by Laurie Pocher
For the second year in a row, we had to abandon our plans to bird Monhegan Island — this time due to canceled ferry service. We hatched a divide-and-conquer plan instead, birding Hinckley Park, Kettle Cove, and Spurwink Marsh as a group, and then splitting up to cover more diverse habitats.
Hinckley Park yielded 34 species, including six different warblers — Yellow, Chestnut-Sided, Wilson’s, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, and American Redstart. A pair of House Wrens flitted around singing loudly, and a pair of Red-Eyed Vireos worked the tree tops and an Olive-Sided Flycatcher scouted the brush near the pond.
We moved on to Kettle Cove, where we added Purple Sandpipers, Common Eiders, Roseate Terns, Tree Swallows, Red-breasted Merganser, Killdeer, and four species of gull: Herring, Ring-Billed, Great Black-Backed, and Laughing. A quick stop at Spurwink Marsh was very productive, with Great and Snowy Egrets, Barn Swallows, a Belted Kingfisher, and a Bald Eagle.
As a group, we tallied 54 species. You can view the full trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/241224
Team MYBC members made a few other stops within the 24-hour Birding Challenge timeframe. A trip to Robinson’s Woods added a Brown Creeper and a Hermit Thrush, and one of our Young Birders had an Ovenbird, Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Least Flycatcher in his yard! Capisic Pond gave us a Black-crowned Night Heron, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, and a Magnolia Warbler. We scored Glossy Ibis driving by Scarborough Marsh en route to Kennebunk Plains, where we added Brown Thrasher, Northern Flicker, Eastern Meadowlark, Prairie Warbler, Eastern Towhees, and Field and Vesper Sparrows. One team member did manage to get to Monhegan Island, picking up a Wilson’s Phalarope, Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Black Guillemot, Least Tern, American Black Duck, White-winged Dove, and Ring-Necked Pheasant… plus a Bobolink in her Kittery backyard. Another team member birded Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge MA, rounding out our sightings with Chimney Swift, Red-Tailed Hawk, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Wood Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Brown-Headed Cowbird, and Cape May, Pine and Yellow-Rumped Warblers.
All tolled, we managed to log 100 species for the Team MYBC Birding Challenge total!
There’s still time to donate to York County Audubon Birding Challenge! We’ll be collecting donations through May 31, so click here to sponsor Team MYBC!
Stay tuned for our next trip announcement coming soon!
