[Maine-birds] Northern Maine Birds: 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls Collins Pond, Caribou

HI All,

Spring went from heel-dragging to fast forward in northern Maine in the past week.  

Warm days and south winds early in the week were followed by some showers and breezes that erased much of our deep snow cover.  By Thursday, it was chilly again, but all the runoff had raised the water levels and done its work.   Ice is finally out of the streams and rivers but these are running hard between high windrows of beached floes.

Many fields are open but most woods have retained well over a foot of snow.

Collins Pond in Caribou has a wide lead of open water in the ice and now hosts a large bunch of migrant gulls.  Tonight I spotted 6 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls among 600+ Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.  An American Wigeon was sleeping on the ice with the Mallards and Blacks and numbers of Common Goldeneyes, and Hooded and Common Mergansers are loafing here too.

Over at Aroostook NWR in Limestone this morning, I was surprised to hear a Winter Wren touch off in song.

Bohemian Waxwings have been practically abundant in the area in the past 10 days with large  flocks seen in Caribou, Easton, Presque Isle, Limestone, Houlton, Westfield and Weston.

My first Northern Flicker was spotted in Presque Isle on Tuesday, but by Wednesday I was seeing them all the way north to Madawaska.

Counting the Juncos, White-throated, American Tree and Song Sparrows, the flock in my yard in Woodland now numbers in the hundreds.  7 Fox Sparrows joined the group on Wednesday.  This morning, we added a Savannah Sparrow to the list and tonight, a first Chipping Sparrow appeared.

An American Woodcock is Peenting on the edge of the Woodland Bog as I write

Good birding,

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

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