Clear, and mostly calm, conditions overnight allowed for an excellent flight Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Here’s the 10:00pm, 1:00am, and 4:00am radar images, for example:

Birds were still on the move as dawn approached, especially over the Mid-Coast peninsulas. My guess is that it was a good morning at places like Hermit Island and Reid State Park. Elsewhere, I’m sure most birders would have noticed quite a few birds, some good turnover, but otherwise limited concentrations, as birds were able to land when and where they wanted (to really oversimplify things!).

My visit to Florida Lake Park was rewarding, with 13 species of warblers, including two Canadas, 6 Magnolias, and 13 Ovenbirds. The beaver dam has been removed again, so all of the trails were again accessible, and I took full advantage and walked the loop around the lake. Two Solitary Sandpipers in the creek were my first for this park.

Yet another storm passed to our south, failing to produce any rainfall for us, and our gardens. With the storm moving offshore overnight, and a light northerly wind for us, only a light migration occurred Monday night into Tuesday.

Jeannette and I spent the early morning hours checking three local parks: Hedgehog Mountain, Florida Lake, and Hidden Pond. We finished with 13 species of warblers, including our first Canada Warbler of the year at Florida Lake. A Wood Thrush at The Hog was also an “FOY,” but the highlight for me was a Solitary Sandpiper in a small puddle in the playing fields, my 125th species for this patch! An adult Northern Goshawk at Florida Lake was another treat, as were two Wilson’s Snipe and a great look at an American Bittern at Hidden Pond.

So, the day started out great – with some good birds, and a good mix of migrants. Wish I could say the same for the Hawkwatch! I “counted” from 9 to 1, and Jeannette from 1 to 5. We finished with a whopping 7 birds, thanks to the continuing stiff northeasterly breeze. Hey, at least it beat the goose egg of Monday! Very few non-raptors were deemed migrating as well, but my ½-day list of 39 species seen and/or heard from the summit did include 8 species of warblers.

Mostly calm winds, at least at the lower levels, allowed for the passage of a few more birds overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. A couple of hours at Hedgehog Mountain Park produced 10 species of warblers, led by 22 Ovenbirds and 15 Black-throated Green Warblers. But, for the first morning in almost two weeks, I did not record a “first-of-year.”

With the deep offshore low finally beginning to pull away, and high pressure now building in, lighter winds, clear skies, and calm nights should allow for a couple of good days – and especially nights – of migration.

Oh yeah, by the way, I just learned that the White-faced Ibis was actually only the 4th or 5th record for the state!!!!

I’ll get right to the good stuff. This morning (Monday, May 12), I discovered a White-faced Ibis in Scarborough Marsh. The bird was foraging with 3 Glossy Ibis behind the Pelreco building off of Pine Point Road.

When I first found them – at 9:10am - they were only about 30 yards from the edge of the muddy parking area of Pelreco. Soon, they flew a short distance to the right, directly behind the building itself. You needed to walk about 10-15 feet into the marsh, then look to the right, in order to see them. The 4 birds slowly worked out into the marsh, before the White-face took off at 9:45. It flew to the far side of the Pelreco marsh, and landed in the phragmites, joining about a dozen Glossies. Although out of sight, the bird was still present in that area through at least 10:00. I returned at 10:45, and the bird was still not visible, but the occasional ibis head and/or back would poke out of the phrags in the same general area.

Despite a fairly stiff wind and resultant scope-shake, my digiscoping attempts were fairly successful.

A moderate northwesterly wind overnight Thursday into Friday minimized the flow of nocturnal migrants. A few birds seemed to be on the move, with marginally more birds departing than arriving, no doubt thanks to inclement weather to our south.

On Friday morning, with a limited amount of time, I decided to take a walk at Old Town house Park in North Yarmouth. There was decent diversity here today, but once again, I found a very low quantity of migrants. This park just really does not seem to reel in many migrants in the spring. But, I need more data – I especially need to check things out on a really big flight day. Most of the birds today seemed to be just-arriving breeding birds here, such as the 7 territorial Bobolinks and my first 2 Warbling Vireos of the spring. I also added a Solitary Sandpiper – a bona fide migrant, a Northern Mockingbird, and a Brown Thrasher to my fledgling patch list for this park. And, the one pocket of migrants that I did encounter in the woods included my first Magnolia Warbler of the year.

Then, on Friday night, there was a big exodus of birds - I think. Take a look at the 10:00pm radar. . .

But, looking at the velocity radar, this does not show the south to north pattern associated with migrant birds.

As darkness fell last night, partly cloudy skies and light, southerly winds opened the migratory floodgates once again. And, for the second night in row, rain developed in the early morning hours. Fallout!?

Here’s the 10pm radar. Lots of birds on the move!

The rain is approaching from the west by midnight.

Then, things get interesting. The 2am and 4am radars follow. Rain is now upon us in the Greater Portland area. But, it seems that birds may still be in the air. It’s tough to tell, and the velocity image didn’t help as both the rain, and the birds, were moving SW to NE. But, the concentration of echoes (greens) along the coast, especially south of Portland seems consistent throughout the night. Tough to tell though, as it could also be low level fog, drizzle, etc.

Since the winds were still southerly – it was a warm front that passed through and produced our rain – and the rain was not too heavy, my guess is that most birds were able to keep going, and while a classic “fallout” or “grounding” was not in the offerings today, there was little doubt that it would be good morning.

The occluded front and an offshore low pressure system pulled away on Sunday, but low level clouds and developing fog with a light north to northwest wind precluded many migrants from arriving, or departing, the area overnight. The radar image confirmed this. In fact, what echoes were on the radar did not seem to be birds (moving too slow, to not moving at all, in very light winds and therefore more likely to have been something like dust and/or pollen).

Nevertheless, I actually had a few new arrivals this morning, and some decent activity here and there. First, I spent about 10 minutes on the back porch, listening and looking for birds passing overhead. Then, I made two laps around the edge of the recreation fields at Hedgehog Mountain Park. The next stop was Florida Lake Park. Then, I returned home, took a spin through the yard, and sat back on the porch to have a snack and sip some tea. By now, the fog had lifted, and clear blue skies were overhead, just in time for me to head up to the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch. Since I expected a big flight Monday night into Tuesday, I did the same exact routine on Tuesday morning in order to compare the two days.

Here’s the comparison:
Monday, 5/5:
Back Porch:
1 flyover Yellow-rumped Warbler

The Hog:
~40 Yellow-rumped Warblers, mostly in one wave through the trees.
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 White-throated Sparrow

Florida Lake Park:
1 male CAPE MAY WARBLER. First of spring, and rather early. A gorgeous bird foraging low (don’t see the back of Cape May’s very often!) at lake edge with Western Palm Warblers.
75+ Yellow-rumped Warblers
12 “Western” Palm Warblers
7 White-throated Sparrows
6 Blue Jays (one migrant flock)
2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Black-and-white Warblers
2 Black-throated Green Warblers
2 Swamp Sparrows
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 “Yellow” Palm Warbler
1 Savannah Sparrow
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, First of year.

Yard/Porch
4 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Common Loon
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Black-throated Green Warbler

Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch, 9:00am to 1:15pm:
1 SANDHILL CRANE, high over summit, our 2nd of the year!
89 Double-crested Cormorants
24 Purple Finches
23 Tree Swallows
10 Barn Swallows
6 Yellow-rumped Warblers
6 Red-winged Blackbirds
4 Unidentified passerines.
3 Common Loons
3 Chimney Swifts (First of year for me).
3 Blue Jays
3 American Goldfinches
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Black-and-white Warbler
1 Pine Warbler (6th warbler species of the day).

Although our Saturday morning birdwalk was not very birdy, it was very instructive. After seeing surprisingly few birds, we sat down at the computer when we returned to the store and tested our hypothesis by viewing the overnight radar images. My suspicions were confirmed – some birds departed, but almost nothing arrived overnight. The highlight was an Eastern Towhee at the Sligo Rd Property in Yarmouth, as we spent the morning exploring a couple of “new” locations.

Meanwhile, light rain and drizzle continued throughout the day (so much for the prediction of partly sunny skies and rain not developing until nightfall). Dane survived 6 damp hours, with limited visibility at the Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch before calling it quits, without a single migrant raptor tallied. Sunday was a complete washout. The good news, however, is that the next two days (Monday and Tuesday) look fantastic for a good hawk flight, and since the birds have been backed up for 2 days, I expect some fun and excitement. We’re still 39 birds away from the 3,000 milestone, and the weather this weekend will allow me to be present for #3,000, which should pass sometime late Monday morning, me thinks.

But, as for Sunday morning, well, it wasn’t very nice out! Periods of rain, heavy at times, precluded the movement of any migrants overnight, and drizzle, fog, and a raw easterly wind (with temperatures only in the mid-40’s) greeted our first seasonal, Sunday morning Eastern Promenade Birdwalk, with the Friends of the Eastern Promenade.

I must say, I was very impressed by the hardiness of the 22 (and ½!) folks who turned out for the outing despite the conditions. While only 11 “survived” to the end, the group should be congratulated for their dedication.

Despite these aforementioned conditions, we spotted 24 species, included 8 Laughing Gulls – my first of the spring in the Casco Bay area – roosting on the train bridge. Today was not about a big list, however, but simply getting to know the birds and habitat of the Prom, so scope views of copulating Ospreys, courtship-begging by Northern Mockingbirds, and singing Song Sparrows were just as important.

Virtually no migration occurred overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, as the day’s storm was slow to clear and northwest winds followed. Hedgehog Mountain Park was exceptionally quiet, with the only migrants being single Purple Finch and Pine Siskin, and 5 Blue Jays, overhead. The Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch was another story. After being backed up for 3 days, birds were on the move early. 29 raptors in the first hour included 26 Broad-winged Hawks, many of which had lifted off from the surrounding woodlands. 25 more raptors, including 18 Broad-wings, had already been tallied when I had to leave at 11:00am. (By day’s end, a very good 128 birds were tallied).

Earlier in the week, the extended weather forecast was calling for the low pressure system that passed through to stall, and usher in a period of unsettled weather. Happily, that has not been the case. The low pulled away on Wednesday, and high pressure has built in that should last into the weekend.

I had expected the clear skies overnight Wednesday into Thursday to produce a good flight of songbirds, but a light westerly – becoming northwesterly – component was just enough to keep migration to a minimum. At Florida Lake, Dan and I had about 60 Yellow-rumped Warblers and about 35 “Yellow” Palm Warblers, and one Black-throated Green Warbler. Afterwards, I checked out Hidden Pond, which hosted 2 drake Ring-necked Ducks and 13 Cedar Waxwings.

While the morning’s songbird-ing was a bit slower than expected, the hawkwatching atop the Brad was once again rockin’. When I left at 11:00, we had already tallied 44 Broad-winged Hawks, 12 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 7 Osprey, plus 94 Double-crested Cormorants, three Common Loons, and a calling Barred Owl. Not a bad way to start the day once again! (And the 191 tallied by day’s end was fantastic!)

A light to moderate flight finally occurred overnight Thursday into Friday, with significantly more birds arriving than departing. I spent the first half of the morning in the New Gloucester marsh, which yielded three “first of years” for me: 2 Eastern Meadowlarks, 1 Nashville Warbler, and one heard-only Sora. A trickle of Yellow-rumped Warblers were passing overhead and a total of 21 singing Swamp Sparrows were tallied. I heard two whinnying Wilson’s Snipe, and I also spotted a pair of Blue-winged Teal. 8 Greater and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs were foraging in a flooded farm field nearby as well.