Island on the Sheepscot River - Wiscasset, Maine

The time had come to take the trip to Bristol, Maine to see the famed Northern Hawk Owl. The boreal species from the northern reaches of North America has been at the same location since the first of January. Sharon and I decided that if we wanted to add this species to our life list, we had better get moving.

It was a race against time to make the 30 mile trip before the clouds over took the mid coast of Maine. I wanted to photograph this bird, and clouds would ruin the opportunity for good pictures.

Crossing over the bridge between Wiscasset and Edgecomb was sureal. Arctic sea smoke was just disapating and everything had a heavy coating of smoke frost. When we reached the end of the bridge, I had to stop to capture an image of a small island in the Sheepscot River that looked so beautiful, it nearly took your breath away.

We turned off Route 1 and went south on Route 130 down the Pemaquid Peninsula. Anxiety began to set in. Would the Owl still be there? Were the directions good? (4/10′s of a mile south of the Bristol Consolidated School, look in the tall trees) Would the clouds hold off?

There was no doubt as to the location after we passed the school. Tracks in the snow from vehicles and humans along the side of the road told us we were in the right spot. I pulled off the road as far as I could and immediately began looking in the “tall trees”. From inside the car, we looked for a good five minutes.

Northern Hawk Owl

Oh no! Did it finally decide to head back north? Was it out hunting? Please, please, please show yourself!

I got out of the car to have a better look. I saw movement out the corner of my eye. I wanted to holler, “THERE IT IS!” I knew better than to do that, so I whispered loudly to Sharon, “don’t move!” The Owl was in a tall spruce directly across the road from where we parked.

I took a few images, checked them on the LED screen and decided I needed to adjust the ISO and the exposure. In the mean time, the skies were beginning to become milky with clouds lightly veiling the sun.

Taking more images in a race against the clouds, I had to make several more adjustments to the camera. Suddenly, a Red-tailed Hawk swooped in low over the Hawk Owl causing it to flee into thick cover. Natures way of telling us the show was over.

Northern Hawk Owl

 We got back into the car and decided to head back home. I drove down the road several miles and turned around. When we got back to the location where the Owl had been, there it was in the exact same spot where it had been previously.

By this time, clouds had pretty much overtaken the sun. We watched the Hawk Owl for a few more minutes and drove off, bidding farewell to this magnificent creature and wishing it a safe trip back home to the far northern reaches of the boreal forests.

Sharon and I talked about the Owl on the way home. We wondered what brought it here and how long it might stay. The two of us promised to return next weekend if it was still around and if the skies were clear. At least we got to see the Owl and we also chalked up another life bird in our birding quest.

Red-breasted Merganser in flight

On the way home, we stopped along Route 1 where the Marsh River goes under the highway and into Sherman Lake. Several Red-breasted  Mergansers were feeding in the only pool of water that was ice free for as far as the eye could see.

The highway was busy with traffic and as a tractor-trailer went by, hitting a bump in the road, making a loud racket scaring the ducks into the air and flying off into the unknown.

What a day! If the Hawk Owl is the only bird that I will see for the rest of the month, it was well worth it. As you can see in the photos, the Owl looks healthy. Serveral reports on the MaineBirds list say that birders have seen it eating small mammals. I am sure when the food supply runs low, it will move on, perhaps bringing a smile to the faces of other birders on the North American continent.

All thumbnail photos in this article are clickable to bring up a larger view. Enjoy!

Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 100-400mm IS L
Handheld with BushHawk

Northern Hawk Owl

Northern Hawk Owl

Red-breasted Merganser in flight

Red-breasted Merganser in flight

Red-breasted Merganser in flight

Happy birding!

©2010 Birding in Maine. All Rights Reserved.

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Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend

Last weekend, Sharon and I attended the Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. The event, sponsored by the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, was headquartered at the Elk’s at Bass Rocks in Gloucester.

Birders from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and as far away as New York attended the event. Buses departed at 8:00 a.m. sharp for guided birding tours to Halibut Point State Park, Niles Pond, Andrews Point, Good Harbor Beach, Magnolia Beach, Eastern Point and other locations on the cape.

Sharon and I did our birding by car. I am nursing a back injury and felt I would be uncomfortable bouncing around in a school bus. So in between events, we drove around the cape. Our main objective was the Ivory Gull that was widely reported and photographed the week before the event. Sorry to say that we did not find it, nor apparently did anyone else that day.

Female American Wigeon

We found a beautiful female American Wigeon near Halibut Point State Park. She was feeding with approx. 20 Mallards and a few American Black Ducks. At the same time, a Turkey Vulture soared overhead. The Vulture was very light on the under-wings, lighter than I have ever seen with this species.

Nearly every protected cove we came to, we found Canada Geese sleeping. On several occasions, we did not see a “sentry”, the goose that keeps watch for danger while the others sleep. Good thing for the geese that the Bald Eagle we saw was on Ten Pound Island, several miles from the cove.

Saturday evening was the birders dinner. Approximately 50 birding enthusiasts attended the meal. Great conversation included finds of the day. One couple recorded a Dovkie, and others recorded a King Eider.

Barn Owl

 Keynote speaker Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, gave a slide presentation titled “From Snowy Owls to Saw-whet Owls”.

His guest was a beautiful Barn Owl. The Barn Owl is one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, found on all continents except Antarctica, and on many oceanic islands as well. It has been introduced by people to some of the few places it did not already occur, namely Hawaii, the Seychelles Islands, and Lord Howe Island.

Barn owls are protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and under CITES Appendix II. They are not federally threatened or endangered in the United States, but they are protected in some individual U.S. states–including Michigan, where they are considered endangered.

After the presentation, door prizes were awarded. Sharon and I won a shopping bag full of bird feeding supplies from Wild Birds Unlimited. Sharon also won a 55% off gift certificate from Alpen Optics.

All in all, a fun and enlightening time for all.

Here is a list of species we recorded last Saturday morning on Cape Ann.

Location: Cape Ann, Massachusetts
Notes: Clear skies and light winds, temps from 22 F. to 30 F.
Birded from Gloucester Harbor to Rockport to Halibut Point State Park to Annisquam.
Number of species: 48

Canada Goose 175
Mute Swan 2
American Wigeon 6
American Black Duck 33
Mallard 130
Green-winged Teal (American) 4
Common Eider 90
Surf Scoter 4
White-winged Scoter 11
Long-tailed Duck 16
Bufflehead 22
Common Goldeneye 9
Hooded Merganser 2
Common Merganser 5
Red-breasted Merganser 21
Wild Turkey 2
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 10
Red-necked Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Cormorant 10
Turkey Vulture 1
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Purple Sandpiper 60
Black Guillemot 2
Rock Pigeon 75
Mourning Dove 16
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 11
American Crow 65
Fish Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 13
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
American Robin 18
Northern Mockingbird 1
Song Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco 15
Northern Cardinal 6
House Finch 3
White-winged Crossbill 2
Pine Siskin 8
American Goldfinch 16
House Sparrow 44

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

I leave you with photos taken of some of the birds we saw on Cape Ann. Click photos for a larger view.

Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 100-400mm IS L
Handheld with BushHawk

Norman Smith with his Barn Owl

A raft of Common Eiders

Female Mallard

Female American Wigeon

Mute Swan

Happy birding!

©2010 Birding in Maine. All Rights Reserved.

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1. Birding Fox Island

Northern Hawk Owl | Copyright Lloyd Alexander

Recently, a Northern Hawk Owl was sighted near the mid coast of Maine. I cringe when I see a report of a rare species on the list serv.

Case in point is the Great Gray Owl fiasco in Jackson, Maine just about one year ago. The owl was severely emaciated and after a week of uninterrupted viewing that interfered with its hunting and feeding habits, including being “chased” by birders and photographers, a wildlife rehabilitator was called to rescue the owl. The owl died shortly afterward.
 
The reported Northern Hawk Owl has not yet met this fate, but could have and still might. Yesterday, someone was releasing mice and rats bought from a pet store for the owl to eat. This in turn led to birders and photographers setting up for better views of the owl. The owl crossed the road several times, low enough that if any traffic was present it would have been hit.
 
This is unethical and totally wrong. Who is to say that the mice and rats aren’t harboring some kind of disease? What about the safety of the owl, needlessly exposing the creature to traffic and predators who would love to have the owl as a meal. What if the owl begins to associate humans and cars with food? I am sure the owl watched people get out of their cars and in turn saw the humans release the mice. This association could lead to the death of the bird.

Some people just don’t get it. I found this while reading a forum post about the ethics of baiting birds for photography. Here is this knuckleheads response to the post:

The reality is that these birds are tame simply because where they come from there are no people, so they have developed no fear. This is very common in northern owls, like the Great Gray, Snowy, Boreal and Hawk Owls. I have seen them in their native haunts in northern Canada, where no one was feeding them mice–and they are very tame. I was able to touch a Boreal Owl sitting in a tree, and all it did was open one eye and glare at me.

Touching a wild owl? Tame? Give me a break!

What about the ethics of releasing a pet store rodent into the wild? What about the law? Is it illegal to release a mammal, wild or exotic? When a live mouse is released, what about the possibility that it will escape and hide and now it’s in an environment that it was not raised for, now you run the risk of introducing harmful diseases or parasites.

When you trespass, bait, and otherwise annoy an animal to get a good view or shot, you’re no longer a birder or nature photographer; at that point you’ve become a nature exploiter. Animals get spooked, but then they just fly or run away, they’re afraid of you, that’s natural. When you bait an animal, you stress it because it doesn’t want to get any closer to you than it has to. But, it’s putting that natural fear aside to get food. It’s like putting a briefcase full of cash in the middle of a 4 lane highway – it just gets messy!

There is a heated debate about the baiting of the Northern Hawk Owl on the list serv today. Feeding yard birds with bird feeders versus feeding Owls from the far north. One of the responses on the list was from Amy in Rockport, Maine. I have recieved her permission to post it here.  She makes some very valid points. Thank you Amy!

I was afraid someone might compare typical back yard bird feeding to
what I feel is a totally different situation. Here are my thoughts,
maybe more murky than clear:

1. Setting up the “feeding station” on the opposite side of a busy
road from what seems to be the usual perching area has a built-in
risk. I watched the hawk owl on Friday swooping low enough over Rt.
130 to have been hit by a tall car or truck. I don’t care how careful
the Dad was. This is a risky set-up.

2. Who knows what extra exposure to disease (brought up by Don
Reimer’s post) the bird might have from the mice that were being fed.
Potentially another stress for the bird.

3. We have no way of knowing why this bird is here. Was it starving
in its home range? What happened that it is here? How rare are these
birds to this area in the winter? We can’t appreciate the stresses
that it is under. Doesn’t it seem logical that the less interference,
the less interface it has with humans the better off it might be? Did
you notice the chicken coop? What if the property owners who have the
chicken coop are troubled with rodents in their garage or house?
What if they poison-bait the mice? It seems likely to me that there
is good rodent hunting there because of the chickens and their
scattering feed around. Perhaps the hawk owl lucked into something
good. Or perhaps dangerous. I have read that the hawk owl can see
prey a half a mile away! Don’t you wonder what it senses when is sees
people moving around? What does that do to its stress level? We have
no clue what it does, do we? I hope the hawk owl moves on and away
from any possible further contact with humans soon.

4. I am well aware of how setting up a bird feeder can influence bird
life. To me, there is something different about one feeder feeding a
panoply of birds that are common winter or year round residents. Yes,
opportunistic hawks may profit. So will feral cats. Back yards have
become less able to provide wintertime food for birds. There are less
native plants that harbor either the frozen insects that birds forage
on and less fruit and seed bearing plants. Gardeners seem to prefer
to cut down the stalks of potential food plants and to clean up
underneath the plants for the sake of neatness and getting a jump on
the season in the spring. In doing so, they remove these sources of
food and hiding places for prey. So, in a way, bird feeders are an
insurance policy that might get a few birds through the night or
winter that might not make it otherwise. But this is one rarely seen
bird. It is rare on its home turf. It is way outnumbered by the
people paying attention to it. It just seems that that isn’t a good
thing. People can do crazy things. I remember an incident of saw-whet
owls being killed by thugs who found about them through the Rare Bird
Alert, for example.

5. I don’t agree that a Dad feeding the mice so his children can have
an wildlife experience is a good thing. This is not wildlife
watching. It is faking a drama. It is causing something to happen in
a rapid time course, something that is not teaching those children to
be patient and to watch quietly. It is fostering the lack of an
attention span, which is a problem with way too many people. It is
giving those children the wrong idea of how to interact with nature;
the Dad here is not being a good role model. It is also appropriating
and manipulating the scene for all bystanders.

I have bird feeders in my yard, and I also have a blind so I can photograph the birds. I am not stressing the birds. But I do not have 15 people standing around talking, clicking away on ipods, etc. Also, no one is releasing tame mammals in the yard either.

This debate is far from over. This type of activity will continue far after I am gone from the face of the earth. In the meantime, refresh yourself with the ABA Birding Ethics.

I would like to hear what you think. As always, comments are more than welcomed.

I would like to thank Lloyd Alexander for use of the beautiful photo he took of the Northern Hawk Owl. Also, many thanks to Amy for providing us with her insight.

Happy birding!

©2010 Birding in Maine. All Rights Reserved.

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