The Piping Plovers are back on the beaches of Maine. Yesterday on the north end of Wells Beach near the dunes . . . I watched a Bullmastiff playing chuckit catch with his master. The beach is 2 miles long and they decided to play where the endangered species nest each year. Being a coward […]
Very excited to see two Short-eared Owls patrolling the runways at the old Brunswick Naval Airstation at dusk this evening. I watched them for over an hour. I really hoped to get one of them to fly in front of the legendary “Fat Boy” Drive-In Sign . . . but the damn birds wouldn’t cooperate. […]
For at least 150 years, the Snipe Hunt has been a practical joke used by fraternities, summer camps and other organizations. Newcomers, overwhelmed by their new environments are sent into the woods to capture a non-existent animal called a snipe. When I started birding, I was surprised to learn there really is a family of […]
Turkey Vultures are a common three season sight in Maine and in the summer there always seems to one or two patrolling the skies. They are one of the first migrating birds to return each spring (actually late winter) and one of the last to leave as the weather gets cold. This past winter we […]
If one looks at Maine eBird checklists . . . you’ll find 47% of them have at least one American Crow . . . and I believe that it’s actually closer to 95% as folks tend to ignore this omnipresent bird. When I go out birding, I almost immediately hear American Crows “caw” sounds and […]
After two weeks without a new bird, my Maine Big Year is back on track as I’ve been picked up five new birds in the last four days. Today I got a Hermit Thrush and a Pine Warbler, bringing the count to 138. The state record is 317, so there is a long way to […]
When a birder hears a flock of Crows, Chickadees or Bluejays screaming and moving rapidly through the trees . . . we drop everything and begin searching for the target of their anger . . . generally a bird of prey. This is called mobbing, a defense mechanism where much smaller birds can drive away […]
This morning another birder and I were standing along a wooded country road scanning a stream that was free of ice . . . hoping to spy the Pied-billed Grebe reported to be lurking along the edge. I glanced across the road and noticed one of those plastic owls that folks place on their roofs […]
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