Well, that was unexpected. And incredible! Only very light snow and little wind encouraged us get out and about this morning, and with so little open water in the immediate area, it seemed like a good time to do our "Tour de West Freeport" where we try and find 20 species in the depths of winter within Freeport, but only west of I-295 and therefore without looking at open water. That was the plan anyway. Beginning at Florida Lake, we encountered expectedly few birds, but our

19 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 European Starling: 24 House Sparrow: 12 House Finch: 10 American Goldfinch: 10 Northern Cardinal: 7 Mourning Dove: 6 Dark-eyed Junco: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 6 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Purple Finch: 1

Yes, with a starting temperature of -4F, we went to the frozen tundra of Winslow Park. But with close to no wind, the opportunity to view a large number of waterbirds in close proximity to to the still-open point was too good to turn down. And besides, it did rise all of the way to 14 degrees by the time we departed. On the walk out, Michael spotted something furry in a crow nest, which turned out to be a pair of snuggling RACOONS! In the sun, fur fluffed, and face tucked, th

16 CEDAR WAXWINGS were flying about the yard on 1/28 - first of year. 21 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 European Starling: 24 House Sparrow: 12 House Finch: 10 American Goldfinch: 10 Northern Cardinal: 7 Mourning Dove: 6 Dark-eyed Junco: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 White-throated Sparrow: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch

Sometimes I wonder if I have created a monster. Why would people show up for a birdwalk on a morning with a windchill of at most -15F??? Oh right. This is why. But with dangerously cold temperatures, I had to be creative...and stay inside. So I went back home. I mean, our house was designed for viewing birds from comfort afterall! So, our small group parked in front of our viewing windows and let the birds come to us...while shedding layers! We spent an hour and 15 minutes v

20 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 European Starling: 24 House Sparrow: 12 House Finch: 10 American Goldfinch: 10 Dark-eyed Junco: 9 Northern Cardinal: 7 Mourning Dove: 6 Eastern Bluebird: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 White-throated Sparrow: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Song Sparrow: 1

Dead calm conditions made for perfect viewing of waterbirds at Winslow - comfortable, too! - especially when the light snow came to an end. It was just a delightful morning at the park! Of course, the highlight as always were the BARROW'S GOLDENEYES here, with 3 males and 1 female being spotted today. One of the drakes was fairly close, but the other three were at the "identifiable" distance. The pair was among 60 COMMON GOLDENEYES, which made for a nice comparison. LONG-TAIL

20 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Eastern Bluebird: 8 Dark-eyed Junco: 8 Mourning Dove: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 White-throated Sparrow: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Song Sparrow: 1

20 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Eastern Bluebird: 8 Dark-eyed Junco: 8 Mourning Dove: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 White-throated Sparrow: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Song Sparrow: 1

20 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Eastern Bluebird: 8 Dark-eyed Junco: 8 Mourning Dove: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 White-throated Sparrow: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Song Sparrow: 1

20 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Eastern Bluebird: 8 Mourning Dove: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 White-throated Sparrow: 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 Carolina Wren: 1 Song Sparrow: 1 Dark-eyed Junco: 1

Expecting much stronger winds than we encountered, we sought the shelter of the Town Landing Tour, traveling between Freeport and Falmouth, focusing on winter waterbirds. While we had some respectable tallies today, two moments really stood out. The first was a group of a dozen frisky LONG-TAILED DUCKS off of the Harraseeket Yacht Club that were displaying and establishing the pecking order right off the end of the pier. Long-tailed Ducks are often quite vocal, but this was a

A GREAT BLUE HERON was spotted traveling south over the store on 12/12. 22 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Mourning Dove: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Eastern Bluebird: 5 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 White-throated Sparrow: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker: 1 Red-breasted

Winter is here, but we took advantage of the calm to enjoy waterbirds, visiting Broad Cove in Cumberland. Landbirds were fairly sparse, with 3 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and 2 NORTHERN CARDINALS on the way down, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER both to and fro, but at the end of the point, a nice pocket of activity that included about 20 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, 8 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, great looks at 2 BROWN CREEPERS, 2 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, 2 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and 1 DOWNY WOODPECKER. Do

Our first AMERICAN TREE SPARROW of the season showed up on 12/5. 22 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 45 House Sparrow: 24 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 European Starling: 12 Mourning Dove: 6 Eastern Bluebird: 5 American Crow: 4 Blue Jay: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Northern Cardinal: 4 Tufted Titmouse: 3 White-throated Sparrow: 3 Hairy Woodpecker: 2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker: 1 Red-breasted Nuthat

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