by Seth Davis

MYBC had a fun event at Mt. Agamenticus in October! Due to weather concerns we started the trip later (it was the right decision!). We started at Center for Wildlife and got a personalized tour of the facility. Many of our favorite ambassadors were still there, though sadly some had passed in the year since we visited… We had some awesome opportunities to see a Great-horned Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, and Turkey Vulture up close and we learned a lot!

From there we moved up the mountain to do some birding on our own and we were greeted (truthfully before we went to CFW) with a nice flock of Pine Siskins! It wasn’t the “birdiest” of days but we got a good view of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and some more typical birds (Chickadees, Titmice, etc.). It was a very good trip if you’ve been itching to see Red-breasted Nuthatches (we saw dozens!).

One of the more exciting bits was near the top, there was a huge group of blackbirds! At least 200 flew by! We weren’t 100% sure on specific ID, but we felt it was a mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and European Starlings. It was a bit unusual to see so many in an odd habitat, but we chalked it up to migration still taking place.

As we made our way down, there was a lot of the usual suspects, but as we were about to walk out of the trail we caught a glimpse of a couple Hermit Thrushes! These birds are pretty elusive, but always are a treat when we see them!

Our full checklist can be seen here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S76116151