The Southern Maine Coast
September 12 - 16, 2021
 | The bird of the trip was a Great Cormorant loafing on Nubble Lighthouse Island, just 25 yards off shore. Actually I didn't discover the bird until I was looking through our photos of a large flock of loafing cormorants. One looked odd. It was larger. It had white on the side of its face. It was indeed a Great Cormorant. They are regular off the Maine coast but not common. |
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The Silver medal goes to a small group of White-winged Scoters flying low past the Audubon East Point Sanctuary cliffs. They were distant birds not discovered, once again, until looking through the photos.
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Another good bird was the Vesper Sparrows we saw at Kennebunk Plains. We don't ever see them at home so it was fun seeing them.
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We were glad and surprised at how common Merlins were up there this time of year. We saw the first one before we were in Maine an hour, jetting around the shore as though it were a swallow.
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Finally it was fun to watch two Wild Turkeys walking in front of our car in the parkling lot in the early morning as we started our morning trip. Unfortunately our cameras were packed in the trunk so we couldn't get any pics.
We have been to the southern Maine Coastal area several times because there are so many great hotspots within an hour drive. We've been all over the country and its hard to find a place where you can stay for 4 days and have a top notch spot to go to every day.
Here's a list of all the birds we saw in approximate chronological order:
1. Helmeted Guineafowl 2021-09-12 Rte. 9 just W of I-89, Merrimack, NH.
2. American Crow 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
3. Chipping Sparrow 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
4. Common Eider 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
5. Double-crested Cormorant 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
6. Gray Catbird 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
7. Great Black-backed Gull 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
8. Herring Gull 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
9. Wood Duck 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
10. Mallard 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
11. Merlin 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
12. Mourning Dove 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
13. Northern Mockingbird 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
14. Red-bellied Woodpecker 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
15. Ring-billed Gull 2021-09-12 Fort Foster, York, ME.
16. Great Cormorant 2021-09-12 Nubble Light, York, ME.
17. House Sparrow 2021-09-12 Nubble Light, York, ME.
18. Belted Kingfisher 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
19. Common Yellowthroat 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
20. Eastern Phoebe 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
21. Great Blue Heron 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
22. Great Egret 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
23. Least Sandpiper 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
24. Northern Harrier 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
25. Savannah Sparrow 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
26. Song Sparrow 2021-09-13 Scarborough Marsh, Cumberland, ME.
27. Black-bellied Plover 2021-09-13 Pine Point, Cumberland, ME.
28. Rock Pigeon 2021-09-13 Pine Point, Cumberland, ME.
29. Semipalmated Plover 2021-09-13 Pine Point, Cumberland, ME.
30. Semipalmated Sandpiper 2021-09-13 Pine Point, Cumberland, ME.
31. Snowy Egret 2021-09-13 Pine Point, Cumberland, ME.
32. American Black Duck 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
33. American Goldfinch 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
34. Black-capped Chickadee 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
35. Bonaparte's Gull 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
36. Greater Yellowlegs 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
37. Laughing Gull 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
38. Northern Cardinal 2021-09-14 Marginal Way, York, ME.
39. Wild Turkey 2021-09-15 Holiday Inn Express Biddeford, York, ME.
40. Cedar Waxwing 2021-09-15 East Point Sanctuary, York, ME.
41. House Finch 2021-09-15 East Point Sanctuary, York, ME.
42. White-winged Scoter 2021-09-15 East Point Sanctuary, York, ME.
43. Vesper Sparrow 2021-09-15 Kennebunk Plains WMA, York, ME.
44. Yellow-shafted Flicker 2021-09-15 Kennebunk Plains WMA, York, ME.
45. Blue Jay 2021-09-16 RCNWR--Carson Tr, York, ME.
46. Pileated Woodpecker 2021-09-16 RCNWR--Carson Tr, York, ME.
47. White-breasted Nuthatch 2021-09-16 RCNWR--Carson Tr, York, ME.
