[Maine-birds] Scarborough Marsh

Walked along the Scarborough Marsh section of the Eastern Trail today around 11:30. Nobody around, very very cold wind… but good birding.

Highlights were:

- at least 3 northern pintails (males) mixed in with mallards, black ducks and red-breasted mergansers;

- fairly confident horned lark with savannah sparrows along the trail;

- Common loon with very unusual behavior — seemed to preen its belly repeatedly, and shake water off its wings… when did so, showed a patch in the belly that was without feathers. It also got off the water a couple of times, to lay on the banks of the river, not far from the bridge. Hope he/she is ok. Another one kept fishing in the area.

Pictures, if interested, can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/travelingpigeon/2i4x5w/

In addition, late reporting from last week:

last thursday I drove around the Biddeford Pool area after lunch and quickly birded a couple of spots. Nice flock of long-tailed ducks close to shore on the beach side and a dark-morph rough legged hawk sharing airspace with a northern harrier over the island off East Point Sanctuary were the highlights. Lots of eiders, scoters of all types, common loons, red-necked and horned grebes in the water. Another northern harrier was hunting low over the marsh areas on the way back. Around exit 46 of I-95 north spotted a juvenile bald eagle flying northbound.

Francesco

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