Despite some recent diligent efforts by several Aroostook Birders, it took until today for northern Maine to get on "the map" of this Snowy Owl incursion. An apparent juvenile bird was spotted this afternoon just south of the intersection of the Madore Road and Route 1 in Cyr Plantation (near Van Buren). The bird was in a snowy potato field quite near the road but flushed and flew to the middle of this large expanse. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15871307
-- Birding has been tough in northern Maine for the past couple weeks. A hard freeze put a final end to goose season in the area and most lakes and ponds and many streams are now frozen. Most of Long Lake and much of the Aroostook and St John Rivers remain open and ice-free. Snow cover ranges from 1 to 6 inches from south to north but the current rain will probably wipe out most of that. Feeders have been quite quiet.
Still there are some noteworthy reports coming in:
A Short-eared Owl was reported hunting near the athletic fields at UMPI in Presque Isle just before Thanksgiving. The bird was seen at dusk and apparently followed a runner around the grassy cross country trail there.
A Carolina Wren, reported sporadically since mid-summer, is apparently making an attempt to winter in Mt. Chase and Hersey at the Aroostook/Penobscot county line. The bird has been visiting the feeder here daily and has been reported to be singing occasionally.
On the first, several Lapland Longspurs were seen in a massive flock of ~1,900 Snow Buntings in the fields along the Flat Mountain Road in St. Agatha.
A Common Grackle at Woodland and a lone Red-winged Blackbird at Presque Isle seen on Dec 2nd were late lingerers.
A small flock of gulls remains in the Caribou and Fort Fairfield area and counts a juvie Iceland Gull in its ranks. The birds were seen at Collins Pond in Caribou on the 3rd.
Still not much of an irruptive winter finch show in the area, but American Goldfinches have increased a bit and are starting to show at feeding stations. Purple Finches are in the woods in good numbers but have, so far, mostly turned up their beaks to seed offerings from feeders.
Reminder: Upcoming local Christmas Bird Count dates are Saturday Dec 28 for Presque Isle area and Wednesday Jan 1 for Caribou/Limestone. Email me for details if you'd like to play along!
Good Birding
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