This is an American Avocet, a bird that should be nesting on the Great Plains right now . . . but this particular one recently showed up in Wells, Maine. This afternoon I skipped out of work a little early (actually a lot early) to try and find him.

The problem with chasing a rare bird is they, like all bird, tend to fly away (Penguins not withstanding). They might hang out in a particular salt marsh for 6 hours and then disappear for a couple days.

So I arrived in Wells and of course no bird, and several birders were staked-out where he was last seen. Another set of eyes on the same salt-marsh didn’t seem to make much sense so I headed off for a little searching.

After 90 minutes I came to a path with a “NO ACCESS WITHOUT PERMISSION” sign.

Obviously this sign didn’t apply to me . . . so I snuck under the barrier rope and began to scan the river sure enough . . . found the Avocet.

Ingrid and I have seen American Avocets in Texas but this was a Maine Lifer.