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6 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘common loon’
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
 Rufous hummingbird (male). Rose fairly early—early enough to end up at Beech Hill less than twelve hours after we finished last night’s hike. Warmish but still overcast, with thick fog offshore. Still, though. Hardly a stir of breeze.
 White-throated sparrow. Plenty of birds flitting about and singing. I’ve decided the the species that appear along the wooded trails tend to persist—towhee, catbird, yellowthroat—whereas the summit and open sections seem to foster more varied, unpredictable sightings. I.e., as we emerged from the woods at the top of the upper trail, Jack and I, I scanned the open areas to the left and the right, as always, and to the right, in a branch of a dead tree not 100 feet away, perched a black-billed cuckoo. Right out in the open. Awesome photo opportunity. So I raised my camera, and before I could take a photo the bird flew away.
A few moments later, I heard the yodel of a loon over toward Chickawaukie Lake.
That was one nice thing about this morning: the muggy, humid, still air seemed made to carry sound. I heard the voices of birds, the rush of car tires, the blatterings of chainsaws, the barking of dogs, the chirrups of crickets and the buzzings of cicadas. The whines of light aircraft in overflight. The twin peep-peep of a hummingbird.
 Savannah sparrow. Three times today, I heard—then saw—ruby-throated hummingbirds. At the summit, buzzing around the spruces. Coming down the open slope, browing among those pink flowers (whatever they are). And down near the Beech Hill Road parking lot, I heard the telltale pip-pip behind me. I turned to see a hummer dipping in to dine on a flower just a handful of feet away. My auto-focus wouldn’t focus on it. Over and over again I tried. No dice.
 Common yellowthroat. But at that particular moment, before me, at least a half-dozen warblers and other species were flitting about in the hardwoods lining Beech Hill Road. Chestnut-sideds (young and old), a black-throated green, black-and-white, a blue-headed vireo. Downy woodpecker. White-breasted nuthatch. A singing warbler I couldn’t identify—possibly a parula.
I must’ve stood there for twenty minutes of a half hour. I can’t think of very much more thrilling to me than a wave of warblers passing through, giving me no chance to look away. Constantly I have flitting, fluttering birds in the leaves before me challenging me to come up with an ID. Or a photo. Binoculars or camera? All is the moment. The only reality is the one right now. And then a hummingbird’s telltale pip-pip.
Speaking of hummingbirds—soon after my morning hike I drove up to a friend’s house very near Beech Hill. That’s because she had a rufous hummingbird coming to her feeder and chasing away the native ruby-throats. (I had never seen one. A “lifer” bird for me.) Rufous hummers are native to the western U.S.—commong, but over on the other side of the Rockies. What this feisty vagrant male was doing here in Maine is anyone’s guess. Noteworthy, though, for sure.
(Note: friends of my friend are keeping her ID a secret. Otherwise, she’d have dozens of birders from throughout the Northeast traipsing through quiet her quiet yard.)
 Eastern phoebe. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. White-breasted nuthatch
2. American crow
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
5. American goldfinch
6. Cedar waxwing
7. Gray catbird
8. Eastern towhee
9. Common yellowthroat
10. Yellow warbler (voice)
11. White-throated sparrow
12. Black-billed cuckoo
13. Alder flycatcher
14. Common loon (voice)
15. Song sparrow (voice)
16. Eastern phoebe
17. Mourning dove
18. Savannah sparrow
19. Blue jay (voice)
20. American robin (voice)
21. Northern cardinal (voice)
22. Ruby-throated hummingbird
23. Field sparrow
24. Tufted titmouse (voice)
25. Chestnut-sided warbler
26. Downy woodpecker
27. Black-throated green warbler
28. Blue-headed vireo
29. Black-and-white warbler
30. Purple finch
31. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
Elsewhere
32. Herring gull
33. Rufous hummingbird
34. Ring-billed gull
35. House sparrow
 Savannah sparrow.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common loon, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, ring-billed gull, ruby throated hummingbird, rufous hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
 Common yellowthroat in berry brambles. The morning dawned overcast and cool. Jack and I got to Beech Hill just before 7 a.m. Quite a few birds were out.
 Cedar waxwing. It was a nice walk. Horse flies circled, true, but none bit. Small moths accompanied us intermittently up the wooded trail. I did notice evidence of another mountain biker—likely from yesterday afternoon or evening. I’ll suggest posting more clear and obvious notices prohibiting wheeled vehicles. Otherwise someone’s liable to get creamed hiking up the lower wooded trail.
All five sparrows made an appearance today. And I saw and/or heard ten wood-warbler species: ovenbird, chestnut-sided, yellowthroat, black-and-white, yellow, redstart, parula, Nashville, black-throated green, black-throated blue. About half-way through our hike, I could tell the clouds were moving away and today would be a sunny one. This turned out to be the case.
 Savannah sparrow. It was a lovely summer day, in fact. Just about the perfect kind of Saturday weather, if you’re a typical American cookout person or day-at-the-lake person, or kayaker, or Fourth-of-July-weekend sailor. Just gorgeous. I rode a quick fourteen miles on my bicycle about midday.
But the only bird species I saw while out today that differed from those I listed at Beech Hill this morning was a tufted titmouse, a solitary bird calling from the oak grove out back of my place in Glen Cove.
Soon, I’ll be hearing the fireworks in Thomaston.
 Eastern phoebe. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Northern flicker (voice)
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Veery
5. Black-capped chickadee
6. Chestnut-sided warbler
7. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
8. Common yellowthroat
9. Eastern towhee
10. Cedar waxwing
11. Gray catbird
12. American crow (voice)
13. Blue jay (voice)
14. American robin
15. Mourning dove
16. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
17. Song sparrow
18. Eastern phoebe
19. Savannah sparrow
20. Yellow warbler (voice)
21. Hermit thrush (voice)
22. Northern cardinal (voice)
23. Field sparrow (voice)
24. Chipping sparrow (voice)
25. American goldfinch
26. American redstart (voice)
27. White-throated sparrow (voice)
28. Northern parula (voice)
29. Herring gull
30. Nashville warbler (voice)
31. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
32. Common loon (voice)
33. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
34. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
Elsewhere
35. Tufted titmouse
 Northeast sky.
Tags: 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 warlber, chipping sparrow, common loon, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
 Eastern towhee. Yesterday morning, I counted all five resident sparrow species at Beech Hill—song, white-throat, savannah, field, chipping—but only counted four of the five resident flycatchers (alder, phoebe, pewee, great crested). Today, the reverse was true: I didn’t see or hear a white-throated sparrow, but a least flycatcher was calling from the trees above the Beech Hill Road parking lot. Plenty of insects to eat these days.
 Turkey vulture. Wood-warblers, for instance (mostly chestnut-sided and restarts, it seems), flit and dive and dodge and grab mosquitos and other flies, like the lacy tiny green one that ended up in my left eye while ascending the upper wooded trail. I saw a chestnut-sided warbler, in fact, gulping down a good-sized caterpillar. Deer flies were abundant, buzzing around every which way.
Thirty-three species in all today—including a few crazy birds in overlight (loon, three turkey vultures, great blue heron, osprey). Near the summit I ran into a couple also looking for birds. The gentleman showed me a photo from yesterday of a flycatcher (alder, I think) and another of what he called a falcon. He thought it might be a peregrine. And the photo resembled one. Which caused me to third-guess my sighting of yesterday, the pair of what looked like peregrines but what I decided were harriers (and what my friend Kristen suggested might be broad-winged hawks). Could we both have seen peregrines? On the other hand, his photo also resembled a harrier.
In a dead tree near Beech Nut, a male towhee sat in angular morning sun that illuminated his vivid red right eye. Red-eyed birds invariably astonish me—as, actually, do birds with any crazy-colored eyes (cormorant, white-eyed vireo). Just something outlandish about eye color, I guess.
Phoebes still sang up toward the summit, despite the fallen Beech Nut nest. I heard the wacky warble of the deaf yellowthroat again. Then, returning by way fo the lower wooded trail, I caught sight of a large brown bird winging a short distance through the understory. Was it a hawk? An owl? No one will ever know.
 Chestnut-sided warbler. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo
2. Ovenbird (voice)
3. Chestnut-sided warbler
4. American goldfinch (voice)
5. Eastern phoebe
6. Cedar waxwing (voice)
7. Eastern towhee
8. American redstart
9. Gray catbird (voice)
10. Common yellowthroat
11. Mourning dove
12. Yellow warbler
13. Veery (voice)
14. Song sparrow
15. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
16. Alder flycatcher
17. Savannah sparrow
18. Common loon (voice)
19. American robin
20. American crow
21. Turkey vulture
22. Field sparrow (voice)
23. Chipping sparrow (voice)
24. Great crested flycatcher
25. Great blue heron
26. Least flycatcher
27. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
28. Osprey
29. Tree swallow
30. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
31. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
32. Black-capped chickadee
33. Northern flicker (voice)
Elsewhere
24. Northern cardinal
25. Herring gull
26. House finch
27. House sparrow
28. Red-winged blackbird
 Sprout. 2 Herring gull
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common loon, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, least flycatcher, mourning dove, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, turkey vulture, veery, yellow warbler
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Friday, June 4th, 2010
 American redstart (first-year male). The day started out pretty early. Another Friday morning bicycle ride through Camden, Lincolnville, and Hope. Four of us on this morning’s ride, which took us up through low-lying mist into higher sunlight, then back again. As on the last two early Friday mornings, I saw and heard—mostly heard—a lot of birds. Today, most notably: a Canada goose (at Megunticook Lake, where we started), a common loon (calling somewhere along the route), ten warblers, four flycatchers, and three thrushes. Thirty-seven species over the course of eighteen miles.
 Chestnut-sided warbler. Immediately afterward, Jack and I hiked Beech Hill, as usual. Somewhat foggy still, with clouds hanging low over the inland hills and bay islands. Few species at first, although a white-tailed deer loped through the woods about fifty yards in front of us, left to right, causing us both to stop and gape. But then the birds began to sing and fly, and by the end of our hike of the wooded trail, I’d counted thirty (only four not on my bike list). Notably, I kept walking into tiny filaments that some worm or spider had strung across the trail—seemingly always at the level of my face. About the tenth or fifteenth of these, and I broke down and said, “Damn it.” Not proud of that.
This afternoon, the sun emerged, and I took another bike ride. Starling, grackle, herring gull. Then about a quarter to six, I had a call from a fellow birder asking if I’d like to photograph Wilson’s phalaropes at Weskeag Marsh. Turns out I did—so I drove over and got a couple distant shots. I hadn’t been there in several weeks. The pannes were full, the marsh green and lush. Yellowthroats called, a snowy egret flew in, black ducks and mallards dabbled, and there were flyovers by great a blue herons and an osprey.
All in all, a multifarious kind of day.
Early Morning Bike Ride
(Knox and Waldo counties; not in order of sighting.)
1. Canada goose
2. Mallard
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. American redstart (voice)
5. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Common yellowthroat (voice)
8. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
9. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
10. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
11. Blackburnian warbler (voice)
12. Nashville warbler (voice)
13. Red-winged blackbird
14. Common grackle
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
17. Alder flycatcher (voice)
18. Eastern kingbird
19. American robin
20. Wood thrush (voice)
21. Veery (voice)
22. American goldfinch
23. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
24. Black-capped chickadee
25. Tufted titmouse (voice)
26. Northern flicker
27. Song sparrow
28. Chipping sparrow (voice)
29. Common loon (voice)
30. American crow
31. Blue jay (voice)
32. Northern cardinal (voice)
33. Cedar waxwing
34. Mourning dove
35. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
36. Tree swallow
37. Gray catbird
 American redstart. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Red-eyed vireo
Chestnut-sided warbler
Ovenbird
Black-capped chickadee
American goldfinch
Rose-breasted grosbeak
American redstart
38. Eastern towhee
Cedar waxwing
Gray catbird
39. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
Alder flycatcher
Black-and-white warbler
Song sparrow
Common yellowthroat
Nashville warbler
Yellow warbler
Mourning dove
Eastern phoebe
Tree swallow
40. Field sparrow
41. Savannah sparrow
American crow
Veery
Tufted titmouse
Black-throated green warbler
American robin
Northern flicker
Black-throated blue warbler
Eastern wood-pewee
 Wilson's phalaropes, Weskeag Marsh. Weskeag Marsh
Mallard
42. Black duck
43. Great blue heron
44. Wilson’s phalarope*
45. Snowy egret*
46. Killdeer
47. Greater yellowlegs (voice)*
48. Osprey
Elsewhere
49. House sparrow
50. European starling
51. Herring gull
*First-of-year bird.
 Rockport Harbor mist.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black duck, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common loon, common yellowthroat, eastern kingbird, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great blue heron, greater yellowlegs, herring gull, house sparrow, killdeer, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, snowy egret, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, Wilson's phalarope, wood thrush, yellow warbler
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Monday, May 17th, 2010
 Landscape, from Ragged Mountain. I felt guilty for it, but I didn’t hike Beech Hill today. Instead, I drove up to the Thorndike Brook access point to the Georges Highland Path—a series of trails maintained by the Georges River Land Trust. The trail begins in a nondescript parking lot on Hope Street up Route 17 a ways. I’d never walked the trail before, but since I’m leading a bird walk there on Thursday, I decided to accept my birder friend Douglas Prescott’s invitation to check it out beforehand.
 Blackburnian warbler. Dog and I arrived at 7 a.m., just as Douglas was listening to a warbler call from a tree above the parking lot. A Tennessee warbler—first of the year for me. He also pointed out a couple discarded turkey carcasses left by irresponsible hunters in the corner of the parking lot. Idiots.
The trail begins in a grassy, low-growth area where chestnut-sided warblers and yellowthroats were calling. We heard an ovenbird, saw a redwing in overflight, heard the clear warble of a purple finch (first-of-year). Before long, we crossed a tributary of Thorndike Brook—or possibly the brook itself, I’m not sure—and heard our first confusing warbler song.
I like to think I know warblers’ songs, but a few I don’t know well. Canada, magnolia, the water thrushes. When you then consider the fact that many wood-warblers have alternate calls that they use at various times of year—and/or for various purposes (Douglas mentioned he’d read that the main call was an aggressive, establishing-territory call, whereas the alternate was more of a communal call—a sort of reassuring, proprietary song)—it sometimes does get a little confusing. At least to me.
That first confusing warbler sounded sort of like a yellowthroat, but not quite. It was too remote to pursue. But shortly after, higher up the steep, mixed-growth hillside, we heard another, a song reminiscent of a black-and-white warbler’s, but including two distinctly different pitches. We stood and scanned the treetops until we spotted it: a bright-faced blackburnian warbler, occupying a single perch, declaring himself to the world.
 Empidonax flycatcher. Higher up still, we heard a second blackburnian delivering a similar call—not its typical call, in my experience—and listened to at two or three other confusing warbler voices. We also watched juncos (they love those high, rocky summits), heard flycatchers and vireos, and came upon a number of thrushes. Robin, hermit thrush, wood thrush, a possible Swainson’s thrush (I couldn’t confirm an ID from a hasty photo). It was a thrushy woodland, that’s for sure.
And the view—wow. If you ever find yourself in coastal Maine, I recommend highly this little climb, from a nondescript parking lot with cast-off turkey carcasses to a summit with a view in all directions.
We saw or heard a number of other species also—a yodeling loon from Grassy Pond, an Empidonax flycatcher that made no sound (and therefore was unidentifiable), jay, tanager, dove. I’m glad I went and am looking forward to Thursday. But still I feel a little guilty about Beech Hill.
 Unidentified thrush. Georges Highland Path List
At 7 a.m., I walked via the Thorndike Brook access point.
1. Tennessee warbler*
2. Ovenbird (voice)
3. Red-winged blackbird
4. Common yellowthroat (voice)
5. Purple finch* (voice)
6. Chestnut-sided warbler
7. American robin
8. Blue jay (voice)
9. Wood thrush (voice)
10. Empidonax flycatcher*
11. White-throated sparrow (voice)
12. Black-capped chickadee
13. American goldfinch (voice)
14. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
15. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
16. Black-and-white warbler
17. Common loon (voice)
18. Hermit thrush (voice)
19. Mourning dove (voice)
20. Blackburnian warbler*
21. Nashville warbler (voice)
22. Dark-eyed junco
23. Black-throated blue warbler
24. Scarlet tanager (voice)
25. Great crested flycatcher (voice)
26. Blue-headed vireo (voice)
27. Eastern phoebe (voice)
28. Cedar waxwing (voice)
Elsewhere
29. American crow
30. House sparrow
31. House finch
32. Common grackle
33. Tufted titmouse
34. Chipping sparrow
35. European starling
36. Herring gull
37. Rock pigeon
38. Gray catbird
39. American redstart
40. Song sparrow
 Chestnut-sided warbler (female).
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common loon, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, Eastern phoebe, Empidonax flycatcher, European starling, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, ovenbird, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, rock pigeon, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, Tennessee warbler, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush
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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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