By Seth Davis
On January 25, MYBC set out to look for winter birds along Maine’s beautiful coastline at Cape Elizabeth. This trip essentially follows the route of one of the Greater Portland Christmas Bird Count circles and in previous years has been very productive for us. This year was fortunately no different!
We began at one of our favorite spots, Dyer Point, to pick up some of the less common winter birds including Harlequin Ducks and Purple Sandpipers. We had some new young birders who got some awesome views of their lifer Harlequin! We also observed some Razorbills which are always fun to see! https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S64554213
We then made our way to Crescent Beach. There wasn’t too much out of the ordinary, but we did get to see an enormous mixed flock of Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Later we found a lone Yellow-rumped Warbler which is always a nice reminder of warmer weather! https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S64554212
We then moved on to Kettle Cove. We ran into the Merrymeeting birding group (we saw them last year too) and to our surprise folks were observing a flock of Tree Swallows on the island off-shore! It is very unusual to see Tree Swallows this time of year, and it took some hard looking to really confirm, but considering several were seen on the CBC a month before we were confident they were TRES. https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S64554211
All in all, it was another productive trip and we have some awesome plans for or February outing, so keep your eyes peeled!
