Monthly Archives: November 2018

Great Black Hawk Returns

One of our biggest disappointments of 2018 has been missing the Great Black Hawk that appeared in Maine this summer, until today.  A native of Southern and Central America . . . the bird is rarely seen in the United States.  During the first week of August a juvenile Great Black Hawk appeared in Biddeford […]

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Late Migrators and Winter Sea Birds

Birded at Bug Light in South Portland, a park that juts into Casco with a view of Portland Harbor.  After lots of snow, the weather was mild and the water was calm and saw lots of the winter sea birds (Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks, Surf Scoters and Common Loons). But the real thrill of a […]

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Dreary Day and Few Birds

At lunch today I drove around the area . . . birding from the car hoping to see something with feather to brighten up a cold, damp and dreary day.  I saw virtually nothing  . . . a Red-tailed Hawk and a Hooded Merganser.  The Hoody brightened my day a bit . . . I […]

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White-throated Sparrow

No birding today, honey-do projects and a bit of work-work kept me inside.  But lots of birds could be seen through the window, including a Brown Creeper, a Golden-crowned Kinglet and White-throated Sparrow.  We’ve never seen a WTS this late in the year. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”164″ display=”pro_mosaic”]

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Snow Buntings arrive

This afternoon Ingrid and I headed out to get out the Christmas Tree . . . yes I know it’s only November 23rd . . .  but we’re busy the next couple weekends . . . and frankly we’re a couple kids that really love Christmas. On the way, a flock of Snow Buntings flew […]

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Finally an Evening Grosbeak

Periodically the cone trees of the Canadian Boreal Forests don’t produce the cones that they normally do and the Pine Siskins, Redpolls and Grosbeaks descend into the United States . . . much to the delight of birders and bird feeders.  Three winters ago the dominate bird on our feeders was the Pine Siskin . […]

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An Hour of Incredible Birding

I had been working since 5:00 am and about 1:45 I knew I needed a break.  I had to pick Ingrid up at 3:00 so I knew I only had an hour to bird.   I headed to Pond Cove . . . a place I had gotten a Yellow Warbler and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet […]

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Snowy Owl

Ingrid and I were driving home from a short and disappointing birding outing to Butler Head (lots of Scaups and Golden Eyes at a distance)  when we saw a large bird take the to sky not far from our Subaru Outback.  At first glance we thought it was an Eagle or Hawk and then we […]

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Harlequin Ducks are Back

Winter in Maine can suck . . . it’s long, dark, cold and the variety of birds drops dramatically.  But the few birds that share  winter with Ingrid and me can be quite spectacular. Case in point, saw the first rafts of Harlequin Ducks today . . . mostly the stunning males . . . […]

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Savannah Sparrow

Ingrid had the day off for Veteran’s Day, so we got to go lunch time birding together on a week day . . . a real treat. Unfortunately last night was the first hard freeze of the season and the ponds had ice on them . . . and late shorebirds and warblers that have […]

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Yellow Warbler in November???

Yesterday I posted that most of the birds migrating through Maine were gone . . . then this morning while birding at Pond Cove in Cape Elizabeth, Maine . . . a Yellow Warbler flew right in front of me and I followed her for 10 minutes. One of the first warblers to leave during […]

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Surf Scoter

Most of the birds that migrate from or through Maine in the fall seem to be gone . . . an occasional heron, a few yellow-rumps or a vulture seem to be all that is left.  But as the summer birds disappear, the winter birds begin to arrive. Today I saw the first Ring-necked Duck, […]

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Birding after Voting

As usual I’m behind on a programming project and it’s raining . . . so I couldn’t justify an early morning birding outing.  But today is Election Day and I couldn’t help but scoot over to nearby Fort Edgecomb for 15 minutes of birding. As soon as I got out of the car . . […]

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Cattle Egret

Ten days ago, when riding the train from the Tampa Airport to the rental car terminal, I spotted two Cattle Egrets in a field.  The glimpse was too short to get my camera out of my carry-on . . . and thus disappointing . . . I try to get photos of most of my […]

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Buffleheads are Back

My favorite bird is the Bufflehead.  They are adorable companions through the long Maine Winters . . . Arriving around the first of November and leaving in May. I saw our first female Buffy a couple days ago and the first male today. Lots of rain for the last month . . . today was […]

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Nothing could be finer than seeing a Carolina

Went over the Fort Williams Park (home of the famous Portland Headlight) for a little birding at dawn.  Everyone living in Cape Elizabeth seemed to be taking photos and walking dogs . . . and literally saw only Herring Gulls, Pigeons and House Sparrows. So I left the Park and drove a mile down the […]

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