Put in significant effort with Doug Hitchcox from 5:45 onwards. Searched around Lords Pond and Etherington Pond in Biddeford Pool, did a cursory scan of Lilly Pond, and now checking Great Pond. Joined by a few other great birders.
Excellent birding, lots of overhead movement from egrets, ibises, and some passerines but no great black hawk so far.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
The bird was seen perched in a tree near Lords Pond close to the intersection of Fortunes Rocks Rd and Maddox Pond Rd around 9AM on Monday, August 6th. It then flew off over Etherington Pond where the in flight photo was taken. (We can confirm the foreground foliage is indeed Japanese knotweed.) The bird was not followed and not seen again. The photographer has only a casual interest in birds, but was curious of the ID and shared it.
Here's are GPS coordinates for the approximate location of the first sighting: (43.4301900,-70.3755815)
HOWEVER, Seth Davis and I encountered a local woman on Maddox Pond Rd who states, with confidence, that she saw the bird on Monday with the photographer and then again yesterday morning, Tuesday, August 7th. She says the "big red hawk" was trying to perch on a shrubby bush in the middle of Lords Pond and was chased off "by a bunch of little birds" over to Etherington where it perched in a tree on the far side of the pond till "a little after noon."
There is a little island in Lords Pond that had some eastern kingbirds frequenting it, so there may be a possibility this is a sign of a continuing bird. The second woman was not a birder, so a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted.
We are leaving at 10am empty-handed, but with the itching suspicion that the bird may still be out there.
Cornell has information available on this bird here:
A worthy bird to make an effort for. Don't forget your sunscreen though.
Happy birding,
Ian Carlsen
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