Today I traveled with Captain Jack (who, ironically, hates boats) from Port Clyde, Maine, to Monhegan Island for a few days of birding. Since we’ll be busy wandering and visiting, I’ll just be posting a daily list and a photo or two until our return. It’s been I believe five years, and I missed this place. (Woo-hoo!)
Port Clyde to Monhegan List
1. Herring Gull 2. Broad-winged Hawk 3. Double-crested Cormorant 4. Belted Kingfisher 5. Common Loon 6. Northern Flicker 7. Blue Jay 8. Mallard 9. Red-eyed Vireo 10. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 11. Golden-crowned Kinglet 12. White-throated Sparrow 13. Dark-eyed Junco 14. Yellow Warbler 15. Gray Catbird 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch 17. Ring-necked Pheasant 18. Great Cormorant 19. Merlin 20. Peregrine Falcon 21. Cape May Warbler 22. Yellow-rumped Warbler 23. Blackpoll Warbler 24. Black-throated Green Warbler 25. Dickcissel 26. Song Sparrow 27. American Goldfinch 28. American Robin 29. Mourning Dove 30. Sharp-shinned Hawk
Another clear sky with a breeze from a favorable direction, but I didn’t expect early fall migration would grace me with so many species during my morning hike with dog. Thirty.
Notable additions to the usual suspects were a pair of hawks (sharpie and broad-winged), White-throated Sparrow (rarely seen since spring), Ruby-crowned Kinglet—and at the end of our hike we spooked an American Woodcock.
A week from today, dog and I will be Monhegan bound for an even more exciting glimpse of fall migration in action.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:25 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow* 2. Hermit Thrush 3. Blue Jay** 4. Black-capped Chickadee* 5. Red-breasted Nuthatch** 6. Gray Catbird 7. Common Yellowthroat 8. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 9. American Redstart 10. Black-and-white Warbler 11. Red-eyed Vireo 12. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 13. Northern Flicker 14. American Robin* 15. White-breasted Nuthatch 16. American Goldfinch 17. Eastern Towhee 18. Yellow-rumped Warbler 19. White-throated Sparrow 20. Cedar Waxwing 21. Song Sparrow 22. Savannah Sparrow 23. Eastern Bluebird 24. Sharp-shinned Hawk 25. Chipping Sparrow 26. Broad-winged Hawk 27. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 28. Tufted Titmouse (v) 29. Brown Creeper (v) 30. American Woodcock
Elsewhere
31. Carolina Wren (v) 32. Northern Cardinal (v)
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Another lovely morning hike—a fair morning this day, with cool temps and fragrant air. A good selection of birds, including a couple warblers, a couple woodpeckers, a couple nuthatches, and a hawk.
I only got a glimpse of the hawk through a window in the summit spruces, and the first thing I noticed was its sideburns, and I thought I might have one of only a few peregrines I’ve ever seen on the hill. Only later, after I took a close look at the photos (and then checked in with a bird ID expert pal) did I realize it was not a falcon at all. Turned out to be a Broad-winged Hawk—the commonest hawk in Beech Hill Preserve.
Still I neat sighting though. (So that’s why it was so quiet up there for a change!)
(Earlier, at home, I heard the Carolina Wren again. Love that sound.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:21 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Great Crested Flycatcher (v) 2. Blue Jay (v) 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. American Crow* (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. American Goldfinch** (v) 7. Hairy Woodpecker 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. White-breasted Nuthatch 10. Red-breasted Nuthatch 11. Tufted Titmouse** 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Gray Catbird 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. Chestnut-sided Warbler 16. American Redstart 17. Common Yellowthroat (v) 18. Broad-winged Hawk 19. Song Sparrow 20. American Robin 21. Herring Gull* 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
