A Few Birds in Norridgewock

 An Eastern Phoebe on its nest 6-7-15

Over the course of the summer we visited Norridgewock, Maine several times. My in-laws have a returning pair of phoebes that nest on their garage which I am always happy to see. They also put their feeders out over the summer, but take them in again in the fall before the snow flies because it is too hard for them to get to them through the snow. When we were there 2 weeks ago I was sad to see them down already. Since they live farther inland, they have yard birds that I usually only see passing through on migration. Here are just a few of the species I saw this summer with names and dates seen posted beneath each photo.

 Female Purple Finch in front. Rose-breasted Grosbeak behind.

 American Robin 6-7-15

 

 Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak 6-7-15

 Red Squirrel 6-12-15

 Eastern Chipmunk 6-12-15

 

 Male Purple Finch 6-20-15

 Indigo Bunting (front) Mourning Dove (behind) 6-20-15

Whenever I am in Norridgewock, I try to do some birding at Oosoola Park.

On July 10th, I saw the following birds there.

 Bald Eagle flying over the Kennebec River 7-10-15

 Eastern Kingbird on a wire 7-10-15

I often find Kingbirds here in summer.

Frequently I find Kingfishers and ducks in this back cove.

On this day there was a family of ducks swimming in the shadows and hiding behind this fallen tree. But eventually they emerged and I had my first Wood ducks for this location!

 Wood Ducks at Oosoola Park 7-10-15

There were more ducks in the river as well.

If you look closely at this picture you can just see a few mallards at the line where the water meets the trees!

Closer to me at the boat ramp and dock more mallards and a couple of American Black Ducks swam up begging for food. A mom with kids obliged them! Yes, bread.

 

 Mallards and American Black Ducks looking for more food.

 

 Meanwhile the kingbird watches.

 

Note: I am gradually getting caught up with all my summer photos with new bird photos to come soon. By the time you read this, I will be returning from a trip to Colorado where I met up with my friend, Chris Rohrer! Won’t I have more stories to tell then! Currently my 2015 Year List is below 200 at 183 species. Perhaps I can get it above that number on this trip! I will let you know soon!

Brunswick Town Commons

 Common Yellowthroat 7-9-15

Brunswick Town Commons is a town Nature Preserve located on Route 123 or Harpswell Neck Road in Brunswick, Maine. It is a mixed forest with lots of Eastern White Pine as well as mixed hardwoods and a Pine Barrens. Trails run off in several directions and some lead to nearby neighborhoods. There is a loop trail I like to hike, but often I will just grab my lunch and go sit at one of the picnic tables near the parking lot and watch birds for about 20 minutes. This past summer I was only able to get there about two or three times. I brought my friend, Donna Simonetti here when she visited me in June, and I went back to bird watch again in July.

 In June we found a large patch of Lady’s Slipper’s in bloom!

Farther down the trail we heard Blue-headed Vireos calling. We strained our necks to look up into the crowns of some very tall pines and finally spotted the birds briefly before they flew off again! When I go birding at Brunswick town commons, I never know what I will find, though usually I can count on seeing Chickadees, titmice, red and white breasted Nuthatches, and often Hermit Thrushes or Crows. If I time it right, I usually have the place to myself, but late in the day the runners start coming through. It is their favorite place too!

 

 

 In July I found this Chipping Sparrow in a pine.

 But this was the first time I had seen a hairy Woodpecker here!

 Common Yellowthroat with a Daddy longlegs 7-9-2015

I also found a whole family of Hermit Thrushes, but I could never get one to turn around for me, so all I got were tail shots!

 Young Hermit Thrush with down 7-9-15

Links:

• My eBird Checklist 6-4-15
• My eBird Checklist 7-9-15
• Brunswick Town Commons is an eBird Hotspot
• Brunswick Town Commons-(all posts on this subject)
• Town of Brunswick Trails
• On Finding Monument E-Bowdoin College Article 11-11-2011       (a brief history of The Commons)

 

 

Another Walk Along the Androscoggin in Spring

 The Androscoggin River Bicycle Path in Brunswick 5-8-15

May 8, 2015: After writing last week’s post I decided to take another walk along the Androscoggin River Bicycle Path with Gus on Friday afternoon. We decided to start from the north end of the trail, which has a parking lot off of Grove Street near Cook’s Corner. The trail itself is just over 2 1/2 miles and runs from Water Street at the south end in Brunswick, to Grove Street at the north. Parts of the trail run right alongside Route 1 and in the photo above you can see how it is squeezed between the highway and the river. It certainly has changed since the snowy pictures in the post below this!

It was a gorgeous day for a walk and it felt so good to get out in the spring air and sunshine. It felt good to walk and move my limbs and my body. I did not bring my Nikon, but simply enjoyed the birds and my husband’s company. I did not see many birds at first, but it became more active as the afternoon waned and drifted towards evening and sunset. At first, the only bird I saw was a small brown thrush-like bird is a wooded section of the trail just after we crossed the pedestrian bridge at the north end. The bird was in the shade alongside the trail and at first I thought it might be a robin. However, once I looked at it through my bins I could tell it was not a robin, even though it was backlit and its back was to me. I knew then it was another of the thrushes, but I needed to see the head and chest to figure out it it was a Hermit Thrush or a Swainson’s Thrush. I made Gus stop on the trail while I tried to creep closer for a better look in better light. Suddenly Gus warned me there were other pedestrians coming and they weren’t stopping! Just then the bird got into a patch of sunlight and turned 3/4 of the way towards me and I could see it was a Veery! It was rusty brown above with no contrast between the tail and back and no eye ring or “spectacles.” The faint spots were limited to the upper breast, unlike the other thrushes. I have only seen a Veery out in the open once before! Dang, how I wished I had my camera now!

Here is the Veery I saw in Andover, MA in May of 2012:

 Veery, Andover, MA 5-6-2012

You can tell the Veery is quite different than the Wood thrush and Hermit Thrush pictured below.

 Wood Thrush in Central Park 5-18-2012

Note the large, dark spots covering the breast and belly.

 Hermit Thrush in my Brunswick backyard this winter 1-18-15

Note the contrasting rufous tail with the olive colored back and the dark spots limited to the upper breast. Note also the complete and obvious eye-ring.

 Birch Bark Beauty!

While many of the trees were still without leaves, or just blooming with their tiny spring flowers, the white bark of this silver birch was so striking against the blue sky and blue river! I just had to stop and admire it!

 Blue Skies between the branches of a silver birch!

 

While we were standing at this bend in the river, we observed several osprey fishing in the cold, rushing water. I was amazed at their ability to plunge into the cold depths and come of with wet wings and a fish and start flying again. sometimes I would see them struggle to reposition the fish before gaining control and flying off to feed. At one point I saw all 5 osprey at the same time!  Initially, when I saw one osprey catch a fish and fly off across the highway to the east, suddenly a Bald Eagle appeared out of nowhere and went in hot pursuit of the osprey! I could tell it wanted to steal the fish, but I never saw how that contest turned out as the birds flew out of sight beyond the trees.

I just loved the view of the river through the branches of this birch tree!

 

By the time we had reached this section of the trail we had walked over 1 1/2 miles. We walked just as far as that bunch of pine trees there and I counted several Savannah and Song sparrows in this grassy section. I was hoping to find a few warblers or woodpeckers in the pines, but it did not happen. It was on the walk back that I started to see robins, cardinals, blackbirds and even a Black-and-white Warbler after crossing the pedestrian bridge.

Back near the parking lot the May flowers were in bloom. I love these delicate spring flowers that only grow in the highly acidic soil of the northeast. Also called bluets, these little beauties are only here for a brief time before they are gone.

After my birding here on Friday the birds seen at this location increased from 36 to 44! Since then another birder has birded here and added Belted Kingfisher as the 45 species for this location! Thanks, Delia! Despite the traffic, this is a good birding location.

Links:

• Androscoggin River Bicycle Path is an eBird Hotspot
• My eBird Checklist for this location on 5-8-2015
• Androscoggin Riverwalk-previous post
• Veery Photos from my Andover Backyard May 2012
• Town of Brunswick Androscoggin River Bicycle Path
• Topsham Androscoggin Riverwalk-I will have to check this section out next! Topsham is in Sagadahoc County while Brunswick is in Cumberland County. The Androscoggin River is the border between these two counties in this location.

 

Mere Point Yard Birds in Two Seasons

 Junco and Cardinal in snow 1-4-2015

Winter Birding in my yard is often viewed through through windows.

The waters of Maquoit Bay have long ago frozen over for good.

 

House Finches still fill my treetops.

 

Occasionally I still see a female Purple Finch or two.

 

White-throated sparrows were everywhere in Autumn,

but gradually their numbers dwindled. I now only see one occasionally.

Juvenile Cedar Waxwings were as thick as autumn leaves on October 24, 2014, but their numbers have dwindled as well. The most I have seen recently is five birds, but I know they will return. I had two adult birds in the yard today.

Last November I had this juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk in the yard.

 

By December 1st we had some of our first snow and our last Red-winged Blackbirds!

The White-breasted nuthatches are here year round!

 

And the crows like to hang out in the Sentinel Tree by the driveway!

 

It took me awhile to get use to feeding meal worms to the birds. I hate the look and smell of them, but the chickadees and titmice love them, so I hold my breath and fill the feeders with a canning jar funnel so I don’t have to touch them! Occasionally I see the nuthatches eating them as well. In this cold winter with such deep snow, the birds really need the protein!

Black-capped Chickadee at one of my feeders 12-21-14

 

Mourning Doves in the treetops 12-21-14

 

Female Hairy Woodpecker on apple tree by driveway 12-21-14

 

I moved the meal worm feeder and the finch feeder to this location by the driveway for the winter. I remembered that last year it was hard to get to the feeders on the side of the house and I knew I would not be able to shovel a path to that location this year. This proved to be a wise decision, for little did I know then how deep the snow would get this winter.

In summer I hung a hummingbird feeder here, but with the approach of winter, I exchanged the nectar feeder for a finch feeder. This feeder is located right out my back door across the driveway in an easy access location.

I was thrilled when the Common Redpolls showed up in January!

 

But so did the woodland hunter, who stalked the forest like a ghost.

 

The birds fed on berries in the thickets, like this Happy Hermit Thrush 1-18-15

But the Cardinal was wiser and more wary.

 

By January 21 we had just a bit of snow and a few Common Redpolls.

The grass was still visible and it was still easy to get around the yard.

January 25 it was still easy to get in and out of the driveway!

But then the snows came.

And the bitter cold.

The snow started to pile up! 1-28-15

 

It got deeper and deeper 1-31-15

 

Soon I had to move the finch feeder from the hook to the bush by the edge of the driveway. I could not climb over the snow bank, and the bird bath disappeared into the ever deepening snow! The snow took its toll on everyone, and hunger made the birds even more desperate and more bold.

So it was not surprising that during a snow storm I looked out the window to see a young Cooper’s Hawk dining beneath my feeder. I know this is the way of the wild but I was a bit sad that it ate my Happy Hermit Thrush! The Hermit Thrush’s hunger made it careless. The Cooper Hawk’s hunger helped it to hunt. Hunger drove them both to this end result. It is the way of Nature.

We had even more snow on this past Sunday, but it didn’t last long.

It was my birthday, so Gus took me out for breakfast and birding along the coast of Maine. We stopped at the Wild Birds Unlimited of Portland, where I spent the gift card a friend gave me for my birthday. Gus chipped in a few bucks as well and I was able to buy everything I wanted! I was so thrilled. After birding Biddeford Pool for the very first time (a future post), we drove home in sunshine and warm temps.

It was almost dusk when Gus mounted this new feeder platform on the pole for me. I had wanted one of these for a very long time but since moving this feeder to this location I had noticed the birds did not use it as much. I use to have the other bird feeders over here as well but I moved them to the side of the driveway for the winter as the yew tree I hang them from gets too weighed down with snow in winter. Once thing I  have learned from all this bird feeding is that the birds like to feed near each other. I guess it is because of that old adage, there is safety in numbers.

With the addition of the feeder platform, the birds are visiting this feeder once again! They just love it! I have had whole flocks of finches on it already, as well as Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and woodpeckers! However, I am guessing it will be mobbed by blackbirds when spring migration begins! And really, that is not too far away now! Just a few more weeks, right?

Are You READY FOR SOME BIRDING!

 Red-tailed Hawk above the trees in my yard 10-13-14

Current 2015 Stats	Life	Year	Month
Species Seen	479	60	55
Checklists Submitted	7531	154	70
Mere Point Cottage yard birds	111	40	28