I had arrived at the tail end of migration yet again. The minute I saw Blackpoll Warblers, I knew the game was over. My quest for Bay-breasted and Cape May Warblers would have to wait for another day.
How does one say gaudy in Maine-ish?
But that didn't stop our grand adventures. Birding around Maine is as scenic as it gets in the US. However, the bugs were relentless. Black flies, mosquitoes and ticks were in full force. And I thought Wisconsin was bad. Maine, besides maybe Florida, beats most of the states for crazy bug attacks. Although, I've heard Alaska is a nightmare in summer. They say bird along the coast, but honestly, the coast was just as bad.
Broad-winged Hawk
Between the odd and fantastical, we discovered many incredible birds together. I loved seeing several bird species better. Several were on my list of "must see again".
As Kathie and I both explored beautiful spaces near her home, we observed many birds singing and moving about branches.
Blackpoll Warblers are one of the last warblers to migrate
Many birds were setting up territories.
Bobolink males call and set up their territories
And between the constant attack of the blackfly, I was able to get off a couple shots here and there. It's no wonder why warblers love Maine. There's plenty of food for them there:)
Then an amazing thing happened! I was able to get wonderful observations of a bird I had only seen briefly ONCE, the Scarlet Tanager.
When they are breeding, they are super difficult to observe. Luckily we hit a fantastic observation window where they were still moving and calling out in the open. I not only got to see this bird once but MANY times. We even rescued an injured one!
Purple Finches are wonderfully colored and were in good numbers everywhere we went.
A finch dipped in raspberry jam, the Purple Finch
Vireos made me cringe. They all sound similar. My job was to find a Philadelphia Vireo and separate it from the Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos in the area.
A pair of Red-eyed Vireos
Some birds are super tricky. I had some work ahead of me. Every day we went out and counted birds.
Even though the migration was coming to an end, there were still a lot of great warblers out there.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
A Veery popped out into the open.
Veery
The exciting shrill, "Free Beer!", of the Alder Flycatcher made us smile.
Alder Flycatcher
The picturesque Cedar Waxwings posed often in budding Apple Trees.
Cedar Waxwings
Baltimore Orioles collected cattail fuzz for their nests.
female Baltimore Oriole
Gray Catbirds appeared from behind our backs always watching us from the shadows.
Gray Catbird
Black-throated Blue Warblers were loudly calling inside the forests.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
And this Ruby-throated Hummingbird fiercely protected his feeder from other hummingbirds.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The electronic warble of the Bobolink was a common sound among the wildflower tinged grasses.
In short. It was nice revisiting several bird species that I don't get to see often in Arizona. Once we finished our first sweep of the common birds, we began our journey for the harder ones. And those stories will be told over the next several weeks. So until next time, use some bug spray:) This wet and cold summer of the North has arrived.
During our Wisconsin adventures, it came time to find Gordon his first ever Whooping Crane. A great place to see these birds is at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.
Whooping Crane
On a rainy day, we drove the wet roads and had killer views of a nesting pair foraging along the waterways. You may notice the tracking devices on the legs. This is an endangered bird which is very much like our California Condor in Arizona. It is tracked and monitored across the US during migration.
But unlike the Kirtland's Warbler, it doesn't have the same type of security and monitoring because there are two separate populations(the Western and Eastern flocks) in the US.
And like the California Condor, these cranes almost went extinct. Thanks to conservation efforts, their population has slowly grown over the decades. With continued support, perhaps this crane will one day cloud the skies like the Sandhill Crane!
And what's a place without an awesome visitor's center? I really liked their set up here. Great displays, comfortable furniture in front of big windows with bird feeders, a boardwalk nearby, friendly park rangers and a gift shop!
I snapped a shot of this blanket and kinda wished I had purchased it. But I think it was up for auction so I just snapped a shot of this beautiful quilt work. I did however purchase a stuffed Whooping Crane for my office:) In the background, my Dad chats away with Gordon. My sister looks like she wants to fall asleep:) I realized that on this trip, my parents are both night owls. Me on the other hand? Not so much. I'm an early riser. Staying up past 9 PM is way too late:)
Anyhow, back to Necedah. I had never been to this place. But there were lots of great wildlife stops around the area! So we toured Necedah and surrounding towns. Restaurants were not so good. I wish we would have packed a lunch for this trip. We were excited about trying out the Little Crane Cafe but were turned away without a reason. We were a little bummed out. The owner has since apologized. Part of the birding fun is trying out new places to eat. And that did not happen on this day.
Indigo Bunting
While at the refuge, we had beautiful views of Indigo Buntings and a Yellow-throated Vireo.
Yellow-throated Vireo
The vireo can be tricky to spot since it likes to hang out high in the canopy of trees. We heard plenty in Wisconsin, but I think I only saw it once! And here is that one time:)
Another tricky bird that is very vocal but difficult to see is the Least Flycatcher. It wasn't a lifer for me but it was the first time I had a decent visual of the bird.
Least Flycatcher
And of course a photo:) Its' vocalizations are fast and make it an easy flycatcher to ID.
We headed to the Buena Vista Grasslands afterwards. While the heat and humidity were a bit intense, we had a great time finding lots of wonderful birds.
How beautiful is this Grasshopper Sparrow below? What a treat to see this bird out in the open! Usually they are secretive and hiding in the grasses! In Arizona, they are very tricky!
Grasshopper Sparrow
It's interesting to note that this subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow is lighter with a bit more yellow color tone. In Arizona, our subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow is darker, streakier and richer in color.
The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow-from a banding project two years ago
^^The above pic shows the dark colors of the Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow. The pic below is the more yellow and lighter Wisconsin version.
After the grasslands, we went to the Sandhill Wildlife area to finish off our birding adventures. What a lovely area! Although, there were plenty of ticks and deer flies to keep us on our toes!
Black-billed Cuckoo
These pics were exciting but I lost a lot of blood to get them. Hey, I guess that's part of the fun. What's not part of the fun? Leaving your car windows open for all the bugs to enter.
Veery cool!
It was exciting to see a Veery up close. It's not everyday we get to see these birds.
One of the warblers that I didn't know much about, the Golden-winged Warbler, was present in this location in good numbers. It was a lifer for both of us and a very good looking bird. This warbler is in trouble due to habitat loss and the hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. If you look closely at the pic, you'll see a band around the bird's leg. It's another warbler of concern.
Golden-winged Warbler
We had a successful time out. Gordon found both rare birds, the Kirtland's Warbler and Whooping Cranes. When I go birding, I always have a strategy in mind. We find the rare or endemic birds first. Everything else will fall into place. News came to us at a late hour, but apparently, a Whooping Crane was only ten minutes from my parent's house! What??!! So we drove to the location. Sure enough! There it was!
I leave you with one of our nesting Whooping Cranes at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.
And if you're in Texas or going to Texas, you need to check out this video on the Whooping Cranes(the Western Flock). Until next time......
Posts
