First day of Autumn birds

What a beautiful morning along coastal Maine! The first day of Autumn brought clear skies, light northwest winds and temperatures in the low 50’s. Birds were everywhere, butterflies flitted and squirrels and chipmunks busied themselves with storing food for the long upcoming winter.

Saturday was dreary. Fog and clouds dominated the day, which led to some nap time at the homestead. Catching up on the old z’s is what it’s all about on a day like this. We tried watching a movie via OnDemand, but half way through it, we lost audio and no one was around at the cable company to rectify the problem. Today, the problem still exists, but worse yet, there is no audio on any of the HD channels. I WILL get some satisfaction from them Monday!

Back to the bird watching, Granite Point and Eastern Point in Biddeford Pool was our area of interest today. Bob Malbon, Sharon and I birded these areas from 6:30 a.m. through 10:00 a.m. The following is our tally from Granite Point.

Location:     Granite Point
Observation date:     9/23/07
Notes:     Clear skies, winds light NW, temp lower 50’s
Number of species:     25

Canada Goose     3
American Black Duck     4
Common Eider     6
Common Loon     1     In flight above Little River
Great Blue Heron     5
Great Egret     2
Snowy Egret     16
Northern Harrier     1
Semipalmated Plover     5
Willet     8
Lesser Yellowlegs     2
Whimbrel     2
Mourning Dove     4
Belted Kingfisher     3
Downy Woodpecker     1     Female on a telephone pole
American Crow     12
Tree Swallow     5
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1
Gray Catbird     2
Northern Mockingbird     1
European Starling     30
Field Sparrow     1
American Goldfinch     2
House Sparrow     4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Location:     Eastern Point
Observation date:     9/23/07
Notes:     Light NW breezes, clear skies, temp upper 50’s
Number of species:     28

American Black Duck     12
Common Eider     30
Common Loon     1     In Flight
Double-crested Cormorant     100
Great Blue Heron     1
Great Egret     1
Snowy Egret     12
Osprey     1     Landed on sailboat mast
Solitary Sandpiper     1
Willet     2
Lesser Yellowlegs     3
Whimbrel     1
Mourning Dove     2
Belted Kingfisher     1
Northern Flicker     1
Blue Jay     4
American Crow     30
Common Raven     1
Black-capped Chickadee     6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     2
Gray Catbird     6
Northern Mockingbird     1
Brown Thrasher     1
European Starling     16
Yellow Warbler     1
American Tree Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

The following pictures are what I believe to be a Solitary Sandpiper. These images where taken on Eastern Point along the waters edge this morning. Please offer your input as to whether or not I have this bird named correctly by commenting on this article.

Happy birding!

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Change in Plans

Originally, Sharon and I were going to vacation on Campobello Island, NB next month. Those plans have changed. We will now be spending a week on Prince Edward Island from October 6th through the 13th. We will be staying in a cottage on the east side of the island near the town of Brackley Beach. I won’t bore you with the “what for” in the change of plans.

From what I have found through research, October is the peak of bird migration on the island. And another plus is that there are plenty of lighthouses to visit, which is another passion of ours. As I stated before, if I can get an internet connection, I will post reports during our time away.

For those readers that have been to PEI, if you can offer any birding tips or some “must see” areas of the island, please feel free to respond by commenting on this article. It would be greatly appreciated!

Our birding weekend was short. Rain dominated the daylight hours Saturday and Sunday was uneventful. We did get good close looks at a Juvenile Great Blue Heron, and watched a Belted Kingfisher fishing for a meal.

Enjoy our photos by clicking a thumbnail for a full sized view. As always, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Happy birding!

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Preparing for Campobello Island

In less than a month, Sharon and I will be vacationing on Campobello Island, N.B. A solid nine days of birding the former summer home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, DownEast Maine and the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge.

Our schedule includes: October 6-10 at Campobello Island and October 11-14 at Mount Desert Island. Hopefully the weather will be prime, but you always risk having mother nature throw a few surprises your way when vacationing.

I would love to do daily blog entries while on our trip, but the cabin we are staying in on Campobello does not have internet service. If I do get a wireless signal while driving around the area, I will be sure to post on our birdwatching progress.

Here at the home front, I have busy installing a new computer system and have not had much time to go birding. My old reliable PC took a fit and could not be fixed. A new one was procured with all the bells and whistles, but more importantly, plenty of RAM and hard drive space with a Quad processor was the selling point for me. My workflow in Photoshop CS2 is a lot faster now, with no waiting for tasks to be performed. My weather station is back on the air at BiddefordWeather.com after being down for 2 weeks because of the computer issues. Finally, as of the time I wrote this article, I have read and answered all of my email that had been piling up. With a very busy week at work and the computer issues, this has been one week that I am glad to see go into oblivion.

We did get a chance to bird Granite Point this morning. Cloudy skies with intermittent showers did not allow for any photography. Thunderstorms could be heard in the distance somewhere over Saco Bay. During a break in the rain, a Broad-Winged Hawk buzzed a large flock of Whimbrels on the banks of the Little River. A few Snowy Egrets flew above the river, fighting a strong northeast wind. A stray Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, a few peeps and a bunch of Crows winds up our sightings at Granite Point.

Our next stop was Biddeford Pool, where we spotted approximately 80 Snowy Egrets and 9 Great Egrets feeding in the nearly empty Pool, along Mile Stretch Road about 200 yards before Hattie’s Restaurant. A very large number of unidentified shorebirds were also present. Further along, near Eastern Point, several hundred Double-Crested Cormorants were on the islands just off shore more than likely staging for southerly migration.

It is a good day to curl up at home, watch some TV, and make some Country Style Ribs in the crock pot. Bon Appétit!

Happy birding!

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Labor Day Weekend Birding

What a great weekend to go birdwatching! A cold front came across Maine Friday night bringing northwest winds, much cooler temperatures and plenty of migrating birds. Granite Point was our observation area.

Raptors stole the three day weekend, as they took advantage of the wind direction on their journey south. Shorebirds also took to the skies on a northwest wind to help them along on their long journey. Today, with winds from the southwest, birds seemed to lay low while conserving energy for the next cold front which is to cross the state tonight.

Sharon and I, along with Bob Malbon, birded the same location at Granite Point each morning of this three day weekend. There was so much action, that it was hard to keep up with what was going on around us.

White-Tailed Deer were present each and every day, with a group of them coming within 30 feet of us Saturday morning. The deer were looking to cross the Little River, and finally did after the close encounter with us. 4 to 6 were present each day.

When bird watching and photographing wildlife with action around you nearly constantly, you always miss something that comes out of nowhere. As Bob and I stood looking across the marsh at a pair of Horned Grebes in flight, a Northern Harrier flew very low across the river behind us. I turned and saw the hawk not more that 30 feet away coming our way. I said “LOOK!”, not giving Bob any direction nor what it was, and quickly fired a few frames. Bob only got a rear shot, my fault. We agreed to say “hawk” and what direction in the future.

Comical things always seem to happen when we go birdwatching. This morning, Bob was squatting along the rivers edge about 40 yards from Sharon and I, photographing a Great Blue Heron preening on a rock.  A flight of Whimbrels flew near Bob and one of them peeled off from the others, glided across a stretch of the marsh and nearly landed on the man’s head. The bird briefly touched down about ten feet from Bob and immediately took off. I just stood there with my rig in my hand, jaw dropped, looking at what was going on. What a wonderful picture I just missed! Just goes to show how wearing camo helps with blending yourself into the surroundings.

Belted Kingfishers were chasing each other all over the place everyday we were on Granite Point. I watched one Kingfisher chase off a group of five Whimbrels that were feeding on a sandbar. Hawks flew up and down the river, causing shorebirds to fly for their lives. A few Merlins perched in the trees along the river, and Osprey hovered over the river and the pannes in the marsh looking for fish.

I will line the weekend sightings up in the following manner: A checklist and then pictures from that day. There are no pictures for today.

Location:     Granite Point
Observation date:     9/1/07   Observers: John and Sharon Briggs   Bob Malbon
Notes:     NW winds moderate and gusty. Temps in the low 50’s. Birdwatching done during falling tide.
Number of species:     35

Canada Goose     11
American Black Duck     4
Green-winged Teal     5
Common Eider     12
Horned Grebe     2     Flying close-by in marsh
Double-crested Cormorant     25
Great Blue Heron     2
Great Egret     4
Snowy Egret     40
Little Blue Heron     2
Osprey     1
Northern Harrier     4
Broad-winged Hawk     1
Merlin     2
Black-bellied Plover     1
Greater Yellowlegs     1
Lesser Yellowlegs     2
Willet     3
Whimbrel     5
White-rumped Sandpiper     6
Short-billed Dowitcher     2
Mourning Dove     12
Belted Kingfisher     4     Fighting with each other constantly
Blue Jay     1
American Crow     12
Common Raven     1
Black-capped Chickadee     2
American Robin     3
Gray Catbird     1
Northern Mockingbird     2
European Starling     21
Cedar Waxwing     4
American Tree Sparrow     2
Song Sparrow     1
American Goldfinch     6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Location:     Granite Point
Observation date:     9/2/07   Observers: John and Sharon Briggs   Bob Malbon
Notes:     NW winds moderate and gusty. Temps in the mid 40’s. Birdwatching on a falling tide.
Number of species:     32

Canada Goose     11
American Black Duck     3
Green-winged Teal     3
Common Loon     1
Horned Grebe     2     Close flyby on marsh
Double-crested Cormorant     23
Great Blue Heron     2
Great Egret     2
Snowy Egret     28
Osprey     1
Northern Harrier     3
Broad-winged Hawk     1
Merlin     1
Black-bellied Plover     1
Semipalmated Plover     13
Lesser Yellowlegs     6
Willet     4
Whimbrel     6
White-rumped Sandpiper     5
Mourning Dove     7
Belted Kingfisher     4     Fighting each other constantly
American Crow     10
American Robin     1
Gray Catbird     1
European Starling     7
Cedar Waxwing     9
American Tree Sparrow     2
Field Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     4
Northern Cardinal     1
House Finch     1
House Sparrow     6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Location:     Granite Point
Observation date:     9/3/07   Observers: John and Sharon Briggs   Bob Malbon
Notes:     SW moderate winds, gusty at times. Temps mid 50’s. Birdwatching during slack to falling tide.
Number of species:     27

Canada Goose     11
American Black Duck     4
Green-winged Teal     6
Common Eider     6
Red-breasted Merganser     1     Feeding in Curtis Cove
Common Loon     1     Feeding in Curtis Cove
Horned Grebe     1     Feeding in the Little River
Double-crested Cormorant     125     Very large flock flying into SW winds toward Timber Island
Great Blue Heron     2
Snowy Egret     7
Northern Harrier     1
Broad-winged Hawk     1
Merlin     3
Semipalmated Plover     7
Lesser Yellowlegs     2
Willet     4
Whimbrel     3
White-rumped Sandpiper     5
Mourning Dove     4
Belted Kingfisher     8     Fighting constantly with each other
American Crow     10
Tree Swallow     25
Barn Swallow     20     With tree Swallows. Probably fallouts
Cedar Waxwing     3
House Finch     2
American Goldfinch     4
House Sparrow     3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Happy birding!

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Merlin, Osprey and Eagle

A cloudy start this morning gave way to partly sunny skies and much more comfortable conditions than yesterdays heat and humidity. The bird watching was fabulous!

Quite a few Snowy Egrets were feeding in a panne at Goose Rocks Beach. It was not long until several Great Blue Herons and Eastern Willets joined the foray. Low tide on the mudflats this time of the year always ensures plenty of shorebirds to view, and this morning was no exception as seen in our report below.

As my wife and I sat on our beach chairs talking with Bob Malbon, a Merlin charged from the marsh and out across the mudflats in pursuit of a peep. The peeps smaller size gave it somewhat of an advantage as it could turn much quicker than the Merlin. Suddenly, the peep headed straight for us, made a right turn to avoid everyone and the Merlin nearly crashed head-on into me as I sat there with my mouth agape. The Merlin flew straight up and then banked right across the flats, still in pursuit of the peep. We lost sight of the action as they headed seaward.

I must say that the Merlin came awfully close to me before it shot skyward to avoid hitting me. So close in fact that I could hear the wings and feel the gush air as it flew by. You may ask, where are the pictures? The camera was sitting on my lap and I had no time to get a shot off. Even if I had time, the sun was behind the clouds, blah, blah, blah.

The Osprey we photographed was flying over the Little River at Granite Point, and Bob spotted the immature Bald Eagle being chased by Crows near the small bridge on Granite Point Road.

Our observations are as follows:

Location:     Goose Rocks Beach/Granite Point
Observation date:     8/26/07
Notes:     Mostly cloudy skies with warm temps and moderate winds from S.E.
Number of species:     35
Observers:     John and Sharon Briggs      Bob Malbon

Canada Goose     31
American Black Duck     14
Common Eider     7
Great Blue Heron     4
Great Egret     9
Snowy Egret     40
Little Blue Heron     1     With flock of Snowy Egrets
Osprey     1     Flying over Little River
Bald Eagle     1     Granite Point/Bob Malbon
Merlin     1     Chasing peeps
Black-bellied Plover     1
Semipalmated Plover     100
Piping Plover     3
Greater Yellowlegs     1
Lesser Yellowlegs     3
Willet     5
Whimbrel     2
Semipalmated Sandpiper     25
Least Sandpiper     8
White-rumped Sandpiper     6
Short-billed Dowitcher     13
Mourning Dove     5
Belted Kingfisher     1
Common Raven     1
Tree Swallow     15
Barn Swallow     2
Black-capped Chickadee     3
Northern Mockingbird     1
Cedar Waxwing     22
Field Sparrow     5
Song Sparrow     4
Northern Cardinal     1
House Finch     6
American Goldfinch     10
House Sparrow     9

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

When the sun did shine, we took the following pictures of birds, with a few landscape shots for fun. Enjoy!

Happy birding!

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