[Maine-birds] Red Crossbills and Hoary Redpoll, Waterboro, 2/1.

Hi all,

Late in December, I made some recordings of two Red Crossbills that Phil McCormack and I found at Waterboro Barrens Preserve (off Newfield Road in Waterboro, York County) sending them off to be analyzed so they can be assigned to "Type" (cryptic potential subspecies or even species). Unfortunately, the calls were ambiguous, likely because the birds were mostly giving "excitement" calls.

I finally returned to the barrens today, hoping to refind some crossbills, and perhaps improve upon the recordings. In addition to a good snowshoe trek, I found 14 RED CROSSBILLS! They were actively feeding on Pitch Pine, and at least two males were in full song. One male appeared to have nesting material in his bill - that's right NESTING: the breeding season for crossbills often begins in February! I also managed some decent, and hopefully more identifiable, recordings with my iPhone.

As if that wasn't enough, a flock of about 40 Common Redpolls included a single HOARY REDPOLL - my first away from a feeder in Maine. Although I did not have a camera on me (I was afraid of falling into snowdrifts, which I did...several times), I was able to study it closely as it fed in pines overhead. 

You can access the barrens by walking on hard-packed snowmobile trails. Park at the end of Gray Road at its intersection with Newfield Road, cross the street, and enter the barrens on the snowmobile trail. Venturing off that trail will require snowshoes - at least!

-Derek

 

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Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com

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