Shorebirder

Today all my efforts would go to finding a Spruce Grouse. My strategy, courtesy of Al Maley of New Hampshire, would be to enter the park as early as possible and slowly drive the same 4 miles of habitat north of Nesowadnehunk Campground at which I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon. Al's strategy made good sense...this way you cover more ground than walking, you can use your car as a blind, and the grouse often come to the roadside early to dust-bathe, grit, and feed. I entered the park at its 5am opening time. By the time I traveled the 17 miles to the campground, it was about 5:55am. Along the way the only thing I stopped for was a deer with young fawn in the middle of the road. My first pass through the habitat, heading north, took nearly an hour. No grouse yet, but singing Fox Sparrows, Bay-breasts, and Blackpoll Warblers were good to hear again. I was focused on the grouse, so didn't leave the car to view these birds. On my way back south, at about 7:15am, there was a m...

The fine mist from the day before had continued through the night, but was more intermittent this morning. So I headed to the Burnt Land Road at Square Lake with high hopes of finding the American Three-toed Woodpeckers that had been around for the past several weeks. I started down the woods road and quickly had a 'che-bunk'ing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and a Lincoln's Sparrow in full song. I proceeded very slowly, stopping every few steps to listen for woodpecker rapping and scanning the ground for Spruce Grouse. There was a good amount of birdsong from the expected species in this habitat, such as RB Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, both kinglets, Swainson's and Hermit Thrushes, Nashville, Magnolia, Palm and Wilson's Warblers, White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Plus a single Boreal Chickadee. About 1/4 mile down the road I heard my first few raps from some trees on the right. It didn't take long to locate a woodpecker just a few feet off the g...

I awoke early on Monday morning to the sound of falling rain. A quick call into the puffin captain confirmed that the day's trip to Machias Seal Island had been canceled. It seemed the rain would last through the morning at least. I decided to get more sleep, finally leaving the motel around 9am. The rain was still falling, fog was rolling in and out, and there were even rumbles of thunder here and there. not pretty weather I headed toward the Boot Head Trail in Lubec, a well-known location for Spruce Grouse. I don't know whether it was the weather or the time of day, but I dipped on the grouse. I figure any self-respecting Spruce Grouse would probably be taking cover, whether on the wet ground or in a dense conifer. Other birds keeping me entertained were Palm Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, and 2 Boreal Chickadees. After a few hours, soaking wet at this point, I cut my losses and decided to drive to Caribou. scenery on the drive through Aroostook County Driving north took a f...

I began my ride north Saturday afternoon following the disappointing USA-Ghana match. The good news was that Sunday's boat trip to Seal Island had filled and the weather looked perfect. We awoke in Belfast, ME to a waterfront view and the sounds of yodeling Common Loons. A 75-min drive to the dock in Stonington, where we found more birders waiting. In all, 8 of the 10 passengers were birders...a nice ratio. Our captain was incredibly friendly and was willing to do whatever he could to put us in position to see the Red-billed Tropicbird that was again summering in the area. We left the dock and meandered between several inshore spruce/fir-laden islands (not much of a botanist...) including Isle au Haut. Black Guillemots and Common Eider were common, as were Harbor Seals. offshore rocks with Harbor Seals As we approached Seal Island, Wilson's Storm-petrels became more common and two Manx Shearwaters were spotted. At the island itself, we were treated to Atlantic Puffins, Razorbil...