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6 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Archive for May, 2010
Monday, May 31st, 2010
 Dead cedar waxwing. Earlier this month, the Alaotra grebe—a small species from Madagascar—was declared extinct. On Monhegan this morning, I got a look at the preserved remains of a lovely cedar waxwing that’d run into a window and died. (Note: an estimated 100 million or more birds die in the U.S. each year from running into windows.) Then on a hike through Cathedral Woods this afternoon, my friends Kristen and Paul and I came upon a whimsical memorial to a dead wood-warbler.
 Ovenbird memorial. This particular trail in the woods is known for its tiny “fairy houses” made of bark and twigs and lichen and spruce cones. And this particular house had a makeshift cross, a snail shell, and a sort of lean-to holding the corpse of a lovely ovenbird. I can hardly express how touching this was to stumble upon on Memorial Day.
A number of house cats—including an exotic breed or two—stalk the yards of Monhegan, and no doubt a few kill birds. In fall, the island gets by peregrine falcons and other raptors, efficient machines for murder. And, sure, every living thing dies. But it sticks with you when you view the dead bodies of more than one recently living bird in one twenty-four-hour period. It sticks with me, at least.
 White-eyed vireo. So it’s with somewhat deeper appreciation that I counted forty-five living species this warm, summer-like spring day on Monhegan—including plenty of living waxwings (about a hundred). Also including a white-eyed vireo (a lifer for me), a bird Kristen and I tracked down in a thicket off the Burnt Head trail; obligingly, it hopped up onto a dead branch just as I raised my camera. Three individual birds were most discussed this weekend: Saturday’s western kingbird, the white-eyed vireo, and an olive-sided flycatcher reportedly seen in the same area as the vireo. We tried for what one birder called the “all-excited flycatcher” but saw and heard only a bunch of alders. Oh, well.
One interesting aspect of this trip were two thirteen-year-old Maine birders—long-time friends—who really knew their stuff. One of the boys got nice photos of the white-eyed, and the other ended the day with a sighting of a black-billed cuckoo. I believe they both photographed the wayward western kingbird. And this afternoon, on the boat back inshore, they both stood with me in the bow snapping photos of northern gannets.
The northern gannets, by the way, were very much alive.
 Northern oriole. Monhegan List
(Numbered for full trip; not in order of listing.)
55. White-eyed vireo**
56. Northern flicker (voice)
57. Spotted sandpiper*
58. White-throated sparrow (voice)
American robin
Cedar waxwing
Red-breasted nuthatch
House wren
Winter wren (voice)
Carolina wren
Magnolia warbler
Alder flycatcher
Golden-crowned kinglet (voice)
Double-crested cormorant
Herring gull
Great black-backed gull
Laughing gull
Common eider
Black guillemot
Mallard
American goldfinch
White-winged crossbill
Ring-necked pheasant (voice)
American crow
Common grackle
Red-winged blackbird
European starling
Purple finch (voice)
Common yellowthroat
Yellow warbler
American redstart
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Blackpoll warbler (voice)
Gray catbird
Mourning dove
Black-capped chickadee
Northern oriole
Brown thrasher
Northern cardinal (voice)
Eastern kingbird
Alder flycatcher
Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
Song sparrow
Blue jay (voice)
Osprey (voice)
Elsewhere
Northern gannet
Bald eagle
Tufted titmouse (voice)
*First-of-year bird.
**Life bird.
 Northern gannet, living and breathing.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, brown thrasher, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, common eider, common grackle, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, house wren, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mallard, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern oriole, osprey, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, Ring-necked pheasant, song sparrow, spotted sandpiper, white-eyed vireo, white-throated sparrow, white-winged crossbill, winter wren, yellow warbler
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Sunday, May 30th, 2010
 Carolina wren. It’s hard to put into words the shift in reality you feel when staying on an island a several miles offshore. A smallish island, with another hundred souls or so, and some leashless dogs, and pickups without license plates driving slowly along windy one-lane gravel roads. Especially at this time of year, when the air smells of the ocean and lilacs and cut grass and roses. And there’s a bird in every tree.
 Cedar waxwing—not an uncommon bird on Monhegan. Another fruitful day on Monhegan. Up at first light (about 5 a.m.). Two hours birding before breakfast. Hazy in the morning, then a spattering of rain. Then clearing into full sun and summer-like warmth. The calendar seems much earlier than the season.
Birders’ excitement yesterday—there’s always some crazy vagrant—was the western kingbird we saw hanging out with the eastern kingbirds at the watery wetland they call The Meadow. We also heard tell of a white-eyed vireo and, today, an olive-sided warbler, but we neither saw nor heard either. However, I personally listed a dozen new island species, including four first-of-year birds (red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, and willet). That’s a good fifty-four species on the trip so far—certainly no record, but not bad for a migration mostly gone by.
 Yellow warbler. I got a couple decent photos but thought I’d lost them all as my camera battery died while downloading. Thankfully, I didn’t—but if I had, it wouldn’t've been nearly as upsetting as if I’d been inshore. The Carolina wren was fairly nice. Also a couple of waxwing shots. (I saw a pair of waxwings, by the way, feeding each other berries—a behavior I’ve witnessed in the past but involving apple blossoms.) But no photo overshadowed the dramatic Heimlich Maneuver rescue of a guest at dinner. Lucky for him he sat near a doctor who, though she acknowledged it was her first Heimlich, expelled the food expertly. (Others of us who had taken CPR classes stood by just in case.) In the end, he finished his meal and had chocolate cake for dessert.
This evening, I watched the sunset over the ocean with Kristen and Paul. Gulls were riding the wind lazily in the gathering darkness, headed somewhere to roost. And on my walk back to my room at the Trailing Yew, I saw the silhouette of a great blue heron in flight.
Such is Monhegan. Such is life.
 Willet. Monhegan List
(Numbered for full trip; not in order of listing.)
43. Brown thrasher
44. Common raven (voice)
45. Chipping sparrow (voice)
46. Northern parula (voice)
47. Red-breasted nuthatch*
48. Magnolia warbler
49. Alder flycatcher
50. Willet*
51. Ruby-throated hummingbird
52. Winter wren* (voice)
53. Golden-crowned kinglet* (voice)
54. Great blue heron
Laughing gull
Common eider
European starling
Ring-necked pheasant
Mourning dove (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
American goldfinch
Common yellowthroat
Northern gannet
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Blackpoll warbler (voice)
Barn swallow
House wren
Cedar waxwing
American redstart
Carolina wren
Black-capped chickadee
Gray catbird
Eastern kingbird
Double-crested cormorant
Northern oriole
Red-winged blackbird
Common grackle
Song sparrow
Yellow warbler
Herring gull
Mallard
American crow
American robin
Gray catbird
Osprey
Black guillemot
Great black-backed gull
*First-of-year bird.
 White Head, Monhegan, 30 May 2010.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barn swallow, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, brown thrasher, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, common eider, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern kingbird, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, great blue heron, herring gull, house wren, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mallard, mourning dove, northern gannet, northern oriole, northern parula, osprey, red-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, Ring-necked pheasant, ruby throated hummingbird, song sparrow, willet, winter wren, yellow warbler
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Saturday, May 29th, 2010
 Western Kingbird, Monhegan Island. Our morning routine fell apart this morning, Jack’s and mine. We didn’t hike Beech Hill early. Instead, we hung around the house until my friend Mark came to take Jack off for a weekend at his farm in the country and my friends Kristen and Paul came to take me and a couple bags down to Port Clyde. Then we all boarded the Elizabeth Ann and sailed off to Monhegan. It might even become a Memorial Day tradition.
 Black-throated green warbler. I’d planned the trip—my first spring visit to the island—to correspond with Kristen’s and Paul’s annual stay. We came to bird. But for whatever reason spring came early in 2010, and Memorial Day came late, and when we made our obligatory stop at Tom Martin’s place (to pay our respects to the 89-year-old grandfather of Monhegan birding), Tom said, essentially, the birds were gone aready. A few blackbirds hanging around his usually fruitful yard. Some nesting starlings. Reports of more than twenty warbler species by one birder friend—but that’d been a few days. Thus, we began with low expectations.
People should always begin things that way.
By nightfall, I’d personally listed 45 species (naturally, Kristen had listed about eight or ten more than that), including ten first-of-year birds—at least one of which was a lifer (maybe two, I’ll have to check). The lifer: a western kingbird.
Not a lot of electricity out here, and my laptop battery’s running low, but I’ll post a couple photos and a list of species.
(Note: now all is dark here, with the sound of the ocean out the window and a slowly-flashing blue-green light on the horizon. A magical place, this island.)
 Gray catbird. Monhegan List
(Not in order of listing.)
1. Ring-necked pheasant*
2. Common grackle
3. Red-winged blackbird
4. European starling
5. Song sparrow
6. Yellow warbler
7. American redstart
8. Common yellowthroat
9. Black-throated green warbler
10. Blackburnian warbler (voice)
11. Blackpoll warbler
12. Northern waterthrush* (voice)
13. Blue jay (voice)
14. Northern cardinal (voice)
15. American goldfinch
16. White-winged crossbill*
17. Eastern kingbird
18. Western kingbird**
19. Great crested flycatcher (voice)
20. Easter wood-pewee (voice)
21. Bobolink (voice)
22. Barn swallow*
23. Black-capped chickadee
24. American crow
25. Merlin*
26. American robin
27. Swainson’s thrush* (voice)
28. Eastern bluebird
29. House wren
30. Carolina wren* (voice)
31. Gray catbird
32. Northern oriole* (voice)
33. Osprey
34. Mallard
35. Double-crested cormorant
36. Herring gull
37. Great black-backed gull
38. Black guillemot
39. Common eider
40. Blue jay (voice)
41. Mourning dove
42. Red-eyed vireo
Elsewhere
43. Northern gannet*
44. House finch
45. Laughing gull
*First-of-year birds.
**Life bird.
 Sunset, Monhegan Island.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barn swallow, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, bobolink, Carolina wren, common eider, common grackle, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern bluebird, eastern kingbird, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, house finch, house wren, laughing gull, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern gannet, northern oriole, northern waterthrush, osprey, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, Ring-necked pheasant, song sparrow, Swainson's thrush, western kingbird, white-winged crossbill, yellow warbler
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Friday, May 28th, 2010
 American redstart. A cool, active, birdy spring day.
I rose before 5 for another Friday bike ride with Shannon and James. This one was half the distance as last Friday’s but every bit as fun. And likewise it, too, passed through interesting populations of our native avian wildlife. Beginning with a noisy raven at Barrett’s Cove, commencing with many singing woodland birds, then a handful of water birds at Norton’s Pond, then field birds at the higher rural elevations, and ending 18 miles later with a small but thrilling group of blackburnian warblers at the shores of Lake Megunticook.
 Chestnut-sided warbler. I could do that every day.
Again I’d promised Jack a walk up Beech Hill afterward, and so we set out on one. A quick one, as I had appointments, but nonetheless fruitful. Not only did I list thirty species—oddly, not including a few common ones like black-capped chickadee and savannah sparrow—but we flushed another woodcock. And I watched a pair of crows dive-bomb a raven. And a redstart nearly landed on my head.
The woodcock burst out of undergrowth toward the top of the upper wooded trail. (Again I looked for chicks; again I found none.) I heard the crows at the summit, then saw them flying high and bringing in their wings for a straight-down dive on something. I heard the voice of a raven also and at first figured maybe both big black birds were after a hawk or owl—but it turned out it was crow vs. raven. Or more accurately, two crows, one raven. This was confirmed by a mad chase low over the crowns of nearby trees and then right over us, dog and me. It was dramatic. At some points the raven would in a flash invert itself so its wings were below and its talons thrust above, in the direction of the crows. None of these birds were happy. They chased off to the south and out of sight—and, after a while, out of earshot.
 Crow vs raven. Returning through the little stretch of wood-side meadow, I asked Jack to stop so I could check out a bird. While I was sizing it up (a yellowthroat), another flitted over the trail in front of us and into a small but dense-leafed hardwood. Looked like a redstart, to me. As I worked to figure out a way to take its photo, the bird suddenly fluttered out like a butterfly and then made a beeline for me. I got a great look at the little guy from up close (more intimate than photos) as i very nearly lit on my head.
Anyway. What a day. I even got another glimpse of the northern mockingbird at the busy Route 1 intersection.
Eighteen-Mile Bicycle Ride List
Beginning at 5:30 a.m., I rode through Knox and Waldo counties (not in order of listing).
 Alder flycatcher. 1. Canada goose
2. Mallard
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
8. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
9. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
10. American redstart (voice)
11. Nashville warbler (voice)
12. Northern parula (voice)
13. Blackburnian warbler (voice)
14. Song sparrow (voice)
15. White-throated sparrow (voice)
16. Chipping sparrow
17. Eastern towhee
18. Mourning dove
19. Black-capped chickadee
20. Tufted titmouse
21. Alder flycatcher
22. Great crested flycatcher
23. Eastern phoebe
24. Eastern wood-pewee
25. Eastern kingbird
26. Red-winged blackbird
27. Common grackle
28. Brown-headed cowbird
29. European starling
30. Bobolink
31. Gray catbird
32. Blue jay
33. American crow
34. Common raven
35. American robin
36. Veery
37. Wood thrush
38. American goldfinch
39. Rose-breasted grosbeak
40. House finch
41. Northern cardinal
42. Cedar waxwing
43. Red-eyed vireo
 American robin. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Ovenbird
Red-eyed vireo
Black-and-white warbler (voice)
Eastern towhee
American robin
Chestnut-sided warbler
Gray catbird
Common yellowthroat
Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
Alder flycatcher
44. Ruffed grouse (booming)
American redstart
Veery (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
45. American woodcock
Cedar waxwing
46. Hairy woodpecker
Song sparrow
Common raven
American crow
47. Northern flicker (voice)
American goldfinch
Nashville warbler (voice)
Yellow warbler
Mourning dove
Eastern phoebe
48. Field sparrow (voice)
49. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Elsewhere
50. Herring gull
51. Laughing gull
52. House sparrow
53. Northern cardinal (voice)
54. Rock pigeon
55. Northern mockingbird
 House sparrow.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, American woodcock, astern wood-pewee, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, bobolink, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern kingbird, eastern phoebee, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, house finch, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruffed grouse, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush, yellow warbler
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Thursday, May 27th, 2010
 Eastern towhee. It’s been a good month. I used to like October best—but lately, it’s been May.
 Chestnut-sided warbler. On our way up Route 1 toward our usual Beech Hill hike, Jack and I, a good-sized bird soared over the road in front of us. I thought it was a crow at first—but then I saw it was a hawk. An accipiter. A cooper’s hawk. First-of-year bird for me.
Seems the first bird I identify in the trailhead parking lot nearly every morning is an ovenbird. Just about everywhere on the hill you can hear one—certainly in the lower wooded section. Right away I’ll also hear a red-eyed vireo. A chestnut-sided warbler (the comments bird on the hill, I’m convinced). Then either a black-throated green, a crow, a black-and-white warbler, a goldfinch, or a robin.
I listed all those birds this morning, of course, along with the usual five sparrows, redstarts, alder flycatchers, veery, and phoebe. The phoebe was sitting on the nest under the Beech Nut porch roof, warming eggs against the chill.
 American redstart (first-year male). And it was. Chilly. Fifty-something (F) when we embarked at about 6:30 a.m. That didn’t deter the mosquitos, though.
No least flycatchers or black-billed cuckoos today. Still only one day this year with a hummingbird sighting (actually, two that day). Still many birds singing, though, it being the musical month of May.
Tonight, the rising moon is full. The sky past 9 p.m. still holds the memory of daylight.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Ovenbird (voice)
2. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
3. Red-eyed vireo
4. American robin
5. Eastern towhee
6. Chestnut-sided warbler
7. Tufted titmouse (voice)
8. Gray catbird
9. American redstart
10. Alder flycatcher
11. Veery (voice)
12. American crow (voice)
13. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
14. Mourning dove
15. Black-capped chickadee
16. White-throated sparrow (voice)
17. Common yellowthroat
18. Yellow warbler
19. Song sparrow
20. Nashville warbler (voice)
21. Field sparrow
22. Eastern phoebe
23. Savannah sparrow
24. Blue jay
25. Chipping sparrow (voice)
26. Cedar waxwing
27. American goldfinch
28. Hermit thrush (voice)
29. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
30. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Elsewhere
31. Cooper’s hawk*
32. House sparrow
33. Herring gull
34. Laughing gull
35. Northern cardinal
36. House finch
37. European starling
38. Common grackle
39. Rock pigeon
*First-of-year bird.
 Cedar waxwing.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common yellowthroat, cooper's hawk, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, laughing gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
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| Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson |
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