Monthly Archives: September 2021

Cackling Goose

In 2004, the birding community was rocked, when the American Ornithological Union (AOU) decided that the common everyday Canada Goose was actually two species: the large annoying bird that ruins golf courses and a smaller regional adaptation . . . the Cackling Goose. Basically, the Canada and Cackling Geese are almost identical . . . […]

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Hudsonian Godwit

In mid-August, there was a report of forty Hudsonian Godwits flying around Hill’s Beach in Biddeford.  The Hudsonian Godwit is a bizarre looking shorebird . . . about 15″ tall, a rotund beer belly and a huge upturned bill.  It shows up in Maine during fall migration . . . but sporadically and inconsistently. I […]

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Yellow-breasted Chat

If you take a boat out into the ocean, beyond the sight to land, the emptiness is breathtaking.  Yesterday, I was on a Bar Harbor whale watch and about two hours out the captain stopped the boat to look around.  The hurricane that had stirred up the seas over the weekend was long gone and […]

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Bird Banding

Gray-cheeked Thrush . . . for a non-birder that name hardly would inspire a trek through the wood in the rain.  And to be honest, this brown/gray bird with spots is rather homely.  But I’ve been stuck at 306 (my Maine Big Year count) for ten days . . . so any new bird is […]

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Lark Sparrow

Today, I was birding Laudholm Farm in Wells, over two thousand acres of shorefront, salt marsh, orchards, and hayfields. I covered and backtracked large areas of the preserve only to find Maine Big Year Bird #306 in the damn parking lot. I can’t tell you how often Ingrid and I will spend hours and hour […]

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