Friday 1 June 2012

[Maine-birds] Northern Maine Birds: Wilson's Phalarope, Black-billed Cuckoo in Washburn

Yesterday early AM, I looked for the Red-necked Phalarope found earlier by Luke Seitz and Todd Day at Lake Josephine in Easton.  I was also hoping to catch a glimpse of the Common Gallinules they heard there too.  I had no luck on the phalarope or gallinules, but did see a couple White-winged Scoters and a Red-necked Grebe on the pond.  Four Ruddy Ducks and a pair of Redheads were right where they have been showing lately.  

The first Common Goldeneye chicks have appeared and a mom and eight white cheeked fuzzballs were sneaking along the north shore.

Later in the AM, work took me to Fort Kent where I got a chance to see a brand new Ring-billed Gull breeding colony.  There were several hundred gulls and at least 120 nests (still all eggs by my observation) at this site  This is one of four colonies that have sprung up this year in northern Maine.  Just amazing to see the massive influx of this species as a breeder in just a short time.

After work, a quick stop at some ponds behind the Washburn treatment lagoons held some interesting birds.  A pair of Northern Shovelers, a pair of Pied-billed Grebes and a flock of 38 adult Canada Geese were all notable but a Wilson's Phalarope was most exciting.  The bird, a drab male, was swimming and feeding mid pond.  This was only my second ever for this shorebird species in Aroostook County.   I got to watch it spinning madly in the pond for only a short while before it flushed a flew up to the wastewater lagoons and out of sight behind the berms and big fence. 

Two more broods of Common Goldeneye chicks and some still fuzzy Canada Goose chicks were also skulking in the weedy waters here.

The first-of-season for me, a Black-billed Cuckoo showed me the way back to my truck. 

Bill

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Bill Sheehan
Woodland, Aroostook Co., Maine
http://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/

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