Birding Quoddy Head State Park

 West Quoddy Head Lighthouse 5-30-15

May 30, 2015 was a foggy day at Quoddy Head State Park. My friend, Donna and I and her son Juan walked to see the light house first, then followed a misty trail to the beach before heading off into the fog shrouded forest to look for birds. We found little stone sculptures someone had made all along the trail. Trees dripped with water, moss and lichen. On the trail to the bog we came to a spot that was dripping with warblers! Donna and I stood still for several moments as the little bird zipped by us and landed on the path, unafraid! It was amazing! While we hoped we might see a Boreal chickadee or a Spruce Grouse we were out of luck. Still, this place was so magical in the fog that we were utterly delighted and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I loved this knotty tree!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Black-throated Green Warbler 5-30-15

 

 

 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5-30-15

 

 Boardwalk to bog

 Juan and Donna

 

 

• My eBird Checklist for this location and date

More from Moosehead Lake: Birding Lily Bay State Park

 Golden-crowned Kinglet Lily Bay SP 5-3-15

May 2, 2015: Gus and I arrived in Greenville, Maine in mid-afternoon. I was on a quest to see and bird Moosehead Lake, the place my grandfather loved best on earth. After checking into the Greenville Inn, we drove to Rockwood, Maine to see Mt. Kineo and the place my grandparents went on their honeymoon. I counted the birds there, but discovered that Rockwood was actually in Somerset County. I wanted to count birds in Piscataquis County, one of the two remaining counties in Maine that I did not have an eBird Checklist in yet. Plus, at the beginning of May, there were still only 25 species of birds recorded for Piscataquis County! I wanted to add to that data! So, we drove south back to Greenville, then headed north up the east side of the lake. We had seen signs for a place called Lily Bay State Park. We decided to head there and see what we could see.

It was after 5:30 PM when we turned into the road for Lily Bay. I had no idea what to expect as we drove the paved road through thick forest. I was hoping for a Black-backed Woodpecker, or maybe a Gray Jay, but I was so surprised and pleased when I spotted a Ruffed Grouse feeding along the edge of the road! Gus stopped the car and I rolled down the window and took numerous photos of this grouse. The light was low and I was shaking with excitement but I got my shots! This was my First of The Year (FOTY) Ruffed Grouse. I had not seen one since September of 2006 on Francis Peak in Utah! We stayed in the car and used it as a blind as we continued through the park. It was not long before we spotted a doe and her last’s year’s fawn grazing on the new grass alongside the road.

 Doe, a female White-tailed Deer

 

 This smaller dear I assumed was last year’s fawn.

We came to a fork in the road and took the left arm down to a place called Dunn Point. Though it was early May, there was still ice on the lake, but the clear still water gleamed like glass and reflected the world around us like a mirror.

View of the lake from Dunn Point

 

 A Pine Warbler serenaded me from a tall pine!

 The setting sun cast golden light on the forest.

Across the bay I spotted a duck gliding on the flat surface of the water.

What could it be?

That spoon-shaped bill made it quite clear to me!

I was seeing my FOTY and First in Maine female Northern Shoveler!

 The beach of Lily Bay State Park at Dunn Point

 

It felt so good to be at Moosehead Lake and see the place my grandfather loved.

I do not know if he was ever at Lily Bay State Park, but I can only assume he cruised these waters in his boat. I know he also stayed in Greenville at Wilson Ponds. It is quite possible he and my nana traveled up this east side of the lake as well. However, Lily Bay State Park was only established in 1961, only 9 years before my grandfather died on Moosehead Lake from a heart attack while driving his boat.

As the sun set on Lily Bay we realized it was time to head back to Greenville.

As we were leaving, we suddenly were attacked by the first mosquitoes of the year. They came out at dusk and we encountered then along the forested road when Gus stopped to talk to one of the park rangers about his car. Yes. We were in the Corvette, and every time we saw a bird alongside the road he had to shut it off so I could hear the birds instead of his engine! Still, it was a fun ride, even if that thing is a Pavement Princess! I liked it here so much that we drove back up the next morning after we checked out of our Bed and Breakfast Inn. I just knew there were more birds to see, and I was right!

We went back to Lily Bay and took the right fork to Rowell Cove where I spotted some wood ducks and a Kingfisher this time. Then we traveled back to the fork and went the other way to Dunn Point.

Along the road I saw and heard numerous Golden-crowned Kinglets!

 

Broad-winged Hawk in restroom clearing of Lily Bay SP 

And though I never saw a Black-backed Woodpecker, there were Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers everywhere! They were alongside the road, and in the clearing where the restrooms and showers are. In that clearing I counted at least 4 sapsuckers with males pursuing males as they battled over territory until one chased another in hot pursuit and flew right between Gus and I almost brushing our faces with their wings! They were like feathered bullets!

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5-3-15 Lily Bay State Park

 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as seen from the back.

Notice how well it blends in with the bark.

 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

 Can you see the sapsucker on this tree trunk?

 

Yes, I loved this place!

I counted only 10 species of birds the first night at Lily Bay State Park and counted 19 species there the next morning! Altogether I counted 22 species of birds at Lily Bay State Park and 42 in Piscataquis County! I would love to go back again, and would definitely recommend it as a great place to bird. In fact, I nominated Lily Bay SP to be a new eBird Hotspot and it was accepted! You can explore more about Lily Bay State Park and eBird by following the links below.

Links:

• My eBird Checklist for Lily Bay 5-2-15
• My eBird Checklist for Lily Bay 5-3-15
• Lily Bay State Park-an eBird Hotspot
• In the Footsteps of My Grandfather: Moosehead Lake
• Moosehead Lake-all posts on this subject

 

Salisbury Beach Birding

Common Loon 3-29-15

On March 29, 2015 I stopped by Salisbury Beach State Reservation in Massachusetts on my way home from dropping Gus off to get his new car in New Hampshire. It was my first time out of the state since my surgery in December and my dislocated shoulder in January. I was on my own and by myself and loving it! It had been so long since I have counted birds at Salisbury Beach! In fact, the last time I was here was on January 24, 2012! I was hoping to see a Northern Mockingbird here since I had not seen one yet this year and I often saw them alongside the road on my way in, but no luck today.

This place is so iconic that I thought I had been here several times, but in checking my records, I have only birded here 4 other times when I lived in Andover, MA! So, I was quite happy to be back today, though it was a bit cold and VERY windy!

I started by watching birds down by the mouth of the river where the boat ramp is. The tide was out and some of the marsh was revealed as sand bars and mud flats. It was while I was standing here alongside my car with bins and camera in hand that a woman drove up to me and asked if I knew why so many people were walking out into the march with spotting scopes and cameras. I told her I didn’t know for sure but it might be because there was a snowy owl out there as they are often seen in this location. She looked at me like i was nuts and said, “No, I don’t think they would do that for an owl, it must be a fox or something!” Then she drove off.

I took a photo of a Herring Gull on the pier, then continued on my way to the beach. As I rounded the bend near the backside of the restrooms I noticed a large gathering of people with cameras and spotting scopes all pointed at a tree right beside the road. When I looked up I saw what they were looking at, and it was what I expected. I found a spot to park and joined the birding paparazzi. I wondered if the woman who questioned me was among the onlookers gazing at this snowy owl!

 Snowy Owl, Salisbury Beach State Reservation 3-29-15

My First of the Year and the only Snowy Owl I have seen so far this year!

Down at the beach the waves rolled in, but there were no sandpipers.

 

Great Cormorants gathered on this structure soaking up the sun.

 

Great Cormorants

 

A family of loons drifted down the river mouth towards the open sea.

 

 Young Common Loons

 

 Young Common Loon

Adult Common Loon

In the end I only counted 22 species of birds here on this day but I added 11 species to my Life List for this location for a total of 40 species I have seen here! I guess I need to come back more often!

• Salisbury Beach is an eBird Hotspot
• My eBird Checklist for Salisbury Beach 3-29-15

Notes From My Nest: Hello Again

Mere Point Bay 4-20-15

Hello Again! I know it has been a very long time since you have heard from me. So much has been going on and my Physical Therapy takes up so much of my time. In the past three weeks my daughter has had surgery on her elbow and my son came to visit from Arizona. He brought along my grandson and they stayed with us for a week while we visited family and celebrated Xavier’s birthday. Meanwhile, the snow has finally melted and the migrating birds have started to return! I feel like a person let out of jail for it is finally warm enough and dry enough to get out and go for walks!

Family 4-22-15

In spite of being so busy, I have managed to go birding in a few places. I birded the Brunswick Town Commons on April 17^th. No one had counted birds there since I had last fall, but on this day it seems another person decided it was finally nice enough to count birds and we both submitted eBird checklists for that day! While I only counted 12 species there in the almost two hours I walked the trails, I did get to see my Lifer Red Crossbills! No, I did not get a photo because they were too quick for me. One of the birds got out in the open at the top of a small pine tree but when I raised my camera for a shot it and the other birds flew off deeper into the pine forest.

Brunswick Town Commons 4-17-15

My Physical therapy is progressing well, but never as fast as I would like. I can now raise my arms above my head and out to the side, but am still having trouble getting my left arm behind my back. I don’t notice this too much until I try to tie my apron on. I am not in pain most of the time but once in awhile I feel a small twinge. At this point, it does not keep me from doing most of the things I want to and I almost feel normal, but it will be awhile until I get my strength back. We cannot work on building strength until we regain more flexibility.

Every day that I go to my Physical therapy I usually count birds in the parking lot. My physical Therapy is located next to the New Meadows River and sits on a small hill overlooking a valley and a ridge. Thus I have been able to witness firsthand the return of the Ospreys. I have seen them flying over the valley with fish and nesting material in their talons.

I have also been birding at Reid State Park, Popham Beach and Scarborough Marsh. I am so behind with all my photo processing that it could be awhile before I have pictures to show you! But the good thing is, the birds are returning!

The dock is finally back in the water on the New Meadows River 4-3015

I have had Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Pine Warblers in the yard. I have seen greater yellowlegs down at Wharton Point. Red-winged Blackbirds, common Grackles, and brown headed cowbirds have all returned, along with starlings and sparrows. I have had Savannah sparrows, song sparrows and white-throated sparrows all in my yard, along with Fox Sparrows back in March. The Woodcocks also returned in March but I did not get to see or hear them as much as I did last year as it was much colder this year. No warm, misty nights to stand in the yard and watch their displays. I did poke my head out the door a few times and hear their calls and wing beats, but it was too dark to see them and none seemed to fly right over my head like they did last year, except for one evening when I opened the door to let Gus in with a load of groceries and a bird flew right over his head in the light of the back door!

Below is a photo montage of events and places over the past month or so. I hope to get some more bird photos up here soon!

On April 9th there was still snow and I counted 36 Bohemian Waxwings in these trees on Brunswick Landing!

On April 12th I counted 17 species at Reid State Park.

One of the trails on Brunswick Town Commons 4-17-15

My footprints on a footbridge at Brunswick Town Commons

 Charlie Brown forgot his Christmas Tree 4-17-15

(seen alongside the trail on Brunswick Town Commons)

 Trail sign on Brunswick Town Commons 4-17-15

 Finally some Flowers in my yard!

 

 My precious grandson, Xavier 4-20-15

 Teaching Xavier to bird 4-20-15

 Popham Harbor 4-21-15

 The Androscoggin River at the Brookfield Recreation Area 4-24-15

(I saw my First of the Year Spotted Sandpiper at this location on this day!)

 Saying good-bye: Father and Son

 Saying Good-bye: Mother and Son

Poem I Wrote: A Seaside Goodbye to My Son

Scarborough Marsh 4-26-15

 Pine Point Beach 4-26-15

 

Gus and I took a ride to Winslow Memorial Park in Freeport on Tuesday night. While I knew it was an eBird Hotspot, I had never been there yet until this night. What a pretty place. The wind was pretty fierce, so I did not see many songbirds, but the water was full of Common Eiders!

Oh, and this is the car we were riding around in!

Gus just got the windows tinted on this day so we had to take a ride to check it out!

As we drove back into town on Pleasant Street in Brunswick there was such dramatic storm lighting that I kept snapping pictures through the windows of the car. We even saw a rainbow!

Cormorants on the Rocks at Sawyer Park in Brunswick, Maine 4-30-15

After whining about not being able to see many birds in the first part of this year, I am finally up over 100 species for the year! However, this still pales in comparison to the 126 species I saw in all of January last year before I moved away from Tucson! Here are my current stats and a comparison of species I have seen each month. You can easily see the huge spike in bird species in April and I only expect May to get even better! One of my birding goals this year is to count birds in every county in Maine. Currently I only have one state where I have counted birds in every county, and that is Connecticut. While Connecticut has only 8 counties, Maine has 16. I have counted birds in 14 of those counties. Piscataquis County and Washington County are the two I have yet to tackle. It is my mission to get to them both before this month is over!

2015 Bird Species Totals	Life	Year	Month
January	479	53	53
February	479	60	55
March	479	70	58
April	480	107	98

 

Meanwhile, the Month of April was National Poetry Writing Month and while I tried my best to write or publish a poem every day, things just got too hectic, but, if you are interested, check out my poetry blog, Kathie’s Poet Tree to see all my latest poems! Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog and saying Hello whenever you can!