From: "Linda Woodard"
<lwoodard@MAINEAUDUBON.ORG>
To: <BIRDEAST@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
Subject: [BIRDEAST] Maine Bird Alert 1/28/04
Date: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 4:05 PM
Name: Maine Audubon Bird Alert
Date: January 28 2004
Area: State of Maine
Number: (207) 781-2332
Compilers: Steve Pollock and Kay Gammons
Transcriber: Maine Audubon (birdalert@maineaudubon.org)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
A HERMIT THRUSH was seen in the woods near a home in
Bowdoin Center.
An out of season TURKEY VULTURE was seen in Acadia
National Park along
Ocean Drive, just a little before Sand Beach.
A SNOWY OWL was seen in Clinton along the Hinckley Road,
about 1/2 mile
east of the Poverty Flats airport. It has been there for
over a week and
a half--maybe longer.
AMERICAN ROBINS are being seen all over the state from
York to northern
Maine.
York County
A pair of NORTHERN PINTAILS was seen at high tide close
to shore, along
the road before the Old Coast Guard House (now a very
fancy house) at
Biddeford Pool. Other birds at Biddeford Pool included 26
BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS, 1 BALD EAGLE, 1 COMMON RAVEN, and a GREATER
SCAUP.
A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen in Biddeford.
Greater Portland and western Maine
The SHORT-EARED OWL is still being seen from the
Lighthouse Motel
parking lot at Pine Point in Scarborough. Also at Pine
Point there was a
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 1 GLAUCOUS GULL, and 3 WHITE-THROATED
SPARROWS.
Thirteen HOODED MERGANSERS were on the limited amount of
open water at
Scarborough marsh. At the Willowdale area of Scarborough
there were 30
CEDAR WAXWINGS and 15 TURKEYS.
A BALD EAGLE was at Spurwink and a few COMMON REDPOLLS
were along Scott
Dyer Road in Cape Elizabeth. Four WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS
were at a
feeder. A NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen along Allen Avenue in
Portland.
A 4th-winter plumaged (extra smudging on head and dark
smudge on bill,
but otherwise "adult" plumaged) LESSER
BLACK-BACKED GULL was present on
the ice off the Eastern Promenade. Most of the gulls are
hanging out on
the ice near the yacht club marina on the north side
(east of the B&M
Baked Beans factory), opposite the Eastern Prom. Birds
can be viewed
from the Prom, but depending on where they are sitting,
and how, they
may be difficult to sort through. Alternatively, someone
was able to
view most of the gulls very well from the north shore, at
the end of a
small dead-end road. From 295 North:Take Washington Ave
North exit.
Under 295, and make first right at the light. Right at
blinking light
onto Kensington. Travel back under 295, take soft left,
and drive to end
of short road to view ice. From 295 South:Take Washington
Ave North
exit. From off-ramp, take first right. Straight through
light
(Washington Ave), and continue as above. A CAROLINA WREN
was near the
University of New England campus in Portland.
A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was eating berries in shrubbery
behind Island
View Apartments, North and Walnut streets, in Portland.
A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was on the University of Southern
Maine campus in
Gorham.
In Hiram along Durgintown Road there were approximately
70 BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS near the Intersection with the Porterfield Road.
A RUFFED GROUSE was in Bridgton.
Forty seven BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were in Harrison.
Near Rangeley Plantation along South Shore Drive
sightings were: 12
Common Redpolls and 3 Pine Grosbeaks.
Midcoast
Two GLAUCOUS GULLS were seen along the waterfront in
Bath.
In Georgetown this week there were 2 PINE SISKINS, 1
COMMON REDPOLL, and
a RUFFED GROUSE.
Between 100 and 150 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen in a yard
in Belfast.
Another report from Belfast noted a HOARY REDPOLL, 50+
COMMON REDPOLLS,
1 PINE GROSBEAK, 5 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, 1 TREE
SPARROW, 4-6 PINE
SISKINS, and a SONG SPARROW. A third report from Alto
Street noted 162
BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and at least 4 PINE GROSBEAKS.
A BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was down at the Belfast walk bridge.
Near the old
bridge along Route 1 in Belfast there were 3 BARROW'S
GOLDENEYES.
There was a flock of 30 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS gorging on
berries in the
shrubs alongside the corner house at the intersection of
Bagaduce and
Coastal Roads ("Walker's Corner") in Blue Hill.
Elsewhere in Blue Hill
there were approximately 50 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS in a spruce
on Rt. 172
about 400yards south of the entrance of Parker Ridge
Retirement Village.
At another time at the Parker Ridge Retirement Community
in Blue Hill
there were 2 PINE GROSBEAKS and 1 BOHEMIAN WAXWING.
Out on Monhegan there were 8 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 25 PINE
SISKINS, 6
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, and 2 SONG and 1 TREE SPARROW.
In Sedgewick there were 116 COMMON REDPOLLS at a feeder
along Pertville
Road.
Eastern Maine
Fifty BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were in Southwest Harbor.
Nine SNOW BUNTINGS were found in the dune grass down at
the Point of
Maine in Starboard, which is south of Machiasport along
Rte. 192. Also
of interest were the 17 PURPLE SANDPIPERS tallied at the
Point of Maine
in Starboard. The Chokecherry trees at the Machias
Savings Bank yielded
one female PINE GROSBEAK. At another time there were 106
BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS and 4 CEDAR WAXWINGS at the Machias Savings Bank
in Machias
just before sunset. On the University of Maine Machias
Campus there were
a small flock of 7 COMMON REPOLLS near the President's
House in the
center of campus. A feeder along Rte. 192 also contained
about 18 COMMON
REDPOLLS.
A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen in Prince Cove in Eastport.
Later we
received a separate report of two PEREGRINES along a
beach also in
Eastport.
There were 5 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS seen in Danforth,
Washington County. The
birds were feeding on a flowering Crabtree near the
Machias Savings
Bank.
Central Maine
A flock of ten BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were at the old Mid
Coast Hospital on
Baribeau Drive in Brunswick (now part of Thornton Oaks)
in Brunswick.
Also, the open water on the Androscoggin River between
Brunswick and
Topsham produced a BALD EAGLE, COOPER'S and SHARP-SHINNED
and RED-TAILED
HAWKS below the old Bowdoin Mill.
COMMON REDPOLLS were in Turner.
On Lower Capitol Street in Augusta there was a NORTHERN
FLICKER adjacent
to Kennebec River RailTrail/Augusta Sanitary District
Plant. A mixed
flock of approximately 250 Cedar & Bohemian Waxwings
were feeding on the
crab apple trees in Capitol Park. Of these 225 were
BOHEMIANS.
There are now over one hundred common Redpolls coming to
a feeder
station on Pushaw Lake in Hudson
Eleven PINE GROSBEAKS and 2 EAGLES were in Bangor.
Northern Maine
The list from Houlton included a few HORNED LARKS, 50
COMMON REDPOLLS, 3
PINE GROSBEAKS, 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, and 30 MOURNING
DOVES.
It was another brutally cold week with temperatures well
below average
for this time of year. Several daily high temps were
below zero again
this week. No precipitation fell and high winds blew open
areas clear of
snow. Very little open water remains in the area. Lots of
birds around
the feeders! Good numbers of ducks were seen at Caribou
Dam. Sixteen
Common Goldeneyes were seen here as well as 5 Common
Mergansers. A
Common Merganser was also seen in small stretch of open
water left at
the Presque Isle Stream Dam in Presque Isle.
A single first winter Great Black-backed Gull was seen
huddled on the
ice at Caribou Dam. Gulls are very rare in the area after
December.
An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk was photographed in Castle
Hill. An adult
Northern Shrike was seen in downtown Caribou. Pairs of
Common Ravens are
being seen regularly.
An albinistic Black-capped Chickadee was reported
in Caribou.
As in the rest of the state, Bohemian Waxwings have made
a big showing
this week in this area. Flocks of 50+ were seen in
Caribou and Ashland
and smaller flocks were seen in Woodland and Presque
Isle.
An influx of Snow Buntings appears to be the result of
the recent cold
weather with small to mid-size flocks seen frequently
throughout the
area (Woodland, Caribou, Limestone, Mapleton, Perham,
Presque Isle and
Castle Hill).
Evening and Pine Grosbeaks and numbers of Common Redpolls
are still
regular at the feeders. Other common birds at the feeders
in Woodland
are Red and White-breasted Nuthatches, American Tree
Sparrows, Blue
Jays, Black-Capped Chickadees, Mourning Doves, Downy and
Hairy
Woodpeckers.
For Birdeast archives, and to join, leave, or change
address, see:
http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdeast.html