Maine-birds is an email forum devoted to the discussion of birds and birding in the state of Maine. The primary function of the list is to provide an efficient means of reporting wild bird sightings in the state.
Wilson's Storm-Petrels, Northern Gannets, Red-necked Phalarope, Atlantic Puffins, near the opening of Muscongus Bay and along the Hardy Boat trip to Monhegan Island, ME, 7/29/21
Dr. Jay Pitocchelli, Professor Emeritus Biology Department Saint Anselm College Manchester, NH 03102 Voice: 603 641 7397 Fax: 603 222 4012
The pair of Sandhill Cranes preciously reported in Raymond are very visible in the field right now just south of the golf green with red flag and just north of farm stand. These are very long-billed so I believe Greater subspecies. Can other observers weigh in on this?
You can find them by mapping 76 North Raymond Road, Raymond.
Alaska Wilderness League is putting together a list of businesses that support permanent protection for Arctic Refuge, hopefully to convince Senator Collins that there is local support for the idea. It's a quick timeframe to sign (by tomorrow) but if you feel it's worthy, I thought it would good to share with like minded business owners.
Info below, hope you guys are doing well. Congats on the ground breaking!
Our partners are working a business sign on letter for Maine businesses as a critical part of our strategy to secure Sen. Collins position for our strategy to re-instate protections for the Arctic Refuge. Apologies for the short turn around, I was out and am just now in a spot where I can help them possibly get a few more signers, sign on is by COB tomorrow (7/30). Also feel free to pass along to any other businesses you think might be interested. Hope you're well and look forward to catching up soon!
This morning, 8 Whimbrel showed up on the mudflats on the south part of Flat Bay (south of Mill River). In 2019 and 2020, the birds first showed on this day as well. However, last year there were 37 birds - and that is quite a reduction in numbers from 2014 when there were 189 birds at first arrival.
So, lots of questions - are the warmer air temps keeping the birds up north longer? Is the abundant blueberry crop this year keeping the birds on the barrens instead of the mudflats? Have the majority of birds found another place to stage for migration? This year there are twice as many clammers on the mudflats (at least 17 each low tide) in the area where the Whimbrels spend most of their time. Or, is the population shrinking......
Our Friends of Maine Coast Islands group has asked me to inquire about a possible virtual presentation on using eBird to increase the impact of citizen-based birding projects. Recognizing how busy your schedule must be these days, the FOMCI presentations usually reach a broad audience. If the August 25 date is inconvenient, we can reach out to you at a later date. Thanks for considering. (See Carney Doucette's original message below.)
Don
"Don (use this message for information - I sent wrong date in the last one) can you check to see if Doug would do a zoom presentation on using E-bird app and how it is used to contribute to science on Wednesday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m. If he says yes, then I will follow up to get the PR info I need from him. We will video tape it so that folks who can't come on that day can get the information."
Thanks, Christine, that's really useful. Josh also sent a link to BHVI trills (=whinny) in the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds on the Cornell Lab's Bird Academy. The variety of vireo notes, and the various ways they put them together, will keep me on my toes. Glad to link this sound to a known behavior (upgrading an S7 to a T).
This morning at 7:00 Ethan and I located the immature yellow-crowned night heron originally found by D. Rheinheimer at Oven's Mouth East Preserve in Boothbay. We watched it feeding in a tide pool, and the bird was still there when we left. Take the Eastern Shoreline (white blaze) trail to the wooden bridge. The bird was easily viewed when looking south of the bridge.
Birds if the World says "female uses a whinny when aggressively confronting an intruding female (Morton et al. 1998) (ML140291one whinny at beginning of cut)." That reference is: Morton, E. S., B. J. M. Stutchbury, J. S. Howlett and H. W. Piper. (1998). Genetics monogamy in Blue-headed Vireos and a comparison with a sympatric vireo with extra-pair paternity. Behavioral Ecology 9:515-524. https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/9/5/515/208896
Hope that helps,
Christine
On Saturday, July 24, 2021 at 4:11:21 PM UTC-4 scot...@gmail.com wrote:
Today I listened to a blue-headed vireo singing and calling for quite a while, hoping to get a Confirmed code for the atlas (nope), and heard a new sound. I wondered if it had special meaning.
The call started as chatter at a higher pitch than usual, rising and accelerating slightly before transitioning into a whiny descending whinny. The last part was reminiscent of a sora or, maybe, the three stooges. The whole thing took 2-4 seconds.
I've been through xeno-canto, iBird, and allaboutbirds without finding anything like it. I didn't make a recording. Does my description sound familiar?
Today I listened to a blue-headed vireo singing and calling for quite a while, hoping to get a Confirmed code for the atlas (nope), and heard a new sound. I wondered if it had special meaning.
The call started as chatter at a higher pitch than usual, rising and accelerating slightly before transitioning into a whiny descending whinny. The last part was reminiscent of a sora or, maybe, the three stooges. The whole thing took 2-4 seconds.
I've been through xeno-canto, iBird, and allaboutbirds without finding anything like it. I didn't make a recording. Does my description sound familiar?
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July 16, wetland behind Irvings, Dover-Foxcroft: It was an active morning at the wetland.There were several Belted Kingfisher, several Eastern Kingbird, and a Great Blue Heron. Marsh Wrens were singing and one was flying back and forth carrying food. There was at least one, maybe more, Green Heron flying about. Other birds seen were Canada Goose, Mallard, Tree Swallow, Gray Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Pied-billed Grebe, and Cedar Waxwing.
Mockingbirds have rarely been observed on Hancock Point for at least fifty years, so I was surprised on July 4 to see one chasing a robin.
On Saturday, July 3, 2021 at 2:40:40 PM UTC-4 Allan Fuller wrote:
Thank you. Good info. My first here.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message -------- From: chr...@myfairpoint.net Date: 7/3/21 11:20 AM (GMT-05:00) To: maine...@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [Maine-birds] Killdeer, Northern Mockingbird and new Barn Swallow fledged this week - Benton - Sebasticook
Mockingbirds have been around these parts for decades. In 1982 I saw them both in Aroostook County and adjacent New Brunswick. We used to get them routinely on the Waterville CBC. Now they are a bit more sporadic. So the presence of Mockingbirds is a separate issue from "climate change."
Just a quick note for those who might be interested in a boat trip today...
We have at least one open space on today's "Search for Troppy" tour to Seal Island due to travel delays and cancelled flights from Tropical Storm Elsa. We will be departing promptly from Stonington at 1pm.
Seas are rapidly falling, winds are very light, and the sun is shining. There will be some swells, but we are optimistic for very good conditions at the island.
I had this problem as well with my gmail account. It seems to be solved after I set up a filter to never send the messages to spam.
To set up a filter, open a Maine Birds email and click the three vertical dots on the toolbar at the top, then click "filter messages like these". There's some more information on creating filters here. You can then select "never send these messages to spam".
I used to have this same problem quite frequently, which started out of nowhere. It doesn't happen as often anymore, but still enough that I am sure to check my spam folder each time I open my email. This very email that you sent went to my spam folder, actually! I am always sure to click the "report not spam" button in my Gmail, which has seemed to help somewhat. I've tried adding some to my mail contacts as well, but I'm not sure how effective that has been. So far I have not discovered another solution. I don't recall this happening before Google Groups made some changes to their site a little while back.
July 9 - I think this has been discussed here before. My mainebirds@googlegroups.com emails were going to spam. I went through the process to indicate that these emails are not spam. I thought I had solved the problem. and have been getting some emails but discovered today that many are still going to spam.This time I went to spam, clicked the boxes of bird emails and checked the box above "Not Spam." I am not good with technology. Any suggestions?
I used to have this same problem quite frequently, which started out of nowhere. It doesn't happen as often anymore, but still enough that I am sure to check my spam folder each time I open my email. This very email that you sent went to my spam folder, actually! I am always sure to click the "report not spam" button in my Gmail, which has seemed to help somewhat. I've tried adding some to my mail contacts as well, but I'm not sure how effective that has been. So far I have not discovered another solution. I don't recall this happening before Google Groups made some changes to their site a little while back.
July 9 - I think this has been discussed here before. My mainebirds@googlegroups.com emails were going to spam. I went through the process to indicate that these emails are not spam. I thought I had solved the problem. and have been getting some emails but discovered today that many are still going to spam.This time I went to spam, clicked the boxes of bird emails and checked the box above "Not Spam." I am not good with technology. Any suggestions?
July 9 - I think this has been discussed here before. My mainebirds@googlegroups.com emails were going to spam. I went through the process to indicate that these emails are not spam. I thought I had solved the problem. and have been getting some emails but discovered today that many are still going to spam.This time I went to spam, clicked the boxes of bird emails and checked the box above "Not Spam." I am not good with technology. Any suggestions?
We are doing bird monitoring tomorrow at Scarborough Marsh and need help. We will meet a 7 at the nature center and split up into groups from there. We will provide canoes as needed. People of all levels welcome.
Refreshments provided.
Please share with others that may be interested.
For more information or to register call 207-415-8331 or email smac@maineaudubon.org. If you can pre-register great, but if things open up at the last minute, you are welcome to come.
Linda
--
Linda Woodard I(she/her)
Director of Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center
_______________________________
164 Main St., Kennebunkport, Maine 04046 (Home address: please use now during Covid)
20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105 (Headquarters)
email preferred but phone/text below.
telmobile 207-415-8331 (please use now during Covid))
(207) 781-2330 (not at my desk but you can leave a message)
Many thanks to all who added helpful comments and experiences! Let me say again how much I appreciate the way Maine birders help one another! Not the case everywhere....
Laura and I decided not to go up Saddleback last evening, figuring that if we if did go and dipped that we'd never have the energy to get up early to try again today. Instead we birded along the Boy Scout Road, but found no Spruce Grouse or other yummies.
This morning we started up Saddleback at 5:30 a.m. and got up to 3,000' on the Gray Ghost Trail quickly. The day started out pretty nice, although cool. Lots of Swainson's Thrushes, Blackpolls and so on. As we kept getting higher, the temperature stayed quite chilly (maybe 52°), the sky grew cloudy, the wind picked up and bird activity dropped as we got to the top of the the trail/ Royal Coachman chairlift, about 6:40 a.m. We followed the "Uphill Access" sign and got to the top of the Tricolor trail by 7:20 with no hints of BITH or any of the boreal specialties. We kept going up through krummholz, eventually getting above treeline by 7:35, up to maybe 4080'. It was really chilly there with no birds of any sort. I even borrowed a down vest from Laura.
We were pretty discouraged as we headed down. This got worse when I realized I hadn't picked up my camera after putting on Laura's vest. So back up I went, perhaps another 300' vertical from where I figured it out. Fortunately, I found the camera and headed back down a second time. Just as we got back to where we were when I realized I had left my camera, Laura heard 3 songs and a "veer" from BITH. I got over fast enough to hear a few more veers and one song. Yay!! But then silence. We kept looking at each other saying "that was it, right?" "Yes, it had to be!" So we sat down across the trail and ate a snack for 15 minutes to kill time, hoping constantly. But never a peep after that. As you can imagine, our moods had brightened.
The wind kept up and there were even some very light rain showers. Bird activity on the way down was barely a fraction of what it was on the ascent. I was glad to be back at the lodge and even gladder that Oquossoc was having a strawberry shortcake festival! We felt we had earned it.
On Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 2:38:26 PM UTC-4 Charles Duncan wrote:
Laura and I are heading to Rangeley / Saddleback tomorrow with Bicknell's Thrush in mind. The forecast for early Thursday, when we had planned to make our climb, includes showers as the morning develops. We're wondering about heading up Wednesday later in the day while the weather is still good.
Does anyone on the list have experience with these birds later in the day? All the lists we've seen are early morning. Most thrushes have an evening song, but admittedly, it's getting late in the breeding season for singing.
It seems that the Gray Ghost and Tricolor trails are the ones to focus on. Is that right?
Laura and I are heading to Rangeley / Saddleback tomorrow with Bicknell's Thrush in mind. The forecast for early Thursday, when we had planned to make our climb, includes showers as the morning develops. We're wondering about heading up Wednesday later in the day while the weather is still good.
Does anyone on the list have experience with these birds later in the day? All the lists we've seen are early morning. Most thrushes have an evening song, but admittedly, it's getting late in the breeding season for singing.
It seems that the Gray Ghost and Tricolor trails are the ones to focus on. Is that right?
"Birdwatching in Maine: A Site Guide" by Derek Lovitch says Bicknell's Thrush can be heard actively vocalizing at dusk as well as at dawn.
Chris Spurgeon
La Crescenta, CA / Belgrade, ME
On Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 2:38:26 PM UTC-4 charles....@gmail.com wrote:
Laura and I are heading to Rangeley / Saddleback tomorrow with Bicknell's Thrush in mind. The forecast for early Thursday, when we had planned to make our climb, includes showers as the morning develops. We're wondering about heading up Wednesday later in the day while the weather is still good.
Does anyone on the list have experience with these birds later in the day? All the lists we've seen are early morning. Most thrushes have an evening song, but admittedly, it's getting late in the breeding season for singing.
It seems that the Gray Ghost and Tricolor trails are the ones to focus on. Is that right?
They're back! Crossbills were totally missing from the North Maine Woods over the winter. They were scarce three weeks ago, when we surveyed a bunch of blocks for the Maine Bird Atlas. Today, around the south end of Caribou Lake, they were everywhere, many paired up. Sandi reported a couple red crossbills. All of mine (dozens) were white-winged.
Laura and I are heading to Rangeley / Saddleback tomorrow with Bicknell's Thrush in mind. The forecast for early Thursday, when we had planned to make our climb, includes showers as the morning develops. We're wondering about heading up Wednesday later in the day while the weather is still good.
Does anyone on the list have experience with these birds later in the day? All the lists we've seen are early morning. Most thrushes have an evening song, but admittedly, it's getting late in the breeding season for singing.
It seems that the Gray Ghost and Tricolor trails are the ones to focus on. Is that right?
They're back! Crossbills were totally missing from the North Maine Woods
over the winter. They were scarce three weeks ago, when we surveyed a
bunch of blocks for the Maine Bird Atlas. Today, around the south end of
Caribou Lake, they were everywhere, many paired up. Sandi reported a
couple red crossbills. All of mine (dozens) were white-winged.
I drove on I-95 from Topsham to Sidney this afternoon and had kestrels hovering over the median in two places—one in Topsham and one in Sidney. Kestrel parents are working hard right now to get their broods launched, the ones in my yard included. We had one fledge yesterday afternoon. Three more to go!
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-------- Original message -------- From: chrwsu@myfairpoint.net Date: 7/3/21 11:20 AM (GMT-05:00) To: maine-birds@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [Maine-birds] Killdeer, Northern Mockingbird and new Barn Swallow fledged this week - Benton - Sebasticook
Mockingbirds have been around these parts for decades. In 1982 I saw them both in Aroostook County and adjacent New Brunswick. We used to get them routinely on the Waterville CBC. Now they are a bit more sporadic. So the presence of Mockingbirds is a separate issue from "climate change."
Mockingbirds have been around these parts for decades. In 1982 I saw them both in Aroostook County and adjacent New Brunswick. We used to get them routinely on the Waterville CBC. Now they are a bit more sporadic. So the presence of Mockingbirds is a separate issue from "climate change."
There has been a mockingbird around here singing away the last two
weeks. First one I have ever seen in Central Maine. I guess another
example of climate change.
One breeding pair of Barn Swallows had their first hatch of 4 leave the
nest. It is fun to watch the 6 barn swallow jet around in pure joy. My
farm is down from 16 breeding pairs to 2 Barn Swallows.
Two Killdeer on a grass lawn across the road. It was nice to see. They
have become rare around here.
