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9 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘bald eagle’
Friday, August 27th, 2010
 Ruby-throated hummingbird (female). To bed late. Had a fitful sleep. Rose and stumbled through the few prerequisites to the morning hike: bathroom, dress, breakfast for dog and cat, poop bags, camera battery, camera, binoculars.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Sunny. Chilly, Not very breezy. Damp from last nights big rain.
No cars in the parking lot. Heard a vireo first thing. Then a chickadee. A waxwing. The usual.
But about half-way to the summit along the upper wooded trail, Jack and I emerged into an open stretch with blackberry brambles below and small hardwoods above. Chickadee voices were apparent, as well as the chip of a yellowthroat. We stopped. I took a scan: a couple chickadees, some other small birds flitting about the deciduous tree leaves. Warblers, looked like. Yes: a redstart, unquestionably—the fluttery flight, the flashes of yellow on wings and tail. Then a white-throated sparrow flew up to a bare branch not twelve feet away. I brought up my camera, but the sparrow flew.
Close behind us a catbird mewed. Then I saw a black-and-white warbler on a trunk in front of me, lit by the rising morning sun. Then, amid chip notes, what looked to be a juvenile yellow-rumped warbler. And suddenly, with a tut-tut, a juvenile robin flapped up to the crown of the tallest nearby hardwood. Then I heard a blue jay—all this happening within a matter of seconds, please note—and the sharp note of a rose-breasted grosbeak. Finally, unexpectedly, a phoebe hopped up onto an open branch directly in my view.
 Pine warbler. I bet we stopped there for not much longer than five minutes, and yet I listed nine species from this single location.
Soon after, I heard a veery. This was getting to be fun. And coming around to the first view of Beech Nut—where I always take a photo—the near-full moon hovered just above the hut. No new species until we got up there under the spruces, where I spotted another restart, another group of yell0w-rumps, and an unfamiliar yellow warbler with streaks on its sides. I took several photos, but only one was decent. And I couldn’t review it until my return home, when I determined it was a pine.
A red-breasted nuthatch up there, too (as there often has been lately), and at least three ruby-throated hummingbirds zipping around the spruce boughs.
Savannah sparrows again today—a single family, or perhaps a migrating group. Not much else down the open trail. So we returned up over the top to the field by the little section of wooden fence, where I heard a yellowthroat very close by. I thought I might catch a nice photo, and then I heard the hum of a hummingbird’s wings. So we stopped, and I waited for the hummer. As I waited, an alder flycatcher appeared in view. Then another. Then a red-eyed vireo. Then the hummingbird, a female, dining among some flowers. The hummer then suddenly came very close, right at the edge of the trail—too close to focus, in fact. She eyed us, clearly sizing us up, and then zipped up into the twig of a tree. I grabbed a couple photos.
 American redstart. Coming down the lower wooded trail—the woodsy wooded trail—I heard two wood-pewees. Then I heard (then saw) a hairy woodpecker and heard a white-breasted nuthatch.
Not much else until we neared the end of our hike, when I heard a faint tapping in the trees nearby. We stopped. I scanned. A female pileated woodpecker, not far away. We backtracked so I could get a photo. It seemed perfectly fitting: the pileated was the 27th species of the day. Three to the power of three. The 27th of August.
And then, nearly to the parking lot, I heard the voice of a flicker.
Fun, fun day.
(Later, while cycling, I saw a young bald eagle flapping out toward Penobscot Bay.)
 Cedar waxwings. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Cedar waxwing
4. Eastern towhee
5. Common yellowthroat
6. American crow
7. American redstart
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Gray catbird
10. Black-and-white warbler
11. Yellow-rumped warbler
12. American robin
13. Blue jay (voice)
14. Rose-breasted grosbeak
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Veery (voice)
17. Song sparrow (voice)
18. Pine warbler
19. Red-breasted nuthatch
20. Ruby-throated hummingbird
21. Savannah sparrow
22. American goldfinch (voice)
23. Alder flycatcher
24. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
25. Hairy woodpecker
26. White-breasted nuthatch
27. Pileated woodpecker
28. Northern flicker
Elsewhere
29. Herring gull
30. Bald eagle
 Pileated woodpecker.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, bald eagle, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, pine warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbewk, ruby throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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Thursday, May 20th, 2010
 Lady's slipper. The day dawned sunny. We hit the Beech Hill trail early, and in a hurry, on account of I had a bird walk to lead for the Georges River Land Trust at 9 a.m. at the Thorndike Brook access point of the Georges Highland Trail.
 Magnolia warbler. We walked kind of fast at first, with many species calling after yesterday’s rain. Heading left toward the upper trail, I heard and saw a little bevy of small insectivores up in the trees. Chestnut-sideds were singing, and a black-and-white, a red-eyed vireo, a black-and-white warbler—and a song I didn’t recognize. It took a while to spot the singing magnolia warbler responsible for the sound. Maybe I can remember it for next time.
A white-throated sparrow, a drumming grouse—raven, thrush, and dove. At one point, Jack paused and looked around, and his hackles rose high. I looked around also but saw nothing. Had he caught the scent of something? Did he see a moose? I could’ve asked him, but he would’ve refused to answer.
I listed twenty-five species on our quick trip up and down. Within an hour, I was headed up Route 17 to the Thorndike Brook access point of the Georges Highland Trail.
 Red-eyed vireo. A good group showed up, from quite young to well-seasoned. Perhaps the most knowledgeable birder there besides me and Douglas (who also came) was an impressively well-versed boy of ten or twelve, who knew calls, spotted hard-to-spot birds, and actually taught me a thing or two. At one point I heard a sweet, musical song I didn’t recognize, the group looked off in that direction, and the kid said, “I see a brown creeper.”
Sure enough, that’s what was making the call.
We heard and/or saw vireos and thrushes and warblers—including blackburnian warblers in the same two spots Douglas and I encountered them Monday. But the most exciting moment for by far was when I heard the plaintive woodland call of an eastern wood-pewee, a first-of-year bird. I simply love the little nondescript flycatcher’s mood-inducing song.
The temperature climbed into the 70s (F). Mosquitoes were out. Dragonflies were testing their wings. In twilight—which seemed to linger—a group of wispy pink clouds hung in a southern sky the color of a luminous ocean. Or something like that. I truly lovely sky.
 Common yellowthroat. Beech Hill List
At 6:15 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
1. Common yellowthroat
2. American crow (voice)
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler
5. Yellow warbler (voice)
6. American goldfinch (voice)
7. American robin
8. Veery (voice)
9. Red-eyed vireo
10. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
11. American redstart (voice)
12. Blue jay (voice)
13. Magnolia warbler
14. Eastern towhee
15. White-throated sparrow (voice)
16. Ruffed grouse (drumming)
17. Gray catbird
18. Black-capped chickadee
19. Mourning dove
21. Common raven
22. Nashville warbler (voice)
23. Song sparrow (voice)
24. Tufted titmouse (voice)
25. Hermit thrush (voice)
26. Wood thrush (voice)
Georges Highland Path List
At 9 a.m., I walked via the Thorndike Brook access point.
Tufted titmouse (voice)
Common yellowthroat (voice)
Chestnut-sided warbler
American crow (voice)
27. Bald eagle
American goldfinch
Ovenbird (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
Black-capped chickadee
28. Cedar waxwing (voice)
Eastern towhee
Black-and-white warbler
29. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
30. Great blue heron
Red-eyed vireo
American redstart (voice)
Nashville warbler (voice)
31. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
32. Brown creeper
American robin
33. Tree swallow
Hermit thrush (voice)
Wood thrush (voice)
Common raven
34. Eastern wood-pewee
35. Blackburnian warbler
36. Turkey vulture
37. Dark-eyed junco
Elsewhere
38. House sparrow
39. Herring gull
40. Northern cardinal
41. European starling
42. Rock pigeon
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, bald eagle, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, brown creeper, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, magnolia warbler, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, ruffed grouse, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush, yellow warbler
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Sunday, April 4th, 2010
 The hills (from Beech Hill). This morning, when swimming up out of my dream about my new dog, something about the timbre of the cardinal’s voice out the back window tipped me off to the awesomeness of the day to come. Sun, check. Breeze, calm. Smell of the air, fresh. Aside from the cardinal, I counted ten species calling pretty much simultaneously: eastern phoebe, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, downy woodpecker, American robin, house finch, goldfinch, mourning dove, house sparrow, crow.
 Mourning dove. The cardinal, phoebe, and mourning dove were not shy. The locally dominant individual of each species gave forth from conspicuous perches very near where the dog and I walked. Got a photo of the dove.
On our Beech Hill walk at late morning, I overdressed. Right away, in fact, I ended up wearing both my sweatshirt and loose, long-sleeved T-shirt tied around my waist. The temperature must’ve been about 72 degrees (F). Even the breeze on the summit felt warm. I heard the call of a pileated woodpecker, a phoebe, a titmouse, a robin, chickadees. I saw a female harrier soaring low over the bronze-grassed hill. Song sparrows sun from conspicuous places, and I couldn’t help but wonder when the first savannah sparrow would arrive. (Savannahs own the grassy part of Beech Hill.) No swallows today, nor vultures, nor broad-wings. I did spy a distant hawk, but I couldn’t tell if it was a redtail or perhaps even the marsh hawk I’d seen rising to continue its spring migration.
 Great egret, Weskeag Marsh. Back home, as soon as I got out of the pickup, I spotted another hawk—again, I couldn’t tell if it was a red-tailed or broad-winged or harrier or what. All I could tell for sure is that about a half dozen crows herded it noisily away to the south.
In early afternoon, my friends Kristen and Paul showed up to check out my new iPad. But more fun was our quick trip to Weskeag Marsh on Buttermilk Lane. On the way, I chuckled internally at a few ring-billed gulls perched strategically on a high roof across the road from McDonald’s. Readily evident at the marsh were black ducks and killdeers and gulls and crows. Behind us sang a red-winged blackbird. Facing a suddenly stout (but warm) south wind, we saw in the farthest pond little ducks, green-winged teals no doubt. I happened to spot a solitary adult bald eagle soaring up over the conifers on the far side. But leave it to eagle-eyed Kristen to ID two notable species: blue-winged teal (a pair) and great egret (an individual). Both were first-of-year sightings for me.
 Buoy. I rode my bike again, saw rock pigeons and Canada geese—somewhat fewer—at Aldermere farm. (Aside: I’m up to 160 miles already this year.) Then dog and I headed for the breakwater, spotting a pair of buffleheads in Clam Cove along the way.
It was approaching 6 p.m. I wore sandals and a T-shirt and jeans: the perfect dress. The wind had died down, and the water’s surface on bay side of the breakwater spread calm and smooth and reflective. A slightly choppier surface on the harbor side had nonetheless attracted a few long-tailed ducks, which I heard chatting and gossiping as they took wing on their evening flight back out to sea. But the action was on the island side: loons (several, a couple in breeding plumage), eiders, red-breasted mergansers. Herring gulls and black-backed gulls wheeled and sailed and cried. I could hardly believe the calm in that direction.
Nearing the shore again, a breeze kicked up, roughening the surface again. Cardinals and house finches and robins sang to the waning day.
 Gull. Today’s List
Northern cardinal
Song sparrow
Tufted titmouse
American robin
House finch
Mourning dove
Downy woodpecker
House sparrow
American crow
Eastern phoebe
American goldfinch
Herring gull
Pileated woodpecker
Black-capped chickadee
Northern harrier
Ring-billed gull
Black duck
Red-winged blackbird
Killdeer
Green-winged teal
Bald eagle
Blue-winged teal
Great egret
Rock pigeons
Canada goose
Bufflehead
Common eider
Red-breasted merganser
Common loon
Long-tailed duck
Great black-backed gull
 Calm sea.
Tags: American goldfinch, American robin, bald eagle, black duck, black-capped chickadee, blue-winged teal, bufflehead, Canada goose, common eider, common loon, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, great black-backed gull, great egret, green-winged teal, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, killdeer, long-tailed duck, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, Northern harrier, pileated woodpecker, red-breasted merganser, red-winged blackbird, ring-billed gull, rock pigeons, song sparrow, titmouse, tufted titmouse
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Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
 Rockport Harbor fog bank. Oddly, the supposed warmest day of the year so far began with a chilly overcast. It didn’t discourage the vocal birds out back, however: cardinal phoebe, house finch, song sparrow, titmouse, black-capped chickadee. And it didn’t take long to discover what was up with the weather—plenty of fog again today. Rockport Harbor, in fact, looked totally socked in when I drove by in late morning. Didn’t last long, though.
 Penobscot Bay. From Beech Hill at midday, you could see the thick, low clouds moving off to the northeast and dwindling. You could also see three turkey vultures soaring above the summit. And more-or-less simultaneously you could hear a mourning dove, a phoebe, chickadees, a titmouse, a robin, a goldfinch—and dozens of spring peepers in a web spot on the hill’s south side. There’s just something thrilling about that first chorus of peepers. Something I’m sure the earliest of humans felt. The sounds that amphibians make always give me a sense of the essence of life primordial—of some miraculous, almost supernatural energy. Of something unique to our tilted water planet. I felt awash with gratitude.
Beyond the vultures, I spotted another big raptor—its white tail betrayed it as an eagle. Then, rounding the curve near the top of the hill, I heard the thin ka-squeee of a broad-winged hawk. Wait. A broad-winged hawk? It seemed awfully early for the arrival of broadwings, so I stopped to listen more closely. Didn’t hear the call again and figure it was just another blue jay impostor.
At the summit, there was a bit of wind but, man, what a lovely day. Coming down, above me, I heard the unmistakable liquid burbling sound of tree swallows, and sure enough there were a pair of them zipping and veering in their matchless, joyous flight. Then I heard ka-squeee again and asked the dog to wait. I heard the call twice, three times. I cast about for something else it could be. Perhaps a killdeer? No, although a similar pitch, this call was more hawk than shorebird. I squinted up into the southeastern blue—and saw a very high raptor. Extremely high, flapping a couple times, then gliding. But it was so distant that I couldn’t get a good fix on it through binoculars. Still, clearly, that’s where the call came from.
 Dark-eyed junco. It was only after returning home and researching broad-wings, other hawks, arrival dates, and historical sightings that I decided I had, in fact, seen a very early broad-winged hawk. I have quite a bit of experience with the species, after all, and know the call well. And anyway, when comparing the broad-wing’s call with a killdeer’s, I confirmed that their pitches were identical.
On a long bike ride, I heard a couple common imported species: European starling, house sparrow. Also, at Aldermere Farm, scores of Canada geese. And come evening, dog and I took a second walk up Beech Hill. I sort of had hopes for more hawks. No hawks—in fact hardly anything newsworthy to report. Until, that is, we started down the last stretch of trail by the road, when a pair of dark-eyed juncos flitted not far in front of us. In honor of this third first 2010 species of the day, I snapped a couple photos.
Today’s List
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
House finch
Song sparrow
American robin
Tufted titmouse
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
Downy woodpecker
Turkey vulture
Mourning dove
Bald eagle
American goldfinch
Broad-winged hawk
Tree swallow
European starling
House sparrow
Canada goose
Dark-eyed junco
Tags: American goldfinch, American robin, bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, broad-winged hawk, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, European starling, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture
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Sunday, March 21st, 2010
 The bay. The temperature when first I checked this morning hovered about thirty degrees colder than yesterday’s high—mid- to upper-30s (F). The sky wore gray. But dog and I split for Beech Hill early anyway.
 Old warbler nest. A woman leaving as we arrived saw my camera and told me I would get some lovely photos, because the view was beautiful this morning. She was right about that. Just as we crested the final rise, the sky began to spit snow, and I saw the edge of the squall to the northeast, beyond and to the south of which the morning sun splashed against the far bay. The sky above and the water below the dark lumps of the islands glowed with miraculous striations. The wind was cold.
Heard and/or saw five birds from the hill today: goldfinch, titmouse, crow, chickadee, herring gull. Also noticed a small nest in the brush, likely belonging to one of last year’s common yellowthroat families. On the way home from the hill, many brown sparrows flitted amid roadside brush nearly exactly the same color as their feathers.
Then in afternoon I went with my birding friend Kristen to Weskeag Marsh to see what was up. I asked her what we might see.
“Ducks or herons,” was her reply.
She was right about that. We saw both: black ducks, mallards, a raft of green-winged teals—and a pair of great blue herons stalking the edges. I heard sandpiper sounds.
“Sandpiper sounds,” says I.
“Probably killdeers,” says Kristen.
She was right again: we ended up seeing maybe a half dozen individuals of the species poking around here and there.
 Great blue heron. Then who should drive up but Don Reimer, local birder extraordinaire, and we ended up chatting for a half-hour, at least, while simultaneously scanning the watery expanse. At one point, I spotted a large bird soaring above the far side of the basin—an adult bald eagle—and Don pointed out a couple red-tailed hawks, possibly the marsh’s nesting pair, rising from nowhere to accost it. Kristen kept us posted as the hawks herded the eagle well away from there.
Don had come from Owls Head Harbor, where he reported the winter gulls had left but a wigeon was hanging around. So Kristen and I headed there next, and sure enough found the wigeon. We also found a number of spring yard birds hanging around a nearby feeder—jays, cardinals, and more than one species of blackbird.
And on this partly cloudy night, among the bare oak branches, hung the waxing crescent moon.
 Killdeers. Today’s List
Northern cardinal
American crow
Tufted titmouse
House finch
Mourning dove
American goldfinch
Song sparrow
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
Common grackle
Black duck
Mallard
Great blue heron
Killdeer
Green-winged teal
Bald eagle
Red-tailed hawk
Bufflehead
Common loon
American wigeon
Rock dove
Blue jay
Red-winged blackbird
European starling
 Snow squall.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American wigeon, bald eagle, black duck, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, bufflehead, common grackle, common loon, European starling, great blue heron, green-winged teal, herring gull, house finch, killdeer, mallard, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, red-tailed hawk, red-winged blackbird, rock dove, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
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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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