Northern Maine Birds

Photos from the past month

2011-12-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

I've gotten some really fabulous bird photos sent my way by birders in Aroostook County this fall and I really should have been posting these images as they came in. Here's a selection of them in no particular order. Enjoy:

Patty Jennings got this wonderful portrait of a Hermit Thrush that was lingering at her yard in Stacyville in early November

Vickie Ketch watched a Bald Eagle chase a Herring Gull for almost 10 minutes at Madawaska Lake on the 13th of November...the gull ultimately got away.

Doug Hitchcox found this spectacular male Redhead in the last remaining liquid water on the impoundment in Mars Hill. Photographed on Dec 9th. The bird appeared banded.

Ted Roberts continues to be spoiled by a coveted feeder bird in these parts: a gorgeous male Northern Cardinal.

Up on the Cross Road in Caribou the Snow Buntings were in the road picking up grit in early December. How many do you see in Mary Collishaws nice shot?

Paul Cyr's feeders in Presque Isle were regularly visited by flocks of Blue Jays in late November. This one collected some snow on its beak.

Good birding

Canvasback at Christina Reservoir, Fort Fairfield

2011-12-05T19:59:00.001-05:00

I found a drake Canvasback at the Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield today! I got a few mediocre documentation pics that really don't do justice to the spectacular plumage and form of this bird

It was a county first for me. I recieved a report of one at Trafton Lake in Limestone I received late last week but couldn't relocate it. Maybe this is it (about 10 miles south), but considering all the reports in the rest of New England and New Brunswick, I think there could be a bunch around.

Northern Maine Birds: Late season gulls

2011-12-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

See the Iceland Gull? Collins Pond Caribou

I checked Trafton Lake again this morning following a report of a possible Canvasback there. I found a few rusty headed Common Mergansers but no Can. The light is horrible from the landing here in the early AM with almost everything on the lake heavily backlit at that hour so I can't be sure I saw everything.

Juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake in flight, upper right

I DID see the previously reported Kittiwake was still present and flying about the lake. I also saw a couple Northern Pintails and a surprisingly big flock of Canada Geese.

Collins Pond had over 500 gulls this AM including two Icelands. A banded Great Black-backed Gull was preening on the ice. The alpha code on the black color band on its left leg appeared to be "BW" or "8W" I photographed it and sent the images to some gull researchers and will post if I hear anything about the origin of this bird. Appledore?

Yellow-throated Warbler, Washburn

2011-12-01T20:23:00.001-05:00

I finally made it over to Barry Floods place in Washburn this AM to see if I could spot the Yellow-throated Warbler he first reported back around Thanksgiving. Since this was a very rare bird for anywhere in Maine, I was pretty eager to get a glimpse of it and arrived just at sunrise!

No worries. The bird was there when I got there and it was very vocal...It was up in a Box Elder, chipping loudly and sounding very similar to a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Paul Cyr had also come out to see the bird and it didn't take long for him to start snapping pictures of the bird as it gobbled up suet.

Yellow-throated Warblers are not a local bird in Aroostook County or even Maine for that matter. Even during summer when they are breeding, their normal range is well south of New England. By this time of year, this bird should be in south Florida or the Caribbean at its normal wintering territory.

Paul got some really nice shots of the bird and shared them with me. Enjoy the December warbler!

Snowy Owl in Cyr Plantation

2011-11-30T06:40:00.001-05:00

Snowy Owl by Gary Gendreau/Fotos by Frenchy

I received two separate reports of a Snowy Owl from the Van Buren area early this week. As it turns out they are probably the same bird!

The Snowy is being seen along Route 1 near the Van Buren/Cyr Plantation town line. Gary Gendreau got this nice picture of the owl as it sat in a windbreak tree last Saturday.

Snowy Owls will show up in winter in northern Maine when food is limited in the north. Our last big incursion came during the winter of 2008-2009. With widespread and early reports around New England already, it seems like this may be a good winter for them too.

Certainly the exceptionally warm weather and NO snowcover makes it much easier for birders to detect them right now. Go find one!

Black-legged Kittiwake, Trafton Lake, Limestone

2011-11-26T07:02:00.000-05:00

I avoided the "black Friday" frenzy and did a little birding in the gloom yesterday. Most of my favorite wetlands and ponds froze up solidly in the past week and though I checked a lot of my better winter bird spots, there didn't seem to much active to see. I was about to call it quits but then decided to make a quick run over to Trafton Lake in Limestone. The Lake is a little deeper and stays open a bit longer than other mid-sized ponds in the area.

I was in luck and found about half the pond was still ice free. Mallards, Black Ducks and a few mergansers seemed to be all that was on the pond though, and lower skies and a heavy drizzle almost had me packing up in a couple minutes, but then, I spotted a white bird on the water in a distant cove. The bird was in the opposite (south-eastern) corner of the lake from me and just about at the limit of my scope.

Though I couldn't see much detail through 3/4 of a mile of precipitation, I could make out that the bird was a gull. The gull was standing on some ice and preening. I discerned that it had a dark bar on its side and what appeared to be a dark sided neck-- different from the usual gulls. After moving a few hundred yards closer to the edge of the park lawn I got a better look and could see a dark bill and a dark bar on the tail. The gull flew a short distance and the view clinched it, juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake.

The Kittiwake is a pelagic (ocean loving) gull that can be a bit challenging to spot from land unless you spend time in a boat off shore or seawatching from promontories along the coast. Once in a while they are found inland along the major waterways in the north east (Hudson River, St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain etc), but I didn't recall any record for one inland in Maine. I was quite sure the bird was probably an Aroostook County first. I later checked Maine Birds by Palmer and found three 100+ year old inland records.

I had to hike down the shore about a half mile just to get some across-the-lake documentation pictures. Breeze and drizzle didn't help the photography session either but I was excited it turned out to be a "good" gull after the long hike! Coordinates of the gull location were at (46.881230, -67.831459) if you want to check it out on Google Earth.

Here my list for the outing:

Trafton Lake, Aroostook, US-ME
Nov 25, 2011 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.3 mile(s)
8 species

Canada Goose 279 Two large flocks came in from the north. Lake half frozen
American Black Duck 140
Mallard 210 Scattered flocks in every cove
Lesser Scaup 3
Hooded Merganser 21
Common Merganser 49
Black-legged Kittiwake 1 juvenile. First for county/inland for me. Hanging with mergs. Photos
Blue Jay 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Iceland Gulls and another Marked Ring-billed Gull, Collins Pond Caribou

2011-11-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

On the 20th, Judy Roe emailed that she had seen a gull with green patches on its wing at Collins Pond. I stopped in the next afternoon to see if I could spot it.

There was a good sized flock (~200) gulls bathing and drinking on the pond and the turnover seemed pretty steady with lots of birds arriving and other departing regularly. Over half of the crowd was Great Black-backed Gulls with most of the remainder being Herring Gulls. It didn't take long for a first cycle (hatched this year) Iceland Gull to appear and then a second! These young gulls were ghostly cream white without a speck of black on them. They had dark eyes and black bills that were substantially thinner and lighter looking than the bills on the Herring and Black-backed Gulls. A third Iceland Gull with a bi-colored bill was a second-cycle bird and a bit lighter than the younger gulls.

There were also a dozen or so Ring-billed Gulls in the mix. Most of these were hanging together in one part of the flock. Surprisingly, it wasn't long before a green winged gull appeared among them! A closer look at the bird showed that both wings had plastic tags on them. The green tags had numbers..."111". Got a couple passable photos just before the sun set and whole flock departed westward.

We've had a couple other marked Ring-billed Gulls in northern Maine and these were marked as part of project to monitor gulls that roost on drinking water supplies in Massachusetts. I wrote to them to inquire about this new bird. Senior Biologist Ken MacKenzie was quick to confirm the green marked bird was one of his.

Here's the details provided by Ken:

Here is some specific information on K111:

Captured 3/15/11 at Price Chopper Plaza, Rt. 20, Worcester, MA

Capture location (GPS): 42.21324, -71.79617

Captured using a rocket net baited with crackers and bread

Sub-adult ring-billed gull

Green wing-tags: K111

Orange leg band: 48

Federal leg band: 1146-31731

Released on site

Sightings:

04/09/11: Orlando's Farm, Brookfield Road, Charlton, MA

This morning I returned to Collins Pond to find the single digit temperatures had predictably frozen the pond solid. So much for waterbird watching here for a while!

Cattle Egret in Mapleton

2011-11-16T19:23:00.000-05:00

CATTLE EGRET BY LAURA CHASE

The Cattle Egret recently reported by Laura Chase continued at the Chase's Organic Dairy on the Creasey Ridge Road in Mapleton today. I stopped by the farm early this AM and found the little wader wandering in the barnyard looking a little lost. The temperatures were in the upper 20's overnight and frost was heavy on the pastures.

Apparently the bird has been around for about a week and continues to forage under the feet of the Chase's cow herd.

Cattle Egrets are a rare find anywhere in Maine and especially so in northern Maine. I know of only 5 or 6 recent records of Cattle Egret in northern Maine. Surprisingly a Cattle Egret was reported in southern Maine yesterday as well. Last year at this time, one appeared on the lawn of the McCain Foods french fry plant in Easton!

Northern Maine Birds: Early November 2011

2011-11-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

There have been a lot of gulls moving through the area lately.

Most are the expected Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. They've been taking advantage of the invertebrates (mostly earthworms) uncovered by Aroostook farmers' late season plowing. Paul Cyr sent over this shot of a mass of gulls following a plow in Easton.

I checked out the flock on Sunday and found a juvenile Iceland Gull in the mix.

Lake Josephine and Christina Reservoir each sported a Long-tailed Duck on Sunday too.

Thanks to the daylight freed up by "falling back" I visited Hanson Lake on the Presque Isle/Mapleton town line this AM. There were 400+ Canada Geese leaving the pond for the day. Left behind were a handful of Common and Hooded Mergansers and this White-winged Scoter. Not a great shot but you can see the white wings...

As I was leaving, a small flock of finches flew over the boat launch. My first Common Redpolls of the season!

Seaducks and Snow Buntings: Changing of the guard

2011-10-24T20:09:00.000-04:00

I found a bunch of interesting birds today at Portage Lake...birds usually associated with the Maine coast in winter. Most interesting among them was 7 Horned Grebes a high count for me in the county. I also spotted three different juvenile Surf Scoters (no surf here!), four Red-breasted Mergansers and a lone Black Scoter!

Heres a picture of one of the Scoters:

I checked Lake Jo and Christina after work and found more birds on their way to the salt water: Best was a group of three Red-necked Grebes right by the dike! Heres a photo of the trio:

Other unusual species here included a couple Buffleheads, both flavors of scaup, and another Surf Scoter. On the way out I spotted a little passerine feeding in the road. The bird dropped down to the shoreline: A Snow Bunting. First of the season!

Over at Christina Reservoir there were a few more treats: Fifteen American Coots was a high count for me in the county. Some more scaup and yet another Surf Scoter were nice finds. A few Pied-billed Grebes made for a three grebe species day!

Nice stuff.

Cackling Geese in Northern Maine

2011-10-21T07:11:00.001-04:00

Northern Maine has been hosting an exceptional number of Cackling Geese this year. Though its difficult to figure out exactly how many its pretty clear now that there are/have been at least 10 that have been seen in the area this fall.

Cackling Geese were split from Canada Geese back in 2005 and since that time, birders have been paying them a bit more attention. These small geese are most common in the western and central portions of the country with rare-but-regular appearances on the east coast. The Cacklers, as all experienced waterfowl oglers know, look a lot like small Canada Geese and the differences between the two species are subtle.

In my limited experience (as an Eastern birder) the geographically closest and most expected form/subspecies of Cackling Goose, the "Richardson's" Cackling Goose can be the most difficult to separate from a flock of Canada Geese. In general, the little geese are substantially shorter necked and stubby-billed, they have a very steep forehead and a blocky head shape. Less than half of the Richardson's Cackling Geese I've seen show a white band/ring at the base of the black neck "sock".

In addition to their very small size (in proportion to other expected forms of Canada Geese in this area), I think most of these little geese show a silvery tone to the back and wing plumage. This seems like a subtle distinction, but it can be quite pronounced and many Cacklers I see are clearly a shade lighter and more grayish than the surrounding Canadas. Differing lighting conditions can effect this, but I think I can often distinguish a Cackling Goose in closer flocks with the naked eye. Cacklers have a high pitched vocalization which is really more of a yelp than a honk. ...I think it sounds like a very small dog bark...a squeaky yap.

Like Canada Geese there is plenty of variability in appearance in the Cackling Geese I've seen here. There are some individuals that are much more easily distinguished than others. A few I just leave unidentified.

By looking solely for small sized geese, a birder can get in trouble. I believe Northern Maine has three (and maybe four) subspecies of Canada Geese visiting during migration and these vary quite widely in size. The "Giant" Canada Goose is the locally nesting form and are substantially bigger than the equally common "Atlantic" Canada Goose that breeds in eastern Canada/ Labrador and migrates through in spring and fall. Northern Maine also sees plenty of the slightly smaller "Interior" subspecies which comes from northern areas around Hudson Bay. I have seen many times where an "obviously" smaller goose and Cackling Goose candidate turns out to be an apparent "Interior" form surrounded by "Giant" Canada Geese.

There is also a very small, dark-plumaged form of Canada Goose that shows up in small numbers in Aroostook County during migration. I'm not sure what subspecies these are or where they are from, but I'm fairly confident they are not just small or young individuals of the other more common Canada Goose subspecies. I have thought they may be a dark form of the "Lesser" Canada Goose but I have yet to find any literature that says such a form exists! What ever they are, on the subspecific level, they are certainly small enough to attract attention of a birder looking for a Cackling Goose.

I thought a few photos of the Cacklers we've seen up this way this fall:

My first find this year was a sleepy little Cackler found with a flock of Canada Geese in the downtown impoundment of Limestone Stream in Limestone on 30 September 2011. Though my photo is no work of art, you can distinguish the stubby bill, steep forehead and silvery plumage in comparison to the larger Canada Goose just behind it.

I cropped another shot of this bird to better show the blocky head profile. The bill is short, the forehead is almost a step up rather than smooth. The crown is pretty flat.

Another Cackler was found a few days later over at Collins Pond in Caribou on 2 October 2011. This digiscoped shot shows the blocky head, short bill and neck and silvery plumage well. You can also make out a bit of a white neck ring on this individual.

Here is a picture of two Cackling Geese that were feeding in some resprouting barley stubble with a flock of "Giant" Canada Geese. These were found along the Madawaska Road in northeastern Caribou on 18 October 2011. Nice for a comparison in size differences...

Lastly I've included a shot of a Cackling Goose flock found at Collins Pond in Caribou on 19 October 2011. The Cacklers are behind the front four Canada Geese in a line through the middle of the frame. I am sure there are at least 5 short necked Cackling Geese here. There are two other small geese which show stubby bills but slightly longer necks that I also think may be Cacklers that are just showing a more alert profile than the other members of the flock. So there may be seven! Meanwhile on the other end of pond....

...was another!

Cackling, Barnacle and Greater White-fronted Geese at Collins Pond

2011-10-06T06:53:00.000-04:00

Its been a busy week at Collins Pond in Caribou. The Canada Goose flock has been growing steadily since the middle of last month and we were overdue for something unusual it seemed.

This week the unusual started to arrive with a Cackling Goose on Sunday the 2nd. The Cackler is a miniature version of the Canada Goose and a bit hard to spot in a flock of 3000+ geese. Most pronounced to my eye is the silvery cast to their back and wing (mantle) plumage. This seems to stand out among the brown backs of Canadas and is often visible with just a quick scan of a flock. Other pertinent identifying characters include the short neck, stubby bill, steep forehead and of course the slightly-larger-than-a-Mallard body size. Heres a digi-scoped photo of Sunday's Cackling Goose.

One Tuesday the 4th, an early morning check of Collins Pond produced no sign of the Cackling Goose. The birds were busy moving about the pond and were departing for the nearby fields to feed in 10's and 20's. As the flocks thinned out, the pink bill of a Greater White-fronted Goose became evident. I forgot my camera that morning but returned on Wednesday and was able to get a few marginal digi-scoped images of the bird.

Later that morning a group of Aroostook Birders returned to the pond to watch the spectacle of several thousand Canada Geese coming back from the fields to roost. Even by 10 AM there were some geese in the pond. Among them was a Barnacle Goose! Rarest by far of the rare geese visiting Collins Pond, this European vagrant only gets as close a Greenland in its regular travels. Luckily Paul Cyr was among the birders at the pond that day and Paul was able to get these nice pics of the bird despite the 30 mile-an-hour winds.

Cant wait to see how long these geese will stay and what else arrives!

Purple Sandpiper in St. Agatha

2011-05-14T21:08:00.001-04:00

I found a Purple Sandpiper on the Pelletier Island causeway on Long Lake in St. Agatha on Saturday 14 May 2011. This was unexpected because Purple Sandpipers are just about unknown in Maine away from the rocky coastline where they overwinter.

The causeway is a low rocky road with little vegetation. It links the island which is part of St. Agatha with the eastern (Madawaska) shore.

The bird was feeding along on the rocks and was fairly easy to approach and I was able to get the documentation photos you see here..

This little shorebird really doesn't have much that sets it apart from other sandpipers. Note the heavily gray-streaked head with the dark crescent in front of the eye. Also the orange-ish base to a medium length dark bill. The legs are short and orangey-yellow. The belly was relatively unmarked and the neck and sides were streaky. On the back were some fresh black feathers with white margins. (My books say that if you could pluck one of these back feathers and hold it up to the light, you would see a deep purple iridescence that gives this sandpiper its name.)

When a rattly truck went by, the bird flushed and flew a bit and I was able to see the tail was light with a dark black center. I didn't notice any pattern of the wings.

The bird was a first for me in Aroostook county. An unexpected discovery for sure.

Summer Tanager at U. Maine Presque Isle, May 7

2011-05-07T21:13:00.001-04:00

Bob and Sue Pinette found a fabulous male Summer Tanager today at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. The bright male was seen late in the morning along the foot path that winds down hill from the tennis courts at a point near where the trail crosses the railroad track. Bob and Sue said the bird was quite confiding and very easy to view.

Sue sent along two great photos of the bird. Seen in the pics is the birds overall bright red plumage and thick tanager bill. Unlike our breeding resident Scarlet Tanagers, the male Summer Tanagers have red wings rather than black.

Their normal breeding range being in the southern portions of the eastern US, Summer Tanagers are rare but regular vagrants to coastal Maine in spring. This species is all but unknown in the northern half of the state. I'm fairly confident that this is first for the county and certainly the northern-most record for the state.

It leaves me wondering what other southern goodies might have wandered north with the last storm system?...

Northern Maine Birds: 23 April- 4 May 2011

2011-05-05T06:23:00.001-04:00

Northern Maine is slowly emerging from winter. The past ten days passed without a flake of snow falling and the temperature pushed up into the 60's on several days. April ended with slightly above normal precipitation total (2.95 inches at Caribou) and slightly cooler temps for the month.

Only the bigger lakes in the region are still ice covered. Our favorite central Aroostook impoundments Christina Reservoir and Lake Josephine, lost their ice on the 28th this year. Water levels in streams and rivers remains quite high with the St John River just reaching flood stage late last week due to snowmelt.

Hardwoods have begun to flower and amphibian and insect activity has increased substantially.

New and arriving species seen during this period:

Snow Goose 4/27
Gadwall 4/26
American Wigeon 4/23
Northern Pintail 4/23
Blue-winged Teal 5/1
Redhead 4/23
Lesser Scaup 4/29
Greater Scaup 5/1
Black Scoter 5/4
Surf Scoter 5/4
Barrow's Goldeneye 4/26
Bufflehead 4/29
Ruddy Duck 5/4
Red-necked Grebe 5/1
Pied-billed Grebe 4/26
Broad-winged Hawk 4/23
Peregrine Falcon 5/3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 5/3
Blue-headed Vireo 5/1
Brown Thrasher 5/4
Palm Warbler 5/1
Northern Parula 5/3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4/27
Black-and-White Warbler 5/1
Northern Waterthrush 5/3
Fox Sparrow 4/23
Chipping Sparrow 4/23
Swamp Sparrow 4/28

Waterfowl diversity took a big jump in the county this week with ice-out occurring at the premier duck ponds: Lake Josephine in Easton and Christina Reservior in Fort Fairfield. Eighteen species of waterfowl have been reported this period.

Snow Geese returned to the St. John River flats in Grand Isle last week. Over 500 were estimated to be feeding in the potato fields there on the 27th. 13 including one Blue phase were also spotted in Madawaska on the 3rd. Flocks of Canada Geese continue to be reported as they move through. As mentioned earlier, many locally breeding Canadas are already on nests.

Expected arrivals this week included Gadwall and Blue-winged Teal (at Lake Jo), American Wigeon (at Collins Pond in Caribou) and Lesser Scaup (at Lake Jo and Christina Reservoir). Most noteworthy of the ducks was a pair of Redheads returning on the 23rd to a pond near Lake Josephine. Paul Cyr photographed the pair on the 25th. Among numbers of Commons, three Barrows Goldeneye's (26-29th) were nice finds at Lake Jo.

A Long-tailed Duck and a Bufflehead arriving as the ice left Christina Reservoir on the 29th were also notable. These were joined by more of their kind by May 4th at Lake Josephine. Yet another Long-tail was spotted by the UMPI Ornithology class on Presque Isle Stream in Presque Isle on the 3rd. Greater Scaup were spotted in Grand Isle 3 May and at Lake Jo 4 May. Black and Surf Scoters put down into Christina Reservoir on the 4th. Three males were the first Ruddy Duck arrivals at Lake Jo on the 4th.

The first Pied-billed Grebe was heard calling at Christina Reservoir on the 26th. Another was heard near the Muscovic Road in Stockholm on May 1st. A special discovery was a Red-necked Grebe photographed in breeding plumage on Lake Josephine on the 1st. The attractive diver is seen in Paul Cyr's photo at the top of this post

Double-crested Cormorants and Common Loons were quick to crowd into open water as the await the opening of the ice cover on the larger lakes. This nice breeding plumaged adult was photographed by Paul Cyr. You can even seen one of its "crests"!

A Great Blue Heron was photographed in Littleton on the 27th and other was seen at Easton on the 2nd. A Turkey Vulture was seen feeding on the roadside in Conner Twp on the 4th.

Birders found a good diversity of raptors in northern Maine this week with 11 species noted. Bald Eagles continue on the nests at Ashland, Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle and Van Buren. Ospreys are also now occupying most nest sites in the area including the large nest on the power poles near Route 1 in Van Buren. A previous report noted a young Bald Eagle adding sticks to the structure...

Sharp-shinned Hawks were seen in Fort Fairfield on the 23rd, as was the first arriving Broad-winged Hawk of the year. A Red-tailed Hawk was a Square Lake Township on 1 May and a Northern Goshawk flew over Barren Lake in Caribou on the 28th. A large Coopers Hawk was chased by an American Kestrel near the Presque Isle Airport on Wednesday the 4th.

Always a notable sight in Aroostook, an adult Peregrine Falcon was spotted feeding on a Ring-billed Gull beside the Roosevelt School in Hamlin on the 3rd. Merlins were seen and heard in Caribou on May 1, Quimby (Winterville) on 25 April and Stockholm on the 25 April and 1 May. American Kestrels were widely reported.

Boreal Chickadees were heard on the Muscovic Road on the 1st of May and Gray Jays were spotted in New Sweden on May 1. Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets are singing loudly the conifer woods these days. The first Ruby-throated Hummingbird for the county was reported from Stockholm on the 3rd...early for sure.

The first Blue-headed Vireo of the year arrived on schedule at New Sweden on 1st. Loud couplets announced the arrival of a Brown Thrasher at Presque Isle Airport on the 4th.

The first warblers of the season were trickling in to northern Maine as April gave way to May. Yellow-rumps were reported across the area in moderate numbers. Other warbler arrivals in central Aroostook included Palm Warblers at the Muscovic Road in Stockholm and the Burnt Landing Road in Cross Lake Twp on the 1st; a Black-and-White Warbler at Mantle Lake Park in PI on the 1st; a Northern Parula at Madawaska Lake on the 3rd; a Black-throated Green Warbler at Barren Lake in Caribou on the 3rd; Northern Waterthrushes at Arnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle on the 3rd and Collins Pond in Caribou and Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield on the 4th.

A pair of Northern Cardinals are visiting a Presque Isle feeder. Ted Roberts got this shot of the pair on Wednesday the 4th.

Blackbird numbers continued to increase as territories are occupied in area marshes. Paul Cyr sent over this nice shot of a singing male.

Notable change in the finch department were lots of Purple Finches arriving at the end of the month.

Evening Grosbeaks continue in pairs and small flocks at Castle Hill, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, New Sweden, Portage Lake, Presque Isle, St. Francis, St. John Stockholm, Winterville and Woodland. Though most have now departed, small numbers of Common Redpolls are still being reported around the area. A Hoary Redpoll was part of one of the last flocks to visit my feeders in Woodland on the 23rd. A handful of Pine Siskins were seen (Caribou, Madawaska Lake, Presque Isle, Woodland) and numbers of these seem to be increasing.

Lake Josephine at dawn

2011-05-03T18:19:00.004-04:00

Paul Cyr visited Lake Josephine on May 2nd just before sunup and sent over this wonderful series of images. I thought I'd share them here.

A Common Loon in the gloom

Teal landing

Ring-necked Ducks

Dawn

Northern Maine Birds: 13-22 April 2011

2011-04-22T05:47:00.025-04:00

I've heard alot of grousing about the weather lately.

Northern Maine has been blustery, cold and damp for most of the past ten days. At least some snow fell at the National Weather Station in Caribou on 7 days and 4 to 8 inches blanketed the area on the 20- 21st.

Ice continued to retreat from area waterbodies but oh-so-slowly....There were some moments when insects were active, but these have been few. Waterfowl and hawk migration expectedly continued at a decent pace, but the unfavorable weather conditions seem to have retarded movements of the smaller birds. "Winter" birds continue to be seen in good numbers.

New and arriving species reported this period:

Green-winged Teal 4/13

Northern Shoveler 4/19

Long-tailed Duck 4/22

Common Loon 4/19

Double-crested Cormorant 4/20

Osprey 4/16

Wilson's Snipe 4/22

Glaucous Gull 4/16

Belted Kingfisher 4/22

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4/16

Winter Wren 4/22

Eastern Bluebird 4/13

Hermit Thrush 4/22

Purple Finch 4/17

Waterfowl diversity and numbers are a bit below last year's tallies for this late in the month.

Over the period, Canada Goose numbers climbed quickly throughout the county, with a high count of 680 on Collins Pond in Caribou on the 21st. A goose was already found on a nest in Fort Fairfield on the 17th!

A Northern Shoveler was spotted near Lake Josephine in Easton on the 19th. (Like most ponds and lakes in the area, both Lake Josephine and Christina Reservoir remain mostly icebound.) An arriving drake Green-winged Teal made a brief appearance at a streamside yard in Presque Isle. Though the little duck didn't stay long, Vickie Ketch was able to snap this shot of the bright bird before it departed.

The rarest duck seen so far was a breeding plumaged drake Long-tailed Duck found on the Aroostook River in Fort Fairfield. usually seen on salt water in bays along the coast, this bird was resting a bit, on its long journey to the Canadian arctic.

Mallards and American Black Ducks continue to dominate the reports with good numbers of divers being seen where ever there is open water. Common Merganser reports seemed increase while Hooded Mergansers seemed to thin out a bit. (The Hoody's vanishing act was probably due, in part, to increasing availability of open water in the small wooded ponds that they prefer.) 78 Ring-necked Ducks were crammed into a small patch of open water at Lake Josephine on the 22nd.

Wild Turkeys are strutting their stuff in Mapleton and Presque Isle. Neale Adams sent over a picture of an impressive gobbler in full display in the middle of his driveway on the 13th! A Ruffed Grouse was budding high in a poplar tree at Arnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle on the 20th.

The first Common Loons quickly overspread the area from Danforth (4/19) to Blaine (4/21) to Fort Fairfield (4/22). Right on schedule, the first arriving Double-crested Cormorant was seen on Presque Isle Stream on the 20th. Great Blue Herons remain the only wader reported in the county to date.

An honorary raptor, a Turkey Vulture was reported again at Mars Hill on the 21st. Bald Eagles continue at the nest in Fort Fairfield. Paul Cyr sent over this shot of the pair after the recent snow.

Other hawk highlights this week was the arrival of Ospreys, increasing numbers of Northern Harriers and American Kestrels and a debated falcon in New Sweden. On the early side of the normal arrival time, a high-flying Osprey in Easton on the 16th was a bit of a surprise. Other arrivals were birds in Sherman (4/21) and Island Falls (4/19). Sharp-shinned Hawks were reported in Bancroft, Castle Hill, Island Falls, New Sweden, Presque Isle and Woodland

Northern Harriers were seen gliding over open fields across the county and American Kestrels were again, reported widely (Ashland, Bridgewater, Caribou, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Hodgdon, Limestone, Mapleton, Sherman, Washburn and Woodland). An apparent Merlin snagged a Mourning Dove at a New Sweden feeder on the 20th. A dark phase Rough-legged Hawk was enjoyed in Fort Fairfield on the 13th. Two light phase individuals were seen near Lake Josephine on the 16th.

Killdeer have crowded into bare spots following the snow. An American Woodcock was heard doing its peenting display in Mapleton on the 13th. Arriving in Fort Fairfield on the 22nd, the first reported Wilson's Snipe was a bit later than average for central Aroostook.

Collins Pond continues to be the spot to find unusual gulls in northern Maine. As many as a thousand gulls are congregating here each evening to bath and roost. As expected, the flock is dominated by migrant Herring and Ring-billed Gulls with a smaller number of Great black-backed Gulls also present. More notable among the flock is a first cycle Glaucous Gull that was seen from 16th to the 20th of April and a first cycle Iceland Gull that was first found on the 11th and continues here to date. The ghostly white Glaucous Gull is seen here with a couple similarly aged Herring Gulls. Another 1st cycle Iceland Gull was seen by the UMPI ornithology class during a visit to the Presque Isle landfill.

Also noteworthy are two and possibly three adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The color marked Ring-billed Gull "A 608" continued to be seen at Collins Pond through to the 21st.

Barred Owls were heard at Trafton Lake in Limestone, Woodland and Presque Isle. The first Belted Kingfisher of the year for me showed at Collins Pond on the 22nd.

Ravens seem to have completed their nest building and there are decidedly less territorial squabbles these days. American Crows however have not yet settled down and nests are still under construction. A pair of dueling crows were fighting in my yard in the pouring rain on the 18th. The battle was particularly vicious, with clawing and heavy blows from their bills. I

watched them tumble around in the mud for well over 30 minutes when they both appeared too exhausted to continue fighting but neither was willing to back down. Heres a shot of the boys going at it. Notice the claw IN the eyelid... ugh.

A few Tree Swallows were noted at Portage Lake (4/16) and in Patten but it appears the early arrivals from the first week of April did not fare well in the cold and rainy weather. Dyer Brook was the location where the first Winter Wren was heard on the 22nd.

Eastern Bluebirds arrived in Bancroft in southern Aroostook county by the 13th and the first Hermit Thrush was reported in the same town on the 22nd.

American Robins have dominated the landscape for the full period and were particularly notable following the snows. I counted

almost three hundred on one small patch of lawn at Trafton Lake on the 16th. Alton and Brenda Ketch sent over this nice photo of an apparently unhappy group of robins in their yard at Madawaska Lake on the 21st.

A late spring pulse of Bohemian Waxwings appeared in Central Aroostook ahead of the snow storm. Small and medium sized flocks were noted in Caribou, Easton, Fort Fairfield Woodland and Presque Isle. Paul Cyr sent over this shot of one of a flock he photographed while they were feeding on some last bits of fruit in Fort Fairfield on the 19th.

Sparrows numbers have been increasing throughout the period with Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows making up the majority of the flocks crowding under feeder these days. Up at the top of the post you'll find a great shot of a junco that Patty Jennings sent up from Stacyville on the 21st. The bird appears to be looking up into the sky and wondering when the snow would stop...Thanks to the deep snow cover in their favored fields, Savannah Sparrows also showed up at feeding stations in the area. This bird's bright yellow lores drew Paul Cyr's attention. American Tree Sparrows continue to linger at area feeders...the very similar Chipping Sparrows should arrive soon, giving an opportunity to compare the two species side-by-side.

Large blackbird flocks continue. Typically arriving a bit later than the male dominated vanguard, female Brown-headed Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds were first noted in flocks this week.

The continuing finch show has been spectacular this week with Common Redpoll counts reaching high hundreds at some area feeders. A Hoary Redpoll was teased out of a horde visiting a New Sweden feeder. Ernie Easter got this nice shot of the silvery finch. After a long absence in northern Maine the first returning Purple Finches were noted last week. Males were seen on the 17th in Caribou, New Sweden and Woodland. Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches are also being spotted in small numbers. Evening Grosbeaks continue to be seen regularly across the area.

Good Birding

Sick Redpolls

2011-04-16T05:59:00.004-04:00

Northern Maine birders are reporting big numbers of Common Redpolls visiting area feeders. These are likely some of the flocks that wintered in southern Maine and elsewhere starting to move back north towards their summer haunts.

I wanted to pass on that there have also been a high number of reports of sick redpolls appearing in across this area as well. In addition to personally spotting a couple in my yard, I have heard of almost a dozen other cases in northern Maine. These were reported in Caribou, Castle Hill, Sherman, Monticello, Easton and Presque Isle. In one yard I visited, the homeowner and I found 14 dead Common Redpolls and 6 or 7 apparently ill birds still sluggishly hopping around on the snow. I haven't heard of other species of birds being found sick or dead.

The sick birds were easy to approach and looked puffed up. Some had droopy wings. Russ Mount sent me this photo of a struggling bird.

According to my biologist friends, it looks like the redpolls around here are suffering from Salmonellosis, a severe infection from the bacteria Salmonella ssp. This disease is spread readily among birds congregating at feeders at this time of the year. The smaller finch species are most susceptible to its effects. Pets and humans can also be effected.

The professionals in-the-know recommended removing and cleaning the feeders in 1 part bleach to 10 part water dilution (NOT in the kitchen sink). Rubber gloves and good hygiene are in order when handling these.

It's also imperative to clean up the end-of-winter gurry of waste seed, hulls and feces that piles up under many of our feeders this time of year. This pile is usually soggy, dark colored and warms easily in the strengthening spring sun and provides a great spot for bacteria to incubate.

Last, it may be a good time to just bring in the feeders for a while and let the redpoll flocks disperse. This is a time in northern Maine when lots of non-bird critters are showing up and causing trouble at feeders anyway. My black bear is probably due any day....

According my reading, its tough to predict when and where a Salmonella outbreak will occur but late winter and early spring are reported to be the most likely times. Preventative regular scrubbings of feeders and debris clean up are good ideas.

Just to continue to track the local outbreak, I'd like to hear if anyone else sees sick birds in their area.

Theres all kinds of good info online on Salmonellosis for those inclined to read more. Heres a link to good synopsis of the disease:

http://www.unbc.ca/nlui/wildlife_diseases_bc/salmonellosis.htm

Marked Ring-billed Gull, Collins Pond Caribou

2011-04-14T21:58:00.007-04:00

Back on the 11th, I spotted a marked Ring-billed Gull at Collins Pond in Caribou. The adult bird was banded with both the standard USF&WS aluminum band and a color band but was also fitted with an orange patagial (wing) tag with the number 608 on it. Craig Kesselhiem was able to relocate the bird the following day.

I suspected the bird was marked as part of an ongoing study of gulls that winter on drinking water reservoirs in Massachusetts since another gull with patagial marks had be found in Aroostook County previously. A quick email check in with the biologists in Mass confirmed that our new bird was part of the study. The bird was apparently banded just a month ago in the famous Price Chopper Plaza on Route 20 in Worcester, Mass! Heres what bander Ken MacKenzie had for statistics about the bird:

Captured 3/15/11 at Price Chopper Plaza, Rt. 20, Worcester, MA

Capture location (GPS): 42.21324, - 71.79617

Captured using a rocket net baited with crackers and bread

Adult male ring-billed gull

Orange wing-tags: A608

Red leg band: 264

Federal leg band: 0994-21427

Released on site

Sightings:

This is the first sighting of this gull since it capture. Thank you!

You can read more about the gull banding effort here.

These are true waterfoul!

2011-04-12T10:44:00.009-04:00

Northern Maine was chilly following the April Fools Day storm. Temperatures averaged a bit normal than average with below freezing nights and daytime breezes that made it feel all the cooler. Happily, high temps for the year came on the 9th and 10th.

Snow cover remains dominant across the northern landscape but bare patches were rapidly appearing in open areas. Faster moving water is open and long stretches of the Aroostook and St John Rivers are now ice free.

For the bulk of the period strong northwest winds seemed to inhibit migratory movements. Southerly flow ahead of an advancing low on the 9th and 10th however, seemed to open the floodgates and a big pulse of arriving birds were noted across the area. Overwintering species continue to be seen

New and arriving birds this week:

Ring-necked Duck 4/6

Ring-necked Pheasant 4/8

Great Blue Heron 4/4

Turkey Vulture 4/2

Northern Harrier 4/8

Rough-legged Hawk 4/10

American Kestrel 4/9

Merlin 4/10

Lesser Black-backed Gull 4/4

Northern Flicker 4/8

Eastern Phoebe 4/10

Tree Swallow 4/9

White-throated Sparrow 4/2

Savannah Sparrow 4/10

Brown-headed Cowbird 4/10

Waterfowl numbers increased this week but diversity was mostly unchanged. Large flocks of Canada Geese began to arrive and the diving ducks were spotted in numbers across the area. A drake Ring-necked Duck was a new arrival on the Aroostook River on April 6th and numbers of others were seen the following day in Caribou and Fort Fairfield. The first Wood Duck, a colorful drake, was reported in Mars Hill on the 11th. Drake Hooded Mergansers were strutting thier stuff at Collins Pond in Caribou over the weekend. Russ Mount got this shot of some amorous drakes around a hen here on Sunday the 10th.

A male Ring-necked Pheasant has been seen around Woodland since last fall. This recent shot shows the bird which has apparently wintered well. Wild Turkeys were also spotted in Ashland, Chapman, Mapleton and Presque Isle.

Earliest in my records by three days, the first Great Blue Heron of the season touched down in Fort Fairfield on the 4th. A pair was reported flying over Westfield on the still-early date of April 9.

Turkey Vultures overspread the county in short order this week. The first was a bird seen over I-95 in Sherman on the 2nd, others were spotted in Blaine and Mars Hill on 4th. As seen at he top of this blog post, Paul Cyr got a nice shot of a flying vulture he discovered in Hamlin on the 9th. Another was seen in Presque Isle on the same day. Within the past 10 years, these big birds have really become established across northern Maine.

Raptor migration progressed steadily over the past week and we've had plenty of newly arrived species. First by few days, a Northern Harrier was reported in Westfield on the 8th. American Kestrels were first seen on the 9th in Linneus and Bancroft in southern parts of the county. By the afternoon of the 10th they had been spotted in Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Limestone, Mapleton and Presque Isle. Right on schedule, the first Merlins were observed in Woodland on the 10th and Mt Chase on the 11th.

A big pulse of Red-tailed Hawks entered central Aroostook co

unty on the 6th with four seen simultaneously soaring over Green Ridge on the Caribou/Presque Isle town line. Others were reported in Ashland, Presque Isle and Washburn on this same day. Two arriving Rough-legged Hawks, one light and one dark phase were seen within minutes of each other in Fort Fairfield on the 10th. Coopers Hawks were reported at Mantle Lake Park in Presque Isle on the 8th and another in a Fort Fairfield yard on the 9th. Sharp-shinned Hawks were well seen with birds reported from Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Houlton, Mapleton, Presque Isle and Woodland.

Bald Eagles continue to spruce up area nests with eagles in Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield reported to be incubating eggs. Eagles were seen in Benedicta, Cross Lake, Crystal, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Island Falls, Presque Isle, Van Buren and Washburn. An interesting plumaged immature eagle was photographed adding sticks to an Osprey nest in Van Buren on the 10th. This almost-4-year-old bird seems to have gotten into the nesting habit a bit earlier in life than others of her species. It'll be interesting to see what the Osprey think of the new additions when they return later this month!

Shorebirds reports are still limited to some hardy Killdeer (Limestone, Caribou) and American Woodcock (Westfield). Both species were seen on the 10th.

Best gulls of the week are 2 (possibly 3) Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a first cycle Iceland Gull being seen at Collins Pond.

One Lesser first arrived on the 4th and a second had joined it by the 6th. These have continued here through the period. The bright yellow legs and intermediate shade of gray on the wings help make this tough identification.

The Iceland Gull was discovered bathing and preening here on the 11th. These are part of a flock of several hundred gulls that roost here in the evening. The flock included Great Black-backed, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. A marked Ring-billed Gull was found here on the 11th as well. (More on that once we find out its origin).

Barred Owls were seen in Presque Isle and Woodland. The first Northern Flickers showed in Fort Fairfield (8th) and Westfield (10th). An exceptionally early flicker was reported to be seen at Madawaska Lake back in mid March. Paul Cyr found a Pileated Woodpecker tearing at a tree in down town Presque Isle.

20 Tree Swallows at Puddledock Pond in Fort Fairfield on the 9th were the second earliest arrivals in my records...beat only by last years exceptionally early arrival on 4 April 2010. Other arriving Tree Swallows were seen in Bancroft, Mt Chase and Portage Lake on the 10th. The first Eastern Phoebes were spotted at Westfield on the 9th and Fort Fairfield and Mt Chase on the 10th which is within the normal arrival dates for the area.

Good numbers of Northern Shrikes were reported including at Easton, Hersey, Mars Hill and Woodland. Bohemian Waxwings are still being seen in small flocks around the area. 22 were seen near Collins Pond in Caribou on the 11th.

The first huge influx of American Robins was noted from the 8th through the 11th. Suffice to say they are now EVERYWHERE. Dark Eyed Junco and Song Sparrow numbers also took a noticeable jump upward. An early White-throated Sparrow seen at a feeder on the 2nd may have been an overwintering bird. The season's first Savannah Sparrows were reported at Fort Fairfield and Westfield on the 10th. A few Snow Buntings continue to be reported (Westfield and Conner Twp on 9 April).

Blackbird numbers continue to increase and the first flocks containing Brown-headed Cowbirds were noted in Woodland on the 10th and at Mars Hill on the 11th

Common Redpolls have probably reached high counts for the season at area feeders. well over 200 are visiting my yard in Woodland but there has been no sign of Hoaries. Evening Grosbeaks continue at feeders in Caribou, Castle Hill, New Sweden and Madawaska Lake. A few American Goldfinches are being spotted and their increasingly yellow plumage was enthusiastically noted.

A flock of 50+ House Sparrows seen behind the McDonalds restaurant in Presque Isle on the 8th was a notable high count

Northern Maine Birds: First two weeks of spring

2011-04-02T09:27:00.011-04:00

As usual, springlike weather was not to be found during the first couple weeks of "spring" on the calendar. Generally temperatures were below normal and more ice was made than melted on northern Maine's ponds and lakes. With the exception of the April Fools Day storm the period was also fairly dry with plenty of bare ground showing in open and wet spots.

Despite the wintery weather, the first migrant birds of the season began to arrive in northern Maine.

New and arriving species for 17 March through April 1 were:

Canada Goose 3/20

Hooded Merganser 3/24

Red-tailed Hawk 3/19

Great Black-backed Gull 3/19

Herring Gull 3/19

Ring-billed Gull 3/18

Killdeer 3/24

American Woodcock 3/26

American Robin (migrants) 3/17

Red-winged Blackbird 3/17

Common Grackle 3/18

Song Sparrow 3/18

Fox Sparrow 4/1

Waterfowl started to trickle north in mid-month but cold weather seemed to put the brakes on any substantial influx. Canada Geese were first spotted in Ashland and within the next few days small groups were spotted in Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle and Washburn. Paul Cyr sent over this photo of a chilly gaggle.... Hooded Mergansers arrived right on schedule at Collins Pond in Caribou. A flock of 10 was seen on Presque Isle Stream on April 1. Mallard, American Black Duck and Common Goldeneye numbers are all increasing whereever there is open water. A single Common Merganser drake overwintered successfully in the open water below the Aroostook Dam in Caribou.

An intriguing report of a small buteo flying over Crystal on March 13 may have been Red-shouldered Hawk. An arriving Red-tailed Hawk over

Caribou on the 19th was being escorted through the area by a pair of Common Ravens. Another Red-tailed was enjoying some effortless hovering in Hersey on the 28th thanks to a strong wind. Adult Northern Goshawks were seen in Caribou on the 24th and in Woodland on April 1. A Sharp-shinned Hawk has recently been visiting a feeding station near Mantle Lake in Presque Isle. Bald Eagles are now being seen at the nests in Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield.

Two Spruce Grouse were reported at a camp at Madawaska Lake on the 25th. Wild Turkeys continue to visit a yard near Hanson Lake in Presque Isle.

The earliest in my records, a Killdeer was spotted on a small bare patch of sod near the Presque Isle cemetery on the 24th of March. Others were seen in Westfield and Caribou on the 29th. Also hunkered down on a rare bare spot, the first American Woodcock of the season was photographed on 27 March in Island Falls by Jonathan Mays.

Right on schedule, the first handful of returning gulls showed up on the 18th and 19th in Caribou. Small numbers of Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls have been seen regularly in the area since but numbers have not increased substantially since the first pulse appeared.

An owl survey in southern Aroostook and northern Penobscot towns came up empty but Paul Cyr has a pair of Barred Owls on territory on his farm in Presque Isle. Paul took advantage of his good luck to get some great shots of one of the roosting owls including the nice portrait up at the top of this post. Other Barred's were reported in Hersey and Washburn.

A Northern Shrike was seen in Houlton on the 30th. Boreal Chickadees were seen in Hersey and Woodland. The flood fields in Washburn held a single Horned Lark on March 28th. The first migrant robins overswept the county on the the 18th through the 20th with numbers seen in Caribou, Madawaska Lake, Sherman, Houlton, Presque Isle and Madawaska. Patty Jennings sent this photo of a snow bound American Robin in Stacyville on the 2nd.

A small pulse of migrant sparrows arrived just before the big snow storm on April Fools Day. The first migrant Dark-eyed Juncos were reported on the 22nd at New Sweden and 31st at Caribou and Woodland. A Fox Sparrow returned to Woodland on the 1st of April. Beating them all, the first Song Sparrows were living up to their names and vocalizing when they were discovered. The first arrival was reported in Sherman in southern Aroostook county on the 18th. Others were heard singing in Caribou and Presque Isle on the 1st. A White-throated Sparrow has successfully overwintered at a feeder on the Hardison Road in Caribou.

Red-winged Blackbirds beat Common Grackles for arrival date bragging rights this year. The first blackbird was reported in Monticello on the 17th with others were spotted in Presque Isle, Caribou and Woodland the following day. A Common Grackle reached Madawaska Lake by the 20th.

A Hoary Redpoll continues with 40+ Common Redpolls at my feeder in Woodland. Commons appear to be moving about the area with most observers reporting wildly fluctuating counts over the past week. High counts were noted just before the arrival of the snow storm on the 1st. 380+ were seen at one feeder in Caribou that morning. Still reported in low numbers, Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches are being reported in Caribou, New Sweden and Fort Fairfield.

Pine Grosbeaks were at a Madawaska lake feeder on the 25th and 3-5 Evening Grosbeaks are still visiting my yard in Woodland. A high count of Evening Grosbeaks was reported from New Sweden on the 22nd.

Winter Wrap up 2011

2011-03-18T14:18:00.020-04:00

Its been a long while since I posted on the Northern Maine Birds Blog. ...Just needed a break and figured the depths of winter was the time.

Its now the last days of the season and a good time to summarize the avian going's-on in Northern Maine over the past few months.

To generalize, the winter was a moderate one.

Temperatures were a tad warmer than average overall and snowfall totals lagged behind normal in northern and central portions of the area until early March. There was plenty of open water into January and for the first time in a long time, a New Year's Day polar bear swim was possible at Long Lake in Sinclair! Thanks to some windy conditions that scoured snow from open areas, bare ground was peeking through out in the fields for parts of all months.

The cone and nut crops were mediocre, but catkins and fruit were in good supply. Voles and other small rodents regularly encountered.

Feeders have been busy this year with a couple species of finches making good showings. Warm and open conditions allowed some half hardy species to linger late with some staying into the new year. Fruit eaters showed early and stayed for the duration.

As usual, overwintering waterfowl included Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, American Black Ducks and Mallards. Two Green-winged Teal lingered until Dec 30 near Trafton Lake in Limestone making them the latest ever in my records. The Common Goldeneye flock near the Aroostook River Dam numbered in the low 30's through late January when cold temperatures reduced the open water.

The ME Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's continuing releases of Wild Turkeys in central Aroostook led to a first ever record of this species on the Presque Isle Christmas Bird Count on January 1. The birds were regularly reported in Mapleton, Castle Hill, Ashland, Perham and Presque Isle this winter.

Bald Eagles continue to increase as overwintering birds in northern Maine. Nine were seen at once a the Presque Isle landfill on January 1 and an adult was seen regularly in downtown Presque Isle as it hunted Mallards and Black Ducks near the wastewater treatment plant.

Paul Cyr got this picture of the Presque Isle bird on 23 Feb.

Northern Goshawks were also spotted fairly frequently this season. Adults were seen near Lake Josephine in Easton on 4 December 2010, Presque Isle on 16 December 2010, Ashland on 28 January 2011 and in Woodland on 9 March 2011. A Coopers Hawk was reported from Presque Isle on 5 February 2011.

Sharp-shinned Hawks were also around in numbers with several reported to be taking advantage of the avian crowds at some area feeders. Sharp-shins were reported in Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle, Caribou as well as this fat and happy accipiter that was photographed by Ernie Easter in New Sweden on January 17th.

Gulls departed the area by mid December and except for 6 Great Black-backed Gulls seen flying over Easton on 19 February, none were seen again until their recent return on 18 and 19 March.

There were no unusual northern owl species found this winter. Barred Owls were well reported and a Great Horned Owl was photographed on the roof of a building in Houlton during the first week of March.

Most notable woodpecker of the winter was a lingering Northern Flicker that was found in Chapman during the Presque Isle Christmas Bird Count on Jan 1st. A highest-ever count of 29 for Hairy Woodpeckers during the PI CBC was likely a result of increased numbers of observers rather than any population change. Northern Shrikes were spotted but in decent numbers with at least a dozen reported in the central Aroostook area since late December. Shrikes were seen in Caribou, Chapman, Presque Isle, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Portage Lake and Woodland.

Many observers reported lower number of Blue Jays around feeders so far this year, but Gray Jays have been well seen in appropriate habitat.

In addition to the expected Snow Buntings, the open conditions favored what seemed to be an unusually high number of wintering Horned Larks. A high count was 27 larks seen on January 23rd with a flock of 120 Snow Buntings and nearly as many Common Redpolls. The flock was feeding on weed seeds in a windswept fallow field.

Brown Creepers are generally a rare sight in most of the county during the coldest months. This year, however one spent the winter in my yard in Woodland, regularly visiting the suet blocks. Golden-crowned Kinglets also seemed to stay north in unusual numbers

Bohemian Waxwings came early (24 Oct 2010) and, thanks to a decent fruit crop, stayed in the area throughout the winter. Paul Cyr photographed this elegant bird on the Fort Fairfield/PI townline on 18 March 2011.

Though they usually vacate northern Maine for a few months in winter, American Robins also overwintered in small numbers with individuals reported in Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent and Houlton.

Numbers of American Tree Sparrows seemed down as these were not reported in the usual numbers. Open conditions allowed Dark-eyed Juncos to linger in Caribou, Mars Hill, Presque Isle, Washburn and Woodland. A White-throated Sparrow lingered until late January at a feeder in Caribou. As noted earlier, Snow Bunting were about the area in numbers through the period. Limited snow in open areas certainly allowed them to forage successfully. No Lapland Longspurs were reported.

As usual, the winter finch scene was a mixed bag. Common Redpolls were the star of the feeders this year. After arriving in early December the birds were seen in moderate numbers through early January and then in increasing numbers of large flocks (200+) after this time. Paul Cyr's redpolls in the picture at the top were photographed in Presque Isle on the 8th of March. 4 different Hoary Redpolls were spotted in the flocks of Commons at my feeders (2 January, 6 February, 13 and 18 March). None seemed to stay long. Other Hoaries were seen in New Sweden and Castle Hill on 19 March.

Pine Grosbeaks were seen but in the lowest numbers in a few years. A flock of 14 flying over the the ski slopes of Mars Hill Mountain on 19 February was the high count for me.

Evening Grosbeaks made their best showing in years with double digit size flocks reported in many locations in central and northern parts of the area. Numbers peaked at ~60 in my yard on 13 March and the bright birds remain in the area to date. this bright male was at a feeder in Stockholm.

Very few White-winged Crossbills were reported. One in Ashland on the 28th of January and a pair occasionally visiting a Castle Hill feeder in mid-March were the only ones that I can recall. Single digit counts of American Goldfinches came in regularly from across the area. The only reported Pine Siskins were one seen in New Sweden on February 19th and a foursome that reached my year the following day. My birds departed four days later. NO Purple Finches were spotted during the Christmas Bird Count and confirm-able reports of these were just as scarce for the duration of the winter.

Now on to spring arrivals!

Cattle Egret in Easton

2010-11-10T19:07:00.002-05:00

A Cattle Egret was found feeding on the lawn of the McCain Foods wastewater treatment plant on 9 November. Cattle Egrets are quite rare in Maine and very unexpected in northernmost Maine in November! There are only a handful of records for the county.

Environmental Manager Jeff Saucier got this great documentation of the rare bird.

Great Egret continuing at Collins Pond, Caribou

2010-09-20T20:42:00.009-04:00

Great Egrets are a rarity in northern Maine. They appear occasionally in spring and fall, and being big and snowy white they certainly aren't hard to detect once they arrive. I know of at least 7 records involving 9 individuals in the county in the past ten years.

Most recently a Great Egret has been regularly seen wading and feeding in shallow wetland edge of Collins Pond in Caribou. I first found the big wader here on Sept 7 and the bird continues to be seen daily through today, the 20th.

Paul Cyr got these great shots of the egret last week on the 14th and I've been meaning to share them.

The Great Egret can be separated from other large white wading bird by the combination of its large size, yellow bill and black legs and feet. All these are seen well in this great shot of the flying bird!

Another Great Egret was reported in Fort Fairfield about the same time this one arrived early in September. No further reports have been received about this bird.

Yellow-headed Black bird and Red-necked Phalarope

2010-09-03T20:01:00.007-04:00

I went afield this morning, to see what was around prior to the arrival of the wrath of Earl. It turned out to be one of the better birding days I've had in a while. Abundant migrants and few rareties made it special. 83 species total.

Highlights were a Yellow-headed Blackbird (a state bird for me) and eleven species of shorebirds including an American Golden Plover and my county/inland-first Red-necked Phalarope.

The blackbird was found in a large flock of Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds at Barren Lake in south east Caribou. I believe this is the second county record and the first in fall. Here is a digiscoped documentation shot taken from across the pond... I don't know much about the plumage and molt of this species, but I think this bird was an adult female. I'd love to hear from anyone more knowledgeable regarding the age and sex of this bird.

The rare shorebirds were at Lake Josephine in Easton.

Though numbers here were down a bit from mid August highs, the diversity made up for it. Obviously the Red-necked Phalarope was the highlight here. This species is usually encountered well offshore in Maine and inland records are few. My high-noon digiscoped photos of the phalarope leave something to be desired thanks to the wind and magnification... Lesser Yellowlegs continue to dominate the counts here but eight Pectoral Sandpipers and a flyover American Golden Plover were also treats!

There were quite a few raptors moving with American Kestrels and Merlins dominating the count.

If this is whats around BEFORE the hurricane, I can't wait to see what falls out after the blow....

Black Vulture in Houlton

2010-08-14T12:48:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Eric Hynes at Maine Audubon sent me an eBird alert regarding a Black Vulture that was reported at Houlton on 10 August. The vulture was apparently seen at the Tim Horton's donut shop (a favored re-caffienation spot for road-weary northbound birders) located just off Interstate 95! I followed up with the reporter, Noel Dodge and he obligingly sent along a couple of photos of the bird with these details:

"...The vulture flew down (moving west) across the road and perched on the
light. I saw that it was a black vulture as it flew, since it was only 15-20 meters away and then I drove over there and took some photos from my truck before having to move so as to not block traffic. As I photographed the bird stretched its wings up over its back showing the white wing tips well. A very cooperative bird!"

His attached photos (cropped a bit) are reproduced here. Pertinent features that help make the ID and separate the Black Vulture from the more likely Turkey Vulture include: black head, shorter straight bill, whitish legs, shorter tail and overall black plumage with no brown tones.

The white in the outer primaries is visible in this wing-up shot.

It appears this bird's head skin is relatively smooth and the bill isn't prominently two-toned which suggests this bird is a juvenile. As a youngster, driver inexperience would explain why the bird ended up so far north of its normal range.

By my recollection this is the fourth or fifth Black Vulture reported in Maine this year and only the second ever to be found in northern Maine.

Green Heron, Sora and Virginia Rail juveniles, Easton

2010-07-28T05:37:00.009-04:00

Thanks to a busy schedule, I have not had a chance to visit Lake Josephine in Easton in almost two weeks. Luckily several area birders have been keeping me up to date on the development of the Green Heron hatchlings and other birds of the marshes here.

Paul Cyr stopped by and checked the nest on the morning of July 23rd and got this wonderful set of pictures of the Green Heron nestlings. They would be only about 9 to 11 days old at the time these pictures were taken yet they are already up and out of the nest! My sources say these birds fledge and can fly by about three weeks so these birds will probably be leaving their natal bush by the first full weekend of August.

I also read that the juvies are excellent swimmers, which will be a handy skill as they try out their wings from this water-bound nest site!

Both adults continue to feed the young. The hatchlings stick their heads inside the parents bills and the adults regurgitate food for them. Here the male (with some new wing covert feathers) is being prompted by a nestling to offer up some goodness!

Paul also got some great shots of the juvenile Sora and Virginia Rails in the marsh.

This Virginia Rail is now almost adult sized. Hard to believe it was a fuzzy black chick a little more than two weeks ago.

A juvie Sora with a Virginia in the foreground. Two rail species in one shot!

Fish River Lake, Nesting larids

2010-07-12T19:00:00.012-04:00

Laurie and I took a paddle around Fish River Lake in T13/14R5 on
Sunday, 11 July. Though we started our drive out to the lake early, frequent
side explorations and bird distractions resulted in our lake tour
being a mid-day affair. The lake is located west of Route 11 and
northwest of Portage Lake.

Notable finds were a sizeable Common Tern colony (22 birds) on a small ledge. The agitated birds obviously had nests on the rock and I caught quick glimpses of larger, gray and fuzzy chicks. ( I later found out from Jon Greenlaw that terns have nested at this location for many years.) We gave the terns a wide berth and let the breeze carry us away from the rock.

We pulled in behind a small island nearby, so I could watch the terns without disturbing them. While sneaking through the thick brush on the islet, I discovered an apparent Herring Gull nest on a ledge outcrop under the branches of a spruce tree. The nest was on the highest vantage point of the rock and was really just a shallow depression in the woody duff and moss under the trees. The nest contained only a few gull feathers to hint at the identity of its creator.

Before retreating, I snapped a couple quick photos of the nest ....

and the handsome olive-with-umber spotted egg.

I was surprised I didn't notice the Herring Gull doing any sort of a distraction display or calls when I unknowingly approached its nest. It was, however keeping a close watch of me with its cold yellow eye....

While I'm sure coastal birders would yawn about gull nesting "news", it was the first Herring Gull nest I've found in Aroostook Co.

There were also 40+ Ring-billed Gulls on the lake but these appeared
to be summering non-breeders. These were loafing on a rock bar mid lake well away from the breeding birds on the north end.

Of course, there were the expected Common Loons, Bald Eagle, Common Mergansers as well as a couple of immature Double crested Cormorants loafing on ledge in the south basin. Good birds all, but the larid show was most interesting to this land locked birder

Bird song is beginning to wane in the north as well, but there was a
decent bunch of vocal land birds on the trip to the lake. A singing male Fox Sparrow near the Beaver Brook Bridge was a nice surprise. We heard twelve species of warblers with the best among them being Canada and Blackburnian. Boreal Chickadees, a pair of deep-woods Chimney Swifts and a steady chorus of thrush song were also enjoyed.

Good birding!

American Robins fledge from nest in Presque Isle

2010-07-06T17:41:00.026-04:00

After one of the best nesting seasons in several years, fledgling birds are leaving nests across northern Maine.

Paul Cyr kept a close eye on the progress of the American Robin nest in his shop this summer. He sent over this fantastic photo series showing the rapid development of the hatchlings into fledglings... After two weeks of incubation by the female, the eggs begin to hatch.
And they're hungry.

By day three there are five nestlings. Their eyes are closed and have only a few wisps of natal down on them.

On day six the eyes are still closed but the feather tracts on their head wings and back are starting to develop.

Day nine shows eyes are opening and strong feather growth on all but the runt of the brood. The less developed chick is forced out of the nest bowl by its more fully developed nestmates.

On the eleventh day there were only four nestlings.... eyes are fully open and juvenal plumage is has covered the young birds.

By day twelve the youngsters have grown so big they crowded yet another nestling out of the nest. The fledging begins...

On the morning of the fourth Paul reported the nest was empty and the four fledglings were ungainly making their way around his yard. Both parents will continue to feed these for a couple weeks and then they'll be on their own. The parents will have plenty of time to start the process again.

Juvenile Virginia Rails at Lake Josephine, Easton

2010-07-02T05:57:00.009-04:00

Paul Cyr called yesterday to let me know I'd missed a great show at Lake Josephine in Easton on Thursday morning. Paul started his July at the crack of dawn and was photographing wildlife in one of the marshes near the lake when one of the breeding Virginia Rails emerged from the cattails with her brood of 6 fresh and fuzzy young!

Paul said the adult (presumed female) came out to edge of the thick vegetation and began to feed and call to the chicks. One by one they popped out and began to follow their mom around and nibble at her offerings. Paul got some great pictures of these rarely-seen juveniles of a rarely-seen species.

The leggy black young paraded along behind their mother but Paul said they appeared so young and inexperienced that they barely figured out to navigate around the debris or how to forage for bugs.

Paul was able to get a shot of five of the six young in one frame. Click on the image to enlarge it and count them for yourself.

Thanks to Paul for more great bird photos for us to enjoy.

Bald Eagle+Full Moon+Paul Cyr

2010-06-30T21:36:00.002-04:00

Black-backed Woodpecker nest in Sinclair

2010-06-29T07:00:00.007-04:00

Geoff LeBaron and I found a woodpecker nest in Sinclair midday on 18 June.

We were birding near a midsized wetland in a boreal area and we were alerted to the nest by the incessant and very loud begging calls coming from a snag. The dead spruce stump had several holes in it and though we watched from a distance for quite a while, we were unable to see any activity or even figure out which hole held the youngsters. The snag was surrounded by apparently deep, dark, mucky bog water and we couldn't inspect any closer than ~ 50 feet. Though the begging juvie occasionally gave a rattling squawk among the steady squeaky begging calls, there were few other clues to the identity of the bird(s) and we ended up leaving the area without confirming the ID of the bird.

The following morning Tom Sayers and I returned and spent an hour watching the nest. it didn't take long before the parents showed up and revealed that this was a Black-backed Woodpecker nest! We were able to get great views as the male (predominantly) and the female brought food to the begging youngster. Though there may have been more out of sight in the cavity it sounded and appeared that there was only one juvenile.

The young male looked just about ready to fledge and was already sporting a bit of a yellow crest.

Tom got these fantastic shots of the family that morning and allowed me to share them here.

Green Heron update, Ruddy Duck display Lake Josephine, Easton

2010-06-26T04:57:00.013-04:00

Russell Mount, Paul Cyr and I checked on the Green Heron nest at one of the marshes near Lake Josephine in Easton on Friday morning. A single adult was in the nest and, unlike my last visit on the 21st, there was no activity by the birds. The nest appears to be fully constructed and little heron now appears to incubating eggs. There was no sign of the male, but he easily could have been out of sight nearby.

The Sora and Virginia Rails are still calling in this area and seem quite numerous here.

By luck, we were able to watch a couple Virginia's square off in an apparent territorial squabble. The birds were feeding and calling about 10 yards apart at the edge of the floating mats of cattails with no problem until one came into view of the other. One of the two flew over to the second bird and they immediately engaged in some wing-slapping, clawing and pecking. They were both making a squeaky, raspy "keek" call while fighting. This went on for a second or two and then they settled down, bill tip to bill tip, and pumped their heads up and down, each matching the others movements. After about 10 seconds of these head pumps, things again broke down into another tussle, though I'm not sure what happened this round since they were partially obscured during this part. They again went nose to nose and then one of the two (the bird who initially flew over to engage the other, I think) decided he'd had enough. He turned and disappeared into the cattails. The other shook and preened for a moment and then headed into the cattails in the other direction. Paul was able to get a quick shot of the two in action.

The whole engagement of these two rails reminded me a lot of the fights I would see young roosters have on my parents farm when I was growing up.

We were also treated to another testosterone fueled display, this one, by a male Ruddy Duck that patrols the marsh near the Green Heron nest. The male has been in this area for several weeks and I assume there is a hen Ruddy on a nest nearby. The male has generally been skulky and allowed only quick glimpses before, diving or swimming out of sight.

Yesterday was a different story and the gorgeous male dove under the thick layer of duck weed and came quite close to us on a couple occasions. It was interesting that the duck would make hardly a ripple when it emerged from the dive and seemed to just appear.

The male began to do its Bubble display when it was at its closest and I got the best view I have ever had of this display.

Though I could try to describe the show, Ralph Palmer in the Handbook of North American Birds provides a succinct summary of the routine: "...the drake sits high on the water, neck swollen (tracheal air sac inflated), head held as high as possible, tail angled forward so that its tip is near his nape. Then the head is drawn down 6-12 times in increasing tempo and, each time, the bill is slapped against the breast. Each jerk is shorter, until the head is merely bobbed against the breast, the bill striking the feathers near waterline (forces air from among the feathers into water and bubbles form around breast; bill does not touch water), producing a hollow tapping sound. Then the neck is stretched forward as the tail is lowered, the bill angled slightly upward, then opened, and a 2 syllabled raa-anh uttered. During this display the body feathering is raised slightly , also 2 crests, one on each side of crown, are prominent."

Paul was able to get lots of great photos of the drake Ruddy as it displayed. With this point-blank image, Paul froze the head bobbing/breast beating action in mid display. Head crests and tail are erect and you can see the bubbles boiling out from the the breast feathers. Though Palmer didn't mention it, at close range these bubbles being expelled from the breast feathers adds a sizzling sound to the display!

Here Paul captured the end of the display where the little duck gives his raa-anh call. I love that this duck seems to almost have lips...

A couple of otters made a patrol through the marsh while the Ruddy Duck was displaying and it was hard not to be distracted by their loud calls. The birds were definitely concerned about the presence of these marauders and all the duck broods scattered into the thick cattails as soon as the otters arrived. Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds mobbled the pair whenever they emerged from the water. It appeared that one of the otters found a nest of one of the blackbirds and appeared to make short work of the contents...

As we were getting ready to leave the area we discovered a Yellow Warbler had been busy constructing a nest in some Red Osier bushes, essentially right under our noses. I had noted the yellow bird flitting back and forth while we were watching the heron, rails and ducks but it took until it almost landed on my binoculars that I really took notice. The female was carrying in small dry strands of what appeared to be sedge and other marsh grass and quickly worked it into the bowl. Paul was able to get this nice shot from his vehicle as the warbler shaped the nest bowl.

Not a bad 90 minutes in the marsh! Here's the full list for Lake Jo area yesterday AM:

Location: Lake Josephine
Observation date: 6/25/10
Number of species: 45

Canada Goose 55 Larger flock of apparent nonbreeders on Lake Jo plus 25+ young with parents
Wood Duck 12 Many males now in full eclipse plumage
American Wigeon 20 first hen with chicks (5), most of others were males
American Black Duck 15 brood of older juvies (4) plus molting adults
Mallard 80 At least 8 broods of Mallards 40+ (adult size to fresh fuzzies). Molting drakes
Ring-necked Duck 30 Males mostly
Ruddy Duck 7 6 in Lake Jo One male in marsh, displaying near assumed nest. Photos
Pied-billed Grebe 1 stayed in same area in marsh for two hours Nest nearby?
Double-crested Cormorant 4
American Bittern 1 in lower ponds
Green Heron 1 presumed female sitting on nest incubation has begun
Osprey 1
Virginia Rail 3
Sora 2
Killdeer 1 heard only
Spotted Sandpiper 3
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker 1
Alder Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
American Crow 1
Common Raven 2
Tree Swallow 1
Veery 1
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling 8
Cedar Waxwing 6
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 8 nest near green heron observation spot
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Savannah Sparrow 4 north side of Lake Jo
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 5 singing on territories
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2 singing
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 20
Baltimore Oriole 2 singing males
American Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Northern Maine Birds, 1-21 June 2010

2010-06-20T20:01:00.019-04:00

The last 3 weeks of spring were just as fabulous (weatherwise) as the earlier months of the season here in Northern Maine. Though the first week of the month was a soggy one, the nearly 3" of rain was needed and the developing greenery sucked up much of the precipitation. Temperatures have been nearly normal for this time of the year.

The breeding season is in full swing and nesting and fledgling birds are everywhere. It appears thus far, that nesting success, for both land and water birds, is as good as its been in four or five years in northern Maine.

Waterfowl highlights in the County this month include the "usual" breeding Redheads (2 pairs), Ruddy Ducks (at least 2 pairs nesting with as many as 12 other probable non-breeders), American Wigeon, Gadwall and Northern Shovelers at Lake Josephine in Easton. Though none of these species have yet to appear with young, the first broods should be leaving the nests here any day. A Eurasian Wigeon drake found here back on 26 May lingered through at least 13 June. Jonathan Mays caught this drake Gadwall on the wing at Easton on the 12th.

A Green-winged Teal hen with 10 just-hatched ducklings was seen on the 19th in a small ponded area just off the Burnt Landing Road in Square Lake Township. The hen put on an impressive distraction display which included flying into a rank stand of tamarack and cedar and landing on the mossy forest floor. I would have liked to watch more but we left the area quickly so she could return to her little fuzzballs.

Also at Lake Josephine a hen Common Goldeneye whose initial clutch numbered 8 on the 10th was tending only four big-but-fuzzy youngsters on the 20th...

A Spruce Grouse hen was seen with chicks in Square Lake Township on the 13th. Jonathan Mays got this nice shot of the little one. Ruffed Grouse too, are showing with chicks in the area.

A rare find this far north, a pair of Green Herons discovered constructing a nest near Lake Josephine on the 20th, was one of the best finds of the month. Thanks to Paul Cyr's photos, this was the northernmost documented nest for the state. American Bitterns are being seen regularly now at Lake Josephine and Christina Reservoir.

Many of the breeding raptors in northern Maine are nearing time to fledge. The Bald eaglet at the Aroostook River nest in Fort Fairfield has been seen exercising its wings and has actually lifted off the nest a few times! This will be first eaglet produced from this nest in many years. Other area eagle nests are also having a productive spring. Paul Cyr also got this shot of the eagles at a nest in Presque Isle.

The young Northern Goshawk at the Nordic Heritage Ski Centre in Presque Isle is ready to fledge as well. I know several mountain bikers who have been eagerly following the progress of this nest, mostly because they are looking forward to the re-opening of the bike trails on this side of the ridge. Merlins nesting in Caribou and Presque Isle were reported to have fledged their young in early June- early dates.

The Common Moorhens have once again returned to Lake Josephine and are apparently settling in to the same pond where they nested last year. First heard on the 6th, the birds have offered some fleeting glimpses since then. Soras and Virginia Rails are very vocal lately. Paul Cyr recently captured these fine portraits of the hard-to-see species.

Though some local Killdeer have produced young already, Wilson's Snipe continue to perform their winnowing displays over swamps in Sinclair and Square Lake. Ken Lamb photographed this leggy Killdeer youngster recently.

25+ Common Terns appear to have begun nesting at the colony on the north end of Long Lake in St. Agatha. There has been no sign of the Black Terns that were seen here in past years.

A species that I completely missed in northern Maine last year, a Black-billed Cuckoo was calling in the Woodland Bog on the afternoon of the 22nd.

American Three-toed Woodpeckers have been showing exceptionally well this month. Pairs have been seen regularly at the Burnt Landing Road in Square Lake and along the Moscovic Road in Stockholm. Others were spotted near Beardsley Brook in New Sweden and off of the Square Lake Road in Cross Lake Township. Black-backed Woodpeckers have also been seen at the Square Lake and Stockholm locations. A Black-backed hatchling's incessant begging gave away its nest location on the edge of a wetland off the McLean Brook Road in Sinclair (T17R4). The little woodpecker(s)? were peering from the nest hole by the 19th and appeared ready to fledge any day. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are busy now and easy to find. Patty Jennings sent along this photo of a pair in her yard

The flycatchers have been well reported this month. Two Olive-side Flycatchers and 5+ Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were heard at the Moscovic Road on the 19th. The young left a Boreal Chickadee nest in Square Lake Township sometime in the afternoon of the 18th or the early morning of the 19th. Though lately it hasn't been unusual to encounter (hear) 15 or 20 of these in a morning in the field, they get significantly quieter once their young have fledged. Rare in northern Maine at any time, 3 or 4 calling Willow Flycatchers have taken up residence on the river flat just across the Aroostook River from the town of Fort Fairfield.

Family groups of Gray Jays are commonly encountered in most of the deep, dark conifer swamps lately. A tally of 16 was made in the morning of the 19th in north-central Aroostook Co.

Though Winter Wrens have begun to sing a bit more lately, a pair of nesting House Wrens in Fort Fairfield is far more noteworthy. At the northern extreme of the breeding range, there have been a few reports of House Wrens nesting in the county, but Kathy Hunter's photo provided the first documentation of the event in this region.

The warblers continue in full song in the wooods of northern Maine. 21 species were tallied here over the weekend. Notables among the list were a pair of Cape May Warblers seen and four singing Mourning Warblers at Loring in Limestone, three male Bay-breasted Warblers at Beardsley brook in New Sweden, 4+ singing Wilson's Warblers along the Moscovic Road and a very vocal Tennessee Warbler on territory along the Burnt Landing Road in Square Lake Twp. Other singing Mourning Warblers were seen along a woods road off of Route 11 south of Masardis on the 12th.

Quite uncommon in the north, an Indigo Bunting seen in the Sherman Station area of Stacyville on the 12th was a noteworthy find

Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated, Savannah, Song, Swamp, Chipping, Lincoln's and Vesper Sparrows were heard singing at Aroostook NWR on the 20th.

With the exception of American Goldfinch and Purple Finch, the finches have been a tough group of birds to find this month. Flyover White-winged Crossbills, an Evening Grosbeak and Pine Siskin were heard at Stockholm on the 19th.

Bird Festival at Aroostook State Park Tomorrow

2010-06-11T20:30:00.002-04:00

Weather looks good... First bird walk starts at 5 AM!

Swimming Eagles in Lakeville, Penobscot Co.

2010-06-01T04:46:00.007-04:00

I recently received an apparently well-circulated email message describing a fantastic observation of local wildlife.... a pair of Bald Eagles was reportedly seen swimming in a lake south of here!

I followed up with the originator of the message, Linda Webster, and she put me in touch with Joshua and Meaghan Clapp who gave me permission to post their pictures and story of their strange find.

The Clapps were at their camp on Bottle Lake in Lakeville in Penobscot county back on May 2, 2010 when a kayaker approached them about helping some "tangled' eagles floating in the lake. They checked it out and got the great series of photos seen here.

Josh recounted the following:

"...a guy in a kayak came to the dock and asked if we knew how to get eagles untangled. Apparently 2 bald eagles got tangled together and were just floating down the lake after being exhausted from struggling to get free. We went out in the
boat and they seemed to be too tired to care that we were really close. Eventually we nudged them with the boat and they both flapped and got untangled. After that they swam to shore because they were unable to get airborne from the water. One of
them flew away right after it got up onto a rock. The other one tried flying, but didn't make it more than a few yards. It eventually climbed a tree leaning over the water and took off. I think they're both fine. Probably won't ever get that close
to 2 live eagles again."

Meaghan added:

"... After the man described what he could see, I said "I can't even picture what this looks like!" Apparently they had been at the end of the lake near Susan and Dick's camp and had been screeching and
struggling to break free from one another and then became exhausted and began floating down toward the boat launch. The kayaker had called the game warden, but he was over an hour away, so we wanted to help if possible. They must have been exhausted
because they didn't even try to move when we approached them with the boat. It was amazing to see them "swimming" to shore too. Their wings are so big! I yelled to my mom from the boat and she was able to come out of the camp in time to see the
eagle sitting on a rock about 20 feet away from her. I don't think we'll ever get that close to a bald eagle again in the wild or see such a bizarre situation. Thankfully they both seemed unharmed!"

I wondered about how this could happen and supposed that this was some sort of territorial dispute. The birds in Josh and Meaghan's photos were both adults.

After doing some research, I discovered some information on Bald Eagle breeding behavior and found there is a ritual called the Cartwheel Display in which the pair of courting eagles fly to high altitudes and then lock talons and tumble and cartwheel back to earth! According to the article I read, the eagles are supposed to disengage just before reaching the ground. Apparently these two didn't quite get it right and splashed down in the lake.

Regarding the swimming behavior that they saw, this is apparently not all that unusual and there quite a few reports of eagles catching large fish and "swimming" them into shallow water/ shore.

This was a great report of some rarely seen Bald Eagle behavior. Thanks to Linda, Josh and Meaghan for allowing their experience to be recounted here!

Bald Eaglets in Aroostook

2010-05-25T05:41:00.008-04:00

Paul Cyr recently took a buzz around central Aroostook coutny and checked on our nesting eagles. What he saw was very encouraging. After several seasons of poor production it looks like many of the nests have successfully hatched eggs!

In all Paul counted seven eaglets at four nests: three in Presque Isle and one in Fort Fairfield. He commented that most of the nests had small caches of meats and fish to feed the young birds. You can see what appears to be a fish next to one eaglet in the top picture and an impressive pile of red meat around the rim of the second nest!

It was also interesting to note how most of eagle nests are located in mature Poplar trees rather than White Pines as is often the case in the state south of here.

We are looking forward to monitoring the birds progress from here.

Thanks to Paul for these great pictures

Northern Maine Birds, 3 - 11 May 2010

2010-05-10T20:05:00.016-04:00

The weather in northern Maine has gone from exceptionally pleasant to unusually chilly in a little over a week. A trend of increasingly colder temperatures through early May has slowed the development of vegetation in the area. One local birder even suggested that the ferns in his yard are rolling back up into fiddleheads...

Temperatures at Caribou ranged from the mid 70's on the third down to the low 30's at the end of the period. These cooler temps, coupled with regular periods of rain, have left some of the earlier migrants struggling a bit to stay warm and fed. Rainfall has totaled about 1.75 inches in 8 days putting the area about .8 inches above normal.

Leaf development is at about 30 to 50% across the area.

There were 30 new and arriving species reported in northern Maine this week:

Blue-winged Teal 5/4
Greater Scaup 5/6
White-winged Scoter 5/9
Bufflehead 5/9
American Bittern 5/1
Merlin (migrant) 5/4
Sora 5/4
Lesser Yellowlegs 5/9
Solitary Sandpiper 5/9
Spotted Sandpiper 5/5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5/7
Eastern Kingbird 5/10
Bank Swallow 5/10
Cliff Swallow 5/4
Barn Swallow 5/4
Gray Catbird 5/10
Nashville Warbler 5/9
Northern Parula 5/5
Magnolia Warbler 5/9
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5/11
Black-throated Green Warbler 5/4
Yellow Warbler 5/10
Ovenbird 5/5
Northern Waterthrush 5/4
Common Yellowthroat 5/10
White-crowned Sparrow 5/4
Lincoln's Sparrow 5/11
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5/8
Bobolink 5/10
Northern Oriole 5/6

Though the later waterfowl migrants are still trickling through the area, earlier ducks and geese, taking advantage of the early season, have gotten down to business and are already on nests. The earliest nests may be hatching within the next week or so!

Noteworthy among waterfowl seen this week, newly arrived Greater Scaup were reported in a small pond in Fort Fairfield (6th) and a pair was seen on Long Lake in St. Agatha on the 9th. An uncommon migrant, a pair of Buffleheads were also spotted at Long Lake on the 9th. Another pair of the buoyant little divers was seen at Lake Josephine in Easton on the 10th.

The first Blue-winged Teal seen in central Aroostook were found and photographed by Paul Cyr. The ducks were resting in a farm pond in Fort Fairfield off the Dorsey Road.

Migrating sea ducks were brought down by the bad weather conditions on a few occasions this week. A flock of over 50 Common Eiders were reported on the St. John River near Hamlin on the 5th. A small raft of (16) White-winged Scoters was loafing mid-pond at Madawaska Lake on the 9th. Two pairs of uncommon Red-breasted Mergansers were feeding on the shallow north end of Second Musquacook Lake in T11R11 on the 5th.

Two pairs of Redheads are being seen regularly at Lake Josephine and appear to be settling in to breed again. Likewise is the situation with at least 3 pairs of Ruddy Ducks. The large flock of Common Goldeneyes, Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaup has begun to thin out as the pairs disperse. The remaining flock is rapidly becoming a boys club. The last date for the pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes at this location was the unusually late date of May 2nd.

Double-crested Cormorants are being seen regularly at the larger lakes and ponds as well as the Aroostook River. A high count of 74 were loafing on the little islet on the north end of Long Lake on the 9th. American Bitterns are being heard in wetlands across the area now. Great Blue Herons have been in short supply but it is likely these birds have moved into the small wetlands where they nest.

Most breeding raptors have arrived and are on nests. American Kestrels are much harder to find in the area lately as these cavity nesters have begun incubating eggs. A Merlin has been seen (and heard) around Collins Pond regularly and these little hawks may again be nesting in downtown Caribou. Another vocal pair was seen on the 5th near the campsite at the south end of Musquacook Lake in T11R11. Reports of Bald Eagles feeding young at a couple of the area nests has not been confirmed. Other species of hawks reported include many Ospreys, Northern Harrier (Easton), Broad winged Hawk (T11 R11) and Red-tailed Hawk (in Fort Fairfield). Paul Cyr found these Ospreys hunkered down in their nest in Fort Fairfield on the 4th.

A vocal Sora went unseen in a rank cattail patch in Easton on the 4th.

A few shorebirds have started to trickle in. New arrivals include Solitary Sandpiper at Lower LaPomkeag Lake in T8R7, 3 Spotted Sandpipers on Second Musquacook Lake in T11R11 and a Lesser Yellowlegs at Fort Fairfield on the 9th. Other Spotted Sandpipers have since been seen at Easton and Garfield.

Paul Cyr got the photo of the newly-arrived yellowlegs at the top of this post. Though I admit I struggled a bit with the ID of the bird in this photo (Greater vs. Lesser Yellowlegs), I've decided its a Lesser Yellowlegs... We don't see alot of good, breeding plumaged yellowlegs in these parts! Though the bill is a bit long for a Lesser, it is thin and without a paler base that most Greater Yellowlegs usually show.

American Woodcock were amazingly early nesters this season. Two reports of fledgling woodcock were received this week. In Woodland, Del Ramey found a female on a nest under a small fir on his lot back on the 16th of April. The bird had 3 eggs at the time and added another the following day for a typical clutch of four. He's been watching the bird closely and on May 6th the eggs hatched and the female quickly led the young away! Del sent over a picture of the incubating bird on her nest earlier this spring.

Another woodcock was reported seen doing an impressive "in your face" flushing distraction in T8R7 on the 9th. On closer inspection a couple of well camouflaged, fuzzball chicks were seen nearby. Eleven displaying Woodcock were tallied on a survey along the Realty Road T11R12 in the North Maine Woods. Seven winnowing Wilson's Snipe were also heard on the 3.6 mile survey route.

Woodpeckers have quieted a bit and I assume that most are now beginning their incubation periods. A Pileated Woodpecker nest was found in a large poplar in-town Portage Lake. Most exciting is the presence of a rare Red-bellied Woodpecker being seen at a feeder at a house on Madawaska Lake. Though Red-bellied Woodpeckers are slowly spreading into southern and mid-Maine, there are few records of the species in the northern third of the state. Alton and Brenda Ketch sent over this nice photo of the female as it fed (with a Chipping Sparrow) under their feeders.

An Alder Flycatcher seen in Garfield Plantation was exceptionally early. Arriving Eastern Kingbirds were quick to assert their claim to prime territories in Easton on the 10th.

Gray Jays were spotted on the McLean Brook Road in Sinclair on the 9th. These birds too, have been decidedly quieter and shy in recent days, suggesting nesting and/or young are about.

A big flock of about 1,200 swallows were seen feeding over Lake Josephine on the 10th. The breakdown appeared to be about 900-1,000 Tree Swallows, 100-120 Barn Swallows, 60-80 Cliff Swallow and 40 -50 Bank Swallows. The Bank Swallows were new arrivals in the area on that date. A similar congregation was reported at Eagle Lake over past couple of mornings. The slightly warmer air over these waterbodies probably offers a bit more insect activity and feeding opportunity on chilly mornings.

Arriving warblers are still just starting to trickle into the area. Eight new species were seen or heard this week: the first Nashville Warbler was seen in New Sweden; Northern Parula was first heard singing at T11R11; Magnolia Warbler was heard at New Sweden and an early-arriving Black-throated Blue Warbler was first encountered along the Rocky Brook Road in T13R7. In Caribou the first Black-throated Green Warbler and Northern Waterthrush were heard singing off of the Hardison Road. The first Ovenbird was heard singing at Westfield and a Common Yellowthroat was first found at Lake Jo.

The sparrow highlight again this period has to be the Clay-colored Sparrow in Caribou. The bird continued at the Hardison Road location through at least the 6th. White-crowned Sparrows arrived all at once on the 4th and continue to been seen at many locations throughout the county. Only slightly early, a first Lincoln's Sparrow was found near the bog off the Moscovic Road in Stockholm on the 11th. A Fox Sparrow was seen on Rocky Brook Road in T13R7 on the 11th. This area near the Chase Brook bridge, is a dependable spot for singing male Fox Sparrows during the breeding season.

A first-of-the-season Bobolink was heard singing in flight high over Lake Josephine in Easton on the 10th. The first Northern Oriole was seen at a feeder near Mantle Lake Park in Presque Isle on the 6th. The homeowner was quick to treat the early bird to some fresh organic orange slices. This young male Red-winged Blackbird "sang" to Paul Cyr in Easton last week

Flocks of American Goldfinches continue to be seen at yards where feeders have been maintained. White-winged Crossbills and Purple Finches remain dependable in the larger areas of softwoods. Evening Grosbeaks continue to be reported in small numbers but are well distributed throughout the county.

With some warmer temperatures and good migration weather predicted, I expect the next couple weeks will see the peak in new arrivals in northern Maine. Good birding.

Northern Maine Birds 22 April- 2 May 2010

2010-05-02T18:21:00.015-04:00

As April waned, the last throes of winter passed quietly in northern Maine. Though few inches of short-lived snow fell on the 27th in the northern parts of Aroostook county, the weather has continued to be seasonable. All lakes are now ice free and the last shady snowbanks can only be found in northern-most locales.

Lawns have greened up, potatoes, broccoli and grain are all being planted and trees have begun to leaf out. The first black flies were reported on the first of May this year...early.

Migration has progressed steadily with two discernible pulses on the 23rd of April and May 2nd. After many record early arrivals of short distance migrants, things seem to be getting back on a bit more normal schedule.

New and arriving species this period:

Red-breasted Merganser 5/2
Broad-winged Hawk 4/24
Bonaparte's Gull 4/24
Blue-headed Vireo 4/23
Brown Thrasher 5/2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4/23
Black-and-white Warbler 5/2
Clay-colored Sparrow 5/2
Vesper Sparrow 5/2

Waterfowl highlights over the past ten days was more about increasing numbers than new arrivals. Eighteen species of waterfowl were reported with 3 Red-breasted Mergansers seen on Lake Josephine in Easton as the only arriving species. Common and Hooded Mergansers are still being encountered regularly though the females of those species are already getting hard to spot as they presumably begin nesting. 5 Long-tailed Ducks were seen on Lower LaPomkeag Lake in T8R7 in northern-most Penobscot County on the 24th. High counts tallied at Lake Josephine this week include 16 Gadwall, 44 American Wigeon (5/2), 48 Northern Shovelers (4/23), 88 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 (2 pairs) Redheads (4/27) and 8 Ruddy Ducks (4/23). Eleven male wood Ducks was a nice count at the sewer ponds in Ashland on the 23rd. A drake Gadwall (in Paul Cyr's photo above) shows off its understated finery.

A good assortment of raptors was also reported this week. Raptor species reported this week included Bald Eagle, American Kestrel, Merlin, Northern Harrier, Broad Winged, Red-tailed , Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Goshawk. The nesting goshawk has returned to the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle and mountain bikers have already reported some close encounters with the female. I expect the Center will again be closing trails in the area for the nesting season. A substantial flight of migrating hawks passed through the area on April 24. Several newly arrived Broad-winged Hawks as well as a Northern Harrier were seen in Perham on that date.

Paul Cyr is again hosting a pair of nesting American Kestrels on his farm in Presque Isle. The diminutive pair was recently photographed enjoying the raptor platform that Paul graciously provided here. Another pair has taken up residence in a nestbox in Portage Lake.

Pied-billed Grebes were heard at several marshy ponds around the area this week. One stopped in at Lake Jo for a morning and Paul Cyr was there.

Though gull numbers have thinned a bit as migrants move through, the first Bonaparte's Gull of the season was seen on Lower LaPomkeag Lake on the 24th. Bill Hersey was able to digiscope the distant bird. A very rare breeder in Maine, Bonaparte's Gulls nest in spruce and fir trees on remote ponds and lakes (not unlike LaPomkeag). Northern Maine birder's should be on the alert for these gorgeous black headed gulls when in the right area...

Blue-headed Vireos appeared to arrive all at once and on schedule. Several were heard at Salmon Brook Bog in Perham on the 24th. A newly arrived Brown Thrasher was singing loudly at the Skyway Industrial Park on Sunday May 2.

The first warblers have begun to trickle in with Yellow-rumped Warblers making up the bulk of the sightings thus far. Yellow-rumps have been reported at Ashland, Caribou, Limestone, Perham, Mars Hill and Woodland. An early Black-and-white Warbler was singing at Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield on the 2nd.

Some rare sparrows are certainly the highlights of this week's report. An uncommon breeder in northern Maine, a Vesper Sparrow singing from a road sign in Caribou was a nice discovery. The bird had apparently just arrived on the 2nd and took no time to proclaim his territory at this address! The bird's white eye ring, dark cheek spot, rufous shoulders and white outer tail feathers can all be made out in the photo at the top of this post (click on it for a larger image!).

Eclipsing the Vesper Sparrow was Aroostook county's second Clay-colored Sparrow in as many years. This bird has just been discovered a feeder in Caribou and more details should be forthcoming. A good documentation photo was provided by the homeowner...

In the finch department, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch and White-winged Crossbill continue encountered regularly in the woods of northern Maine.

Evening Grosbeaks have spread well around northern Maine in past couple of weeks. Reports increased and observations of these gorgeous birds have been reported from Stacyville to Fort Kent. Patty Jennings send over this stunning shot of a watchful male visiting her feeder in northern Penobscot county.

Northern Maine Birds 14-21 April 2010

2010-04-21T18:44:00.020-04:00

Weather over the past week was more seasonable with frosty nights and cool days.

Some of the larger lakes are ice free now and the remnant snow banks are getting hard to find in eastern Aroostook. Precipitation has been minimal (snow flurries and showers) and water levels are dropping in the larger rivers.

Some hardwoods have begun to flower and leaf buds are forming well. Butterflies, moths and amphibians have already been well reported at early dates across the area.

Arriving migrants and new species reported this week are:

Lesser Scaup 4/14
Redhead 4/17
Common Eider 4/4
Long-tailed Duck 4/14
Ruddy Duck 4/14
Double-crested Cormorant 4/16
Sandhill Crane 4/18
Lesser Black-backed Gull 4/15
Three-toed Woodpecker 4/17
Winter Wren 4/17
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4/17
Hermit Thrush 4/17
Chipping Sparrow 4/21
Savannah Sparrow 4/21
Swamp Sparrow 4/20

Though large flocks of Canada Geese continue to push through the area no other notable geese were spotted this week. Quite early, one Canada Goose was found on a nest by the 20th.

Interesting duck arrivals were, as expected, found at Lake Josephine in Easton. A returning Redhead was reported on the 17th and two male Ruddy Ducks have been seen here since the 14th. A male Lesser Scaup also arriving on the 14th, tied my previous early date for this species. A very early male Common Eider seen on Easter Sunday was the first to make appearance in northern Maine this season.

Long-tailed Ducks made an unusually good showing after first arriving on the 14th. Pairs were seen at Lake Josephine and Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield. These continued at these locations through the week. An unusually large flock of 14 Long-taileds were loudly calling on Arnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle on the morning of the 21st.

One of the two pairs of Barrow's Goldeneyes at Lake Jo was still hanging among the flock of 30+ Common Goldeneyes through the 16th. The Barrow's pair was seen copulating here. I thought this was notable considering the large distances to the nearest nesting locales in Quebec. There was little information available concerning the timing of copulation in the literature on this species, but I eventually found out that this duck species forms long-term pair bonds and is known to copulate on the wintering grounds and on their northward migration. Interesting stuff for a duck head.

The Green-winged Teal numbers built through the week and pairs and small flocks were commonly encountered around the area. Gadwall, Northern Shoveler and American Wigeon pairs continued to increase at Easton during the past few days. Paul Cyr captured this image of a big-lipped shoveler couple on the 21st. Other waterfowl seen this week included American Black Duck, Wood Duck, Mallard, Hooded and Common Mergansers and hordes of Ring-necked Ducks

Though I have heard of no recent assists from local releases, Wild Turkeys seem to be moving north and eastward in numbers lately. The big birds appear to be expanding their range through central Aroostook county this spring. Reports of the birds came in this week from Madawaska Lake (2), Limestone (1), Caribou (2) and Presque Isle (3). Paul Cyr photographed a pair that were strutting through the outskirts of Presque Isle on the 21st. Heres one of the colorful jakes on the wing...

Drumming Ruffed Grouse were encountered by many birders that ventured to the woods during the past week. Ken Lamb photographed and videoed the displaying male seen at the top of this post near his home early last week. Ken also posted a fantastic video he made of the same bird drumming madly on Youtube here. Crank up the volume! Its great.... There's sounds from at least four other species of birds on the video...can you identify them?

More early Pied-billed Grebes were seen this week at Puddledock Pond and Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield. A Common Loon was calling as it landed in Christina Reservoir on the 20th. The first Double-crested Cormorant of the season was perched on a small island at the mouth of Presque Isle Stream in Presque Isle on the 16th. This arrival date was right on schedule by my records.

The bird of the week goes to a Sandhill Crane that was spotted flying north along Route 1 in Westfield on Sunday. There are only a handful of records of these birds for northern Maine. As seen in this first through-the-windshield-shot, the bird's big size and extended neck as it flew were key in making this ID at a distance. The much more common Great Blue Heron is big but generally keeps its head tucked in and its long neck looped under it when flying. The big bird was winging its way through a snow squall and we were able to turn around and follow it for several miles before it landed in a large field off the Henderson Road in Presque Isle! Ever at the ready to jump in his vehicle and chase the rareties, Paul Cyr arrived on the scene quickly and was able to get this wonderful shot of this rare visitor as it legged its way around the field. The orange patches on the wings and neck are the result of staining from iron compounds rather than any bird produced pigments. The crane only stayed for a short while then continued on northward.

Rough-legged Hawks (all light phase) were seen in Stockholm (1) and Cyr Plantation (2) on the 17th. Northern Harrier and American Kestrels were reported in increasing numbers through the week.

Gull flocks continue to migrate through the area. Most interesting among these is at least three adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls that are splitting their time between Collins Pond in Caribou and the landfill in northern Fort Fairfield several miles away. I snapped a photo of one of the dark backed adults resting with a bunch of Herring Gulls at the top of the garbage heap on the 20th.

A Northern Hawk Owl was reported seen along Route 1 in Littleton on the exceptionally late date of April 11! The bird was seen near the spot where the first hawk owl of the winter was reported back in December 2009... It could well be the same bird lingering.

After a long dry spell, I was finally able to locate a Three-toed Woodpecker again this week. The male was feeding along a woods road in the northeastern part of Stockholm in an area of overgrown and reverting farm fields known as the California Settlement.

The first Winter Wrens and Hermit Thrushes of the the season were singing just off the Muscovic Road in Stockholm on the 17th. My first Ruby-crowned Kinglet was mumbling in the brush nearby on the same date.

Sparrow migration has been unusual so far this season. It appears that arriving sparrows are well dispersed and not showing up in concentrations at northern feeding stations. New arrivals this week included Swamp Sparrows which are singing at marshy locations in Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle. A Savannah Sparrow was singing near the Presque Isle Airport on the 21st, and my first Aroostook Co. Chipping Sparrow was heard just down the street the following day. American Tree Sparrows continue to linger in small numbers at area feeders.

Mixed flocks of blackbirds continue to migrate through the area.

Purple Finches and White-winged Crossbills are currently quite common in "the woods" areas north and west of the Route 1 corridor in central Aroostook county . Handfuls of Pine Siskins are also being seen in these locations. A few Evening Grosbeaks are still being encountered as well. Hordes of American Goldfinches are visiting just about any feeder still offering seed. Paul Cyr got some nice shots of nearly-fully-molted males in Presque Isle on the 20th. Here's one.

Northern Maine Birds 1-13 April 2010

2010-04-12T05:26:00.020-04:00

There have been several pulses of migrant-arrivals in Northern Maine in the first couple weeks of April and though its hard to find time to post them all, the list is growing unwieldy...

New and arriving species since the beginning of April are:

Cackling Goose 4/13
Wood Duck 4/4
Gadwall 4/8
American Wigeon 4/1
Northern Pintail 4/4
Northern Shoveler 4/8
Ring-necked Duck 4/4
Barrow's Goldeneye 4/8
Common Loon 4/8
Pied-billed Grebe 4/8
Turkey Vulture 4/12
Osprey 4/11
Northern Harrier 4/4
Sharp-shinned Hawk (migrant) 4/8
Rough-legged Hawk 4/4
American Kestrel 4/1
Merlin 4/12
Wilson's Snipe 4/6
Belted Kingfisher 4/1
Northern Flicker 4/4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4/9
Eastern Phoebe 4/4
Tree Swallow 4/4
Eastern Bluebird 4/5
White-throated Sparrow 4/11
Northern Cardinal (migrant) 4/10
Brown-headed Cowbird 4/4

Its been an unusual spring for arriving waterfowl. Thanks to the rapidly thawing ice and abundance of open water, areas where the ducks and geese usually congregate in spring are not holding birds for long. Many new arrivals have been quick to disperse or move on.

Most noteworthy among arriving duck migrants so far this month were Barrow's Goldeneyes seen at Lake Josephine in Easton on the 8th (2) and the 12th (4-two pairs). Northern Shoveler's didn't break the record for earliest arrival but were a week or so ahead of the typical date. A drake at Lake Jo on the 8th was joined by a female by the 12th. American Wigeon made an early appearance with the first pair showing at Easton on April Fools Day. Eight wigeon were seen in Fort Fairfield on the 4th, a pair at Limestone on the 5th and four were spotted. among a large flock of Mallards in Washburn on the 10th. Gadwall arrived en masse, with 7 seen feeding on the edge of the ice at Lake Josephine on the morning of the 8th. Likewise Ring-necked Ducks with large flocks appearing across the area overnight on the 4th. Though groups of ten to twenty were reported in Caribou, Washburn, Ashland and Presque Isle on that day, 75 migrant Ring-neckeds seen in a pond near the Aroostook river in Fort Fairfield was notable. On the 8th, 108 were tallied in a small wetland near Lake Josephine. Paul Cyr got the shot of the three newly arrived Ring-necked Ducks at the top of this post... You can even see the brown "ring" around the neck of the middle bird...a tough characteristic to spot most of the time.

A pair of Northern Pintails were feeding with a fifty Canada Geese in a flooded field at Fort Fairfield on the fourth. The first Wood Duck reported in the area was a drake seen in some flooded woods in Fort Fairfield. The bird was right on schedule by my records. common and Hooded Mergansers were seen across the county, where ever liquid water and tasty minnows could be found.

Rarest among the birds seen this period, a single Cackling Goose was grazing with a huge flock of Canada Geese on the lawns of Trafton Lake Park on the 13th. The miniature version of the Canada Goose is apparently a rare but regular visitor in the fall but spring records in this area are few...

Also noteworthy was the news that a couple of the marked Canada Geese from Greenland that stopped at Collins Pond in Caribou last fall are on their way north. Project leader, Tony Fox at the University of Aarhus in Denmark said that GC0 and GC7 seen last October by Casey Scheppele were spotted again on March 25 by observers in Quebec at Baie du Febvre, Lac Saint Pierre near Montreal!

Ruffed Grouse were heard drumming in Caribou and Presque Isle. The northern vanguard of Wild Turkeys has reached Portage Lake and, to my surprise, Woodland. I saw two jakes (young males) in the Woodland Bog on the 13th.

Many of the migratory raptors have returned with Northern Harrier being the most widely reported since a first sighting of a displaying male in Easton on the 4th. Male American Kestrels have also begun to appear on utility wires in the open areas in northern Maine. The kestrel's first appearance in Woodland was right on schedule when compared to the last 15years of arrival dates in my notes.. A first of season Merlin was flying due north over Presque Isle on the 1th. A dark phase Rough-legged Hawk was circling over a field near Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield on the 4th. Possibly the same pair that has nested in this location in past few years, two Red-tailed Hawks were hunting on the edge of this same field on the 8th.

A Turkey Vulture seen in northern-most Maine at St. John Plantation on the 12th was a notable observation. These big birds are quite rare in the county north of Island Falls.

An early Wilson's Snipe was doing its winnowing display on the warm evening of the 6th over the Nature Conservancy's Woodland Bog preserve in Woodland. Though I've yet to personally hear them, American Woodcock have been reported to be displaying at locations in central and southern Aroostook county.

An early Belted Kingfisher was reported at Barren Lake in Caribou on the 1st but no other sightings have been reported since then. On the other hand Northern Flickers were well seen after the first arrival in Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle on the 4th. I had one (still a bit early) in my yard on the 10th and Paul Cyr got this great shot of the gorgeous individual in Presque Isle on the 4th. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have only just arrived in northern Maine in past 3 days.

Truly advanced in arrival dates were single Tree Swallows spotted on the 4th in Fort Fairfield and the 6th in Caribou. The previous early date I have for these in Aroostook County is April 13th back in 2003, aking these arrivals nine days early. Eastern Bluebirds were new on the 5th in Portage Lake and the 6th in Caribou.

After hardly as single report all winter, male Northern Cardinals seen at both Caribou and Presque Isle on the 10th would appear to be new arrivals. Late Bohemian Waxwings continue in the area with a big flock of 98 seen nibbling last fall's soft apples in Presque Isle on the 8th and 10 in Caribou on the 13th.

White-throated Sparrows have only just started trickling into the area as the first one was reported on Green Ridge in Caribou on the 11th and had reached my yard in Woodland by the 12th. American Tree Sparrows are still being seen and have been singing with gusto since the beginning of the month. No Fox Sparrows were reported thus far this season.

White-winged Crossbills, Purple Finches and American Goldfinches were widely reported. Pine Siskins have been hard to find lately but several were seen near Oxbow on the 10th and 6 Evening Grosbeaks were seen in Limestone on the 13th

Northern Maine Birds, March 2010

2010-03-21T20:05:00.011-04:00

The last three weeks of winter were like most of the rest of the season in northern Maine: warm and dry. Temperatures continued well above average and daily high records were broken on five straight days from the 14th to the 18th. Only traces of precipitation fell until the end of the month and the gradual snowmelt did little to raise water levels. A record breaking rain event on the 28th dropped nearly 1 and 1/2 inches of rain and brought monthly totals to near average. This last storm produced some minor flooding and filled the some of the seasonal wetspots that had threatened to go dry this spring.

By month's end the ice had gone out in most of the rivers and streams in Aroostook County. Most larger ponds and lakes still remain ice-bound. Snow cover has melted from most open areas. A foot or so remains in the woods.

The hardier migrant birds have begun to arrive. Most are setting records with early arrival dates for this region:

First dates for arriving species so far this month are:

Canada Goose 3/10
Green-winged Teal 3/19
Hooded Merganser 3/11
Red-tailed Hawk 3/25
Great Blue Heron mid-month
Killdeer 3/21
American Woodcock 3/28
Great Black-backed Gull 3/15
Herring Gull 3/15
Ring-billed Gull 3/18
Northern Saw-whet Owl 3/14
Cedar Waxwing 3/14
American Robin 3/14
Song Sparrow 3/21
Dark-eyed Junco 3/20
Common Grackle 3/13
Red-winged Blackbird 3/13

Arriving waterfowl this season have been about two weeks early.

As seen here, the first migrant Canada Geese were discovered by Ken Lamb at the pond in Mars Hill on the 10th. These were early by more than two weeks. By the 15th, small groups had been seen in Ashland, Caribou, Houlton and Presque Isle. Flocks of 100+ are now being seen in Easton, Fort Fairfield and Caribou and small numbers have reached up to the northern border at Fort Kent. Paul Cyr photographed the freshly-arrived flock of geese at the top of this post at dawn on the 25th.

Hooded Mergansers were reported at Mars Hill (3/10), Collins Pond in Caribou (3/18) and Fish River in Fort Kent (3/20). March 22nd was my previous early arrival date for central Aroostook county.

A pair of arriving Green-winged Teal at the Mars Hill town pond were nine days early on the 19th. They were accompanied by Canada Geese, Mallards, American Black Ducks, Common Goldeneyes and Common Mergansers.

At Robinson Pond in Blaine an arriving flock of 48 Common Mergansers (3/19) was made up mostly of drakes.

Bald Eagles have made a good showing with adults arriving at known nesting spots across the county. Reports of nesting eagles have come in for locations at Ashland, Fort Fairfield, Sinclair, Presque Isle and Van Buren. Paul Cyr found what appears to be a new nest constructed on the east shore of Arnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle. Like many others in northern Maine, the nest is in large poplar tree. The first Red-tailed Hawks were trickling in to the north near the end of the month and were early by just a few days.

An early Great Blue Heron was reported in Island Falls mid-month.

With lots of bare ground available, the early arrival of Killdeer seemed on the minds of several area birders. The first reported bird in Central Aroostook county touched down in Ashland on the 20th. According to my records this was the earliest date by 5 days. Others were seen in Mars Hill, Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton by the end of the month. An American Woodcock survived a sub-zero night in the north Maine woods when it was seen on the 27th. The bird was flushed from a rare bare spot along a woods road in T8R10 near Big Reed Pond.

The first returning gulls were just about on schedule. A small flock of consisting of 8 Great Black-backed and one Herring Gull appeared on the ice of Collins Pond in Caribou on the 15th. Herring Gulls were seen over the St. John River in Fort Kent on the 20th. Numbers in Caribou increased rapidly through the third week and the flock was joined by Ring-billed Gulls on the 18th. By the 21st, Ring-billed's had re-populated the parking lots of commercial establishments across the area.

My first Northern Saw-whet Owl of the season was giving its tooting call in the Woodland Bog Preserve on the 14th. Barred Owls were reported calling from nearly a dozen localities. A two night owl survey (26-27th) in the woods near Chamberlain Lake and the Allagash River failed to detect an owl of any flavor. Bright moonlight, frigid temperatures and a light breeze were all likely turn-offs for calling owls on those nights... The last report of the Blaine Northern Hawk Owl was 5 March...coincidentally this was about the time when American Crows were reappearing in numbers in the area.

The more common breeding woodpeckers were well reported. Hairy, Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers caught many area birder's attention this month, thanks, no doubt, to their loud advertising drumming and vocal territorial squabbles at this time of year. A female Black-backed Woodpecker was seen drumming near Fourth Lake in T7R11 on the 27th.

Rarely reported in Aroostook co. this winter, a Northern Shrike was hunting in a brushy field in Woodland on the 28th. Gray Jays were seen in Cross Lake on the 6th and T7R11 on the 28th.

As previously mentioned, numbers of American Crows were arriving in northern Maine in the first week of the month. Though crows have overwintered in higher numbers in northern Maine in past few seasons, it seemed this year their numbers had dropped down to more "normal" levels.

The large mixed-species flocks of chickadees and nuthatches that were so common in woods all winter had all but disbanded by mid-month. Boreal Chickadees were increasingly vocal and easy to find through the month. These were seen in Cross Lake, Garfield, New Sweden, Stockholm, T7R11 and T8 R11. A noticeable uptick in the number of Brown Creepers occurred early in the month, Creepers were heard singing on the 4th in Stockholm and the 6th in Woodland. At least
5 Brown Creepers were heard singing in the Big Reed Preserve in T7R11 on the 27th. The Red-breasted Nuthatch horde continued with high numbers noted across the region. Uncommon in central Aroostook Co. White-breasted Nuthatches were heard in several townships in north Piscatquis Co. on the 27th and 28th. Four were seen in the mature hardwood stand at Big Reed Preserve in T8R10.

On the 14th a flock of 22 Cedar Waxwings was spotted in Presque Isle. 35 Bohemian Waxwings were seen in Caribou on the same day. Both flocks were catching flying insects, a good indicator of the unseasonable warm spell!

Arriving flocks of migrant American Robins were first noted in Wade on the 14th. The birds had reached my yard by the 18th.

More notable, though a bit after the fact, the record of a Varied Thrush in Fort Kent in early December 2009 was confirmed with some nice photographs by Sue Roy. Sue said the bird came to her feeder regularly for a couple weeks.

The sparrow migration left a bit to be desired in March. On the 20th and 21st, a small pulse of migrants brought Dark-eyed Juncos and the years first Song Sparrow to the area but little else notable turned up. A few Snow Buntings continued in the area...most recently 16 were spotted in Garfield on the 26th. Small numbers of American Tree Sparrows continued through the end of the month.

The first Common Grackle landed in my yard in Woodland on the 13th. this too was about about a week earlier than any previous arrival date in my records. An arriving flock Red-winged Blackbirds were also spotted on this date in Stacyville in northern-most Penobscot county.

Flocks of "winter" finches continue in numbers out in the woods. American Goldfinch is still the most commonly reported but numbers dropped significantly by months end. The songs of both White-winged Crossbills and Purple Finches are a feature of most larger softwood stands these days. Though still far from abundant, the numbers of Pine Siskins seemed to tick upward in the last week of March. A small flock was observed foraging on the edge of the melting ice of Big Reed Pond on the 27th. A single Pine Grosbeak was also seen on the 28th at T7R11 and Evening Grobeaks were observed regularly at feeders Castle Hill, Stockholm, Madawaska Lake and Portage Lake.

Northern Maine Birds, February 2010 winter wrap up

2010-03-01T06:14:00.015-05:00

February 2010 was one of the mildest in memory in northern Maine. Though the month came in with a few days of sub-zero temperatures, most of the days the thermometer stayed in the thirties. Cloud cover seemed the norm for much of the period yet precipitation in central Aroostook County was 25% below normal. Considering a good portion of our precipitation was in the form of rain, snow packs are quite thin in the area. While precip was detected at the Caribou weather station on 22 of the 28 days, only 10 inches of snow fell here during the entire month! This was a minimal amount compared to the 18 inches that we received last year or the 48(!) in record-breaking 2008.

In comparison, Central Park in New York received almost 37 inches of snow in February...

Snow cover is spotty in the open areas in southern Aroostook and bare spots have appeared in the fields in the central areas as well. Well over a foot of snow remains in the woods in the eastern areas. A deep snow pack (3 feet in places) continues west of Route 11 (the North Maine Woods) where snow fell when it rained in the east and south. Many smaller and mid-sized streams have opened up and an early ice-out has been forecast by those knowledgeable in ice-melt prognostication.

Overall, activity at feeders was reported to increase a bit over the period. A response possibly to dwindling natural food supplies for some species of birds or perhaps some shifting of the population in preparation for spring migration. Plenty of birds could be found in the woods with the conifer stands having the advantage.

More waterfowl overwintered in the north this season than in recent memory. As many as 40 Common Goldeneyes could be found along the reach of open water below the Aroostook River Dam in Caribou and few were seen in Presque Isle as well. Mallards and Black Ducks were seen in numbers in Presque Isle as usual, but Ashland, Caribou, Fort Kent, Fort Fairfield and Houlton also had a few of these dabblers hanging where the open water was available.

Wild Turkeys in Ashland and Castle Hill had a good winter and Ruffed Grouse survival seems to have been excellent at this point. Paul Cyr got the image above of the Ashland turkey flock on the 25th.

With the exception of Bald Eagles, there was little raptor activity reported in February. Sharp-shinned Hawks were seen in Presque Isle (2/11), Woodland (2/12) and Easton (2/13). Dottie Dudley got a shapshot of the Easton accipiter from her window.

Again this month, Bald Eagles were widely reported with the bulk of the observations coming in from along the Aroostook River. Paul Cyr was able to document an early season copulation at the nest in the Stevensville section of Fort Fairfield on the 18th.

A single adult Great Black-backed Gull in Caribou on the 9th was the only gull reported for the month.

Owl activity picked up substantially in February with Barred Owls showing well through the month. Daylight observations of the species were made in Cyr Plantation (2/15), Woodland (2/13) and regularly near Paul Cyr's giant feeding station in Presque Isle. Paul and Ken Lamb have been able to photograph the owl as it hunted for rodents. The photo of the flying Barred Owl at the top and this great action shot were taken by Ken Lamb on the 17th.

The Northern Hawk Owl continued through a second full month at the Pierce Road in Blaine. Most recently the bird was seen on the 24th. Luke Sietz got this sweet image of the bird wallowing in the snow on the 17th.

Woodpeckers are becoming increasingly territorial and noisy. Lots of drumming can be heard in area woodlots on calm mornings. Hairy, Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers have been widely reported. There has been no sign of the Three-toed Woodpeckers along the Muscovic Road in Stockholm though Luke Seitz found this male Black-backed Woodpecker as it foraged near the bog.

Scarce this year in northern Maine, Northern Shrikes were seen in Blaine on the 5th and Easton on the 12th.

2 Gray Jays were visiting a feeder near madawaska lake in T16R4 on the 18th. Common Ravens have paired up and begun to defend territories. Mid air squabbles are common place these days. American Crow numbers are increasing and these birds have started to disperse from wintering spots and are increasingly appearing out in the countryside.

Good numbers of Boreal Chickadees are being found in the woods now as these birds are vocalizing regularly. Boreal's were seen in mixed flocks with Red-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees in Caribou, Caswell, Conner, Limestone, Stockholm, T16R4 and Woodland. The banner season for Red-breasted Nuthatches continues with high numbers across the area. Uncommon north of Presque Isle in winter, a White-breasted Nuthatch at a feeder at Madawaska Lake in the 18th was noteworthy.

Uncommon in mid-winter in the northern parts of the county, Golden-crowned Kinglets were spotted in Woodland early in the month.

A few American Robins were reported in the area mid month. One was seen in Presque Isle on the 12th and another in Mt Chase on the 1st but not since then. A late report of a Varied Thrush was tantalizing. The bird apparently spent two weeks visiting a feeding station in Fort Kent in mid-December. Photos of this very rare bird are being sought!

Scattered mid-sized flocks of Bohemian Waxwings were observed across the region through February. Waxwings were reported in Conner (26), Easton (40+), Houlton (8) and Presque Isle (12).

Two Rusty Blackbirds were reported in Masardis on the 17th. Uncommon during the breeding season, any winter record is a noteworthy find.

Sparrow supplies were light again this month with only Snow Buntings and American Tree Sparrows reported. Snow Buntings were able to take advantage of the very open conditions this month and flocks of these were widely reported. Highest count reported was 120+ seen in Fort Fairfield on the 18th.

Unlike the rest of New England, finches were found in good numbers and diversity in northern Maine this winter. Certainly, American Goldfinches have dominated the counts at feeding stations in the region. Patty Jennings sent up this great shot of part of the flock visiting her feeder in Stacyville last month. While not showing well at feeders, daily counts of 50+ Purple Finches were not uncommon for birders venturing out into the woods of northern Maine.

White-winged Crossbills and Evening Grosbeaks were decidedly less common, but flocks of these were fairly regularly encountered. High counts for Evening Grosbeaks included 60 seen in a days birding in central Aroostook county on the 17th and 25+ that are visiting a feeder in Castle Hill. Not quite like the "good old days" but a noteworthy number, no less. Luke Sietz took this nice shot of a male evening Grosbeak at a feeder near Madawaska Lake on the 18th. A few Pine Siskins were seen at feeders including one at Madawaska Lake on the 18th and two in Woodland on the 19th. Pine Grosbeaks were seen in Stockholm (3) and New Sweden (1) on the 7th and 2 were seen in Masardis on the 17th. No Redpolls were detected thus far this winter.

An uncommon bird this far north, House Sparrows remained in moderate numbers this winter. A pair showed up at my feeders on the 13th and other small groups were seen in Frenchville and Fort Kent in northern-most Maine.

Blaine Hawk Owl

2010-01-26T05:53:00.010-05:00

Presque Isle photographer Paul Cyr checked in on the Blaine Northern Hawk Owl late last week. The owl is very active and hunts busily in the morning and late afternoon. Paul sent over some great photos of the bird as it gobbled up a vole and took a snooze. You definitely want to click on the pics to enjoy the detail that Paul captured in the larger images.

The bird has favored the dead stubs in this small "island" of trees in an overgrown field. Its been seen here since it was first discovered by Ken Lamb back before Christmas.

The dark brown color and shorter tail of the owl's prey looks like those of a Microtus (vole) species. I'd love to hear from a small mammal expert on this...The meadow vole is a common rodent in these parts and favorite prey of the smaller predators.

My favorite picture of Pauls recent suite!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Northern Saw-whet Owl in Presque Isle: Rare in winter

2010-01-23T20:32:00.009-05:00

As reported earlier, a small owl showed up in a Presque Isle resident's garage recently. Homeowner Kurt Bates sent over a couple pictures he snapped of the little bird and the images revealed that it was a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Discovered on January 3rd, following a strong storm that hit the area the previous day, this individual is a rare documented winter record of this species in northern Maine.

Features that help distinguish it from the similar (and nearly as likely) Boreal Owl are the dark bill, reddish (rather than chocolate brown) streaks on the breast, streaking on the forehead (rather than spots) and the lack of a dark border around the face.

For comparison, here's a photo of a Boreal Owl taken last winter in New Sweden by Chelsea Reynolds.

Saw-whet Owls aren't all that uncommon in northern Maine in spring and summer. These birds breed in this area, utilizing cavities excavated by Northern Flickers primarily. In April and May their tooting calls advertise their true abundance.

Though its not entirely figured out at this point, its pretty clear a large portion of the northern population of these owls migrates southward in autumn. Saw-whet Owl banding stations in southern Maine have captured hundreds of these little birds as they move out in fall.

Apparently some hang out and try to tough out the northern Maine winter with the rest of us!

Northern Maine Birds 1-21 January 2010, NHOW Yes

2010-01-21T05:32:00.015-05:00

So far January 2010 has been warmer and drier than usual in northern Maine.

By "warmer" I mean that outdoor activities can be conducted comfortably by a properly clothed participant and without danger of loss of extremities.

The first week of the month high temps were running in the 30's F, the second week saw chillier highs in the teens and now we are again running up into the high 20's. Lowest temps for my thermometer in Woodland was -11F on the 14th...Last year at this time, we were setting the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Maine (-50F)!

While southern Maine and the rest of New England has been getting steady bouts of snow, northern Maine has sat out the last few storms. Only 11 inches of snow has fallen at Caribou this month and about 9 of that fell on the Jan 2 storm. This is well below half of the expected snowfall for this period. About 6 to 12 inches is on the ground.

There are quite a few spots of open water on the swifter sections of streams and rivers.

With ample food supplies and favorable weather, the birds are doing well out in the North Maine Woods this winter. Finch numbers appear to be gradually increasing. Action at feeders varies depending on the reporter.

A large congregation of Common Goldeneyes is being seen in the open water below the Caribou Dam on the Aroostook River in Caribou. My last best count was 42 birds on the 14th. Six Common Mergansers have been seen here sporadically. The large flock of Mallards and American Black Ducks that is wintering at the Presque Isle wastewater plant continues to be harrassed daily by an apparent female Bald Eagle. The flock numbered over 70 ducks during the Christmas Bird Count on the 2nd but recent counts put the number below 55...

Ruffed Grouse have been well reported. Thanks to scanty snow cover, it appears that the Wild Turkeys in the Ashland/Castle Hill area are doing well. This northern-most flock for New England was released by Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 2008 and 2009. Some Ring-necked Pheasants in Fort Fairfield are likewise enjoying the "open" conditions. Though certainly released birds, these pheasants are noteworthy when encountered this far north. Paul Cyr snapped a pic of two cocks as they made their way through the snowy stubble field on the 7th.

Wintering Bald Eagles have been widely observed in January. In addition to the bird fabulously depicted here in Paul Cyrs recent image, adults have been seen this month in Ashland, Benedicta, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Frenchville, Island Falls, near Madawaska Lake in T16R4. Three were visiting ice fisherman at Arnold Brook Lake in Presque Isle and another was seen at Long Lake in St. Agatha. Several observers say they have seen more Bald Eagles than usual. Perhaps the abundance of open water (and overwintering ducks?) has allowed more of these birds to spend the winter this year.

A Northern Goshawk was hunting over a feeder in Wade on the 14th.

No gulls have been reported in this area since December.

The Blaine Northern Hawk Owl continues to be seen at the same location it was first found back before Christmas. Most recently, Paul Cyr photographed the bird on the 17th. There has been no further information on the Littleton and Chapman Hawk Owls since the initial reports. A report of a "cute little owl" found recently in a garage in Presque Isle was intriguing... The bird may have been photographed so more info may be forthcoming. A Barred Owl was also seen in Presque Isle on the 20th.

Woodpeckers have begun drumming. As expected Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers's have made up the majority of sightings, Pileated Woodpeckers have made a good showing recently as well.

In the hard-to-find category this winter, a Northern Shrike seen in Houlton on the 9th was noteworthy.

Large flocks of Black-capped Chickadees with smaller numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches are being encountered in the woods this winter. An apparent abundance of easily foraged natural food has kept these birds from making much of an appearance at feeding stations region wide. Seen above, Tom Johnson was able to tempt at least one nuthatch into his Caribou yard with a handful of peanuts

Yet another aberrant-plumaged Black-capped Chickadee was seen early this month in Mount Chase. Unlike the previously reported melanistic chickadees in Presque Isle, this bird was on the lighter side of things. This leucistic Black-capped was photographed by Tom Sheehan on January 4th.

Rarely found in mid winter most years, Golden-crowned Kinglets have been regularly encountered in small numbers in the woods in central Aroostook county.

The fruit supply has held up well as the roving flocks of Bohemian Waxwings continue to pop up around the area. 60+ were seen on the 20th in Presque Isle.

The only noteworthy sparrow among the scattered sightings of American Tree Sparrows and hordes of Snow Buntings was a White-throated Sparrow visiting a feeder in Wade on the 19th. The dearth of snow cover has allowed large numbers of Snow Buntings to continue foraging weed seeds across the area. As many as 1000+ were seen in single flocks in Mapleton and Presque Isle recently. Paul Cyr photographed a few of the regular flock at his feeding station in Presque Isle

A Common Grackle continues to be seen at a feeder in Presque Isle.

After a slow start, finch numbers are increasing recently.

American Goldfinches are abundant with flocks numbering over one hundred reported at some feeders. Over 90 are regular at my feeders in Woodland. Purple Finches are present in small numbers, being seen in conifer forests with few visiting feeders. There have only been a handful of Pine Siskins reported and NO Redpoll reports thus far this winter.

Increasing numbers of Pine Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills are being spotted. Pine Grosbeaks were reported in Caswell, Ashland, Nashville Plantation and Stockholm this week. Small to medium sized flocks (less than 20) White-winged Crossbills were seen along the Beaver Brook Road in T14R5 on the 18th. Evening Grobeaks remain hard to find. Several of the bright yellow birds are visiting a feeder regularly in Castle Hill and one has been seen sporadically at others in Caribou and Portage Lake.

No additional reports have been received regarding the European Goldfinch that was seen in Presque Isle early in the month.

Pileated Woodpeckers in Northern Maine

2010-01-20T06:22:00.013-05:00

There have been a bunch of recent reports of Pileated Woodpeckers in central Aroostook County. These big birds are increasingly active and vocal now that days have started getting longer and their (early) breeding season is approaching. Paul Cyr found a female feeding in the woods behind his home in Presque Isle on the 19th and sent over this great sequence of photos of the attractive bird.

The bird was feeding a dead standing hardwood tree. In the winter these woodpeckers spend alot of time excavating the big rectangular feeding holes as they search for their favorite food- Carpenter Ants. You can see the dark ant galleries in the side of the
lower excavation in this picture.

Paul got a perfectly timed shot of the bird as it chiseled away at the side of the hole. You can also see the nictitating membrane (a second clear eyelid) that these birds deploy as a kind of safety goggle when they are chipping out wood.

We can tell this is a female since the red on the crest doesn't extend down to the bill and the lower cheek (malar) stripe is black rather than bright red as in males.

Nesting holes are usually round and are typically hard to spot. To help conceal these, the holes usually have no scaling of the bark around them (like here) and there never any other feeding holes on the trunk of the nesting tree. The nest cavities are also in larger diameter trees that can accommodate the incubating adults or several growing youngsters. This tree is probably a tad too small for a nest cavity.

Presque Isle Christmas Bird Count results

2010-01-14T05:29:00.003-05:00

Though the forecast predicted nasty weather, the Presque Isle
Christmas Bird count was successfully conducted last Saturday, 2
January 2010. A near-record 19 field observers thoroughly covered the
count circle and tallied a good number and variety of birds before
blizzard-like conditions drove them from the field. There was about
one foot of snow on the ground and only the swift water remained
unfrozen.

The PI CBC is the northern-most count in the eastern US and this was
the 52nd time this particular count has been run.

A total of 35 species were found which is exactly the 10 year average
for this count. However this included six Count Week species that
were not seen on the actual count day. No new species were found on
count day but a European Goldfinch was seen during the count week
period just before the count. This species has not been seen on the count before. An
American Robin and Golden-crowned Kinglet were good finds and notable
count week species included Canada Goose, Tufted Titmouse and Common
Grackle. Notable in their absence were Pine and Evening Grosbeaks. The Northern Hawk Owls that were found all around the area in the weeks before the count managed to stay undetected for the entire count period.

A total of 4375 birds were found on the count day. This is the highest
total since 1993 and the second highest tally ever. This was a bit of
a surprise considering the apparent low numbers of birds seen prior to
the count. A record setting count of 2342 Snow Buntings comprised well
over half of the individuals tallied for the whole count. A total of
412 Bohemian Waxwings also broke the previous record set just last
year at 270!

Canada Goose CW
Mallard 23
Am. Black Duck 55
Ruffed Grouse 1
Bald Eagle 4
Northern Goshawk 1
Mourning Dove 92
Rock Pigeon 401
Downy Woodpecker 7
Hairy Woodpecker 13
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Shrike CW
Blue Jay 122
Gray Jay 2
Common Raven 180
American Crow 54
Black-capped Chickadee 311
Tufted Titmouse CW
Red-breasted Nuthatch 20
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Bohemian Waxwing 412
American Robin 1
European Starling 35
Northern Cardinal CW
American Tree Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 4
Snow Bunting 2342
Common Grackle CW
Purple Finch 39
Pine Siskin 14
American Goldfinch 327
European Goldfinch CW
House Sparrow 11

total species 35
total individuals 4474

Northern Hawk Owls and a European Goldfinch

2009-12-26T06:04:00.013-05:00

A bunch of interesting birds have been seen in northern Maine lately boding well for the Christmas Bird Count in Presque Isle next Saturday.

Always an exciting find, Northern Hawk Owls were seen on the 20th in Littleton and 24th a little further north in Blaine. The first hawk owl was spotted just off of Route 1 by observant birder from Massachusetts as he was returning from a weekend of cross country ski competitions at the Nordic Heritage Center in PI. Though the birder didn't have any binoculars with him, he recognized that this was a rare bird anywhere in New England and managed to use the optics at hand (his digital and video cameras) to document the owl! A link to a map location of the bird is here:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=46.2666469,-67.8400612&ll=46.2666469,-67.8400612

After I sent the news of the Littleton owl around to some of Aroostook counties birders, Ken Lamb raised the ante with some gorgeous photos of another Hawk-Owl he found. The bird was hunting from a snag on the Pierce Road in Blaine just south of Mars Hill. The owl shown here is Ken's bird.

Derek Lovitch, owner of the Freeport Wild Bird Supply store, noted that there have been a "buttload" of early Northern Hawk Owl reports from northern states to our west and that this may indeed be winter with unusually high numbers of wintering hawk-owls.... Since these are active during the day and fairly easy to see, we should all be keeping an eye out for these over the next few months.

While these hawk owls were exciting, a Christmas Day visitor to Sue and Bob Pinette's feeder in Presque Isle was even more unusual. Sue discovered a gorgeous male European Goldfinch amongst the common American Goldfinches that are visiting her feeders. She was able to get a couple photos of the strikingly plumaged bird as it fed.

The European Goldfinch is a bonafide rarity, with only dozen or so records in Maine and just one previous record here in the county. However, this species is imported and kept as a cage bird in North American so its just about impossible to tell whether or not the bird is a true vagrant from its natural range in Europe and Asia or an escapee. The fact that this individual is surviving a northern Maine winter on its own would seem to indicate that this bird knows more than the average cage bird.... Cool bird no matter the origin!

Other good stuff recently seen included Paul Cyrs report and photo of Maine's hardiest Wild Turkey flock. The birds were recently spotted feeding on a piece of windswept ground just west of Presque Isle in Castle Hill.

A lingering Common Grackle looks determined to get tallied on the CBC next Saturday. The bird has been visiting Alice Sheppards feeder near Mantle Lake Park in Presque Isle.

First Barrow's Goldeneye at Lake Jo

2009-12-06T20:50:00.003-05:00

Most of central and northern Aroostook county dodged the snow that blanketed the "south" last night. However temperatures dipped below freezing again and judging by the weather service reports, it looks like our long indian summer is coming to a quick end. Temperatures are predicted to be in the teens at night and barely reach above freezing for the next few days.

While the smaller wetlands have frozen and thawed several times in the past 6 weeks, most of the small lakes and reservoirs frequented by migrating waterfowl have remained open. Now it looks like those too, will be freezing up and liquid water will be restricted the quicker rivers and streams in the area.

This afternoon I took a quick run around the area to check the lakes one last time and see what remained this late in the season...

Lake Jo came through one last time this year.

Though the pond was about 1/2 frozen over, a sizeable flock of diving ducks lingered in the middle of the biggest patch of open water. My spotting scope revealed that most (51) were Common Goldeneyes but among them were a pair of Barrows Goldeneyes and the latest Ring-necked Duck I've ever found in the county. The Barrow's Goldeneyes were my first ever at this location and the 29th species of waterfowl I've had here!

The flock was quite fidgety and the ducks flushed several times in the fifteen minutes I watched them.

I checked Christina Reservoir and it too was partially frozen. Though I admit a biting wind and vicious snow squall didn't encourage me to linger, it appeared the pond was devoid of birdlife.

The Aroostook River in Fort Fairfield offered up a dozen Hooded and two Common Mergansers. Trafton Lake in Limestone was still mostly ice free but birdless.

Collins Pond in Caribou had a few dozen Canada Geese and Black Ducks and Mallards....not much to exclaim about waterfowl-wise. The gull show is still excellent with a rare Lesser Black-backed Gull and at least 3 Iceland Gulls in the 300 Herring and Great Black-backs.

Tomorrow I'll see what remains.

Melanistic Black-capped Chickadees in Aroostook Co

2009-11-29T17:27:00.023-05:00

Presque Isle birder, Sue Pinette, recently forwarded a couple of interesting bird pictures that she'd received from her friend, Susan Chandler. Sue C. had a small dark bird visiting her yard on the northeast side of town and got a couple images of the bird when it visited her feeders.

As you know if you read the title of this post, I believe the mystery bird is an unusually dark plumaged Black-capped Chickadee. A quick summary of the pertinent characteristics is probably in order to support this identification....

First, thanks to Sue's nice, clear shots, it was easy to get a good look at the bird's plumage: the bird had an all dark head, a dark gray back, wings and tail and a slightly lighter gray underside. The eye, beak and feet were also black.

This late in November there are a few bird species in northern Maine that look somewhat similar to Sue's bird. But the apparent best-fit is probably the Dark-eyed Junco. So this species should be compared with the bird in the photos. The junco is small bird with a dark head, dark gray back and a dark eye- like the bird in the pictures. Unfortunately, the similarities end there. Juncos also have a clean white belly and white outer tail feathers and a light pink bill. None of these were visible on the bird in the photos.

Though the plumage doesn't match any local bird species, before considering more exotic bird species we should look for subtler clues to the birds identity... Judging the bird in comparison with the feeder and sunflower seeds inside, its evident the bird is a small one. Looking at the bird's shape is helpful. The bird is stocky with a blocky head and short stout bill. The second photo shows the bird with a single seed and apparently ready to fly from the feeder.

All of these point to one of the commoner species around feeders in northern Maine these days: the Black-capped Chickadee. I'm sure if we could watch the bird flitting back and forth from the feeder to the woods and hear it vocalize we'd be able confirm this ID.

It appears Sue's mystery bird is an unusually plumaged chickadee possessing an abundance of the dark pigment melanin. This extra pigment causes areas that are normally light or white to appear black or dark gray. These melanistic birds are substantially rarer than the opposite form of aberrant albinism. Here is a look at a normal plumaged Black-capped Chickadee taken at my Woodland feeders for comparison with these dark ones.

Even though I tried to explain how I could come to the identification of Sue's bird above, in truth, I jumped to this conclusion fairly quickly. This wasn't because of any great insights on my part, but actually because there have been several dark chickadees reported in the northeastern parts of Presque Isle in the past ten years or so. I've sorted my way through this ID before!

Roberta Griffiths first reported an all dark chickadee at her feeder back in 2003. The bird stayed at her yard most of that winter and she was able to get a video of the bird and in the recording one can hear it give the classic Chick-a-dee-dee call of the Black-capped.

More recently, Roberta also brought me the photo of a dark chickadee seen here taken at a feeder on the Parkhurst Siding Road in Presque Isle. The picture was taken in January 2008. While not quite as dark as Sue's bird and certainly not all black, the bird also has an all dark head like the others.

Here is a cropped version of the same picture:

Though the observations of these melanistic chickadees were made in locations that are only a couple miles apart in the north eastern side of town, the span of time (7 years) and the apparent difference in relative degree of pigmentation would seem to indicate that there is a small population of melanistic chickadees in Presque Isle. I'm not sure but I don't think this has been reported before.

Though extremely rare, melanism in chickadees has been reported before. James Tanner (the famed Cornell ornithologist who filmed Ivory-billed Woodpeckers back in the 30's) found one in up state New York in 1933. His paper on the discovery can be found online here:

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v051n02/p0240-p0240.pdf

Alfred Gross, a Bowdoin College ornithology professor, wrote about the rarity of melanistic birds in an article for the Journal of Field Ornithology in 1965

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v036n04/p0240-p0242.pdf

Good stuff indeed

Northern Maine Birds 1-16 November 2009

2009-11-16T19:40:00.011-05:00

Sunday's rain broke a two week dry spell in northern Maine. The weather has been balmy with warm temperatures for the season. Very little bird movement seems to be going on.

Passerines are in short supply and the general report is that feeding stations are slow.

Waterfowl numbers waned in late October thanks to cold temps, some heavy snow and frozen conditions on smaller ponds and wetlands. Geese numbers rebounded nicely as it warmed in the first week of November and a pulse of apparently "new" geese moved into the area. Canada Goose numbers have held around 12-15,000 in the central Aroostook area and flocks of over 3,000 birds are being seen at Collins Pond in Caribou, Lake Josephine in Easton and a private ponds in a couple Presque Isle locations. Paul Cyr photographed the scene at Collins Pond recently. Dozens of smaller flocks are being seen in other locales. With the exception of a couple Snow Geese seen on the 10th, none of the rarer species of geese have been seen this month. The Cackling Goose reported at Collins Pond in October was seen once more on the 26th and not again

Ducks have been in short supply since the October cold snap. Among those remaining, the most notable ducks were found at Lake Josephine as usual. Five Long-tailed Ducks was a high count here on the 2nd, but these had dwindled down to a single male by the 10th. The bird was in (what I believe to be unusually late) dark brown, breeding plumage. A White-winged Scoter had replaced the Long-tail on the 11th. Other good finds here was a lingering Gadwall, female Bufflehead, two Redheads and a Greater Scaup among 8 Un-ID'ed scaup on the 10th. 11 lingering Ring-necked Ducks continued here through the 16th. On the first a pair of uncommon Greater Scaup were seen in the mouth of McLean Brook at Sinclair and three bright male Buffleheads were on Long Lake at St. Agatha.

Large flocks of Common and Hooded Mergansers are being seen on the larger impoundments. Christina Reservoir at Fort Fairfield had high counts with 180+ Hooded Mergansers and 140+ Common Mergansers on the 3rd.

A single Double-crested Cormorant lingered late to the 10th at Christina Reservoir.

Ruffed Grouse were reported (and in some cases savored) at many locations. Though a likely release, this male Ring-necked Pheasant was none-the-less noteworthy and photographed in Fort Fairfield by Paul Cyr.

Christina's Merganser flock attracted the attention of Bald Eagles and as many as four adults and two sub-adults have been hanging around the pond. An adult Northern Goshawk was seen briefly on the Muscovic Road in Stockholm. Still uncommon in northern Maine, Red-tailed Hawks seen in Sherman on the 12th and Presque Isle on the 13th were almost as notable as a Rough-legged Hawk seen in Limestone on the 10th.

The only shorebird found in the area was a very late White-rumped Sandpiper seen on the 16th. The bird was flying over the shore of Lake Jo and would gone un-identified, but luckily, the bird vocalized and its high pitched squeak revealed its identity.

Gulls continue to move through the area and large concentrations are being seen a Long Lake, Collins Pond in Caribou and Echo Lake in Presque Isle. A high count of 192 Great Black-backed Gulls at Collins Pond was noteworthy. A first cycle Iceland Gull was associating with a few Herring Gulls here on the 14th.

A few Ring-billed Gulls continue to hang out in the area. Almost all Hooded Merganser flocks are being attended by at least a few of these gulls. The Ring-bills watch the feeding ducks and move in to steal food from these just as they surface with their meal. On Veterans Day, I watched Ring-billed Gulls deftly relieve a drake Hoody of a couple fine, large crayfish here at Collins Pond.

As noted earlier there are low numbers of passerines (the small perching birds) being reported in the area these days. It is unclear whether the birds are enjoying plentiful natural food supplies and aren't coming in to visit feeders, or the bird are just in short supply at this time. From my recent time spent birding in the very quiet woods, I suspect the latter.

Woodpeckers are a bit of an exception and the birds are being seen in "normal" numbers. Noteworthy among these, a Black-backed Woodpecker was found just outside of Aroostook NWR at Malabeam Lake in Limestone on the 11th.

The first Bohemian Waxwing flocks of the season were spotted around Presque in early November. Thirty were gobbling up high bush cranberries near the airport on the 4th.

Golden-crowned Kinglets were well reported during early November with small groups heard at Caribou, Limestone, Presque Isle and Woodland. Black-capped Chickadees have been reported to be in short supply around many of the areas feeding stations at this point in the season. However large foraging flocks are being encountered in the woods. The antics of a single feeding group of 22 chickadees was enjoyed in the woods in Caribou on the 11th.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are also well detected in the otherwise quiet woods. These birds nasal vocalizations are often the only bird calls heard these days.

A White-breasted Nuthatch and a Brown Creeper were a rare treat in Fort Kent on the 14th. These two uncommon birds were found feeding on the big silver maples along the shore of the St. John River, at times creeping along the same trunk. Paul Cyr got this nice shot of the fidgety creeper. Another creeper was seen later that day in the Woodland Bog, possibly indicating some movement of this rarely-found species through northern Maine.

Blue Jays have been dominating my feeders for over a month and others are reporting similar activity. Paul Cyr sent over this great action shot of some squabbling jays at his feeders in Presque Isle. I've only found two Gray Jays recently. One showed up at my freshly hung suet feeder in Woodland on the 11th and another was calling from the bog off the Muscovic Road in Stockholm.

With the exception of Snow Buntings, I have not seen any of sparrow family in over three weeks! Early Dark-eyed Juncoes and American Tree Sparrows seem to have pushed quickly through during the October cold snap and the snowstorm on the 25th really cleared them out.

A few of the "winter" finches are being encountered in the woods but I've yet to hear of much action around feeders. A Pine Grosbeak was heard and several flocks of White-winged Crosbills were seen over the Muscovic Road on the 14th. Again Paul Cyr was there to catch at little of the crossbill action... Purple Finches are occasionally heard flying overhead but do not seem to be about in any number. A few Pine Siskins are visiting a feeder in Presque Isle.

American Goldfinch numbers seem to be building a bit recently and are starting to show up at the thistle seed feeders.

A lonely Evening Grosbeak was calling as it passed high over my house in Woodland on the 8th.

Cackling Goose, Rough-legged Hawk and Iceland Gull

2009-10-25T21:24:00.010-04:00

After a week of slow birding, I had a good day in the field. There were a bunch of new arrivals in central Aroostook county... and good ones at that.

Just after sunup I located my first Cackling Goose of the year among a few hundred Canada Geese at Collins Pond in Caribou. A Bald Eagle had the flock quite nervous and the geese were leaving the pond in 10s and 20's. We were able to snap a few photos of the little goose before it departed.

In the cropped shots you can see the bird's small size, short neck, stubby bill, steep forhead and overall silvery tone of the plumage are all visible in the photos...enough to make this tough ID.

A single Lesser Scaup and a few dozen Hooded Mergansers were also milling with the geese.

Over in Easton at Lake Josephine, the duck flock seems to be reassembling after retreating from the gunfire earlier this month. Best of these was seven American Wigeon and 18 late Gadwall. 11 Lesser Scaup, 70 or so Ring-necked Ducks and 25 Common Goldeneyes were also present. My first-of-the-season Rough-legged Hawk was hovering over the field just north of Lake Jo. The dark phase hawk allowed a long viewing session and was quite spectacular in the morning sun.

Just north at Christina Reservoir my first-of-the-season Iceland Gull flew up as if to greet me when I had just arrived. The first winter bird did a lap around the pond with a small flock of Herring Gulls and then headed out towards the potato fields to the north. A White-rumped Sandpiper was a bit of a surprise as were a few lingering Lesser Yellowlegs. The Common Mergansers here numbered over 90.

In the afternoon I also found a medium sized flock of Horned Larks in a potato field on the Limestone and Fort Fairfield town line. Mixed in with the larks were 18 Snow Buntings and two colorful Lapland Longspurs. The longspurs landed very near the road and treated me to some of the better looks of these that I've had in a while.

Not too shabby.

Small Canada Geese in Maine

2009-10-24T20:39:00.010-04:00

I've been using this rainy Saturday to catch up on correspondence and bird reports from the past couple weeks. As usual, I've been quite interested in all the recent goose sightings from around the state.

So far this fall we've found Canada, Snow, Greater White-fronted, Cackling and Pink-footed Geese here in Maine. (...Any Brant?) I also noticed quite a few reports this fall of smaller Canada Geese that astute birders are noticing amongst the larger individuals. I'm sure these get attention as we all sift through the flocks in search of a rare Cackler.

Though there have been quite a few reports of "Lesser" Canada Geese lately, I wanted to mention that this subspecies has yet to be definitively documented in Maine....This is not to say people aren't seeing groups of small Canada Geese in Maine just that these are probably not the true "Lesser" Canada Geese. (I know discussions of subspecies is often seen as the threshold to the realm of true bird nerd-dom but I still think there's a bit of confusion that bears clearing up.)

Size Variation: Real and apparent

In my experience, we currently see a wide variety of sizes of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in Maine. I think birders need to consider several things when evaluating the size of a goose and before assigning it to any one subspecies.

First is just the variation in body size of populations within any subspecies. Generally the birds in the northern reaches of the range tend to be smaller than those in the south. So larger and smaller birds within a migrating flock could be both from the same subspecies.

Sex, age, molt and diet can all work in various combinations to produce some real size extremes. Males are generally slightly larger than females and young birds are smaller than adults. Thanks to good food availability in some locales there are certainly some big, beefy geese out there and likewise there are some smaller birds that have struggled and end up true runts. These outliers usually are usually encountered in ones or twos (as opposed to whole percentages of flocks with differing sizes as is the case when subspecific size difference is in play).

Body posture, lighting, plumage erection and variation in the surface a bird is standing on can all also create some perceived differences in size. A relaxed or dozing bird can look a lot smaller than an alert or alarmed one. Likewise I've been fooled by geese that appeared small in a field, until they stepped out of a furrow and up beside a goose that seemed much larger moments earlier... A swimming bird that is angled slightly away can also look amazingly smaller than a similarly sized individual offering a true side profile. (This can also make bills seem stubby and Cackling-esque!)

Its also worth noting that some telephoto and digiscoped images have distorted perspectives that make birds further away from the camera appear disproportionately larger than those that are closer. (Ever notice how huge the batter and catcher look compared to the pitcher when the video camera in center field is being used during baseball games?)

Subspecies of Canada Geese in Maine

I'm quite confident that there are probably three subspecies that show up in numbers in Maine in the fall. I believe our locally breeding geese come mostly from the introduced "Giant" Canada Goose (B.c. maxima). As the name suggests, these are big geese. We also have another subspecies that breeds northeast of Maine known as the "Atlantic" Canada Goose (B.c. canadensis) that we see in migration. These are slightly smaller than the local birds but still quite large on average. Additionally there is a smaller subspecies called the "Interior" or "Hudson Bay" Canada Goose which generally breeds north and northwest of us (western Quebec and northern Ontario). The marked Canada Geese from Greenland, that I and others around New England have been finding, also seem to be from this subspecies rather than the geographically closer (to Greenland) "Atlantic" subspecies. Many flocks I see in October, here in northern Maine, are a fun mix of these subspecies and when these different varieties are found together the size differences can seem quite pronounced.

Lesser Canada Geese

As recognized by the current taxonomy, the true "Lesser" Canada Geese (B.c. parvipes) are breeders in the northwest parts of Canada and in Alaska and generally winter in the southwestern US. Though there probably have been a few found in the east, these are quite rare. I am not aware of any known Lesser Canada Goose, banded on the breeding grounds, that has turned up in the northeastern US or maritime Canada. Maybe someone can tell me otherwise!

Anyway, I wanted to offer this up to the inquiring minds of the blogosphere: lesser (small "l") Canada Geese in Maine are probably not Lesser (large"L") Canadas!

David Sibley has a great map on his website that shows, generally, the distribution of the various subspecies of Canada (and Cackling) Geese in North America. Its worth checking out:

http://www.sibleyguides.com/canada_cackling.htm

BS

Whimbrels in northern Maine

2009-10-12T20:44:00.012-04:00

Back in late August, I had a really good day in the field.

I birded a route from Woodland and Caribou east to Limestone and then south through Fort Fairfield and Easton. The morning started off unremarkably and I was tallying most of the expected commoner birds and a few of the less common migrants here and there. Regardless of the apparent mediocrity in bird assortment, I was enjoying the morning and was taking my time and in no rush. As it turned out, I ended up at Christina Reservoir fairly late in the morning and even though I really didn't think there would be much to see, I decided to stop in anyway.

Surprisingly enough, there seemed to be quite a bit of bird activity at the reservoir. The first to draw my attention was some large rafts of ducks in the middle of the pond: about 430 Ringed-necked Ducks and well over 200 American Wigeon. It was an impressive group, and once I got a good look at them with my spotting scope, the number of molting wigeon in the raft was a bit of a surprise. A few molting Common Goldeneyes were also in the mix.

Once I turned my attention away from the ducks and started to scan other parts of the lake, I came across a gorgeous breeding plumaged Red-necked Grebe tucked up in one corner. These grebes are quite rare but not unexpected in late summer as migration begins. Still it was a good find amongst all the Pied-billed Grebes that breed here.

3 young White-winged Scoters were my next find. They were asleep in the middle of the pond but slivers of white showing on the sides of their black velvet plumage revealed thier idenities. Early arrivals, too. Another good discovery.

Some midsized, dark birds bouyantly flying over the far side of the pond turned into Black Terns under my scope's high magnification. I hadn't seen one of these in northern Maine since the previous year...finding 3 was quite a coup! The birds were in partial winter plumage and had quite a bit of white on them. I was really cranking now!

If all this wasn't enough, there was a pretty good shorebird show going on here. The low water meant lots of bare mud along the shore and quite few sandpipers were working the waters edge. Small groups of these were cycling back and forth across the mud. Kept aloft, no doubt by a circling Merlin. Amongst them were Least, Spotted and a few Semipalmated Sandpipers, numbers of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a bunch of Semipalmated Plovers and Killdeer.

I already thought this was banner shorebird day for this inland location when 7 large brown shorebirds flying over the east end of pond caught my eye. My binoculars revealed long downcurved bills and bold dark stripes on the head. Whimbrels!

Though there are a few records of this big shorebird in northern Maine (including Christiana Reservoir), I had never seen this species here. To find seven was thrilling to say the least. I watched the birds for 15 munutes as they landed on the dead wood piled on along the shore. The birds preened a bit then tucked in their heads and settled in for nap.

I underlined the date in my notebook...August 23rd 2009. I was going to remember this day!

Whimbrel redux

In first week of October, I received an email from Linda Alverson. She had forwarded me a couple pictures of an unusual bird she'd gotten from a local resident. In her message, Linda identified the bird as a Whimbrel and the images proved her out.

The bird had been photographed in a horse paddock in my hometown of Woodland by Jessica Belanger . On spotting the big brown shorebird, she had recognized it as unusual and spent 10 minutes sneaking up on the bird and snapping the great photos you see here. The dark brown eye and crown stripes and the long bill are clearly visible.

Recalling the Christina Reservoir Whimbrels, I thought this was a great coincidence that this rare species was found in twice in northern Maine this fall! Most amazing was the date the bird was photographed...23 August! The same date I had seen the 7 over in Fort Fairfield.

Clearly there was some weather and migratory phenomena that brought these rare birds down in central Aroostook county on the same day. Good stuff.

Whimbrel migration in Maine

In mid August, Charlie Duncan sent out a message about a satellite transmitter equipped Whimbrel that had just embarked on a marathon movement that took it over Maine then out over open ocean. The bird had, at that point, been flying for 4 days straight and had covered well over 1000 miles! The bird was marked as part of a collaborative effort by the Center
for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary - Virginia
Commonwealth University and the Virginia Chapter of the Nature Conservancy to discover migratory routes that connect breeding and winter areas and to identify en route migratory staging areas . Amazing stuff

The link for a website that shows the paths of migratory Whimbrels that are tagged with satellite transmitters is well worth a look:

http://www.ccb-wm.org/programs/migration/Whimbrel/whimbrel.htm

Good birding

6 October a Sixth Greenland Canada Goose at Collins Pond

2009-10-07T05:52:00.006-04:00

I found GJY yesterday afternoon.

This was my sixth collared Canada Goose from Greenland so far this season. Again the bird was found in Collins Pond in Caribou. It was
with about 900 other Canadas. Attached is a photo (so I get the code
right)!

As always, when I report a marked goose to researchers Tony Fox and David Stroud, they respond quickly to me with the details of the birds travels. David Stroud wrote in part:

"...That's a really nice record, as we only had one sighting of
GJY last winter (in Connecticut) and this summer we saw it just once
(Lake L on 20 July) but even though it was evidently present in the
area, we didn't manage to retrap it. So that's only the third record
since we ringed it as part of our mega-catch that year." (that year was 2008).

It has been a bit frustrating this season that I can't seem to
relocate any of the other marked geese after I've spotted them once... I think I have spent more time, than ever before, monitoring the goose flocks in
the central Aroostook county area. In the past three days I have probably scoped 8,000+ geese in six different towns to no avail! I
wonder if most flocks are pushing through and continuing south rather
than staying in the area....

Due to the vagaries of agricultural markets, there seems to have been substantially less barley planted in the area this year in comparison with recent years. Many Aroostook farmers seem to have sown oats as a rotation crop (to their potato mainstay). While the oat crop offers the geese some spilled grain immediately after the harvest and, occasionally, clover (which is seeded with the oats and flourishes once the oats are cut), it can't compare to barley. This grain re-sprouts after the stubble is plowed under and in the past, offered the geese hundreds of acres of tender shoots!

Cull potatoes, left behind during harvest, also offer a favorite food
source for the geese but these are only consumable when there is a
steady cycle of freeze and thaw. The potatoes become soft in this
environment and the geese will nibble out any potato flesh they can
get. With an apparent early migration this year, the geese are bit
ahead of the cold temperatures and I rarely find geese in potato
fields yet.

So it appears food is a bit limited, as of yet, and it is possible that
the flocks aren't lingering as they usually do. Contra to my
hypothesis, I have relocated an unusual single adult Snow Goose and a
leucistic Canada Goose several times, so it appears at least some of these migrant birds are sticking around the area for a while.

Four Greater White-fronted Geese in Fort Fairfield and ANOTHER Greenland marked Canada Goose

2009-10-04T08:41:00.015-04:00

Friday started off well for me with another quick visit to Collin's Pond in Caribou. I was on my commute to work and thought I'd stop in and try again to relocate the two marked Canada Geese I spotted earlier in the week. I was trying to atone for my mis-read of the codes on the two neck collars of these by relocating them and rechecking the alpha codes.

I was surprised to find the pond still quite full of geese and expected they were soon to depart for a morning of feeding in the ag fields around Caribou. The birds were quite alert and fidgety and appeared ready to fly in any moment, so I made a quick cursory scan of the birds with my bins. Sure enough, there was a thick necked Canada on the far side of the pond with a yellow collar!

After a slightly embarrassing dash to my truck and subsequent wrestling match with my increasingly testy tripod I was able to zoom my spotting scope in on the bird. The view revealed the alpha code on this collar was GLS. This wasn't one of the two I'd seen earlier but yet another new marked Canada Goose! The fifth for this little pond this year.

The birds held in the pond a little longer and I was able to digiscope this picture for the record. I love the slick of feathers in the background...these geese are obviously still molting a bit.

Later on in the day I took a late lunch hour, with my coworker Jim, to patrol a few of the goosier day roosts that I had been neglecting. We had another good find. At Puddledock Pond in Fort Fairfield, we encountered the first Greater White-fronted Geese of the season in Maine. The four adult birds were contentedly swimming amongst about 70 Canada Geese and 50+ Hooded Mergansers. Again I set up the scope and had a good long look.

After Jim and I had a good session observing these rare geese, I reached for my camera and then realized I'd forgotten it and couldn't photograph them! White-fronts are still rare enough in Maine that all sightings should be documented if possible. I cursed my bad luck a bit and folded up my tripod and got in the truck to drive away.

Then a great stroke of GOOD luck occurred.... As I pulled from the parking area of the pond Paul Cyr came over the knoll in his big black Hummer! For those who don't know, Paul is the outdoor photographer extraordinaire who has provided about half of the bird photos for this blog. In my experience, the man rarely travels without a full assortment of cameras and gear....

After a quick chat with Paul about eagles and geese, he headed out to the pond. When I left the spot, I knew there would be a good photo of these birds for the record...and, of course, Paul didn't disappoint!

That evening, I sent my digiscope of GLS and Paul's great photo of the White-fronts to Tony Fox in Denmark and David Stroud in the UK and they quickly provided feedback on both:

Like most of the yellow-collared Canada Geese I've found, GLS was first captured and marked in Greenland in July 2008. Unlike most, this bird had not been relocated since that time.

As for the Fort Fairfield White-fronts, they confirmed that these birds appeared to be individuals of the Greenland subspecies of the White-fronted Goose.

As before, the updates on these birds and the others found at Collins Pond can be found at the White-fronted Goose project's website here: http://greenland09.wikispaces.com/Ringing+results+and+recoveries

Collins Pond Geese: Another look at the Snow and MORE Greenland Canadas

2009-09-30T05:28:00.009-04:00

Another look at Saturday's Snow Goose

As posted earlier, there were alot of Canada Geese flying into Collins Pond in Caribou last Saturday. I joined a bunch of goose enthusiasts and watched from the park on the south side of the pond as the flocks arrived. Apparently, others around town were also enjoying the spectacle from their vantage points. Nadeen Plourde sent me a note saying, she too, watched the geese flocks as they flew over her house on the way from the fields to Collins Pond on that same beautiful Saturday morning. Coincidently, Nadeen even saw the lone Snow Goose in a flock and got this nice photo of the sharp looking bird as it flew by!

MORE Greenland Canada Geese at Collins Pond

On Tuesday at 5:15 PM Collins Pond was as full of geese as I have seen it this fall. Probably 2,500+ geese. I didn't have much time, but I couldn't drive by with giving the geese a quick scan!
After a couple days of rain, the clouds had lifted and the geese were stretching and getting active in late afternoon sun. The birds were muttering to each other the way they do when its getting time to get up and out of the pond and off to the field to feed. Between the warm sunshine and slowly rising tenor of the combined goose chorus, it was quite nice and I wished I had an hour to spend!

Almost immediately I spotted two Canada Geese with yellow neck collars showing well in the sun. Expecting these to be the Greenland Canada Geese found here on Saturday (GLF and GLU), I was surprised to see these birds had different codes. GBH and GBI. Two MORE Canada geese from Greenland!

I was flushed with my quick success in finding something "good" so quickly on the pond. I gave the rest of geese (which were now mostly backlit) a once-over to make sure there there were no obvious other unusual birds in the mix and then headed home.

Of course I sent off a report of my discovery to Greenland goose researchers Tony Fox and David Stroud as soon as possible and they promptly replied. GBH and GBI were indeed some more Greenland Canada Geese!

However, the code combinations I reported were used on birds banded back in 1997...AND these birds were NOT fitted with collars and had only leg bands with these codes... Hmmm.

As much as I hate to think I mis-read the codes on the collars, the only alternative hypothesis I could come up with was that the geese marked GBH and GBI, on living to a ripe old age, had somehow gotten custom monogrammed neck collars and fitted themselves with these. Not especially likely.

Today I will try to revisit the pond, relocate these geese and recheck the collar codes. Maybe with my scope and camera I can get it right this time! Good birding.

New Canada Geese from Greenland

2009-09-26T20:40:00.009-04:00

Late Saturday AM, I stopped by Collins Pond in Caribou to watch the big flock of Canada Geese return to the pond after a morning of feeding. A dozen or so other people also had the same idea on this glorious morning. The birds didn't disappoint and started filing in almost as soon as I arrived... a dozen up to fifty at a time.

One of the early arriving flocks came in with a lone adult Snow Goose in its midst. This was only the second of this species I've seen this year. It was a nice bonus surprise.

After about 45 minutes, an estimated 1,800 Canada Geese had arrived back in the pond and the flow of geese slowed to a trickle. A thorough inspection of the pond-full of waterfowl revealed no other unusual species (beyond the Snow Goose), however, I did note a couple of the new arrivals that were sporting neck yellow neck collars.

With my spotting scope, I was able to get a much closer look and the Canada Geese and was able to make out three letter alpha codes on the yellow collars: GLF and GLU... It appeared these were some of the geese that are being marked in Greenland as part of Greater White-fronted Goose research there. (Last year a flock of five similarly-marked Canada Geese spent the latter half of the month of October in the Caribou area and were thoroughly blogged up here...).

When I returned home, I checked my records for the alpha codes on these 2008 geese and found that one (GLF) was one of these five seen last year.

I was able to snap a few pictures of the pair and sent one out, with news of the resighting, to the researchers Tony Fox and David Stroud. Tony and David responded to say that GLF (a female) had returned to Isunngua, in southwest Greenland after wintering in the US in 2008-2009. The crew there had spotted it with some other geese during their trapping/marking work in July 2009. GLU (a male) was also originally marked in 2008 but hadn't been seen since!

A straight line between Isunngua, Greenland and Caribou, Maine is 1,500 miles. I'm sure the path travelled by these geese was a winding one and more miles were covered.... A long trip to make once, let alone three times...

Amazing stuff right happens right in my home "patch".

A link to the Greenland Goose resighting page is here: http://greenland09.wikispaces.com/Ringing+results+and+recoveries

Northern Maine Birds 1 -14 September 2009

2009-09-13T05:53:00.014-04:00

Its been a while since I posted...

Lots of birds are departing and there has been little to slow the southbound migration over the past two weeks. Weather in northern Maine has been characterized by clear warm days and crisp nights with gentle and favorable breezes. Precipitation has been almost non-existent north of Presque Isle for a couple of weeks and rivers and streams are approaching record lows.

All the low water is making for excellent conditions for observing shorebirds this year. Substantial amounts of bare shoreline along streams as well as some farm ponds lowered by irrigation withdrawals have resulted in some nice spots for shorebirds to feed.

Most of the grain crop in the area has been harvested and potato harvest has begun. On cue, birds are congregating to take advantage of the abundant feed in the form of crop residue. The burgeoning fruit and cone crop is almost ripe and looks like a really good one. Fall insect swarms are being enjoyed by interesting mixed flocks of bug-eating birds.

Waterfowl highlights lately are as much about numbers as unusual species. A huge collection of waterfowl has assembled at Christina Reservoir this month to finish their molt back into the attractive plumages we know and enjoy. Over 600 Ring-necked Ducks were counted here on the 11th. 140 + Green-winged Teal were seen coming into the pond at sundown on the 9th. Over in Lake Josephine in Easton, Gadwall counts are regularly over 50 birds. Four nearly full grown juvenile Redheads have been frequenting a wetland nearby and at least 9 Ruddy Ducks, now in winter plumage, are also dependable here. A flock of 11 Blue-winged Teal were seen at Collins Pond in Caribou on the 4th.

Northern Shovelers and American Wigeon have been spotted in many locations around central and northern Aroostook County lately. Other than the dependable locations at Easton and Fort Fairfield, the Shovelers were reported in Ashland, Caribou and Mars Hill in the past two weeks.

American Wigeon have mostly completed their molt back into bright colors. During the molt as many as 270 were associating with the huge Ring-necked Duck flock in Christina Reservoir. These birds have dispersed a bit and wigeon are being spotted widely. 14 at Collins Pond on the 4th and 35 at Brise Coulotte Lake in St. Agatha were high counts.

Canada Goose flocks are building rapidly with new arrivals daily. Flocks roosting during the days in protected locations in Fort Fairfield, Caribou and Washburn are all approaching 1000+ birds. No unusual geese have been reported yet.

Common Loons were seen many locations recently. This year's juveniles seemed to do well and many have reached nearly adult size now. High counts of Pied-billed Grebes recently were 19 seen on Christina Reservoir on the 4th and 11 seen on the south end of Long Lake in Sinclair. The brood that hatched from a nest on Daigle Pond in New Canada appear to be doing well.

There were several exceptional wader reports this period. The highlight was a Least Bittern calling from the cattails on the south side of Christina Reservoir on the 10th. The bird was heard a dusk and refused to come into view despite some playback of the call. As far as I'm aware, this was only the second record of this species here. Up in Fort Kent an adult Black-crowned Night Heron was roosting in the big silver maples at the mouth of the Fish River on the 13th. Also noteworthy is a Great Egret that has been skulking around the wetlands on the north side of Christina Reservoir for the past couple weeks. Though not unprecedented here, this long stayer is still a rarity.

Great Blue Heron numbers have peaked with a dozen reported along the Aroostook river in Fort Fairfield on the 14th and as many as 5 crowded into Collins Pond this week. American Bitterns also appear to be on the move. This species was seen in several wetlands this week around Christina Reservoir and photographed nicely here by Paul Cyr.

The raptor highlight for early September was a Peregrine Falcon seen several times around Christina Reservoir over the past two weeks. The hawk was seen on one of the farm roads near the reservoir feeding on an adult Gadwall on the 4th.

Turkey Vultures were noted as far north as St. John Plantation near Fort Kent on Sept 3. Bald Eagles, Northern Harriers and American Kestrels were frequently reported. Paul Cyr sent photographed this gorgeous male harrier in Presque Isle as it finished up a meal. The latest Osprey report at this point in the season is one seen at St. Agatha on the 13th

Two Common Moorhens (an apparent adult and almost adult sized juvenile) were seen at Christina Reservoir on the 6th. A Virginia Rail was spotted at Lake Josephine on the 4th.

As mentioned, good numbers of shorebirds continue to be spotted this fall. Most tantalizing was a report of Red-necked Phalaropes landing in Christina Reservoir on the 4th. Though not yet confirmed, the presence of this species in Aroostook County would be noteworthy. Three Black-bellied Plovers at Christina Reservoir on the 6th were also a great find. Pectoral Sandpipers were seen at Collins Pond on the 7th (3); Limestone Stream impoundment in Limestone on the 11th (3) and Mars Hill Town Pond on the 13th (1).

Another uncommon shorebird in these parts, White-rumped Sandpipers were seen at Christina Reservoir (1) on the 6th and at the Limestone pond (1) on the 11th. A high count of Semipalmated Plovers was tallied along the south shore of Christina Reservoir on the 6th when 73 came to roost on a mud bar here. 28 Least Sandpipers were also counted here.

Gull numbers continue to increase. Though no true rareties have turned up yet, 6 Bonapartes Gulls seen at Long Lake in Sinclair back on August 29th are uncommon enough to be worth mentioning. Another juvenile Boney was seen on the north end of the lake in St Agatha on September 13th.

The saga of the brightly marked Ring-billed Gull photographed in Presque Isle by Ken Lamb last May continues. This gull was originally captured and marked as part of a study of gulls that winter on drinking water supplies in Massachusetts. The bird was captured in a rocket net baited with Cheezits in the parking lot of the Walmart in Northborough, MA on 7 October 2008.

Ken Lamb spotted it during its spring migration at the Walmart parking lot here in Presque Isle on 31 May 2009. The bird was next documented up in Port Daniel, Quebec on the south shore of the Gaspe peninsula on the 26th of July 2009.

Most recently the gull is on the move again, apparently heading south and was spotted at the Frederiction Wastewater Treatment plant in New Brunswick on the 9th and 10th of September! Good stuff!

The last Common Terns at the Long Lake nesting colony in St. Agatha were seen on the 29th of August.

The last pulse of migrating Ruby-throated Hummingbirds passed through the area in early September. Three, including an adult male, lingered at my feeders in Woodland through the 8th. The last juvenile departed on the 13th, a bit on the late side of things. Patty Jennings got this great shot of a juvie in Stacyville on the 11th.

Lingering swallows were also reported. A late-passing flock of swallows was seen feeding over the Pelletier Island causeway on 29 August. The flock was made up of a single, exceptionally late Bank Swallow, 2 Cliff Swallows and 6 Barn Swallows. Very late Barn Swallows were also seen on the 11th in Easton and on the 14th in Caribou. Two migrating Chimney Swifts over Caribou on the 29th of August were the latest by a week in my records.

The last Common Nighthawks reported in the county were two seen over Route 1 in Littleton at sundown on the 2nd. On the 11th, Gray Jays at the Muscovic Road in Stockholm and a family group of Boreal Chickadees at Madawaska Lake were noisy birds in otherwise quiet woods.

A female Black-backed Woodpecker was seen near Beardsley Brook in New Sweden on the 13th. The last Eastern Kingbird and Least Flycatcher were reported on 30 August and a somewhat tardy Alder Flycatcher was seen at Christina Reservoir on the 4th. Juvenile Eastern Phoebes are still being encountered through the end of the period.

A very late singing male Warbling Vireo spent a week at Collins Pond from the 7th through the 13th before departing. Blue-headed Vireos continue to be encountered and are also still mumbling some partial songs in the hours around daybreak.

Migrating thrushes have been moving through steadily with Veeries dominating the counts in early September. Pulses of American Robins have likewise been noted. A male Eastern Bluebird was seen near the golf course in Presque Isle on the 11th.

Warbler migration is winding down and appears to have gone very well for the birds in this area. Nearly the entire period of peak migration was favorable weather conditions and no large fallouts which would indicate traveling problems were noted. Currently Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Green are apparently the only warbler species still passing through the area in numbers.

Chipping, Song and White-throated Sparrows numbers have increased recently. A Lincoln's Sparrow was seen on the Muscovic Road in Stockholm on the 13th. Absent from the area for most of summer a group of 8 White-winged Crossbills were also spotted on the Muscovic Road. With the ample cone crop, its likely these will become more common as autumn progresses.

Northern Maine Birds July 2009

2009-07-29T05:36:00.018-04:00

Cool wet weather continued during most of July in northern Maine. As of the 29th, there had been precipitation on 19 days and the average temperature for the month was several degrees below normal. Water levels have remained above average in area streams and lakes but not exceptionally so.

While the cool weather certainly effected the availability of flying and terrestrial insects for the smaller birds to feed their young during this nesting season, it appears the vegetation has benefited from the frequent waterings. There is a heavy fruit, nut and cone crop ripening on some particularly lush plants.

Despite all the wet weather, water levels remained fairly stable in the nesting wetlands and it appears area waterfowl have had a productive season. The highlight is certainly the re-appearance of the hen Redhead with a brood of six ducklings at a wetland near Lake Josephine in Easton (7/24). Hatched much earlier, at least three different family groups of Northern Shoveler young are nearly adult size now and are being seen here regularly. Four Gadwall and 7 Ring-necked Duck families were tallied at Lake Jo on the the 24th. Hen Common and Hooded Mergansers with fuzzy young were seen at Gardner Pond in the Deboullie Ecological Reserve in T15R9 on 3 July. Three male Ruddy Ducks continue to be seen a Lake Josephine but there has been no sign of a hen for some time.

For the first time in a while the Common Loon pair at Madawaska Lake in T16 R5 successfully produced a chick. Dana Hallowell got a nice picture of the loon family and sent it over along with a picture of the nest and a dud egg that was left behind.

Large congregations of molting waterfowl are now being seen at Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield and Lake Josephine. Recent high counts were 160+ Mallards at Lake Jo and 340+ Canada Geese, 270 Ring-necked Ducks and 130+ American Wigeon at Christina.

Though until recently were an uncommon sight in northern-most Maine, Turkey Vultures have put in a great showing this month. The birds were seen in Easton, Fort Fairfield Mars Hill, Garfield, St Agatha and T15R9. The latter bird was seen on the 3rd near Deboullie Mountain and was flying though the gloom on a rainy day.

A good assortment of raptors (9 species tallied) were encountered in the area this month.

Paul Cyr saw 21 Bald Eagles while on a powerchute trip down the Aroostook River from Presque Isle to Caribou to Fort Fairfield. One of the eagles received an escort by a particularly aggressive Merlin. Paul got a few pictures of the little hawk as it strafed the big young eagle.

Northern Harriers and American Kestrels are increasingly being seen in the fields and were each reported in many more localities than I'd like to list here. Paul Cyr's kestrel box in Presque Isle produced two young birds. The female kestrel pictured at the top of this post was hard at work feeding the growing chicks. A road-killed adult Northern Goshawk was found along the State Road in Ashland on the 26th. Other species seen were Osprey, Sharp-shinned, Broad-winged, and Red-tailed Hawks.

The Common Moorhen pair continues at a wetland in Easton though the skulky pair are tough to glimpse. The birds were most recently seen on the 19th. Sora and Virginia Rails were both seen with young this month at Lake Josephine.

Southward shorebird migration began as a trickle in early July. A Least Sandpiper seen and heard over Lake Josephine on the 8th was the first definite migrant. This shorebird was followed by the first Solitary Sandpipers (4) and one each of Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs seen at the same location on the 24th. Only a single Upland Sandpiper (seen at the Loring runway in Limestone) was reported in July.

An exciting report of a phalarope seen at Lake Josephine on the 27th has yet to be confirmed. A female Wilsons Phalarope was seen here back in May.

A Black-billed Cuckoo gave a fleeting glance as it glided over Greenlaw Stream at the Aroostook NWR on the 19th. This was the first for me this year in northern Maine.

Though Black-backed Woodpeckers were encountered at the western end of Gardner Lake in T15 R9 and along the Hewes Brook Road in T14 R8, Three-toed Woodpeckers went undetected this month. Regular visits to locations in New Sweden and Stockholm have produced little in the way of evidence that this species is still active in either area.

Though it has quieted down a bit, Marsh Wren continues to sing at the marsh in Easton where it has been seen since mid June. Always worth a mention when seen this far north, a Brown Thrasher was doing a little mid-day mumbling in some underbrush just outside the gate of Aroostook NWR in Limestone on the 19th. A strong singing Tennessee Warbler seen nearby was also a bit of a surprise this late in the season.

Thrush song seemed to surge a bit mid month, presumably as the birds completed production of this years crop of nestlings. American Robins were feeding their second round of nestlings in Stacyville and Presque Isle. Patty Jennings got a picture of one the parents feeding some hungry youngsters in her yard just before the birds fledged.

While all the commoner vireos continue to vocalize here in central Aroostook county, a singing Philadelphia Vireo observed in Mapleton on the ninth was a noteworthy discovery. An apparent migrant Cape May Warbler at Lake Josephine on the 24th and Mourning Warblers heard on the fourth in T14 R8 were also good finds. Yellow Warblers appear to be thinning out a bit already.

Sparrow sightings worth mentioning include a Vesper Sparrow seen in Limestone on the 9th and Fox Sparrows heard singing in T15 R9 and T14 R8 on the 4th and 5th respectively. A male Indigo Bunting singing in a clear cut in T14 R8 was a northernmost record for this species for me.

White-winged Crossbills have appeared in small numbers apparently in anticipation of the burgeoning cone crop. A few Evening Grosbeaks were seen in Ashland and Masardis on the 21st.

The End!