Midwinter at Scarborough Marsh

As Saturday morning dawned, Sharon and I decided to take a break from packing our possessions for our mid-February move and head to the Scarborough Marsh for some birding. The marsh was mostly quiet as it is this time of the year, but the Dunstan River held good numbers of Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Canada Geese, Black Ducks, Mallards, Buffleheads and Red-Breasted Mergansers.

Bob Malbon and Karen D’Andrea were birding the marsh and we exchanged a few birding stories and reports of our tallies for the day. In the bushes along the parking lot for the Eastern Trail, American Tree Sparrows and Black-Capped Chickadees flitted about not more than 20 feet from where we were conversing.

The tally for the Scarborough Marsh:

Weather: Clear skies, light winds, temperature in the upper teens

Location:  Scarborough Marsh - Scarborough, Maine
Observers: John & Sharon Briggs
Observation date:     1/26/08
Number of species:     10

Canada Goose     9
American Black Duck     2
Mallard     2
Bufflehead     6
Common Goldeneye     13
Hooded Merganser     2
Common Merganser     2
Red-breasted Merganser     2
Black-capped Chickadee     6
American Tree Sparrow     4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

Today, a trip in the freshly fallen snow to Biddeford Pool was quite productive. An adult Bald Eagle was seen soaring over the intersection of Fortunes Rock Road and Route 9. Curtis Cove, at the end of Granite Point Road, held several Goldeneyes, a Surf Scoter, and Common Eiders. A lone Red Fox was hunting the beach at Curtis Cove, and was seen later prowling for birds along the edge of the Little River.

At Eastern Point, a raft of 44 Long-Tailed Ducks were seen in the rough surf. Our tally for Biddeford Pool:

Weather: Snow, winds East at 20 to 30 mph, temperature in the low 20’s

Location:  Eastern Point - Biddeford Pool, Maine
Observers: John & Sharon Briggs
Observation date:     1/27/08
Number of species:     14

American Black Duck     11
Mallard     2
Common Eider     15
Surf Scoter     1
White-winged Scoter     1
Long-tailed Duck     44
Common Goldeneye     16
Common Merganser     5
Red-breasted Merganser     6
Common Loon     1
Great Cormorant     1
Bald Eagle     1
American Crow     12
Common Raven     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

These birding trips were a great way to relax from the hectic pace of getting ready to move to a new home. I would like to share a few bird photographs from our birding trip to Scarborough Marsh yesterday. As always, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Happy birding!

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