[Maine-birds] Aroostook Birders trip to Lake Josephine and Christina Reservoir

Hello 

Ten Aroostook Birders visited Lake Jo in Easton and Christina Reservoir in Fort Fairfield on Saturday morning.  The weather was pleasant, the bugs were not bad and we were able to find 68 species of birds between 7 and 10:30.

At Lake Josephine in Easton, the group found the expected mass of molting ducks, but many of these remained on the distant northwest corner of the pond and were best observed through the spotting scopes.  Mallards were most common with Ring-necked Ducks, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Wood Ducks, American Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser and Common Goldeneye also in the mix.  Best duck sighting was the rare-for-New-England breeding Redhead duck with her one remaining duckling.  Other fun finds were American Bittern and Virginia Rail that were, for a short time, visible in the same field a view and provided good long looks for the crowd.  Four belly landing Common Loons were also a treat.

Up at Christina Reservoir, the spectacle of distant waterfowl continued with large flocks of molting Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks and American Wigeon found on the west end of the pond.  Best observations on this pond was a continuing Red-necked Grebe, an American Coot, a pair of Common Loons with a nearly full grown chick and some Common Terns.  A few shorebirds were spotted along the muddy shoreline, including both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover and Spotted Sandpipers.

A family of foxes lazing off and lying in the morning sun was a nice non-bird observation.

I've pasted copies of the full lists of the birds we saw or heard below.

Good Birding

Bill Sheehan

--
www.aroostookbirders.com

Lake Josephine, Aroostook, US-ME
Aug 4, 2012 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
51 species

Canada Goose  12
Wood Duck  8     one older juvenile, one hen the rest were males in eclipse plumage
Gadwall  5
American Wigeon  12
American Black Duck  20
Mallard  140
Green-winged Teal (American)  8
Redhead  2     female with lone chick
Ring-necked Duck  15     molting adults
Common Goldeneye  4     adult sized juveniles
Hooded Merganser  1
Common Loon  4     flew in from north
Double-crested Cormorant  1
American Bittern  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Osprey  1
American Kestrel  2
Virginia Rail  1     Good looks by entire group
Sora  1     heard only
Killdeer  4
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1     flyover
Ring-billed Gull  4
Herring Gull  1
Rock Pigeon  15
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1     flyby
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  3
Alder Flycatcher  4     still singing
Eastern Kingbird  7
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
American Crow  10
Common Raven  1
Barn Swallow  4
Black-capped Chickadee  2
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  2
European Starling  40
Cedar Waxwing  15
Common Yellowthroat  3
Yellow Warbler  8
Song Sparrow  20
Swamp Sparrow  1     heard singing
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1     young bird
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  15
Purple Finch  1     flyover
American Goldfinch  6

Christina Res., Aroostook, US-ME
Aug 4, 2012 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM
Protocol: Stationary
54 species

Canada Goose  40
Wood Duck  25
Gadwall  20
American Wigeon  150
American Black Duck  40
Mallard  350
Green-winged Teal (American)  10
Ring-necked Duck  1100
Common Goldeneye  8
Hooded Merganser  5
Common Loon  3     adults and larger juvenile
Pied-billed Grebe  40
Red-necked Grebe  1     fading adult continues
Double-crested Cormorant  6
Osprey  2
Bald Eagle  3     immature and two adult birds.  One was eating an apparent duck
Northern Harrier  1
American Coot  1     feeding on north shore distant scope looks
Semipalmated Plover  1     well seen by group on exposed mud
Killdeer  2
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Greater Yellowlegs  1     feeding among 150 loafing Mallards
Lesser Yellowlegs  1     flyby
Ring-billed Gull  6     includes two juveniles
Herring Gull  1
Common Tern  3     migrants
Rock Pigeon  10
Belted Kingfisher  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Alder Flycatcher  3     one well seen, calling
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  20
Common Raven  4
Barn Swallow  2
Black-capped Chickadee  4
Veery  1
American Robin  1
European Starling  10
Cedar Waxwing  30     large flock flycatching over east end of pond
Common Yellowthroat  8
Northern Parula  1     seen in poplar behind dike
Yellow Warbler  7     adults feeding young some males still singing
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  20     several singing males, many juveniles
Swamp Sparrow  15     several singing males,  many juveniles
Bobolink  2     flyover calling
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Grackle  6
American Goldfinch  8

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

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

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