Bird ID Help

This bird has me so dumbfounded that I am getting a headache trying to figure it out. Look at the curved bill in the second picture. (sorry, a little blurry) That’s what is throwing me for a loop. Noticed the streaked patterned chest and the white under parts of the long tail. Pictures taken today at Eastern Point in Biddeford Pool, Maine.

Any ideas? Please let me know before I go crazy!

 Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: bird, Pictures, Maine, birding

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Fall Sparrows and Warblers

A quick post this weekend on what was a spectacular bird watching adventure on Granite Point. The trees, bushes and shrubs were full of Sparrows and Warblers, thanks to a cold front sliding through the state Friday night.

One incident of note…. I has hit head on by a Merlin! As I sat on a small bank among the bushes photographing birds just off Granite Point Road, a Merlin came from out of nowhere and flew into my face knocking off my hat and nearly causing me to drop my camera rig. The Merlin was fine. I received some lacerations to my face and a pair of bent spectacles. I am sure the hawk was as freaked out as I was.

Enjoy the photographs I took over the weekend, and as always, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Yet again, I need some help identifying the sparrows in the photos below. Please respond by commenting on this article.

Happy birding!

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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!

Technorati Tags: Maine, Birds, bird watching, pictures, images, bird, 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!

Technorati Tags: Prince Edward Island, bird, migration, lighthouses, 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!

Technorati Tags: birding, Maine, weather, birdwatching, weather station, bird, shorebirds, migration

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