Birding in Vacationland

For Memorial Day, I birded one of my favorite states in the Union.  Maine.  I always refer to the Union when I talk about Maine because of its history.  Maine became its own state as part of the Compromise of 1820 to create a balance between the Slave-Holding States and the Free States.  Its motto, Dirigo, means 'I Lead' and lead it did!  But that's the topic of a different blog.  Maine is called Vacationland and there are times that the name fits.  For me, there's always a tension between being on vacation and being a birder on vacation.  I want to get out and see the sights and birds, but then, after a stressful school year, all I want to do is sleep.  Sleeping of course takes time from birding.  The rainy, drizzly weather helped make some decisions for me because it allowed me to wait for better light to see the birds.

Birding Maine was great.  Lots of sounds and old forests to look for birds.  The two best spots I'd recommend include Morse Mountain and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.  These two sites offer great insights and examples of Maine's Ecology and Environments.  Morse Mountain has a rich diversity of habitats for birds from swampy/marsh wetlands to beach/shoreline to dense forest/conifer forest.  The Botanical Gardens also offered a variety of habitats.  Warblers aplenty at the Botanical Gardens as well!  The only thing I'd recommend is more time in Maine!

Links:
Morse Mountain - Link
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens - Link

Glossy Ibis

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

A Classic Maine Scene

2013 Year List: 225
Olive-Sided Flycatcher (Lifer)
Blackburian Warbler
Willow Flycatcher
Common Eider

Life List: 308

February, More Feeder and The Brown Creeper

So once again, home improvement thwarted any adventurous birding outings.  I did however managed to take a walk around my local neighborhood.  There were a ton of birds out despite the late hour and the biggest surprise was a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  They had disappeared for a few weeks and I was excited to see them again.  I was happy to walk around despite the cold.  Ducks and swans were hard to ID as the ice-free part of the local lake was too far and the sparrows were all too happy to stay beneath the brush cover.  But I managed a few Nuthatches of both local kinds and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  My favorite sighting of the day was a Brown Creeper though.  I love these birds.  Their camouflage is unique and their presence is always fun.  While they lack an elegant flight pattern, I do love the way the seem to glop on to any tree in search of food.  Always makes for a good time!  So I post a picture of a Brown Creeper for your weekly Blog post!  Home Renovations are taking a break so birding is back on!  WHoo hoo!

Brown Creeper (C) Alan Vernon

2013 Year List: 64
Newest Addition: Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Myrtle's)

In the Red... Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Being buried in work and also extremely cold weather meant that I got to spend more time with my feeder.  I've been having a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches come by and it is a delight to see.  I've been enjoying my peanut feeder for all the birds it brings in.  I can easily spot Juncos, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and both White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatches.  I am excited for what my feeder will bring when the migration season begins.  I've already seen an rise in sparrows and even hawks near my feeder.

This Red-Breasted Nuthatch has been visiting my feeder for 3 months now!

(C) Me

2013 List

63 (House Finch)

2013!! and more Owls...

I've done a lot of thinking about my goals for 2013.  Last year, I set a goal of adding a 100 birds to my life list and having a year list of 200 long.  Well, I beat both since I got 254 for the year and about 251 for the year.  A nice padding for the crossing the bar.  I was thinking that for 2013 I would set a couple of different goals, which I will outline below:

Life List Goal at 300
I recognize that this may be the easiest goal to meet but given that I can't go chase every new rarity, I think it is good to be modest while still setting a high goal.

Year List Goal at 200
This is a repeat of my goal last year.

I am also going to set some very specific goals:

I want to do at least 2 pelagic trips.  Note that I am and will be counting Whale Watching trips (which my wife loves) as such trips.

I am also targeting a few specific birds: Parastic Jaeger, Barnacle Goose, Canada Warbler, Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and a Bobolink.  While a interesting mix to be sure, these are just birds that I would like to see!

Some of you will notice that Northern Saw-Whet isn't on the list.  That's because I got it early this year!  What a Great pick up!  Some Birders helped me out and I am so excited to be able to see this sweet, yet vicious bird of prey.  Click the Photo below for a bigger shot!

2013 Birds: 24 (176 to go!)
Life List: 255 (45 to go!

A Hurricane and New Feeder

While I may have dipped on the birds that Hurricane Sandy brought in, I did get a new feeder.  It was a squirrel proof Peanut Feeder.  Before Sandy Struck, Birds were going crazy getting food and getting ready to hunker down before the storm.  We were lucky as the storm had only knocked out our power.  The storm, as the news has broadcasted, has caused massive devastation in the neighboring states.  The storm brought in a wide array of birds and walking through my favorite parks made it easy to see the damage the storm did.  I managed to find a couple of Kestrel, A Leucistic Wren and a Laughing Gull.  But the real success lately has been my new feeder.  Its bringing in a great collection of birds.  I've had a Red-Breasted Nuthatch come to my feeder for a few days in a row and I snapped a few pictures of him below.  I've also had Tufted Titmouse, BC Chickadees and all sorts of sparrows and finches.  My suet feeder is getting, starlings and woodpeckers and I hope that I can keep getting good birds.

Reports are that the Tundra had a bad season so lots of winter birds will be hitting areas more southern than usual...  Gonna be a fun winter!

Life List:
224
Fox Sparrow!