Maine birds And MOAC mountainbiking

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Re: [Maine-birds] Large (14") seabird feather- Roque Bluffs

Carol,

Your feather is one of the outer primaries from the left wing of a Herring Gull. I'd guess it is the 8th or 9th primary, and the white tip has worn off because this is a worn, year-old primary. These birds are finishing their primary molt now, and that's probably a feather that has dropped (could have in the past few weeks). It's probably from a sub-adult bird, if that's p9 (adults have a small subterminal mirror on that feather). You can compare to an adult here, where p9 is second from the left and just over 14" long: http://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=HERG_primary_adult_bluebk

The pattern of gray and black is somewhat variable, and its hard to tell if your feather isn't p8. It's not the feather of a gannet, but that sounds like what you saw earlier.

Kind regards,

Louis

Fairfield

[Maine-birds] Frenchman Bay area

Wed. 10/21
One trip around the bay this afternoon. Light southeast wind blowing onshore.
Red-throated Loon, one in winter plumage flying south across bay.
Common Loon, 34 in varying plumages, all throughout the bay.
Red-necked Grebe, 8 at various places around the bay and Porcupine Islands, 4 (2 pair) flying.
Gannet, 2 south of Egg Rock
Great Cormorant, 8, 4 at Schooner Head 4 at Egg Rock
Double-crested Cormorant, present all throughout the bay area
Great Blue Heron, 1 at east end of Bar Island
Common Eider, 100s at various locations throughout the bay. More than the previous 5 years.
Black Scoter, several small flocks of 5-10 birds passing north up the bay.
Surf Scoter, single group of 8 birds off Long Porcupine Island
White-winged Scoter, 10-15 in two small groups at Egg Rock.
Bald Eagles, 6 at the usual resident locations
Peregrine Falcon, one at Egg Rock. Seemed to want to land at the lighthouse but there was a crew of Fish & Wildlife workers painting and repairing the lighthouse. The bird then continued across bay toward Mt. Desert I. section of Acadia NP.
Spotted Sandpiper. 1 at Ironbound Island.
The usual Black Guillemots, Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls.
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[Maine-birds] Large (14") seabird feather- Roque Bluffs

Today I saw a large seabird, white with black wing tips, flying along the coast of Englishman's Bay. I don't know if it was a N. Gannet because I could not find my binoculars in time.

Later this afternoon I found a large (14" feather) on the beach near the Englishman's River. I don't know if there is a connection between the bird I saw and the feather.

Does anyone recognize this feather? Looks like the tip might be broken off.

Also, I'm still struggling with a method for sharing my photos with this list. This time I'm trying to share a link to a Google Drive file. Hope it works.

Feather Oct 21 '15

Carol

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[Maine-birds] Juncos are arriving

In my back yard - south Portland - one yesterday - today 3.

Along with the usual visitors we have a Baltimore Oriole that has been feasting often on the jelly for the last four days.

Anyone want some Blue Jays? The six that inhabit my backyard most of the day are emptying my feeders as fast as we can fill them - the nooks and crannies in the woods near here have to be well stocked but the Jays are still stashing more! Getting expensive!! :- ) or :- ( depending on how you view it!! I always hope that all they stash gets consumed later when it’s needed but I wonder how much just goes to waste?

Marie

[Maine-birds] Sandhill Cranes

At 4:30 this evening the eleven continuing Sandhill Cranes were in the
turf field off Old River road, east of McNiel Road, Fryeburg.

Bob Crowley
Chatham, NH

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[Maine-birds] Sabattus Pond Waterfowl

Waterfowl numbers continue to mount at Sabattus Pond. Though the light there was poor for detailed viewing this evening, there were well over 300 Ruddy Ducks, over 200 scaup sp., smaller numbers of Ring-neckeds, Blacks, Mallards, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, CAGOs, etc. More surprising (at least to me) were 400+ Black Scoters rafting in a very tight and very restless mass. Periodically, they would take off en masse, and in what seemed like an extravagant expenditure of calories, fly back and forth over the pond before settling again. A spectacular sight in the gathering twilight gloom. Finally, when it was almost dark, they took off an exited over the south end of the pond.

Bill Hancock

Gray

Re: [Maine-birds] Buffleheads have arrived, Camden

Yeah, just this week, I've noticed an influx of "winter" ducks and other aquatic migrants on North Pond in Smithfield: 15-20 WW Scoters, 2 Oldsquaws, 2 G Scaup, 1 H Grebe, 2 RN Grebe, a few Bufflehead, and a flock of about 15 C Goldeneye.

Wally S

On Wed, 21 Oct 2015 10:17:07 -0400, Kristen Lindquist <kelindquist@gmail.com> wrote:

My mother, who lives just up the Megunticook River from me, reports that the Buffleheads have returned. She also saw a pair of Wood Ducks on the river this morning. Winter is coming.

Kristen

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Kristen Lindquist
www.kristenlindquist.com

"What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
--Mary Oliver

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