Our first-of-fall SWAMP SPARROW was lurking around the yard on 10/3. 19 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 32 American Goldfinch: 16 Rock Pigeon: 14 House Finch: 10 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Song Sparrow: 5 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 European Starling: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Gray Catbird: 2 White-throated Sparrow: 2 Purple Finc

There will not be a Saturday Morning Birdwalk on October 10th. We'll be back for a good stretch on the 17th, however.

As a great flight was passing over and through Sandy Point Beach, I made the call for Jeannette to bring the group to meet me at the bridge. The Morning Flight was slowing down, but it just felt like the right call today nonetheless. It was. A couple of minutes before Jeannette arrived with the group in tow, a juvenile RED-HEADED WOODPECKER flew by. I was elated, but then the disappointment set in that the group just missed this rarity. But then, the juvenile, almost across t

Our first-of-fall WHITE-THROATED SPARROW showed up at the feeders on 9/26. 19 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 32 Rock Pigeon: 22 American Goldfinch: 16 House Finch: 10 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Song Sparrow: 5 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Eastern Bluebird: 2 White-throa

Zeiss is running a phenomenal sale, starting today to save 20% on any Conquest HDX binoculars. We have 8x32, 8x42, and 10x42 to take a look at! The price reduction is good through October 31st.

Migrants in the yard this week included a BLACKPOLL WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and juvenile YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (which could have been hatched locally) on 9/20. 18 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 32 Rock Pigeon: 22 American Goldfinch: 14 House Finch: 12 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse:

Jeannette met the group at the store to join me at Sandy Point as a great Morning Flight (aka Morning Redetermined Migration) was underway, continuing since sunrise. I pulled myself away from "my office" at the bridge to take over in the parking lot, even though a steady trickle of migrants were still whipping by overhead. A brief overview of what was happening was offered by Jeannette, and then I took over. We caught enough of the tail end of the morning flight to sample wha

1 juvenile RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD was still at the feeders on 9/16. 18 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 32 Rock Pigeon: 22 American Goldfinch: 14 House Finch: 12 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Eastern Bluebird: 2 Song Sparrow: 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 1

1 AMERICAN REDSTART and 1 BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER were migrants in the yard on 9/5. 1 late GRAY CATBIRD fledgling was being fed at the feeders on 9/5. 19 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 26 Rock Pigeon: 22 American Goldfinch: 14 House Finch: 12 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 European Starling: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 3 Gray Catbird: 3 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted T

With a big migration overnight and a property bursting with ripe Black Cherry, I took the birdwalk group home this morning. We got off to a slow start due to the presence of an unseen raptor, and later, a hunting MERLIN, but the second half of the walk showed the yard's true colors. AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES (40+) including adults feeding lots of juveniles and 50+ CEDAR WAXWINGS led the way, 3 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS sparred, and a GREAT EGRET flew by. We heard a still-singing

19 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 26 Rock Pigeon: 22 American Goldfinch: 14 House Finch: 12 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Eastern Bluebird: 2 Song Sparrow: 2 Baltimore Oriole: 1

A gorgeous late summer day with migration of all sorts underway provided a perfect backdrop for some local sampling. We began with a short stroll along Leon Gorham Park here in town, finding a small mixed flock that contained 1 NORTHERN PARULA, 1 AMERICAN REDSTART, and a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. Later, we encountered a migrant NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH and another parula, and we heard a singing CAROLINA WREN. We stopped at some of the fields of Crystal Spring Farm, where we had a d

20 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 26 Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 12 American Goldfinch: 10 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Eastern Bluebird: 2 Song Sparrow: 2 Red -winged Blackbird: 2

We began at Walsh Preserve, where a MERLIN stole the show, perched out in the marsh on driftwood and occasionally making half-hearted hunting attempts. It also seemed to reduce overall shorebird numbers, however, with relatively low tallies of 48 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 11 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 7 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 4 KILLDEER, 3 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and 1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER. Also in the marsh, we had one GREAT EGRET and 9 SNOWY EGRETS, with a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT at the edge. In t

Our pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS was seen feeding its 3rd clutch on 8/15. 24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Sparrow: 14 American Goldfinch: 10 House Finch: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Red -winged Blackbird: 4 Common Grackle: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-

With a low tide on the bay and low water levels on lakes and ponds, we decided to head inland to look for shorebirds today. However, with a light northwest wind overnight, it were passerine migrants and activity that stole the show today. At Florida Lake Park, there were a smattering of passage migrants among the local breeders, included one each of CAPE MAY WARBLER and PRAIRIE WARBLER and 5 BOBOLINKS. Other migratory species some of which undoubtably bred right here, include

24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Sparrow: 14 American Goldfinch: 10 House Finch: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Red -winged Blackbird: 4 Common Grackle: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Song Sparrow: 2

A fun, diverse outing this morning resulted in a nice impromptu shorebird workshop and some other sightings of note. We began at Walsh Preserve, where, despite shorebirds already departing as the tide began to go out, had a solid array of shorebirds, including some really good comparison studies: 48 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and 12 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, ~40 SEMIPALMATED and ~10 LEAST SANDPIPER, 8 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 4 KILLDEER, and each of SOLITARY SANDPIPER and a heard-only PECT

Our trip report for last weekend's annual Spring Monhegan tour is posted here. Birding was slow by Monhegan standards, but we made up for it with some fantastic birds and great looks!

The 20th Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch came to a close (officially) on 5/15. Zane put in a few extra hours on 5/16 since the weather was looking promising. We definitely went out on a fizzle to cap off a well below average year. The cold wet spring and dearth of favorable winds just did not produce many good hawk flights for us. Starting off the season with our 6th ever Golden Eagle on day one was a highlight, as were the American Goshawks, Peregrine Falcons, and Norther