeez o’petes!” as they say in Michigan, a Blue Grosbeak! (an immature, hence the warm brown color). A great bird (only my third ever in Maine), as Fels-Groves Farm Preserve gets on the rarity scoreboard. What was lacking in quantity today was more than made up for in quality!

Arriving at the store, I noticed that there were also far fewer birds at the feeding station. By yesterday evening, our White-crowned Sparrow flock had grown to an astounding (for our small garden) 13 birds, along with 5 White-throated Sparrows and 2 Song Sparrows. This morning, “only” 5 White-crowns, 3 White-throats, and 2 Songs remained. Clearly birds departed last night.

During our store’s hawkwatch – the last day of our mini-count - some diurnal migrants were on the move, as the wind was switching back to the northwest. A small flock of five Eastern Bluebirds passed overhead, along with a total of 19 Pine Siskins, among some other stuff. 9 raptors were also tallied, including a spiffy adult Red-shouldered Hawk and – with one minute remaining in our hour’s count – a very low second-cycle Bald Eagle, a great way to bring the season to a close.

On Friday, I stuck my neck out and made some predictions about the weekend. Let’s see how I did.

Rain continued day, and into the early evening, on Friday (an impressive 3-4 inches total). The rain finally let up shortly after sunset, and a gusty northwest wind picked up. Prefect! I awoke this morning, checked the anemometer, and saw a light northwest wind was registering. To Sandy Point I go!

I arrived shortly before sunrise (now 6:52am), and took up my usual post at the bridge. As the sun cracked the horizon, I expected to see good numbers of birds overhead. I did not. Just a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Chipping Sparrow, and 4 American Pipits passed by. The bushes held a few more birds, mostly White-throated Sparrows (~20), White-crowned Sparrows (8), and Dark-eyed Juncos (17). Unfortunately, I also saw the devastation wreaked by the recent tree “trimming” done here. The entire – and often very birdy – row of White Pines at the edge of the parking lot had been completely removed. This was very sad to see, and I do think will impact the birding here in the future. But, that doesn’t explain why so few birds were overhead this morning.

Upon returning to the store, I took a look at the overnight winds and found that the winds overhead had turned to the WNW, and rapidly diminished after 9:00 or so and light westerlies continued until dawn. That explained why there were so few birds over Sandy Point this morning. However, a look at the radar images showed that there were definitely birds on the move, although in a much lower volume than I had expected. What birds were on the move last night had not been forced offshore by the light winds, and therefore there was little to reorient inland over and through Sandy Point that morning.

Here's the midnight radar, for example.

A light flight occurred overnight Wednesday into Thursday, with some birds leaving, but few arriving. On the 10pm image, you can see that there are birds in the air, but by 4:00am, not much was moving ahead of a small line of showers.

10pm radar, Wednesday night:

4am radar, Thursday morning:

But, there were still plenty of birds around – at least where I was birding in Cape Elizabeth on Thursday morning. I began with 2 hours of seawatching at Dyer Point (see totals below) , which was quite productive on an increasing northeast breeze. 171 Northern Gannets was a nice tally, and the 13 Laughing Gulls were a good count for this late in the season. And, ducks are really now beginning to move – as expected by the second week of October.

The next stop was Kettle Cove, where I scoured the trails for scrubby migrants. Handfuls of sparrows were around, but the highlight was my first Orange-crowned Warbler of the fall, which was foraging in the same bush as a lingering Nashville Warbler. I also studied a White-throated Sparrow showing the bright orange lores of a bird that has been feeding on rhodoxanthin-rich berries, likely one of the bush honeysuckles (An article in the recent Birding discussed this increasingly-common phenomena).

Minutes after deleting Calliope Hummingbird from my State List on Monday, Lysle called. He had discovered one to three Cackling Geese (the small, recently-split cousin of the familiar Canada Goose) in the fields of Thornhurst Farm along Route 115 in North Yarmouth, just a few miles from the store.

I was actually busy at the time, with a customer who was considering a new pair of binoculars. With Jeannette holding down the fort, I decided to take our comparision on the road, and had Tom join me on the twitch. We rolled up on Lysle at the farm at about 5:00, and saw the Cackling Goose/Geese. A State Bird for me, a life bird for Tom, and a good low-lighting condition to test new binoculars.

There were three very small geese way out in the fields, among about 800 Canada Geese. One was a “textbook” Cackling Goose - real small bird, with a very small, triangular bill and a distinctive white collar around the base of the neck. It also showed the steep forehead and thick, stocky, short neck expected of this species. We were unsure as to the identification of the other two, both who looked marginally larger and longer-billed. However, with the fading light and distance, we were not convinced of the identification of these other two small geese (perhaps “Lesser” Canada Geese?).

This morning, Jeannette and I returned to Thornhurst Farm in bright morning sunlight. And, the gaggle was much closer this time. We immediately located the three small geese in the cow pasture behind the farm buildings. I digiscoped these photos:

The very small size, thick and stocky neck, steep forehead, and small, triangular bill, plus the white neck collar are noticeable on these two birds, but the collar is much narrower on the bird on the right. The middle bird is a notch larger, it seems, and shows only a hint of the collar. Two typical Canada Geese are in the foreground.

The report of a Calliope Hummingbird in New Harbor on Saturday caused much excitement. Now, it’s causing much discussion, and even a bit of consternation – at least for me. Essentially, folks who I sent the pictures to (including the video), who know much more about this species than I do, pointed out a number of things that did not add up.

To make a long story short, here’s a list of features that are “wrong” for Calliope:
- white throat. (Calliopes should have dark stippling)
- most images show wings that appear to fall short of the end of the tail. (Calliopes have a short tail, and the wingtips extended beyond the tail).
- Dark supraloral area, where there’s a straight line of darkness between the eye and the bill. (Calliopes should show a distinctive white intrusion into the dark of the lores)
- Possibly the final straw were photos taken on Sunday morning (by Mike F.) showing central retrices (tail feathers) that are bronzy-green and tapered to a tip. (Calliopes would have mostly blackish central tail feathers, and they would appear shorter)

All of the above are field marks, not of Calliope, but of Ruby-throated. Yup, a plain ol’ Ruby-throat, it appears to be. However, it has a short tail, and a short bill – possibly both still growing on this young bird. The combination of the short tail and short bill gave the bird the small impression (Calliope is North America’s smallest breeding bird) that I saw in the field. I won’t rehash the entire discussion here, but the bird photographed by myself and another birder on Saturday evening, and the bird photographed on Sunday morning, was not a Calliope. (Of course, another bird – correctly identified as a Calliope – could certainly have been present Saturday morning and perhaps earlier in the afternoon – before I arrived. Unfortunately, we won’t know for sure what the birders saw in the am, until they return from their trip to Monhegan).

My experience with this Western species is limited to one single adult male, which I saw this winter in Georgia, of all places (as a vagrant). Therefore, I have to admit that I may have allowed circumstances to identify this bird for me. A small-looking hummingbird exactly where excellent birders reported a Calliope a few hours earlier, being observed by a number of birders who all seemed convinced that we were studying “the” bird. Ah, the power of suggestion!

I then came home, and instead of hitting the books, I hit the kitchen to prepare dinner. Then, it was time for the suffering of the Rutgers football game. A few hours of sleep, and then, it was to the Maine Marathon. Then I was off to work, and finally, by late afternoon had the time to upload the pics and write the blog. By now, my mental picture of this bird was not fresh – luckily, I always take field notes in the field, at the time of the observation, as my notes written on Sunday afternoon would not have been as valuable. Secondly, I still didn’t hit the books. While a few things did seem “wrong” to me – the white throat and the appearance - MOST of the time - of wing tips that fell short of the tail tip – I dismissed my concern far too easily.

At about 10:00 yesterday morning, birders on their way to the Hardy Boat ferry to Monhegan Island discovered a Calliope Hummingbird in New Harbor. The bird was feeding on Scarlet Sage in front of the Grosnold Arms Inn, along Rte 32, a just distance from the dock. The message was received in the early afternoon, and the word was spread.

I arrived at about 4:00, joining 6 other birders. The Calliope – only the second ever in Maine – was seen sporadically in the flowers. A tardy female Ruby-throated Hummingbird was also present. Each time one of the hummers would head to the salvia, a car or pedestrian would come by, and it would disappear. Each time we were able to conclusively identify the hummingbird, it would be the Ruby-throat.

Finally, at about 4:30, a small-looking hummingbird with a short (relatively speaking) bill and a tint of buff on the sides visited the salvia. It then flew to a nearby lilac bush, where we studied and photographed it for about 15 minutes. A short time later, it made one more visit to the flowers, and then departed for the evening (about 4:50).

These photos, of the perched bird, show wings that appear to fall short of the tip of the tail, the “dirty” flanks that show a hint of warm buff, the shortish, straight bill, and the dark supraloral area of this bird.

(Addendum, added 7:45pm: The above paragraph was very poorly worded, and therefore, I updated it to better reflect my thought process - I didn't mean to say that all of those "pertinent field marks" were necessarily diagnostic of Calliope - they were just noticeable in these photos . . . I make this change after correspondence with others noted some of these features do not coincide with Calliope. My complete field notes are being passed on to folks who know a lot more about this species than I do!)

Unforunately, the fading light and overcast conditions made digiscoping difficult, and these shots aren't as sharp as I'd like. But, I was able to get some very crisp video of the bird - also with my digital camera hand-held to my spotting scope. If you would like to take a look at it, let me know, and I'll attempt to send you the very large file. Meanwhile, here's a couple of other stills . . .

Virtually nothing moved overnight Wednesday into Thursday, according to the radar. A quick walk around Old Townhouse Park Thursday morning did produced a small number of various sparrows. Unfortunately, the fields have been mowed – except for the farthest field along the river – which has significantly reduced the sparrow-rific habitat here.

After near-record high temperatures on southerly winds yesterday, clear and calm conditions overnight allowed migrants to proceed unimpeded. And, after 3 days of little migration, birds were really on the move.
10pm base reflectivity image:

10pm velocity image (see the NNE to SSW flow of birds):

Southerly winds and low clouds, fog, and drizzle for the last two nights has brought migration to a virtual standstill. Very little is showing up on the radar, and I’ve heard few birds moving overhead during my nightly listening sessions. That certainly doesn’t mean NO birds are on the move, as clearly a few birds are always heading somewhere. Two White-crowned Sparrows arrived at our store’s feeding station sometime over the last two nights, for example.

Yesterday, we had to stay close to home, as our latest house project was coming to a close. Jeannette and I wanted to use some of the money from the sale of my father’s old condo in NJ to reduce our personal carbon footprint – a worthy goal and investment, we believe. Therefore, as of yesterday afternoon, our home’s hot water is now solar-generated and our roof is producing up to 2.1 kilowatz of clean, green, and bird-friendly solar energy (saving 1800lbs of carbon dioxide a year!)

We did squeeze in a stroll around Wolf Neck Farm in Freeport, however, a place that has been on our “to explore” list for a while. Things were pretty quiet yesterday, but this is definitely added to the list – weedy fields look “sparrow-rific,” (just a smattering of the usuals today) and the extensive mudflats seem worth checking out in shorebird season (one Greater Yellowlegs today). The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house, gaining the upper hand on a nasty cold that I have been battling.

Today, I guided for the Garrett family on a tour of Merrymeeting Bay. Bob, a Bowdoin grad, and his family – were visiting the area for his birthday. Having recently read Franklin Burroughs’ book on Merrymeeting Bay, Bob wanted to take his family on a birding tour of the bay. We hit a number of the locations Burroughs mentions – or at least viewed them from terra firma.

This was a different kind of trip for me, as the locations were more important than the birding. Essentially, it was more of a natural history tour – we looked at habitat, plants, and geography as much as birds (3 pairs of binoculars to share among 8 people limited the amount of small, flitting things, we would all get views of!). I really enjoyed this trip, actually, because I looked at locations from a different perspective – how they were mentioned in the book, and how each stop we made told part of the story of the fascinating Merrymeeting Bay area. Unfortunately limited by the dearth of public access to shoreline, we nevertheless got to sample each river and many of the unique aspects from the bays – from the extensive wild rice fields that form the basis for the rich foodweb to the rough water of the Chops.

The store’s first Monhegan Island Migration Weekend trip Saturday (9/29) through Monday (10/1) was a great success. Personally, any visits to Monhegan are rewarding to me, but the trip’s participants also had a great time. A few rarities, some nice counts of common birds, and three very different days of birding were a perfect introduction to birding this spectacular migrant trap.

I boarded the ferry in Port Clyde on Saturday morning, along with Lauren and Barb. At least a hundred Northern Gannets and multiple small flocks of migrant Black Scoters escorted us out, where we met up with Kirk, Linda, Paul, and Marlene. Liz and Julie met up with us a couple of hours later.

With light northwest winds overnight, we hit the ground running, expecting to find the trees dripping with birds. However, birds were relatively few and far between. Apparently, many birds simply passed overhead, and others departed the island at dawn – according to the observations of folks already on the island. We had to work pretty hard for birds, but even a slow day on Monhegan is a good day of birding. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo perched in the open about 50 feet away in full sun was a real treat, and I can’t wait to see Kirk’s photos! While songbirds were sparse, raptors really put on a great show. On light northwest winds, raptors were heading offshore from points north and east, passing over Monhegan, and mostly continuing on to the south. We conservatively tallied 18 Ospreys, 18 Northern Harriers, 10 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 27 American Kestrels, 15 Merlins, and a fantastic 21 Peregrine Falcons. Other highlights of the day included 3 Carolina Wrens, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, and a rare-on-Monhegan Rock Pigeon.

On Sunday, we woke up to light northwest winds and mostly clear skies. And, what a change a day, er night, makes. Birds were simply everywhere! It took us 2 hours just to make our way from the Monhegan House to Lobster Cove and back. Sparrows were the most abundant, but the diversity of warblers was great for the last day of September. Most impressive was the volume of White-crowned Sparrows that were everywhere on the island. 25 were at Tom’s feeders, 30 were at another feeder, 40 were in the brushy field by the Lighthouse. It seemed that every third bird was a White-crown! They’re spiffy, classy birds to begin with, and combined with the quantity the show was truly remarkable – as I remarked repeatedly over the course of the day.

A Lark Sparrow, one of those rare-but-regular treats in fall on Monhegan arrived, and was well seen by many for the next two days. 4 Carolina Wrens was a good count for the island, but the quantity of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, “Yellow” Palm Warblers, and White-throated Sparrows were also remarkable. And, the 15 ½ species of warblers was a great list for the last day of September. This is the type of day that the Monhegan Migration Legend is made of! The unidentified Least-like Empidonax flycatcher that I barely got a look at before it was chased off by a hunting cat may have been the “one that got away,” but, at least it got away from the cat.