Monthly Archives: June 2020

Sedge Wren in Maine

I like to photograph every species of bird we see and right now my count is at 557.   Four years ago Ingrid and I were birding in Texas and we briefly saw a Sedge Wren moving through the tall grass.  Unfortunately the bird quickly hid and we never saw it again . . . […]

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Atlantic Puffins

COVID-19 and bad weather have worked together to limit the off shore birding in Maine this year.  Finally yesterday a Puffin and Whale cruise out of Boothbay Harbor was scheduled and actually held . . . and Ingrid and I were on it, with masks and hand sanitizer at the ready. The cruise was out […]

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Canada jay

Every birder has a White Whale . . . a bird we waste countless hours trying to “get” and always end up disappointed. Ours is the Canada Jay (also called Gray Jay, Whiskey Jack, Camp Robber, Lumberjack, Meat Bird, Venison Hawk, Moose Bird, Gorby Bird and Gooney Bird). To add insult to injury, Alpine Skiers […]

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Yellow-breasted Chat

Today’s adventure in the Maine woods was a quest to find a Yellow-breasted Chat seen yesterday morning in Thomaston, Maine. The location, near the Thomaston Airport was familiar to us as Ingrid had sighted our first Northern Shrike there, some three years ago. Up at 4:30, I arrived an hour later just as Eddie Edwards, […]

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Tricolored Heron

  Off and on this spring, a Tricolored Heron has been seen in the saltwater marshes south of Portland, Maine. Rarely seen north of the Carolinas, the TCN is a real catch. Unfortunately, this particular bird is not very cooperative. One day he’ll be in the Spurwink Marsh in Cape Elizabeth; the next day at […]

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Virginia Rail

A couple days ago I thought I saw a couple Virginia Rails fly up out of some reeds at Great Salt Bay . . . a near by birding spot.  It was a brief glance, would have been a lifer and I decided not count them and try to confirm the sighting later. This morning […]

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Piping Plover

What a week of birding I’ve had!!!  I took a few days off to enjoy the end of spring migration before all the birds are on their nests. On Thursday I saw a Saltmarsh Sparrow and its closely related cousin, the Nelson’s Sparrow in Scarborough, Maine. On Friday, I hiked to the top of Saddleback […]

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