[Maine-birds] Northern Maine Birds: Scarlet Tanager, American Pipits and Veerys in the snow

It was a wild day in northern Maine with heavy snow through mid afternoon.  It piled up to several inches in most spots and some higher elevations had as much as seven inches of the stuff.

The newly-arrived migrant birds were struggling everywhere.  

Hundreds of sparrows and thrushes were in the roads and foraging in any bare spots they could find.  Swallows were hunkered in down by the lakes with a few birds venturing out to forage over the water.  I watched American Redstarts, Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green Warblers uncharacteristically foraging low and on the ground under conifers at Arnold Brook Lake park in Presque Isle.

Veerys seemed particularly abundant on roadsides in Presque Isle.  I also saw numbers of American Pipits walking on the slushy sides of the streets near the airport in Presque Isle.  Four Bohemian Waxwings here were unfazed by the weather (and incidently were the latest ever I have seen in Aroostook County).

My yard in Woodland was frenetic with bird activity this evening .  The finch flocks were larger than usual with about 100 Siskins and American Goldfinch and Purple Finches.  Chipping Sparrows numbered over a dozen and White-crowned, White-throated, Song and Savannah Sparrows were also feeding here.  I had at least nine Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at the feeding table at one time.  The least expected yard birds were a male Scarlet Tanager feeding on soggy birdseed with some goldfinches and a stressed out Bobolink shuffling through the snow in the perennial beds.

I put some snapshots of the snow and the birds on my Flickr photostream: https://flic.kr/p/GP8Kj9

Good Birding

Bill

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

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