Iceland gull (immature).
This must be what they call a January thaw. Just a gorgeous day today, sunny and warm. Well, sunny starting about late morning, after an early glowing overcast, but warm—well up into the 40s (F)—for much of the day. After a few Saturday errands, I couldn’t resist chasing down some birds.
I say “chasing down,” because Don Reimer had already spotted them. And if Don can’t lay claim to the title of No. 1 Local Birder, I have no clue who can. Yesterday he reported kittiwakes, razorbills, and northern shrikes at the Owls Head Light, black-headed and iceland gulls at Owls Head Harbor, a great blue heron at Weskeag Marsh, and a slew of uncommon ducks in Warren Village. So I jumped in my pickup and headed for Owls Head.
Black-headed gull preening.
I drove first to the lighthouse park. The early afternoon sunlight had turned things vividly colorful. I saw eiders afloat, Bonaparte’s gulls in flight, red-breasted mergansers and long-tailed ducks and guillemots in the bay, but no kittiwakes, razorbills or shrikes. I did hear a raven. And you can hardly match the view from the light of the inland hills.
Next I drove the short distance to Owls Head Harbor. As I pulled in, I spotted a few other birders already scanning the waves. They, too, had seen Don’s report—and in fact had already spotted the gulls over at the nearby lobster pound. I walked over and saw them, too. A couple, possibly three black-headed gulls, and at least a pair of icelands. Both species posed on pilings, and the iceland obliged me with a good look on the wing. I also counted buffleheads, loons, mallards, and herring gulls.
Then I figured I’d swing by Weskeag, but I honestly didn’t expect to see a solitary great blue heron in all those acres. Wrong: there he was, just standing there preening. I followed someone’s footprints down the slope, snapping photos. When I got near enough to bother the bird, it flew off into some shadows a safe distance away.
Finally, I figured I’d take a quick hike up Beech Hill. En route, I spied a red-tailed hawk on a power pole off Old County Road.
Great blue heron at Weskeag Marsh.
I half expected to see yesterday’s barred owl at the wooded trailhead, but I didn’t. The air remained warm, and the snow on the trail had gone soft enough to slip beneath my feet. Coming up the lower trail, I kept hearing slight single calls that sounded something like golden-crowned kinglets, but I saw nothing. Then, nearing the top, I heard a soft rapping—a downy woodpecker. And soon after, there came the high call again, and a small bird flitted to the trunk of a tree not twenty feet away. I didn’t get a great look, but it appeared to be a brown creeper. And there, another one higher up on a trunk just beyond. As they zipped from trunk to limb, I snapped off some photos; I could confirm it later from the blurry images: creepers.
The hike was exhilarating. I spotted numerous trails of turkeys, like wavy dotted lines in the snow, all heading to what must be a roosting spot amid tangles near the summit. I saw deer tracks. And coming down, a ruffed grouse exploded out of a thicket off the trail.
Great blue heron.
Today’s List
1. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
2. American crow
3. Herring gull
4. Ring-billed gull
5. Rock pigeon
6. Common eider
7. Black guillemot
8. Bonaparte’s gull
9. Long-tailed duck
10. Red-breasted merganser
11. Common raven
12. Black-headed gull
13. Iceland gull
14. Common loon
15. Mallard
16. Bufflehead
17. Great blue heron
18. Red-tailed hawk
19. Downy woodpecker
20. Brown creeper
21. Ruffed grouse
The coastal hills, from Owls Head Light.
