Quest for the Ash-throated Flycatcher

by Marion Sprague

In November, Maine birders keep their eyes peeled for reports of rarities. Such was the case for our November 13th outing. We had planned to visit Fort Foster, which is a great habitat for fall migrants, winter sea birds, and just a really nice place to walk and enjoy nature. When an Ash-throated Flycatcher (ATFL) was reported in Biddeford Pool, we pivoted our plans last minute to go on a quest to find this bird. After some last minute logistics, we met at the entrance to East Point Sanctuary and walked to St. Martins Lane where the bird had been seen last.

Ash-throated Flycatchers breed in the Western US generally and winter in Mexico or South America. Maine has a dozen or so state records (meaning it has been seen here) but this is not a bird you’d expect in Maine and a lifer for most (maybe all?) of our MYBC crew. They look quite similar to the commonly seen Great Crested Flycatcher (GCFL) that many of us are familiar with and does breed in Maine. ATFL have a duskier breast than the yellow of our native GCFL, as well as rufous outer tail feathers not seen on the GCFL.

We were a little anxious that maybe the bird had moved on ahead of the heavy rains that day before. We arrived shortly before 8:30AM and scanned the thicket behind the church. We sighted Northern Mockingbirds in a tall tree at the water’s edge. Then we had what we thought might be another mockingbird, but turned out to be a Northern Shrike. A single American Tree Sparrow posed in a nearby shrub. Then we heard what sounded like a flycatcher-esque call, but couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a mockingbird impersonation. As we were getting the shrike in the scope Ian sent out the call—the Ash-throated Flycatcher had been spotted!! Of course, we forgot all about the shrike (well not really) and made a bee-line to see our target bird.

It was foraging between the thicket and a house on the edge of the church property. We got great looks as it sat perched in a nearby tree. We lost sight when it moved behind a house on private property. At this same time a Copper’s Hawk swooped in to the same spot! We all held our breath for either the hawk to reappear with empty talons or to see the flycatcher again. Lucky for us, an all the birders who still had yet to see the flycatcher, the hawk did reappear with empty talons. While we did not see the ATFL was seen later by other birders. (phew!!)

We moved on from the church to scan East Point Sanctuary for sea birds and any early Snowy Owls. Alas, no owls had arrived yet, but we did see a few large flocks of Double-crested Cormorants, Long-tailed Ducks, 12 Common and 5 Red-throated Loons, Surf , White-winged and Black Scoters, and Common Eiders. On our way out we saw a Red-winged Blackbird enjoying a snack at a feeder in a nearby yard.

We tried South Point Sanctuary for the Golden Plover that had been reported there earlier in that morning, but did not spot it. We did see a flock of Sanderlings with a few Semipalmated Plovers mixed into the flock.

We ended the trip with a stop back at the church to try for another look at the flycatcher (no luck). But some of us noticed a small bird zip past us and were able to get on a Palm-Warbler. We’ll celebrate any warbler in November!

All in all everyone felt very happy with our last minute change of plans. You can see the full checklist here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S97977123

Keep your eye our for our Dec trip announcement and mark your calendars for the Biddeford Christmas Bird Count on January 1, 2022. MYBC will cover the Old Orchard Beach section again this year.

Happy Birding!

Gilsland Farm 2021

by Marion Sprague

We had a wonderful time exploring Gilsland Farm on Sept 18th with 5 of the MYBC young birders. Gilsland Farm is 65-acre sanctuary in with more than two miles of trails winding along a pond and through forest, meadow, orchard, and salt marsh situated along the Presumpscot River estuary in Falmouth.

We met at the parking lot near the Audubon Nature Store and birded around the nature center working our way toward the pond. At the top of the hill we hit a good pocket of fall migrants including an American Redstart, an Eastern Phoebe, a Blackpoll Warbler, and a Black-and-White Warbler. We also had a Red-bellied Woodpecker calling.

At the pond we were surprised by a Belted Kingfisher that flushed as we approached. We also added a few frogs to our non-avian species list before continuing our way to the top of the hill toward the Community Garden. This is where the morning got interesting. While looking for Dickcissels in a flock of House Sparrows we noticed a lighter colored bird, hoping it was something interesting we spent some time watching the flock. Alas, it turned out to be a very pale female House Sparrow—possibly with some sort of color aberration in her feathers.

Not a group to have our hopes easily dashed that we would find something fun, we continued our trip to the garden where we spotted a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW feeding with a flock of American Goldfinches. We took our time with this bird and were rewarded when it popped up out in the open on a patch of tansy only 10 feet from us. The camera shutters went wild! Then a MERLIN landed in the tree tops! But the excitement didn’t stop there…

The North Meadow was also full of activity. Weston heard what he thought was a Marsh Wren, but it turned out to be 4 MARSH WRENS!! We all got great looks at these often hard to see birds. While we were paused to enjoy the wrens we had a flyover of a Norther Harrier. What a day!

We also faced a more somber but very important lesson for nature enthusiasts—getting out into nature means you may encounter a creature in distress at some point. It can be very hard to witness. Our group encountered a groundhog behaving oddly, having trouble keeping its balance and unafraid of humans. We talked about how in those instances it is best not to approach sick wildlife, but that knowing the right people to contact is an important tool for all nature enthusiasts. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife has a great webpage that lists the wildlife rehabilitators across the state. Because wildlife requires special care it is best to leave caring for injured or sick wildlife to professionals. We reported the groundhog to Maine Audubon. It turned out they had been aware of this individual and the biologist studying the groundhogs on the farm had some working theories on the cause. As hard as it was to move on, we did our part to ensure both the safety of our group and the groundhog.

We wrapped up the adventure will a stroll through the woods and marsh overlooks, where we picked up a Swainson’s Thrush. We capped off an very interesting outing with a visit to a spectacular flush of Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) mushrooms on a fallen hardwood tree. While not a bird it is named after a bird.

All-in-all it was a great outing. We saw 43 species throughout the morning. Check out the full checklist of what we saw here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S95597751

See you at the October Mt. A and Center for Wildlife outing! Happy Birding.

Sunset Puffin Cruise 2021

by Marion Sprague

On Saturday, July 10th some of our young birders and their families embarked on the Maine Audubon Puffin Cruise into Muscongus Bay to Eastern Egg Rock. All eyes were on tropical storm Elsa leading up to this year’s Sunset Puffin Cruise. Lucky for us the storm cleared and left us with gentle seas and plenty of sunshine for our outing.

The island is home to the world's first restored seabird colony. The restoration of Eastern Egg Rock has been replicated worldwide to help endangered and threated seabirds.  On the ride out to the island, Captain Al gave a brief overview of the history of puffins and what makes this tiny, 7-acre island so important for in their continued breeding success.  Last year there were over 180 breeding pairs of Atlantic Puffins on the island.

We headed out at low tide, which gave us an opportunity to see waves breaking off the the New Harbor Sunken ledges. As we passed the ledges, Ian called out a Wilson’s Storm Petrel. Doug Hitchcox explained that storm systems such as Elsa sometimes drive storm petrels in closer to land. We had a spectacular show of them dancing across the water’s surface.

As we approached the island we were greeted by the sounds of terns and Laughing Gulls. We saw about 40 of our target bird, the Atlantic Puffin, throughout the evening—even a few carry fish in their brightly colored bills. The group was treated to many spectacular sightings including Black Guillemots (the MYBC mascot!) showing off their red feet. We saw 2 species of terns:  Common and Roseate and a lone Razorbill in a small raft of puffins.

We ended the evening with the story of Franklin Light (the 3rd oldest lighthouse in Maine!) and a few good looks at harbor seals before we headed back to New Harbor.

 Check out the eBird checklists here:

https://ebird.org/atlasme/checklist/S92831844

MYBC wants to give a huge thank you to Maine Audubon for sponsoring this trip for the young birders and club coordinators.  Also thanks to Doug Hitchcox for sharing his expertise with the young birders and parents!  We appreciated his excellent leadership on this trip.

Keep your eye out for our August trip announcement coming soon! Happy Birding.

The Road to 70 Species

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….

Woodcock Walk

by Marion Sprague

On Saturday, March 27, we had our largest group turnout since COVD-19 began! 13 young birders (and a few parents) joined MYBC in the search for returning American Woodcocks. We met at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust to walk some of the trails leading up to dusk when the woodcock flight displays begin.  

The group walked set out to walk the Loop Trail on the Emmons Preserve, but before we could leave the parking area we spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Golden-crowned Kinglet (at eye leve!), along with some very fresh Pileated Woodpecker markings on a sprue tree.

Once on the trail we had a pair of Eastern Bluebirds and the Pileated Woodpecker flew over head. We had the usual over-wintering birds—Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and both White and Red-breasted Nuthatches. As we made the turn to head back to the KCT Headquarters we sotted a Merlin way up in the tree tops!

Before heading back to assemble on he lawn behind the KCT Headquarters, we followed the trail to the stream and found a pair of courting Tufted Titmice, and an Eastern Phoebe (a Fist of Year for many!) While not bird related, we did find a sleeping den of a porcupine filled with scat—they are known for this behavior. As an added bonus, there were some quills scattered around that we got to observe—very carefully.

As we waited for dusk to fall and listened for the tell-tale “peenting” of the American Woodcock, we heard the tell-tale “Who, Who, Who Cooks for Youuuuu” of a Barred Owl, and the yipping of a pack of coyotes in the distance. The rising full moon was so bright it was casting shadows of the group!

The field at Kennebunkport Conservation Trust is situated ideally facing the western sky. This is great for watching woodcocks in flights as the light of the setting sun gives perfect backlighting to watch their elaborate sky dance.  We started to hear the peenting of a few woodcocks. We never got good looks at their courtship flight before it got too dark to see, but we did see at least 3 fly overhead moving from one field to another. We hypothesized that the large influx of bird may not have arrived yet, as reports had been pretty sparse on eBird leading up to our walk.

In the end, while we did not get great looks at the American Woodcocks present, we heard at least 4 woodcocks and heard the twittering of wings at the apex of their courtship flight a number of times. You can see our full eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S84233764

We will post details about the April outing to Florida Lake Park shortly. Stay tuned. Until then, happy birding!

2020 MYBC CBC

by Marion Sprague

On Jan 1st MYBC set out on our Annual Christmas Bird Count for the Biddeford/Kennebunk CBC!  Our crew consisted of 8 birders—6 young birders and 2 adults. We shuffled the count day to Friday to avoid the unfriendly weather forecasted for the original count day of Jan 2nd. We had mild sunny weather all day making for very comfortable birding. Due to COVID-19 and our restrictions on carpooling, we opted to met at OOB and bird our section on foot. We walked about 8 miles!

We caught the first sunrise of 2021 at the Old Orchard Beach Pier and then proceeded to bird along the beach. We picked up several Common Loons, Long-tailed Ducks, Surf, Black, and White-Winged scoters and a few Common Golden-Eyes. The highlight of the early part of the day was a flock of 20 Sanderlings!

Our journey next brought us to the marsh at Goosefare Brook.  We picked up the expected Canada Geese, Mallards and American Black Ducks. We also saw a small European Starling murmuration and a White-tailed Deer on the marsh. Most interesting on this stretch was 2 impersonations of a Broad-Winged Hawk. First we heard a European Starling do a passible rendition and then a Blue Jay.

Our final stop as a group before disbanding for the day was Guild Park. Here we were greeted along the road by a mixed flock of Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinals and a Downy and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Once on the wooded trail we heard a small group of nuthatches.

As we were waiting for parents to arrive a few of us spotted a Cooper’s Hawk hunting the pigeon flock at the OOB Pier and we picked up a lone Horned Grebe.

In total (now that the official results are in) there were 81 different species seen on the count day. MYBC had a lot of fun and can’t wait to participate next year!

Stay-tuned for the February 2021 Trip Announcement coming soon!

See Full Checklist here:

https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S78389420

Fort Foster 2020

by Marion Sprague

On Saturday November 21st, we visited at Fort Foster where our goal was to see some lingering passerines and our returning winter visitors. Before we even officially started our walk we were greeted by a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers working away at a tree across from where we parked.

We started our day along the road leading to the pier. We were greeted by not 1 but 2 Hermit Thrushes foraging around the ground at the tree line. As we crested the hill to descend toward the beach, a flurry of activity caught our eye to the right of the trail. Among the mixed flock we counted 3 singing Carolina Wrens and picked up a Tree Sparrow.

The day was unseasonably warm, which made the trek out to the end of the pier the most enjoyable of all the November Fort Foster trips to date. It was well worth walking out there! We saw a Belted Kingfisher along the structures to the left of us, counted 5 Red-throated Loons (with a showing of Common Loons as well), and a Surf Scoter. But the real highlight was a flock of over 50 Snow Buntings that flew overhead and landed near the beach! We continued our walk along the shore trials along Rocky and Windersurfer’s Beaches. Highlights included really nice looks at a Red-tailed Hawk across the marsh.

In total we saw 48 species, including a terrific sampling of Southern Maine’s woodpecker species—Pileated, Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied. We were only missing the Northern Flicker to round out our list.

As with any trip we are happy to take a minute to pause for things other than birds. When Garrett spotted a vole scurrying around under a log next to the rocky water’s edge, we stopped to watch it forage for a few minutes.

It was a great outing with wonderful weather! You can see our full list of birds here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S76494482.

Stay tuned for our next trip announcement coming shortly. Happy birding!

Mt. Agamenticus Pt. IV

by Seth Davis

MYBC had a fun event at Mt. Agamenticus in October! Due to weather concerns we started the trip later (it was the right decision!). We started at Center for Wildlife and got a personalized tour of the facility. Many of our favorite ambassadors were still there, though sadly some had passed in the year since we visited… We had some awesome opportunities to see a Great-horned Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, and Turkey Vulture up close and we learned a lot!

From there we moved up the mountain to do some birding on our own and we were greeted (truthfully before we went to CFW) with a nice flock of Pine Siskins! It wasn’t the “birdiest” of days but we got a good view of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and some more typical birds (Chickadees, Titmice, etc.). It was a very good trip if you’ve been itching to see Red-breasted Nuthatches (we saw dozens!).

One of the more exciting bits was near the top, there was a huge group of blackbirds! At least 200 flew by! We weren’t 100% sure on specific ID, but we felt it was a mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and European Starlings. It was a bit unusual to see so many in an odd habitat, but we chalked it up to migration still taking place.

As we made our way down, there was a lot of the usual suspects, but as we were about to walk out of the trail we caught a glimpse of a couple Hermit Thrushes! These birds are pretty elusive, but always are a treat when we see them!

Our full checklist can be seen here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S76116151

Gilsland Farm

by Marion Sprague

We had a wonderful time exploring Gilsland Farm on Sept 12 with 5 of the MYBC young birders. Gilsland Farm is 65-acre sanctuary in with more than two miles of trails winding along a pond and through forest, meadow, orchard, and salt marsh situated along the Presumpscot River estuary in Falmouth.

We met at the parking lot near the Audubon Nature Store and did not get far for the first hour—the birds were that good there! The trees along the apple orchard were bustling with activity. We picked up many fall warblers including a Black-throated Green warbler that fed in the open along the apple trees. We also had a juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker calling and feeding. It took us nearly 45 minutes to move on from this spot—because if the birds are a hoppin’ , MYBC is a stoppin’!

From there we headed to the pond and stumbled—almost over—a Great Blue Heron hiding in the tall grass leading to the water. We picked up a few non-avian species at the pond including a few frogs, tadpoles and dragonflies. We had another brief encounter with the GBH. After flushing from its spot in the tall grass, it tried to land in the upper part of the pond meadow. Unfortunately, for the heron, a flock of Wild Turkeys was foraging there with their poults. As soon as the heron tried to land, they lit into him and he immediately took off squawking at them. We managed to get a photo of him backpedaling mid-air. We all got a good chuckle out of it and the GBH flew on to a quieter roosting spot.

The North Meadow and Garden were very productive. We picked up our first Eastern Phoebe of the day here and as we got closer to the water we saw a lone Bonaparte’s Gull in the large raft of gulls on the water. We also got some great looks at a fishing Snowy Egret and a small flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers.

We wrapped up the adventure will a stroll through the West Meadow and marsh overlooks. We picked up a Swainson’s and a Hermit Thrush while walking through the wooded section. Our final stop was at the the at the West Meadow overlook of the marsh and Presumpscot River. Here there were 2 Bald Eagles calling and one settled in a tree across the Marsh from us.

All-in-all it was a great outing. We saw 57 species throughout the morning, including 9 species of warblers. Check out the full checklist of what we saw here: https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S73870287?share=true

See you at the October Mt, A outing! Happy Birding.

Laudholm Farm Trip Report

by Seth Davis

To say that MYBC aren’t fair-weather birders is an understatement this time… We decided that despite rain in the forecast we would push on with our August trip. Unfortunately the forecast didn’t lie. We arrived at Laudholm with a small drizzle, which quickly became a constant downpour. Did that detour us? Well, a little, but in general no! We continued through the bad weather and managed to see quite a few species (including 4 raptors) in the 3 hours we were out!

We started off on the Saw-whet trail, rain was falling but managed to see many of the expected birds (Black-capped Chickadee, Song Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, etc.). The real magic happened as we hit the outlooks! There we spotted many of the typical marsh birds (egrets, herons, gulls, etc.) but also spotted and Osprey, several peeps, and Willets!

On our way down to the beach, we spotted our second raptor for the day, a Cooper’s Hawk, and got some great views of of more marsh birds. At the beach we saw several types of sandpipers and some AMAZING views of two Ospreys hunting in the ocean! On our return to the parking lot, some of the young birders spotted a Merlin sitting high up in a tree, and subsequently a begrudging (due to the rain) Red-tailed Hawk near the fields.

All in all, it was a surprisingly productive trip despite how bad the weather was! 32 species ain’t bad for a crummy weather day. Our full checklist can be seen here:

https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S72939359?share=true