Hi everyone:
Another week, another round of challenges for the Maine Bird Atlas. See my original post if you need more background on these: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/maine-birds/Xa2xS_JuIS0/Uf0PcLAhAgAJ
If you are new to the Atlas, it is a project by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife that partners with Maine biologists and citizen scientists to document the distribution and relative abundance of all breeding and wintering birds across the entire state of Maine. You can learn more about the atlas, and find materials including the Volunteer Handbook here: maine.gov/birdatlas
A quick reminder: Please submit only eBird checklists that have at least one breeding code to the Maine Bird Atlas Portal (ebird.org/atlasme). All lists that do not have breeding codes should be entered to eBird (ebird.org) or the Maine eBird Portal (ebird.org/me).
Let's look at how we did last week:
House Finch - Good work! You managed to bump up confirmed blocks from 52 to 58. This map is becoming really well defined and interesting to compare the breed map (https://ebird.org/atlasme/map/houfin) to the summer sightings map (https://ebird.org/map/houfin?neg=true&env.minX=-81.99271950000002&env.minY=40.20978543508935&env.maxX=-55.97709450000002&env.maxY=49.84990977781683&zh=true&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=6-7&bmo=6&emo=7&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2019). For a little history on this species' occurrence in Maine, you might be interested in the article from Jeff and Allison Wells: https://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/article/hollywood-finches-maine/8097
Brown-headed Cowbird - Nice to see the bump in confirmed cowbirds too: nine records from this week added four more confirmed blocks! This is a good one to continue looking for as those cowbird chicks take a while to develop and you are likely to still see some being fed.
Indigo Bunting - three new confirmed records, all in new blocks! My favorite being a distraction display observed by Tom Aversa: https://ebird.org/atlasme/view/checklist/S58548022
Here are the challenges for this week:
1) New blocks for phoebes - I'm amazed how many photos I've seen from the past few days of Eastern Phoebe nests around the state; second maybe even third broods? Anyways, the challenge here is to report on in a NEW block. We've already got an amazing 420(!) blocks with confirmed records but take a look at the breeding map and see if there are any blocks near you worth checking: https://ebird.org/atlasme/map/easpho
2) Lakes with Loons - These hot summer days have definitely been driving people towards lakes and ponds, giving plenty of opportunities to check for Common Loons. On many ponds, the chicks are showing downy fluff, making them easy to confirm. BE CAREFUL ABOUT BLOCK EDGES! Some large lakes might fall into multiple blocks, so make sure you are coding the birds you observe in the blocks that they nested in. Here is their breeding map to check your favorite lakes/ponds: https://ebird.org/atlasme/map/comloo
3) Fledging Waxwings - Cedar Waxwings are a widely distributed and often encountered species but needs some work getting more confirmed records. Currently, there are 478 possible, 199 probable, and 153 confirmed records. These late-nesting birds should be carrying food, feeding young, or have recently fledged young visible right now. Spend some time this week watching these sleek birds for breeding codes.
Anyone who completes one of the challenges above will be entered to win any item of their choice (any product, style, color, size, etc) from the Maine Bird Atlas online store: teepublic.com/user/mainebirdatlas/. One entry per person per challenge (complete them all for 3x the chances of winning) from checklists submitted by 11:59PM on 8 Aug 2019.
Good birding and happy atlasing!
Doug Hitchcox
Maine Bird Atlas - Outreach Coordinator
Maine Audubon - Staff Naturalist
207-781-2330 x237
dhitchcox@maineaudubon.org
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