This morning Ingrid and I headed to nearby Reid State Park to see if we could add to our year list. We weren’t terribly optimistic as we’d already seen most of the winter sea birds that one can see from shore in Maine. But it was a beautifully sunny and above freezing for the […]
Set out this morning trying to find an early arriving Red-winged Blackbird. It was 9 degrees, windy with a foot of snow on the ground . . . not exactly a desirable destination for a migrating bird. I stepped out of the car, photographed a group of first of the year Cedar Waxwings, and immediately […]
Common Eiders are an omnipresent winter resident of the Maine Coast. These large lethargic diving ducks are regularly seen as individuals or in enormous rafts of hundreds of birds. Males are white and black with yellow/green bills. Females are grayish brown and both sexes can have interesting color combinations during molting. Despite the “commonality” […]
Today it got above freezing!!! A whopping 34 degrees; no wind and sunny . . . and there was no way I was gonna sit at my desk programming all day. So around lunch time I headed to Popham Beach to get a little sun and maybe get a bird or two. I saw most […]
The days are getting longer . . . I can now get out for an hour and a half of birding before work. Now I would appreciate someone turning the outdoors thermostat up above 7 degrees. Got a Horned Grebe this morning at Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth.
This afternoon I drove over to my bank in Bath, Maine and did some quick business . . . “quick” was the operative word and that gave me time to drive down to the City’s sewage treatment plant for a little birding. At first I saw the usual array of Ring-billed Gulls and Mergansers . […]
On a drive up the coast this afternoon Ingrid and I stopped to scan a tidal river full of gulls, ducks, Buffleheads and Goldeneyes . . . looking for something unusual. Suddenly all gulls took to the air, clearly scared by something. Simultaneously, Ingrid and I looked up and as expected a Bald Eagle began […]
I was out birding at dawn hoping to get some of the birds being seen around the vicinity. Here were the results: Barred Owl: didn’t find him Northern Shrike: nope Red-throated Grebe: never go close to the site . . . too much ice on the road So with tears in my eyes I returned […]
This morning on a highway drive from south along the Maine . . . I noticed a white blog in a group of Canada Geese. I took the next exit, drove north, turned and headed south again . . . pulling off in the break down lane to check out the white blob . . […]
This morning Ingrid and I piled in the car and headed for Newton, Massachusetts for a birthday party for her Dad. We were both looking forward to seeing Art . . . and to make the trip even more exciting . . . we had time to stop at Plum Island!!!! Plum Island is […]
Sometimes Ingrid and I come up with ways to watch birds without tromping through the cold and wet . . . like breakfast at the Cliff House. Cliff House is an elegant four seasons resort in Cape Neddick, Maine. All restaurants and guest rooms appear to hang over the Atlantic Ocean as the resort is […]
Sometime in the next few weeks, Ingrid and I will see our first Red-winged Blackbird or Turkey Vulture of the year . . . our first sign of spring in Maine. But while winter continues to linger, we’ll start to look for the few winter birds we haven’t seen this year. Yesterday, I headed […]
February in Maine sucks. Its cold, snowy, icy, and spring migration seems a long way away. Today was a brilliant preview of Spring . . . a cloudless sunny sky with temperatures reaching 57 degrees. Managed to skip out for an hour to Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth for a bit of birding. […]
The morning after another New England Patriots Super Bowl victory (it’s great to be a Pats fan) I was up early to try and get the Eurasian Wigeon being seen in Kennebunk, Maine. The Eurasian Wigeon is an Old World species that occasionally will appear along east and west coasts. This one has been seen […]
One of the most remarkable 2018 events in North American Birding was the arrival of a Great Black Hawk in Maine. A native of South and Central America, the first confirmed sighting ever in the United States was in early summer on San Padres Island, Texas . . . just north of the Mexican border. […]
With the rest of the country encased in the annual winter vortex, it is 5 degrees in Maine, plenty warm enough to try for the Canvasback (a rare visitor to the state). I’ve been out 3 times in 4 day looking for my white whale, and like Ahab I’m not going to give up. On […]
Eighteen days after having my knee replaced . . . I felt strong enough to go out birding. A Canvasback, a relatively rare visitor to Maine, has been seen regularly at nearby Damariscotta Mills. We saw all the usual winter birds . . . all three Mergansers, Eagles, Black Duck and Mallards . . . […]
For the second time in less than a year, I am laid up and unable to go birding because of a knee replacement. For a person that is out in the field just about every day . . . being forced to sit on a couch all day is depressing. To keep myself sane, I […]
Monday, I skipped out of work several times to get a little birding done . . . now January isn’t exactly prime time for such behavior . . . most species and birders have hunkered down for the winter. Unfortunately I was having my right knee replaced on Tuesday and our year to date […]
Ingrid and I subscribe to several eBird’s Rare Bird Alert (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA) . . . and each winter the Ring-necked Duck is listed on the Maine Report . . . and always at the same place . . . Damariscotta Mills. Damariscotta Mills is a small hamlet in Mid-Coast Maine that is […]
Having returned to the real world after a birding week in Texas . . . we’ve gotten off to a relatively slow start. During a stop at the Newcastle Maine Mail-It-For You I noticed a white pigeon among a group of feral pigeons. He had a band on his leg. I asked around and the […]
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