[Maine-birds] Washington County birds, June 21 - 23

Hi all,

During and after a work trip up to the blueberry barrens around Deblois this week, I had time to do some birding and exploring in Washington County and found some great birds. 

On Wednesday morning, I made it out for a half an hour of birding early in the morning along the barrens near Highway 193 in Deblois, where I was rewarded with great looks (and listens) to at least 3 Upland Sandpipers and heard a distant Vesper Sparrow singing behind the airstrip. After work in the afternoon, I headed down to Jonesport where I had two Willets fly over the highway 

After camping Wednesday night in Jonesport, I had a beautiful adult Lesser Black-backed Gull fly by in the harbor as the sun came up. I spent most of the day hiking out to Red Head and exploring inland habitat at Great Wass Island Preserve. Along the Little Cape Point Trail, I flushed a beautiful male Spruce Grouse that sat at eye level in a tree 15 feet away and offered superb views! Two small flocks of Red Crossbills also flew over along this stretch. Out at the point, seabirds were mostly absent, but good looks at (likely) nesting Bald Eagle and Merlin were a nice bonus. My eBird checklist is at: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37742415.

On Wednesday evening, I drove up to camp at Rocky Lake Public Reserved Land along Highway 191 north of East Machias, where the mosquitos may have been the worst I've ever seen! Luckily, I had my headnet, and a surprise visit by an adult and immature Gray Jay at my campsite made up for the bugs. I heard a single Common Nighthawk in the distance at dusk, and during the night a Common Loon was calling mournfully from the lake. eBird checklist at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37770993.

The highlight of the trip, though, was my visit to Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land on Friday. In addition to being one of the most spectacular places I've ever seen, this hike more than made up for the lack of seabirds at Great Wass. Before leaving the parking lot, I found very vocal nests of both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers within 50 yards of each other, with nestlings loudly clamoring for food. From the high cliffs at Black Point, I first had a Black-legged Kittiwake (life bird!) flyby very close to shore. When I started scanning the sea with my spotting scope, I found at least seven Razorbills swimming and diving off Long Point to the southwest, along with a pair of Common Murres straight out. Just before the fog rolled in and visibility fell to zero, I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted a pair of Atlantic Puffins floating and preening well offshore for a second lifer of the day! Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37771053.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I really enjoyed having the chance to explore a new (and beautiful!) part of the state. 

Good birding, 

Don Jones

Brunswick, ME / Laramie, WY

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