A Barred Owl and a Barrow’s Goldeneye
December 9, 2007 · Print This Article
A storm on Monday brought 6 to 9 inches of snow to the region with temperatures still well below normal.
While breaking for lunch at work on Friday, I parked along Back Cove off Preble Street in Portland and did some bird watching. I was not disappointed! Two groups of Snow Buntings, which totaled 40 birds, were feeding along the jogging path.
In Back Cove, Hooded Mergansers, White-Winged Scoters and Red-Breasted Mergansers were feeding. A Red-Tailed Hawk stood watch atop of the under construction Bayside Student Housing complex on the corner of Preble Street and Marginal Way.
Heading back to work, an adult Northern Shrike perched on a fench across from Wesco on Marginal Way. At this same location, Several Black-Backed Gulls chased and attacked some Crows in mid-air. As unusual as this is, it deserves the Crows right. Now they know what it’s like to be harassed!
This weekend was more or less quiet along our birding route. Cloudy skies kept my camera rig under wraps. The above picture of Mt. Washington, (click picture for a larger view) was taken this morning at Pine Point near Scarborough, Maine. Not included in the bird species list below, was the sighting of 3 Harbor Seals and a Gray Seal in the harbor at Pine Point. A Barred Owl and a Barrow’s Goldeneye were the highlights of our Sunday morning bird watching routine.
A large group of Purple Sandpipers were seen at Fortune Rocks Beach. I walked nearly a mile down the beach to get into position to get a photograph. Just as I crouched down to take a picture, a dog came chasing after the flock, with its owner jogging nearby doing nothing to keep the dog from harassing the birds. And of all things not to have under control on a beach, it was a bird dog. I said a few words to the owner, but I was completely ignored. Later as I walked back towards where I had parked, I watched as the dog went into the water after Gulls and Eiders, again with the owner paying no attention to what the dog was doing. Maybe a call to Fish and Wildlife would have been the route to go with this lug-head, but my battery was dead in my cell phone and I had no idea where he was parked to get a plate number. It’s irresponsible dog owners like this that allow their dogs to stress and kill our already depleted numbers of birds.
The following is a list of species seen this morning:
Location: Pine Point, Scarborough
Observation date: 12/9/07 Observers: John & Sharon Briggs
Notes: Mostly cloudy, light west winds, temperature 16 F.
Number of species: 32
Canada Goose 6
American Black Duck 16
Mallard 45
Common Eider 15
Surf Scoter 2
White-winged Scoter 3
Long-tailed Duck 12
Bufflehead 3
Common Goldeneye 30
Barrow’s Goldeneye 1 Seen off Bay St. Biddeford Pool
Hooded Merganser 4
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Wild Turkey 3
Common Loon 3
Horned Grebe 2
Red-necked Grebe 1
Great Cormorant 11
Purple Sandpiper 20
Dunlin 16
Mourning Dove 3
Barred Owl 1 Seen off Route 1 Scarborough
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 25
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 26
Snow Bunting 40
Northern Cardinal 3
House Finch 4
House Sparrow 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2
Happy birding!
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John,
What a great place to have lunch!
As far as the dog owner goes, what can you say? Ignorance is bliss I guess.
Vern
I wonder if I’d recognize a Barrow’s Goldeneye if I saw one. I’m hoping to find a Barred Owl on our next CBC if it isn’t postponed again.-I’ve run in to so many considerate dog owners that i’ve gone from turning the other cheek to just downright ornary when I talk to the owners.
Love the picture of Mt Washington! Where did you take it in Pine Point and what kind of camera did you use?
My wife and I live in Gorham (Maine) and are frequent visitors to Pine Point in all seasons. Also love your bird pictures.
Vern, Larry;
I get quite a few comments that I delete accusing me of hating dogs, which is not the case.
A responsible dog owner should have enough sense to keep their pets away from birds and wildlife and out of areas posted as NO DOG ALLOWED!!
And when you are nice enough to remind a dog owner, in a gentle way, that their pet is chasing birds, you get flipped off, cursed at and told to mind your own business.
The only thing that can be done is to report the offenders, which I can going to start doing with a vengeance.
John
Norman;
Thank you for your comments, they are always greatly appreciated!
The picture of Mount Washington was taken on the Lobster Coop dock at Pine Point. The mountains were really vivid that morning with the glow of the rising sun reflecting off the snow covered peaks.
The camera I used is a Canon Rebel XTI with a Canon 100-400mm L IS lens.
Thank you for stopping by!
John