I came by Denny’s house at dawn and we took the short trip to Fort Foster. There were a fair number of migrants around, but the only Catharus thrushes we could find were a couple Hermits. So we made it a brief stop and headed up to Green Point Farm Wildlife Management Area to try for the Bell’s Vireo. While en route an e-mail came across the listserve that said the Vireo was seen well at 9 AM that morning. Although it was good news that the bird was still around, Denny and I both realized that if we had gone straight to Green Point Farm we would have been there at about 9, and maybe could have had a good chance to see the bird with other birders. On the bright side, the new posting had much better directions than the one from the day before (see location at the end of this blog). So maybe that was a blessing afterall.
When we arrived at about 11:30 we easily found the location listed on that morning’s e-mail. As soon as we got out of the car we realized that we were in an area full of acres of low brushy habitat which seemed ideal for a Bell’s Vireo. And the area was full of birds. As we unsuccessfully combed through the sparrows and warblers flitting through the brush we both realized that finding the Vireo might be a “needle in a haystack” proposition – just so many birds and so much habitat. But a few minutes later I got a brief and partial view of a small yellow-green bird. Sure seemed like it could have had the right fieldmarks, but the sighting certainly was less than satisfactory. We stayed in that same spot for a while but didn’t see the bird again. So we moved a bit farther down the path to look through another flock of birds. Just then the Bell’s Vireo popped into the open as it foraged low in the brush. We both got great views of the bird off and on for 5 minutes though we kept our distance so as not to harass it. A couple photos are inserted below, blown up a bit since we were pretty far away for my 500 mm lens. As we walked back to the car, Denny and I both said we were surprised to have found this bird and felt very lucky to have added this extreme rarity to our Maine lists. Plus, it turns out that if it hadn’t been for the 9 AM post we would have gone to the wrong location, so stopping at Fort Foster first turned out to quite advantageous.
Maine is my second New England state for Bell’s Vireo (see my statebird map below). Otherwise the map pretty much matches this species’ normal range in the Midwest and the Southwest.
It was only Noon, and we had our key target. So what do we do next? I suggested heading down to Portland’s Evergreen Cemetery to try for some migrants. After a short drive we arrived at the back of the cemetery and began to walk along the paths through the woods seeing very few migrants. But things picked up and we started to find pockets of late warblers. And as we turned one corner near the edge of the cemetery I got a glimpse of a Catharus thrush on the ground. Several brief glimpses were inconclusive for an ID, but then it hopped up to a low perch and I got satisfactory views of a Gray-Cheeked Thrush! Second new statebird for the day. The state map for my Gray-Cheek sightings is pretty spotty – it’s not an easy one to find in migration in much of its range.
That evening after I got home I checked the listserve and saw a late post of a Wheatear seen earlier in the day on the coast in Kennebunk. We drove right past Kennebunk on the way home – if we had only known. So early the next day I was back out trying to add a New England statebird. I arrived at the location and found several birders already there with the bird in their scopes. Can’t be easier than that. I got some pretty good phone-scoped photos of this very cooperative bird. Although the second photo is a bit fuzzy, it shows the white base of the tail.
Maine was my fourth New England state for Wheatear, which is a regular fall vagrant.
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