by Seth Davis
The date was May 15th 2021. The place; Evergreen Cemetery. The group; Maine Young Birders Club. We arrived in the crisp morning with one goal, to log 70 species in the 5 hours we were birding. It was peak warbler migration and we had a few easy checks, but it would be a challenge. Could MYBC do it? Would we reach our goal? Spoiler: YES (but barely).
We started out at the Duck Ponds, and we started ticking off birds right away. Mallards (obviously) and numerous warblers to start including Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, and a brief glimpse at a Magnolia Warbler (not-so-subtly the author’s favorite bird!). There were also several interesting species spotted out or over the pond such as Solitary Sandpipers and Eastern Kingbird. By the time we were done at the Duck Ponds we had ~30 species. A great start, but the more you check, the harder those checks are to come by…
We then moved down the road toward the brush piles and picked up many exciting species. Wood Thrush, Great-crested Flycatcher, and Prairie Warbler among others. We also spent a good 10-15 mins getting fleeting glimpses of a Blackburnian Warbler! After a misdirected jaunt to the outer edge of Evergreen Cemetery, we were at ~45-50 species.
MYBC made our way to the Junk Pond. This is a great place to find Black-crowned Night Herons, but we unfortunately were not lucky on that front, but we did spot a Green Heron so that made the trip worth it. Plus we had time to kill.
On our route back to the Duck Pond, Marion spotted some rowdy Blue Jays, stopped dead in her tracks, and speechlessly flailed her arms. Come to find that there was a Barred Owl sitting motionlessly on a branch. We all got some great looks at it before it flew away! At this point we were at ~59 species. We had a guaranteed check, but starting to feel like our goal will not be reached…
Our secret, guaranteed check were nesting Great-horned Owls! It has been consistent and we decided to save that for the end of the trip A. because we knew it would be there all day and B. gave us a test of patience. It was certainly going to be a highlight so we didn’t want to spoil it. Sure enough they were there, the owlets were super cute and it gave us a chance to rest in the shade of their tree. The trip was almost done and we were at 66 species…
Whilst trodding back to our pickup location, thanks to the keen eyes and ears of the young birders we managed to spot Red-tailed and Broad-winged hawks, Cape May (spotted earlier but not confirmed) AND a Nashville Warbler (literally at the last minute which turned that last minute into the last 15 minuets). So if our calculations are correct… (hmm add this here, carry the 2, divide by Pi…) we hit 70 species on the dot!!!
We made our goal and had a great time doing so! Check out our full eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S88181253
Keep a lookout for our next trip announcement where we’re headed to Kennebunk Plains to see Upland Sandpipers, Grasshopper Sparrows and ticks… So many ticks….
