Although my Modest Birder posts are primarily about bird life in and around our house (for a description see SB #1), I thought that a post about the Augusts we spend in Maine could be included as we temporarily occupy armchairs on our balcony on Southport Island and even more comfortable ones on the beach at Popham or Reid.
This post is based primarily on my 2000-2011+ diaries but some references go back to
the early 70s when my late wife and I rented a cottage on the Damariscotta (tidal) River. In those years school started close to the middle of September when migration was well under way along the river's edge. It was a property of some 400 acres that included an extensive rocky shoreline with mudflats at low tide and a large, no longer maintained ice pond as well as extensive, mature woods. That is where, sitting half way up a dead pine on the edge of the pond, I cut my American birding teeth on warblers without a mentor, relying solely on Peterson's "confusing fall warblers." Fortunately several adult males were among them and occasionally there were 4 or 5 of one species together as if it was a family dispersing from their breeding grounds; that helped in the identification of the "first year" birds among them .
I had been coming to Maine off and on since 1958 and Colette, my partner, and I have stayed nearly annually on Southport Island, in the Ship Ahoy Motel, since 1985, sometimes in July, as in 2004, to suit C's family obligations in France, but mostly in August. Our room, always the same, is on the second floor at the corner of a building which is directly above the cove (in my younger years I could pitch my olive pits into the water). It is surrounded on three sides (the woods curving around the end of the building) by the remnants of an old woods of oak and firs; one very old oak (the oak in the birdlist - it died in the very hard winter 0f 13/14, probably from the high seas) and several firs are off the balcony to the right; directly above the rocky shoreline of the cove is a 15ft wide hedgerow of mixed brush that's kept low enough (about 10ft) for the (raised) first floor rooms to have a view. The room below us is often unoccupied and our neighbors also tend to be elderly and quiet guests (all courtesy of the owner, who took over from his parents). The cove is a corner, ca. 150ft wide with a small beach at ebb tide, off Boothbay Harbour which is hidden behind trees and a "peninsula," also very wooded. In front of us the water stretches to the Gulf of Maine and is dotted with several forested islands. Southport (where Rachel Carson had her cottage) has houses, most of them hidden in the woods, all along its rocky coasts, but its interior is forested enough to provoke annual "sightings?" of a cougar.
We do not actually "do hard core birding" but do of course note the birds that we see at the shore (most often at Popham, sometimes at Reid State Park, and during our annual evening picnic at Pemmaquid Point). Until 2008 we also made the boat trip to Monhegan each year, twice staying over for a couple of nights. And when my daughter and family are around we might go on a whale watching or "puffin" outing that have an authentic naturalist on board (Steve Krebs or one of his students). Another tradition is "if it rains, it's Camden" where Colette and I spend some time in the Merrysprings Garden and Nature Center. My daughter, Marijke, has made an inventory of all the nature reserves and nearby state parks for keeping the family in shape. She rents a cottage in Jonesport for various lengths and then one near us for a week each summer on an island or on an inlet of the Sheepscot River or takes a room near us.
In July and even early August some passerines are still breeding but espec. in August the passerine fall migration is beginning and by the middle of August the shorebirds are well represented. Shorebird numbers are not very constant during the weeks that we are in Maine. There seem to be more on the first sunny day after rain (which may be because that's when we are likely to be on the beach also) but not on 8/17/11 when there were very few, probably 1/4 of the number on the 12th., the best day in a long while which came after two gray days that cleared up in the afternoon of the 11th. When we arrived at 9am the tide was going out and it was ebb by 12.30. The winter storms had not much reconfigured the beach area which had been constantly moved inland as first the dunes were eaten away by turbulent currents and by 2007 even part of the pine woods had been swallowed up. The sand bar that was formed in 2009 seemed higher and the vegetation appeared now firmly established; at high tide it becomes a fairly large island.
In 2011 [and 2012] there were three large protective cages where piping plovers had nested and there was still a good number of Least Terns, some of them still feeding their young. When we arrived most of the shore birds were roosting there. As we made our way along the shore to find a low area for crossing the tidal river we saw hundreds [not repeated in 2012] and most of them turned out very tame, perhaps because we were the first beach combers that morning. My diary states: "the smaller, the tamer." There were perhaps a hundred gulls, mostly Ring-billed as well as 20 or so Greater Black-backed (9 of these in first and second year plumage) the remainder were Bonaparte and 4 Laughing Gulls (none with dark heads); among the terns there were perhaps 20 Least and 60 Common, more than half of each species being this year's hatchlings. I was sure of several Western and at least 2 Least Sandpipers among the 100 or so Semi-palmated that were scampering along the water's edge in small groups. More congregated were about 50 Semi-palmated Plovers and clustered together among the dune grass were 23 Black-bellied Plovers. On the water line there were 9 Short-billed Dowagers not far away from 5 Golden Plovers. Noticeable was the small number of Sanderlings that were feeding in groups of 5 or more, totalling less than 50. This makes me wonder whether Sanderlings are declining for in the early 1970s when we were guests of my late mother-in-law's at the Small Point Beach Club my then 5 and 6 year old daughter would run after them and put up "clouds of Sanderling" as she shouted, and I have a picture that is completely filled with the birds, about 150 in a frame taken with a 300mm lens. There must have been a thousand of them. 2013's one trip to Popham was pretty dismal as far as shorebirds were concerned, but we had much better luck on the Puffin and Whale outings,
When I recorded the day's tally I added: "I don't think I ever saw so many," but on Friday August 10th, 2007, my diary has: "Popham in the mng, chilly, but about 500 or more shorebirds, mostly peeps as well as a Whimbrel, Dowitchers, L.yellow legs... Never saw so many shorebirds since the Sanderlings in l971-2. A fall-out after Wedn.'s rains?" Something similar happened on August 13, 2008 when I recorded: "Lots of shorebirds, 4x as many as last week but nearly all small peeps and Semi-palmated Plovers. Also 6 Am. Golden Pl., 1 Whimbrel, 2 Knots, ca. 20 Sh.b. Dowitchers, 1 Killdeer." This again was after a day of rain. The week before, on the 5th, but also after a day of rain I recorded:"Few shorebirds, mostly Semi-palmated Plovers and 7 Piping Pl., 1 Sanderling and 1 Gr. Y. Legs." Apparently the second week of August marks the arrival of the shorebirds in numbers. In 2004, when we were there in July, my diary for the 22nd has:" Salt-marsh Sharptailed Sp., Semi-palmated and 2 Piping Plovers, Sanderling, Short-b. Dowitchers, Least Tern," apparently without noteworthy numbers. And in 2002, after an unusual week of beautiful weather the entry for August 14 has: "Very few birds; at ebbtide miles and miles of sand. A few Sanderlings... No more Piping Plovers and about 20 Semi-palmated Pl., 1 Western Sandp."
When I compiled the attached "Maine-list" I was surprised at the variety of songbird species we had seen. Most surprising is the number we saw in the Merrysprings Nature Center near Camden, for we hardly see more than 15 birds of maybe 5+ different kinds on our yearly visits that include a 30+ minute walk through the woods and meadows. The exception was 2001 when there was a "fall-out," 11 birds greeted us in a large tree as we got out of the car and some 20+ were flitting in the brush along the trail leading to a meadow. As always, my problem was to identify them; there were just too many leaves and not enough exposed branches. Either the entire bird or its telling parts were hidden. None were clearly different from species that we saw more clearly as single birds on other trips. Among the 22 small passerines recorded for Merrysprings there are 8 of the 22 warblers of the Maine list, of which the most noticeable was the Blue-winged that foraged in the low brush, occasionally only 5 feet from where we were standing, along the deserted service road behind the gardens, noteworthy because it is slowly expanding its range northwards. The other memorable warbler was the Redstart that stopped several dog walkers by its prolonged and spring like singing.
There's usually something new: in 2013 we saw a black and white suddenly interrupt its exploring of the bark of an old white pine and "fly catch" in a downward spiral to catch a yellow bug that looked like a yellow lacewing. 30 mins later, seated in a copse of young aspen, there were a family of 5 great crested and 1 least flycatcher + a phoebe foraging at once.
Since those early 70s I have made some progress in identifying warblers, of which the confusing fall ones actually have more identifying marks than most European warblers have all year long. But those did not frustrate me very much as I did most of my early birding in the wide open spaces of the Dutch landscape and, now, in the spring you could usually find a singing one sooner or later exposed on a twig. Much of the improvement is due to a birder I sometimes met at different hawk watches and with whom I have been on many weekly outings to South Jersey or Delaware since the late nineties. He's primarily fixated on hard to identify songbirds, warblers in particular and he makes a point of seeing each year as many warblers as he can, often going on special trips. An expert is what every beginning birder (or an old one in new habitats) needs. Even so, Black and Whites that explore the bark of trunks or branches and Yellow Rumps that often sally forth like flycatchers, are easier than the others that glean the underside of leaves, preferably those in thick clusters.
In the Main list I mention a "mini-fallout," but in general the warblers appear mostly one individual of 1 or 2 species at the time. 2011 was an exception and according to my diaries the only time that there was a "fall-out" of shore and songbirds on the same day. The day we saw the many shorebirds at Popham, also brought 30+ passerines, mostly in "the oak," all before 8am when we left for the beach. It began at 6.30 with a family of Juncos; these were followed by 2 Cowbirds, a Cedar Waxwing (one was around for several days afterwards), 3 or more Black-capped Chickadees, 2 White and 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 phoebe, 1 Warbling Vireo, 1 Common Yellow-throated, 1 Blackburnian male, 1 Black-throated Green, 1 Palm and 1 Mourning Warbler; these stayed in view long enough to identify. The Nuthatches foraged in the oak and adjacent firs, the warblers primarily in the oak though some only landed, looked around and flew on. Several of the feeding ones flitted back and forth in the oaks surrounding our room (but Colette saw no activity in the forest remnant in front of our building). Most of these flitters tended to be too quick for me to note their identifying marks, but some looked like Blackpoll or Baybreasted warblers. The old Peterson taught me to register "wingbars," "head pattern." i.e. eye ring? eye stripe? Of course since 1998 I have the plates of the Dunn & Garrett Warblers, their plates with my "post-ums" at the ready. In their introductory they have a list of 11 items to look for which are too many to record for non-stuffed birds, but they are all useful. Even so, some warblers remained unidentified. And as most golfers know, when you're by yourself you don't need a scorecard.
For a long time I have been interested in the feeding patterns of migrating warblers in our woods in Pennsylvania and those in Maine have confirmed my observations that they prefer to forage on the edge of the woods that is exposed to the early morning sun where the insects have started to "wake up." Actually this is true also for the edge of a woods exposed by the evening sun, as there were warblers off our balcony in the morning but none at my daughter's cottage which was only warmed up by the evening sun and warblers came by as I was having my aperitif while launching on the rocks. Another factor may that in both cases the edges of the woods are also the edge of the land along tidal rivers that flow more or less in a southerly direction and the birds collect there rather than cross the water. But on our walks in nature reserves at any time of the day, more passerines were found at the edges of the woods than in their somber centers even when there were former logging roads that served as trails. [August 2012 was a slow month but on the 31st on a walk in the preserve beind Hannaford there were 15 mins of great activity in on the edge of a small former meadow in which there were a few old fruit trees and some low 2nd growth. There were perhaps some 50 birds, among which I identified 9 warblers, incl. several 1st year Cape May and one adult female Canada that lingered in the apple tree under which I sat; this was just a sunny "edge effect"].
Talking about feeding: Looking down from the balcony at high tide one can see the eiders swimming under water as the scour the seaweed covered rocky edge. Sometimes they emerge with a clam; if it's large a waiting herring gull will steal it but small ones the eiders swallow, even those large enough to show a bulge in the duck's throat. Twice a male eider came up with a very small lobster which were difficult to control and once a gull snatched it seemingly right from the duck's beak but the second time, no gull being around, the eider managed to position the lobster so it could swallow it. This what somewhat less elegant than the seal Colette and I watched near the rocks at Monhegan's Lobster Cove: it was lying on its back with a good sized lobster in its flippers; each time it took a bite, it cracked the shell and munched the flesh. From the flailing of the claws it appeared that the lobster survived longer than it would have in a pot of boiling water.
THE MAINE LIST:
(According to an older listing sequence. In most cases the dated listing refers to the first, or only sighting. The May '13 birding trip to Down East & N. Maine not included.))
common loon, almost annually on tidal rivers or ocean
pie-billed grebe, 1970s on icepond near Damariscotta River
manx shearwater, 2005 on whaling trip
great shearwater, 2004 near Monhegan
cory's shearwater, 2005 on whaling trip
sooty shearwater, one on whaling trip, 2012
Audubon " on whaling trip after a long and drenching storm, 8/15/14)
northern fulmar, idem, 2013
d.c.cormorant, daily in cove etc.
great cormorant, regularly on rocky shoals
gannet, annually off Pemmaquid and boat trips, many juveniles
Wilson's storm petrel, annually on boat trips, hundreds in 2014
Leach's storm petrel, 2005 on whaling trip, many in 2014
great blue heron, sometimes in cove, fly overs
little blue heron, 2007 on mud at M's cottage on Back River
common egret, rare, Popham saltmarsh
black crowned night heron, sometimes in wooded swamps
yellow crowned n.h., 8/14/14, 2 (one wounded) in Booth Bay Hbr after the storm
snowy egret, more common Popham saltmarsh
sand hill crane, 2004 fly over rte 1 near Jonesport
canada goose, 2002 on the beach at Popham
mallard, not common, on ponds
black duck, 2004 one with 8 ducklings in the marsh at Jonesport
wood duck, 2005 in overgrown dead arm of a lake B.B.Hbr
green wing teal, 2 few across cove 2012
blue winged teal on pond at Gr. Salt Meadow Farm, Damariscotta, 2012
eider, common in cove etc.
gr. scaup, 2005 3 flying next to whale trip boat
black scoter, occasional fly by on Monhegan trips
turkey vulture, over roads, not common
Mississippi Kite, 8/14/14, on wire (dazed) after the great storm
bald eagle, 2004 Jonesport; '14 over the cove
osprey, breeds around, daily from balcony, 2008 5 fishing "together"
cooper's, occasionally along roads
harrier, 2005 over a marsh along the Sheepscot R. '14 over cove
goshawk, once catching a kingfisher on Damariscotta river 1972, 2x 8/14 coming from interior of Southport Island
sharpshin, once along Rte 1; in 2008, a male, off balcony
broadwing hawk, sometimes at Merryspring, 2000 one flying over with a snake
redtail hawk, 2002 on wire to Popham
kestrel, 2002 on wire to Popham
turkey, 2011, 2x small but different numbers on Popham saltmarsh
ruffed grouse, 2006 in a Audubon Reserve near Freeport
moorhen, 2001 and 2003, on diff. ponds along roads to Reid's Beach
whimbrel, every other year or so at Popham, once a flock of 7
short billed dowitcher, some years in small flocks at Popham, 15+ 2011
redneck phalarope, 2004 a small flock on marsh at Jonesport
knot, most summers at Popham, ca. 20 in 2005
golden plover, 2002, 2005, 2011, mostly less than 6, Popham
black bellied plover, more frequent than above, never together, Popham
piping plover, breed sometimes at Popham or nearby, 6 one year
semi-palmated plover, annually at Popham, ca. 30 in 2011, 2010 1 in cove
kildeer, 2008 at Popham
purple sandpiper, 2007 Monhegan
western sandpiper, very rare among semi-palmated s.p.
least sandpiper, as western
semi-palmated sandpiper, common at Popham, ca. 500 in '14
spotted sandpiper, annually 2 or 3 in cove but none in '14
solitary sandpiper, 2002 Popham saltmarsh, 2010 in cove
curlew sandp., 2005 2 off by themselves in an ebbtide pool at Popham
sanderling, annually in small numbers now, 1971 ca.2000 at Small Point
dunlin, 2007 Popham 1 male++
pectoral sandp. 2010 on mudflat of Sheepscot near M's
stilt sandp. 2010 as above
ruddy turnstone, annually, on rocky shores, not numerous
willet, breeds in Popham saltmarsh or nearby
lesser yellow legs, regular Popham saltmarsh mostly singles
greater y.legs, l970s at low tide on Dam.River.
parasitic jaeger, 2003 Popham, chasing terns above ca 20 fishing seals
Bonaparte gull, annually in small numbers in several places
laughing gull, annually, small numbers, often single
black headed gull, 2005 Popham
ring-billed gull, annually
herring gull, common
lesser black backed gull, rare, 2011 1 among h.gulls on shoals at Ocean Point; in '14 one with a herring gull daily for a week on a seaweed covered rock
gr. bl. b. gull, common
least tern, bred at Popham and again in 2011-'14
common tern, common
roseate tern, on each Puffin Trip
arctic tern, as above
skua, 2012 on whale watch trip
black guillemot, on each boat trip
common murre, 2010, M. took a "blackberry" pict. at footbridge in B.B.Hbr
thickbilled ", Reid's Beach. '2014 in company of a black guillemor
puffin, on Puffin trips to Gr. Egg rock Isl.
mourning dove, annually, not common
barred owl, landed one eve in Oak in front of Balcony
n. saw whet owl, once flew thru oak at Balcony
common nighthawk, 2 almost annually from balcony when ants swarm
whippoorwill, 2013, early one mng on lowest branch of the oak
ruby throated humming bird, annually espec. at Merrysprings; '14 daily of balcony
kingfisher, annually of the balcony
downy, often in oak off balcony
hairy w.p. 2004 Wolfneck St.Pk., 2008 at M's, 2014 in dead oak
y.b. sapsucker, 2014 off balcony
flicker, off and on on walks in the woods
pileated woodpecker, 2004 Merrysprings, often on Nat.Res. walks
"thrale's" flycatcher. 2008 Merrysprings, an alder flyc. at Penny lake
least flyc. 2013 Merrysprings
phoebe, sometimes in oak, annually at Merrysprings
peewee, 2004 Merrysprings calling, 2010 off balcony
great crested flycatcher, 2005, Monhegan
olive sided flycatcher, 2011 Merrysprings, 2014 in oak
red-eyed vireo, 2004 Merrysprings, 2012 in oak
warbling vireo, 2011 off balcony
bluejay, annnually
fishcrow, 2006 on cove
crow, annually around cove, etc.
raven, 2004 Merrysprings
barnswallow, annually, but not common
cliff swallow, annually off Monhegan, on Popham beach
tree swallow, annually here and there
black-capped chickadee, annually
boreal chickadee, 2004 Great Wash, 2014 two off balcony
titmouse, annually
red-breasted nuthatch, frequently in oak and elsewhere
white-breasted nuthatch, as above
brown creeper, 2007 Potter's reserve, '14 off balcony
house wren, 2005 at M's cottage
winter wren, 2005 Merrysprings
carolina w., 2006 from balcony
bluebird, 2006 Merrysprings
ruby-crowned kinglet, occasionally in oak and elsewhere
golden-crowned kinglet, 2005 Merrysprings
robin, common
veery, 2008 in nearby preserve
swainson's thrush, 2004 Merrysprings, 2007 Monhegan
hermit thrush, 2002 in Popham woods, 2004 Jonesport nesting
catbird, annually around balcony
brown thrasher 2014, crossing road in woods
starling, common, but not at balcony
cedar waxwing, 2011 in oak, annually on Monhegan, once 60
bluewinged warbler, 2007 Merrysprings at 5-10ft for 7 mins
tenessee w., 2006 in oak (mini "fall out")
yellow warbler, bred in woods near balcony and appeared in oak, 2008 at Singing Meadows, a female with fledgelings
parula warbler, one on Monhegan seen singing in 2002, 2012 Penny Pond Preserve, off balcony for a week early August '14, a male and a juv.
Chestnut-sided w. 2004 Merrysprings
black throated blue, 2005 Merrysprings, 2006 (in mini "fall-out")
magnolia w. 2004 Great Wash, '14 off balcony
Cape May w. 2012 Penny Pond Preserve
yellow rumped w., 2012 Pemmaquid Pt.
black-throated green w., 2004 Great Wash, 2011 off balcony
black and white w., sometimes in oak, 2007 Merrysprings "groundfeeding"
palm w., 2006 in Oak (in mini-"fall-out"), 2011 off balcony
pine w., 2006 in Audubon reserve near Freeport, '14 off balcony
blackburnian w. 2007 Monhegan seen singing, 2011 of bacony
baybreasted w., 2004 Merrysprings
blackpoll w., 2004 Great Wash, sometimes off balcony
ovenbird, 2005, 2007 Merrysprings
northern waterthrush, 2011 Merrysprings
mourning w., 2006 in hedgerow below balcony; in mini"fall-out,"2011 off balcony
common yellow throat, 2004 Great Wash, 2011 off balcony
wilson's warbler, female, 2011 of balcony, a male at Penny Pond Preserve 2012
Canada warbler, Penny Pond Preserve
redstart, 2004 Barter's Island, 2010 Merrysprings (singing as if it was spring)
scarlet tanager, female, 2011 off balcony, male off balcony singing in '14
rose-breasted grosbeak, 2002, 2007 Monhegan, singing
towhee, 2007 "Singing Meadows"
chipping sparrow, 2006 Merrysprings
fieldsparrow, 2004 Merrysprings
songsparrow, breeds around, often sings
Lincoln sp. 2013 Penny Pond
vesper sparrow, 2004 Baxter's Isl.
white throated sp. 2002 at Merrysprings
savannah sp., 2002 Popham, 2004 Jonesport breeding
Nelson sharptailed sparrow, Popham dunes
Saltmarsh sharptailed sparrow, Popham
junco, breeds around, early mornings on balcony
red wing blackbird, sometimes at Popham
rusty bl.b. 2005 on edge of Sheepscot R.
grackle, along roads occasionally
cowbird, 2011 Singing Meadows
cardinal, sings in garden next to balcony
white-winged crossbill, 2003 Monhegan
housefinch, on wires, breeds at Merrysprings
purple finch, 2004 Barter's Island
pine siskin, breeds in nearby woods, 2007 a fam. in Colby Preserve on Damar.river
housesparrow, in Camden
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