Maine Outdoor Journal

In Wednesday’s blog, I was lamenting about how this recent storm is negatively impacting birds and birding. Today, I will talk about how this storm can benefit birding – at least in the case of seabirding.

On Wednesday afternoon, Josh, the Naturalist aboard the Odyssey Whale Watch called me to report that they’re seeing “a ton” of shearwaters and fulmars offshore, “You want to get out here,” he told me, as Wednesday was particularly active. With the persistent onshore flow, birds and their food sources are being pushed closer to shore.

Therefore, on Thursday, my friend Mike Freiberg (in town on business; he’s the Birding Markey Specialist for Nikon) Jeannette, and I (we had an extra day off as it was Dan’s “test run” at running the store since we’re taking a short trip this weekend and will be out of touch for most of it. Yippeee!) boarded the Odyssey and headed offshore.

Winds were light out of the south, the skies were clearing over land, and the seas were only about 2-4 feet. In fact, we were concerned that it was “too nice” out, as a little more wind would get the birds flying (shearwaters often simply loaf on the water when there’s no wind) and would keep the fog away.

Well, we hit the fog bank less than 5 miles offshore, but we trudged through it. As we cruised around the edges of various ledges looking for whales, we came across raft after raft of birds, and many birds were materializing out of the fog to check out our boat (no doubt hoping that we were fishing), providing awesome photographic opportunities for Mike and Jeannette. It was really one of the best days on the water that I've had out of Portland, especially for close-up seabirds without the use of chum!

Here's the tally:
162 Wilson's Storm-Petrels
110 Greater Shearwaters
32 Sooty Shearwaters
21 NORTHERN FULMAR (by far my record high for summer, and this was a very conservative count)
10 Northern Gannets
2 LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS
1 Common Loon

1 Ocean Sunfish (FOY)
2 Minke Whales
2++ Harbor Porpoise

And, here are some photos from Jeannette.
Greater Shearwaters:






Northern Fulmars:




Sooty Shearwater:


Wilson's Storm-Petrel:




Mola Mola


The aforementioned fog bank:


And, finally, there was the “1 Unidentified Passerine.”
This bird came in from the fog, while we were about 18 miles offshore. I originally called it an Ovenbird, but then we decided it was actually a thrush, and I called it a Hermit Thrush. Mike was under the impression that it was a Wood Thrush, as I later found out. After reviewing Mike’s photos, I am confused! Hermit Thrush, Ovenbird, or something else?




The shape of the wings, the short tail, and the long bill suggests Ovenbird to me, but the breast looks much more spotted than streaked. I think the underparts look better for the thrush, but the face looks better for Ovenbird. Note that the exposure of the photo is effected by shooting straight up into dense fog. I also think that the tone of the bird was affected by this. However, Mike thought it was “warm-brown” above, like a Wood Thrush, while I was thinking more “olive” like an Ovenbird, or perhaps the “olive-brown” of an eastern Swainson’s Thrush. What about the minima subspecies of Gray-cheeked Thrush? Ugh, I just don’t know, although I am going back to my original shooting-from-the-hip call of “Ovenbird.” (That’s not really a pale rump, right!?) No vocalizations were heard, and our impression of size is worthless due to the effects of the fog. Comments are requested and appreciated!

Anyway, on our way back in, the fog bank had pushed up right against the edge of Casco Bay, but as we rounded Whitehead, there was little more than blue sky ahead of us! What was that big shiny, warm, bright thing in the sky!?

Earlier in the day, I had taken a stroll around Hedgehog Mountain Park. A Green Heron was making use of a storm-produced large puddle, and this lucky find was my 140th bird for The Hog! Also, there was definitely a slight resurgence in bird song, especially from the earliest nesters (such as Pine and Yellow-rumped Warblers and Brown Creeper), as some of these birds begin to re-delineated territories or attempt to attract new mates for their second round of nesting.

Meanwhile, a weak trough was approaching, so our sunny skies did not last long. Scattered showers and thunderstorms popped up overnight and into Friday morning. As I arrived on Friday morning at the Kennebunk Plains, a strong thunderstorm had just passed through, clearing out the dense fog, and soon providing a bright blue sky and rapidly warming temperatures (until an approaching cold front began to trigger some very severe thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening).

My main goal was to relocate, and perhaps confirm breeding activity with the two Clay-colored Sparrows that Jeannette and I found earlier this month. Unfortunately, I could not locate them today. I have been trying to get out here for weeks now, but travel, tours, and weather have precluded that. Maybe I’ll confirm breeding next year.

However, I still had a great morning, as Grasshopper Sparrows were particularly vocal, and Upland Sandpipers were particular conspicuous. Here’s the tally of local specialties:
28 Prairie Warblers
23 Vesper Sparrows
23 Savannah Sparrows
20 Field Sparrows
13 Grasshopper Sparrows
8 Eastern Towhees
7+ Upland Sandpipers (up to 5 in the air at once).
7 Eastern Meadowlarks
4 Brown Thrashers
3 Bobolinks
1 Indigo Bunting

Then, it was over to the Sanford Sewerage facility. The Eared Grebe that Jeannette and I found early this month is STILL present, making for a heckuva summer-time “Mega” twitch for those who have yet to visit it. Just as remarkable, are the continuing Ruddy Ducks here – and they’ve gained one, as a second hen has joined the three males!

Not surprisingly, the ridiculous quantity of rain of late has filled the facility to capacity, so there was no shorebird habitat (even the locally-breeding Spotted Sandpipers were having trouble finding a place to land). A quick check of the nearby Sanford Groundwater Protection Area also failed to yield any shorebirds other than Spotted, so it was off to work I went.