[Maine-birds] Northern harrier, 200+ horned larks, 1 Barrows goldeneye & dead red fox *(non-road kill_

Greetings,

I visited the Flood Farm in Benton/Clinton this afternoon.  The driving conditions in access roads into the fields were good in that they were frozen and the adjacent fields were solid for turning around.  

Roads in the dairy farm compound were wet with a mix of cow waste and water, which enhanced the odor.  Birds were thin in the compound area (Rock pigeons, and House sparrows).  No gulls and very few European starlings were present.

There was a dead red fox about a mile from the paved road (across the road from the house with the barking dog located on the left after the road emerges from the woods into the Flood Farm corn fields.

The most interesting birds included 1 Northern harrier (male) and 1 male Barrow's goldeneye along with over 150 Common goldeneyes (hard to scan well and count).

Good birding,

Norm Famous

Totals below:

Barrow's goldeneye   1 Male

Common goldeneyes   ~150+    Difficult to count because they were in large multiple groups shallow-diving up-stream against the currents

Horthern harrier   1   Across the road from the Flood Farm compound 1

Horned larks   ~200  Multiple large flocks within the first 1/2 mile from the house with the barking dog located on the left or river-side of the road after it emerges from the woods into the Flood Farm corn fields

Rock pigeons   ~60    Around the farm buildings

House sparrows   ~25   Around the farm buildings; incomplete count

Bald eagle   1   Across from the farm buildings 

Wild turkeys   8   2 male pairs (engaged in a 30 or more minutes of severe chest-to-chest chest-bumping bout with head-pecking; they were bumping and pushing when I arrived and continued after I left), 1 beat-up looking male and 3 females)

--

Norman Famous, Wetlands and Wildlife Ecologist

513 Eight Rod Road

Augusta, ME 04330

(207) 623 6072

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