Don Mairs and I saw a CAVE SWALLOW fly within 10 feet of us as it skimmed over the Kettle Cove parking lot today about 12:50 p.m. I never saw the bird rise above 1' off the deck. We were unaware that Ed Hess had seen one at nearby Crescent Beach sometime earlier, and I suppose this could have been the same bird. Although not flying weakly, the swallow appeared to barely make it over the lip of the parking lot to the beach. We could not relocate it. Looking for Cave Swallows under the cruel conditions they now find themselves in might mean scanning low vegation, wrack lines, and the nooks and crannies of rocks where they might roost. The stacked rock pile under the roadway into Kettle Cove that forms the eastern end of Crescent beach looks ideal if it weren't on the windward side. I wouldn't be suprised to see one on the ground or in small shrubs. So look low.
Also present today was an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER reported previously by Joanne Stevens along the Saco River walk in the tangles and slopes beyond the sewage plant. At Camp Ellis (Saco) we saw a "blonde" RED-NECKED GREBE among the many normal ones. This bird was quite striking and overall whitish with a pale tan-buff crown and back. I assume its appearance was due to a melanin-challenged plumage abnormality. The bird was in the area at the base of the north jetty to the Saco River.
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
--
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
0 comments:
Post a Comment