by Marion Sprague
The Maine Young Birders Club took to the seas on Saturday, September 21st to visit Monhegan Island, a small, rocky island in Muscungous Bay about 10 miles offshore. The marine forecast was not in our favor with 7-9ft swells predicted. Captain Jim was terrific at guiding us as smoothly as possible through these turbulent waters. We arrived on Monhegan to overcast skies, but no rain!
We re-grouped at the dock to make introductions before starting up the hill toward the Community Gardens. We were very excited to welcome two new young birders to the flock, Jesse and Nora. In total we had 9 young birders, along with parents and family members joining us on this adventure.
We stopped just before the library where we saw a Northern Mockingbird and a Kingbird. As we rounded the corner, a family of Ring-necked Pheasants greeted us at the Community Gardens. There were two stunning adults males just off the road. We picked up several sparrows including Swamp, Song, and White-throated Sparrow as well as a sizable flock of Common Grackles and a signing Carolina Wren. The highlight of this stop was the American Kestrel that posed out in the open for us. The clicking of camera shutters abounded! From there we headed toward the Pump House where we picked up a Green-winged Teal, Mallards, and a few immature Great Black-backed Gulls.
From there we headed toward the Ice Pond, where we saw a family of 5 Wood Ducks! The road to the Ice Ponds was hopping! We saw Northern Parulas and Black-and White Warblers. We got our first Red-eyed Vireos of the day here. Little did we know that we would encounter 16 throughout the day. Every where we stopped they made a showing. The Ice Pond also gave us a Solitary Sandpiper, Belted King-fisher, and a calling Common Raven to round out the count.
We headed back toward town to grab lunch at the Barnacle. We paused on the ledges just behind the school to scan the offshore islands for Bald Eagles and cormorants. After lunch, we headed toward Lobster Cove where we added a mixed flock of White-winged Scoters and Common Eiders. We got our second shorebird of the day, a Spotted Sandpiper flitting around the cove. Of course we had to stop and explore the shipwreck and take a group photo or two!
As we started back toward town, we made a stop to pick up 2 Dickcissels feeding along the gravel road. They lingered long enough for everyone to get great looks and pictures! We also picked up an Eastern Wood Pewee here. Day trips on the island pass very quickly and before we knew it we had to make our way back the dock to meet our boat. We made a few pitstops along the way, where we saw our cooperative kestrel again!
Other trip highlights included a Northern Harrier, 2 Merlins, a Blue-headed Vireo, 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and 5 Northern Flickers. The warbler count was not high, but we got 7 species including Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstarts, Norther Parula, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
The boat ride back to New Harbor proved much more smooth than the morning trip! The calmer waters allowed for a quick loop around the Duck Islands to look at the seals. About halfway between the island and the mainland we saw three small Harbor Porpoise pods. Several of the young birders reported a shearwater! Though the exact species was definitively determined, they were leaning toward Great Shearwater.
We had a great outing with a total of 50 species. Check out our trip list here.
As always, you can click here for more information about how to join the Maine Young Birders Club.
Stay tuned for the trip announcement about our October outing at Center for Wildlife!
