Each summer our house on the coast of Maine seemingly becomes a Bed and Breakfast as friends and relatives descend upon our waterfront home to “visit us”. It’s weird how nobody visits us in February. Playing tour director and couple that with a prolonged case of bronchitis . . . meant I haven’t really been […]
Yesterday evening, Ingrid and I were at Popham Beach watching some young Piping Plovers running back and forth along the shore line when we heard a a series of loud whistles coming across Morse River. We watched three Whimbrels land amid a group of Black-backed Gulls. The Photo above is at the extreme distance of […]
It’s July 15, the middle of the summer but incredibly . . . the first birds of the fall migration have begun to move south. As always the tip of the spear is led by the shorebirds. So early this morning I headed to Popham Beach to see if the Whimbrels seen there yesterday were […]
Last night Ingrid and I participated in Maine Audubon’s annual sunset cruise around Eastern Egg Rock. Eastern Egg is the world’s first first seabird restoration island and certainly one of the most successful. The Atlantic Puffin once nested on the island in great numbers but hunting in the 19th century ended all Puffin nesting on […]
As I implied earlier . . . we have virtually no open Bluebird appropriate land . . . but after a few failed attempts I finally nailed the Box to an old Well Post that fronts onto 50 yards of lawn and driveway. And for a couple months it sat empty. I checked it […]
In the winter of 2015 we had an influx of Pine Siskins on our feeders in Wiscasset, Maine. In the previous 16 years in the house I don’t recall ever seeing a Pine Siskin (granted I didn’t know much about birds prior to 2013). Anyway, during the winer of 2015, the Siskins were the […]
In 2000 when I moved our house on Back River in Wiscasset, there was a Great Blue Heron Rookery a mile down the river on Berry Island. Even though I wasn’t a crazy birder at that time, a regular part of our evening boat trips was cruising around the island to watch the GBHs come […]
Ingrid and I just spent a three day weekend on Cape Cod . . . not planning to bird all that much . . . but enjoy some together time; good food and some shopping. That said . . . we spent all day on Saturday birding . . . we just couldn’t help it. […]
Ingrid had to head down to the Condo this evening due to work commitments tomorrow . . . I had big birding plans for the evening – I was going to drive up the coast and hit a few birding hotspots. Unfortunately, it started raining minutes after I left the house and except for a […]
Ingrid and I are recovering from a disastrous birding weekend. In early January we signed up for a boat trip to Machias Seal Island. Located between in the Atlantic between the USA and Canada (the Island is disputed) . . . it houses 8000+ nesting Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Common Murres and Terns . . . […]
By mid-June, with migration over, birds nesting and molting, and working full-time jobs, the days of getting several first of the year birds (FOY) on the same day are over. Until fall migration, I’ll be chasing one bird at at time. Saturday and Monday I made two trips to Captain Fitzgerald in Brunswick to find […]
After work yesterday evening I dove down to Epping, NH as a Trumpeter Swan was being seen in the area. Rarely found east of Ohio . . . most Trumpeters are in Alaska by now and rarely ever seen in New England. Took me two hours but finally found him. While a little smaller that […]
Inexplicably, my boss scheduled a meeting for 7:30 am which kind of through a wrench into my plans to bird at Kennebunk Plains before work . . . a natural grassland about 40 minutes away. Did that detour me??? Heck no!!!! I just set the alarm at 4:00 and was on the road 15 minutes […]
The late Spring and lots of traveling left the old homestead in desperate need of some tender loving care so Friday, Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to yard work; putting in window screens and just a little relaxing. Finally after dinner on Sunday evening I snuck over to great Salt Bay in Damariscotta to […]
Early June each year, Ingrid and I drive to the famous Clam Bake restaurant in Scarborough, Maine early in the morning. The Clam Bake is an enormous, yet classic New England Fried Clam/Lobster Roll Restaurant catering to the thousands of tourists that descend on the coast of Maine in the summer. The parking […]
This morning I had a small thill of seeing my first Chukar. A Chukar is a game bird found in the Middle East and Asia that was brought to the Rocky Mountain Area and has has become established there with a resident breeding population. The Chukars that are occasionally seen in Maine are probably escapees […]
For birders, warbler migration is so exciting . . . so satisfying . . . one tends to forget there are other birds moving north. This evening for a change of pace I travelled to Popham Beach, in nearby Phippsburg to see how many Piping Plovers were nesting there this year. I saw three […]
Last Christmas, Ingrid gave me Condo Reservations for Memorial Day Weekend at the Saddleback Mountain Ski Area. Saddleback is an enormous and beautiful resort, with spectacular views and après-ski support. Unfortunately, it has had a checkered financial past, closing for years at a time . . . the most current shutdown beginning in 2015. Its […]
Our last post was 5 days ago . . . and for those of you that follow this blog know that that is a long time. It’s not that we have been birding . . . Ingrid and I have probably been out a half dozen time but they have been short expeditions followed […]
I just had one of those magical experiences that only a birder can appreciate. This evening I went for a 5 mile jog around a Westport Island loop that I really enjoy (non-birding). Magic Tree About a mile from the car I notice a splash of orange at the top of tree which immediately made […]
Last Thursday evening, Ingrid and I headed to Louisiana to watch our son Bradley receive his MBA at LSU. We stayed in New Orleans and saw all the sights. We had brunch at Brennans; saw a dixie land band doing a wedding march on Bourbon Street; drank Hurricane’s a Pat O’Briens; and took a double-decker […]
After recent trips to Arizona and Chicago . . . it’s great to be home in Maine as spring migration is in full swing. I’m up at first light (about 4:15 am) and birding until I should be at my desk (8:00). One of my favorite birds, the Warbling Vireo, are quite loud early in […]
Our son Bradley lives in California which seems a long way off sometimes. Next weekend he gets his MBA and to celebrate I decided to treat him to a weekend in Chicago and a Red Sox Game. So Friday night I flew west from Portland, Maine and Bradley flew east from San Francisco . […]
I work with a fellow birder who happens to live outside of London, England. Many a conference calls begin or end with Ethan and Steve exchanging bird stories. Today I was bragging to my British associate about the Little Egret I had seen early this morning. Steve related that they are bring seen in greater […]
The Captain William Fitzgerald Preserve in Maine is a Grassland and Pine Barren that used to be runway extension for the old Brunswick Naval Air-station. I guess the idea was a plan undershooting (or over shooting the runway would land in this large empty field. When the base closed 10 years ago, the 66-acre parcel […]
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