[Maine-birds] Gilsland Farm Birdwalk

Hello Maine Birders:

I'll be filling in at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center for their Thursday morning bird walks, at least for a few weeks. I do want to take a moment to thank Mike Windsor for all the work he has done with Maine Audubon and in our birding community over the last couple years. Good luck with the new job Mike and we'll be looking for you in the field!

This mornings walk was a great study of breeding activity: all the Tree Swallows have fledged from their boxes, two groups of poults are slowly growing up, while a Black-throated Green Warbler was heard singing on territory again and possibly trying to get off a second brood. We observed a probably breeding disaster: a recently fledged Brown-headed Cowbird was begging in the North Meadow and drawing the attention of a Yellow Warbler that was the likely foster parent. Also in the North Meadow, a family group of five Northern Flickers were very focal and eventually flew right over us.

The walk was during a fairly low tide and allowed us to pick up some Short-billed Dowitchers on their 'fall' migration. The highlight of the walk, for me, occurred while we were scanning the mudflats from the blind in the West Meadow. An adult Bald Eagle flew over the flats and grabbed a large American Eel out of the mud, then sat in front of us for a couple minutes. Eventually the eagle took off the with eel, hopefully bringing it to a nest, when a young Cooper's Hawk apparently suffering from Napoleon syndrome started mobbing the eagle!

Here is a complete checklist from the day: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14620796

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Hollis, ME

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