A visit to the still-mostly-frozen Messalonskee Marsh in Belgrade yesterday afternoon yielded a trifecta of the three FOY birds I was seeking there: (2) Sandhill Cranes, an Osprey (which dove into the frigid water and emerged with a bass), and a Great Blue Heron. Also present were a motley assortment of Canada Geese, Ring-Billed Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, an immature Bald Eagle and Red-Winged Blackbirds. (Sorry, I didn't count them).
-- Because the sightings were over 100 yards away, and because it was getting dark when the Sandhills dropped in, the photos I got are better classified as "record" shots than fine photographs, but still, it may be worth a look if you need to convince yourself that Spring will eventually return to Maine after a seemingly endless winter: http://www.riggsphoto.com/Other/Recent-Photos/15502044_98n7bp#!i=3170934492&k=hx3SQNj It's great to see them back!
For birders not familiar with the area, there are good views of the marsh from the public canoe/kayak launch site on route 27; it's at the southern end of Messalonskee Lake, just before Hammond Lumber Co when driving up from Augusta. In my experience, early spring seems to be the best time to observe small groups of Sandhill Cranes at this location, as the outlet of Belgrade Stream creates areas of open water here while the remainder of the lake remains frozen.
Linwood Riggs
Augusta
Maine birds mailing list
maine-birds@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
0 comments:
Post a Comment