Maine Outdoor Journal

This was the pre-Halloween scene outside the store window on Friday, as captured by Jeannette.


This gorgeous adult Red-tailed Hawk snagged a vole somewhere near our garden area, and alighted on top of the telephone pole immediately in front of the store to dine on its lunch. Quite a few folks coming into the store – including representatives from Swarovski – were treated to stunning up-close-and-personal views. The bird really did look good through those new Swarovski EL’s!

Light to moderate south to south-southwest winds continued from Friday through Saturday, along with scattered showers, precluded any migration overnight. Here’s the 12am radar image, showing what ABSOLUTELY NO bird migration looks like!


With rapidly increasing winds during the day, fog, and drizzle, I became much less disappointed in the cancellation of the pelagic trip. 8-foot seas and 25 knot winds would NOT have been fun!

Our Saturday morning birdwalk – reinstated with the cancellation of the pelagic – proved fruitful however, as we twitched the Long-billed Dowitcher in the Cousin’s Marsh (the first of this species ever on a Saturday morning birdwalk, I believe) followed by a visit to Dragon Field which yielded, among other things, crippling views of 8 Snow Buntings. Meanwhile, a truant female Red-winged Blackbird showed up at the store’s feeders.

And, the good day was topped by a last minute 81-yard touchdown pass from freshman Tom Savage to Tim Brown as Rutgers snatched a victory out of the hands of defeat against our archrival UConn! Although we are 6-2 on the season, two of those winds came against I-AA opponents, so we are not yet bowl eligible, but after losing to both Cinci and Pitt, the UConn win was critical.

Anyway, south to southwest winds continued through nightfall, with very strong gusts (some over 40mph!) and showers as a cold front approached. Although the winds had shifted to the west (and then northwest) shortly after midnight, there was enough rain in the area to preclude much, if any, migration.

I decided on a change of scenery for the morning, so I met Doug in Dresden at the Green Point Farm Wildlife Management Area. It was actually my first –finally – visit to the place, and although it was fairly slow overall today, I can definitely see why this place can be so good. About 75 Red-winged Blackbirds were in the fields, 2 Wilson’s Snipe flushed from the marsh, a total of 21 Horned Larks flew overhead, and at least 50 American Robins were in the orchard.


While walking back through the orchard, we heard a half-song of something very oriole-like. Then, I caught a glimpse of an oriole whiz by, and we went running after it. We eventually did track it down, and despite only getting mediocre looks, concluded it was indeed a Baltimore – but still a darn good bird for November 1st.


I then continued on to the mouth of the Abagadasset in Bowdoinham (450+ Green-winged Teal) and walked Brown’s Point Road (one Rusty Blackbird), before heading to North Yarmouth to enjoy some goosage.

At Thornhust – between 10:40 and 11:35am, a number of us were treating to crippling views of the three Pink-footed Geese in the pasture immediately east of the farm buildings. The birds were in and out of the gully, but when visible, were well seen within about 75 feet of the road.












I was surprised to tally only 276 Canada Geese however (and while I did not see the Cackling, it was apparently present but hidden from me in the tall grass of the wet swale that we were looking towards) in total at Thornhurst, and not a single goose were along Greely Road.

I had my concerns about geese leaving on this morning's favorable winds, and the overall low numbers of Canadas certainly suggest that many birds did indeed depart. Luckily, the Pinkies are with us for at least a little bit longer. Many folks have inquired as to "how long they might remain?" To avoid jinxing anything, I will not stick my neck out with such prognostications, but this late in the season, overall goose numbers ebb and flow considerably on days and nights with favorable conditions, but the LAST of the geese - which last year did include our Barnacle - remain until the first snowfall or thereabouts.

But now that it’s November 1st, it is officially “rarity season,” so hopefully the Pink-footed Geese are just start of the Rarity Fever festivities. During my recent visit to NJ, I had even more trouble leaving due to the upper-level wind patterns that looked prime for producing rarities. Other than the (record?) early Cave Swallow and Ash-throated Flycatcher - which no doubt arrived on those extensive southerly winds - it seems that the only other southwestern rarities in the Northeast were Western Kingbird in Cape May; Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, and Cave Swallow in NYC/Long Island; a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Northern NY; Cave Swallow and Western Kingbird in Connecticut; Allen's Hummingbird in Mass; and perhaps the Fork-tailed Flycatcher (which was reportedly killed by a cat) in New Brunswick. (I'm sure I missed a few reports, however).

Not a bad haul overall, but I would have expected a little more based on the extent of the southwesterly flow. My guess is that it just didn't turn cold enough afterwards and the northwesterly winds were just not that extensive to concentrate vagrants at the coast. Plus, it was still fairly early in the “Rarity Season.”

However, we're in the midst of another nice, broad, and strong southwesterly flow, originating from Texas (and probably Northern Mexico). Here’s the upper-level wind map that demonstrates that:


With a good, strong cold front on its way, the scenario is setting up nicely. I wish it was going to be getting much colder behind the front, but the timing is prime.

So, what could be out there? We do our annual Rarity Roundup here on the southcoast of Maine next weekend - maybe THIS will be the year we actually get a rarity! Stay tuned!