[Maine-birds] Northern Maine Birds: Cackling Goose, Northern Shrike, Iceland Gull

The weather was gloomy this AM for the Aroostook Birders' Wild Goose Chase.  A brilliant pink sunrise gave way to thick, gloomy fog which persisted through the first couple hours of the day.  Nonetheless, the outing was an enjoyable one with a number of good birds.

At our meeting point of Collins Pond in Caribou, the earlier-arriving birders were treated to some good looks at a Cackling Goose with the Canada flocks that had spent the night on the pond. Unfortunately the bird didn't hang around for long.  Other waterfowl here included 6 lingering Northern Shovelers, about 25 Green-winged Teal and the usual aggregation of Mallards, Blacks and Hooded Mergansers.  A pair of handsome juvenile White-rumped Sandpipers were life birds for many in the group and some squeaky vocalizations, in the trees over our head, revealed the first Northern Shrike of the fall.  A photo of the Cackler can be seen in the ebird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/me/view/checklist?subID=S25449842

Though the heavy fog initially stymied our attempts to locate feeding geese in the local fields, we eventually hit the bonanza behind the Maine School of Science and Math in Limestone.  A harvested grain field just north of the school held well over 2,000 geese and we were able to get good looks from the school's athletic fields.   https://www.flickr.com/photos/71911844@N04/22226857056/in/datetaken-public/

Surprisingly, we found no rarities in the horde!

The first wet snow of the season started falling as we were parting ways at 11.

A quick visit to Collins Pond later this afternoon produced the first Iceland Gull of the season:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/71911844@N04/22067357410/in/datetaken-public/

Good Birding

Bill

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

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