By Seth Davis
Six young birders, including two new members joined us for our second trip to the Kennebunk Plains! Very reminiscent of last year, there was a strong threat of thunderstorms but luckily we didn’t get rained out. Nick Lund aka “The Birdist” joined us for part of our trip and it was awesome to have some more experience and fun knowledge to accompany us!
The day started off and remained awesome for the duration of our trip! Right off the bat, we picked up some less common sparrows including Vespers and Savannah Sparrows. Early on we also heard Eastern Meadowlarks, Cedar Waxwings, and Eastern Towhees all over the grasslands. We also picked up and got some great views of our target birds UPLAND SANDPIPER and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS! These state-endangered birds can really only be found in this area, so it s always a welcome treat when we get some great views.
When we got toward the back part of the area, we decided to try to get out of the rain and try to find some forrest-dwelling birds. Among the few warblers, and thrushes we cam across, we also stumbled upon a hen Wild Turkey who was sitting on her clutch of newborn turklets? turklings? gobble-pops? Regardless of what they’re called they were super cute. We made sure that on our way back we tried not to disturb the birds to make as little impact as possible.
Among other birds, we saw a Cooper’s Hawk, Prairie Wablers, and… ticks… As Marion said, “even the ticks had ticks”… Luckily they all seemed like American Dog Ticks, but still gross…
All in all it was a very successful and fun day! It was great to interact with some new members and we hope to continue to meet new people and learn more about Maine’s birds and natural environment!
Our full checklists for the trip can be seen here: https://ebird.org/me/view/checklist/S58036771
