Friday, March 6, 2015

Autumn at Mere Point Boat Launch

1. Mere Point Boat Launch-kab Mere Point Boat Launch 12-21-14

It’s been a full year now that I have been monitoring and counting birds at the Mere Point Boat Launch in Brunswick, Maine. I first suggested it as an eBird Hotspot shortly after moving here in February of 2014. It has been exciting to seen the list of birds at this location grow, and even more exciting for me to share it with friends. I loved having Chris Rohrer bird here with me last summer. Since then other birders have come and added to the data. We are currently up to 100 species for this location, of which I have seen 96, and I can only hope more species will be added as the birding continues! Here are just some of the species I observed last fall, along with the seasonal changes.

October 2014

2. boats in the bay-kab Leaves were starting to turn, and there were a few boats still moored in the bay.

 

3. cormorant-kab Double-crested cormorants still glided through calm waters.

 

4. song sparrow-kab Song Sparrows still foraged on green grass!

5. geese-kab Canada Geese take wing 10-12-14

November 2014

6. 11-13-14 low tide-kab Low tide in the bay exposes the golden eel grass on the rocks.

7. 11-13-14 common eider-kab A female Common Eider paddles off the point 11-13-14

8. 11-13-14 preparing to winterize-kab Winter preparations are underway and the buoys have been pulled from the water 11-13-14.

9. 11-13-14 horend grebes in casco bay-kabI spotted the first Horned Grebes down where Mere Point Bay joins with Casco Bay 11-13-14.

10. 11-13-14 cat-kab I was not happy to see this domestic cat walking across the boat launch area since I know how many sparrows and finches are still around! Domestic cats belong indoors and not out hunting song birds!

11. 11-29-14 barriers-kab Just 2 weeks later the barriers were up and we had snow 11-29-14!

12. 11-29-14 dock gone-kab No more walking out on the floating dock!

They remove this for the winter. It will be reinstalled in the spring.

13. 11-29-14 LTDU-kab Long-tailed Ducks flying over the bay are another sign of the coming winter!

14. 11-29-14 ducks and geese-kab Hundreds of ducks and geese are in the bay far across the water where I cannot identify them all!

15. 11-29-14 geese in bay-kab But it’s easy to identify these Canada Geese!

16. 11-30-14 blue jay-kab I went back to count birds the next day and found this Blue Jay…

17. 11-30-14 blue snow-kab …and this blue snow! 11-30-14

18. 11-30-14 restrooms-kab The parking lot still sported a melting layer of slush in front of the out houses and information boards. 11-30-14

19. 11-30-14 snow fall-kab It was starting to look like a bleak November day.

20. 11-30-14 AMCR-kab As always, the sentinel crow was there to keep an eye on things!

Soon Winter would come and change the boat launch even more.

21. 11-29-14 geese and ducks-kab Ducks and geese in the bay 11-29-14

10 comments:

  1. Hi Kathie, the boat launch looks like a great place for birding.. Wonderful sightings of the ducks, geese, grebes and eider.. Have a great weekend and happy birding!

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    1. It is a great place. thank you Eileen! I hope you had a good weekend as well!

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  2. Good for you, Kathy, for your initiative in establishing the Mere Point boat Launch as an e-bird hotspot! I certainly enjoyed your series of photographs documenting some of your sightings.

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  3. All your sightings at the boat launch (except the cat) are wonderful, Kathie! I'm hoping to add more eBird hotspots to my area this spring/summer. Right now, there are three. Thanks for joining me for Feathers on Friday!

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    1. priairebirder, good for you! Finding new eBird spots is fun, but even more fun when you see others start to use them!

      It was fun to participate in Feathers on Friday as well.

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  4. Those are lovely scenes Kathie and so many pretty birds. I'm looking forward to getting some bird photos again.

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    1. Denise, thanks for stopping by! I look froward to seeing your bird photos as well!

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  5. I love your cormorant picture, so pretty. Great post of the passing seasons.

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Welcome to my nest! I hope you will enjoy spending time here with me and the birds. Thank you for your comments. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get back from counting more birds.