Surfbird, Biddeford Pool, ME, March 2015

Yes a Surfbird in ME!  Not only was this the first record for ME, but a first record for New England and maybe only the second ever record on the Atlantic coast.  What’s a Surfbird doing in ME?

The first post came through late Saturday afternoon – a 3 PM sighting from the rocks on Eastern Point sanctuary in Biddeford Pool.  Not surprisingly the observer was a bit skeptical of the ID, even though he got good views of the bird and photos.  A search at dusk that evening was negative, which certainly was more than a bit disappointing.  But since this bird’s preferred feeding areas were likely affected by the tides, the Surfbird may have just been feeding on rocks at a different portion of the peninsula during the search at dusk. 

I really wanted the bird to still be around.  And I really wanted to see this bird!  The challenge was I had family commitments in Worcester for most of the day on Sunday.  But if the bird was seen again on Sunday, and if I could break away by mid-afternoon, I could still get to Biddeford Pool by about the same time and tide it was seen on Saturday afternoon. 

Sunday morning I packed my gear in the car, and crossed my fingers.  During the family event I kept watching my e-mail, and sure enough the bird was re-found in the early morning.  Now I needed to be able to break free in time.  Luckily I was free by 1:45, and was quickly on the road.  On the way I got a call from Denny Abbott who had seen the bird around lunch time, and he gave me micro-directions to the spot where it was roosting with some Turnstones.  I arrived at 3:45 (yes I drove faster than I should have), hopeful that the bird was still around since there had been no posts since mid-morning.  Several birders were leaving as I got out of my car and they confirmed the bird was still being seen at Denny’s spot, and other birders were still on it.  The stars were aligning…

After a vigorous 5-minute walk I could see a couple birders up ahead with scopes.  With heart still pounding, I caught up with them and they pointed out which rock the Surfbird was on.  But it had been out of view for a while (it hadn’t flown away, had it?).  They suggested going to a different vantage point to get another angle on the spot – another birder was there with his scope trained down on the rock in question, so I was hopeful.  Two minutes later I was standing with that birder.  I could see several Turnstones but nothing else.  Then a larger, plump, gray bird walked into view – it was the Surfbird – acting as if it were on tidal rocks on an Oregon coastline.  I got several phonescoped photos of the bird, including these two shots –

Surfbird was #336 for my ME list and #1,997 for total ticks in New England.  This one sure wasn’t on my list of expected New England birds.  ME was my fourth state for Surfbird (see my statebird map below) – surprisingly I still need it for my WA list.