Caspian Tern, Hills Beach, Biddeford, Maine, July 2017

In recent years Biddeford has been a key spot for sightings of both Caspian and Royal Terns in ME.  And more specifically, perhaps the Hills Beach section of Biddeford has been THE spot in ME for these large terns in late summer and early fall.  Back in July 2014 I made two trips to Hills Beach to try for both Royal and Caspian Terns (along with Skimmers – though I didn’t need that one for ME) that had been spotted there following the passage of Hurricane Arthur.  After dipping on my targets on the first trip, I was successful in finding 2 Royal Terns on my second visit there, though I missed the Caspian Tern and Skimmers.  At the time I reflected that if I could only find 1 of my targets it was nice that I found the rarer Royal Tern.  After all, Caspians are seen there every year.  Plus after two trips to Hills Beach I finally figured out how to successfully bird this spot.

But despite their regular occurrence, 3 years later I still needed Caspian Tern for my ME list.  In fact, Caspian was perhaps the most common bird I still needed for ME (along with others like Connecticut Warbler and Western Kingbird).  Of course Caspian Tern is still a rarity in the state since ME sightings are likely to be of a limited number of birds migrating along the coast to and from small breeding colonies far to the northeast in Newfoundland and nearby Quebec.  Although there are also larger inland colonies in Ontario and upstate NY, plus the sole New England colony on Lake Champlain, it’s unlikely that those birds make their way far to the east on the ME coast during migration.

Right on cue as we entered mid July 2017, the first Caspian Tern report was posted from Hills Beach.  Although it was reported on just one day, it sure got my attention.  And when another was spotted in downeast ME a week later, that was enough of a catalyst to make me start planning my next attempt for Caspian Tern at Hills Beach.  I contacted Mike Beck, a birder and former co-worker who retired to ME, and we planned to meet at Hills Beach the next morning.  Although we wouldn’t be chasing after a specific reported bird (it had been over a week since the last one was reported at Hills Beach), the timing was right for us to try to find the next one.

We arrived at 8 AM and parked along the shoulder of Hills Beach Road opposite Bufflehead’s restaurant in the only area where you can legally park and gain access to the beach.  And with a short walk we were overlooking the sandflats at full low tide.  There were a bunch of Common Terns perched on the flats and flying about, but no large terns were to be seen.  We continued to scan the area, picking out a number of feeding Bonaparte’s Gulls and several small flocks of Dowitchers, but the diversity was pretty limited.

Then at about 8:30 I spotted a larger bird flying out over the water in the distance which was flying like a larger tern.  Could it be a Caspian?  I continued to watch this bird for a couple minutes, and became convinced it was a tern, and it had a heavier more gull-like flight of a Caspian instead of the more buoyant flight of the thinner-winged Royal Tern.  But it was too far away and I couldn’t be 100% sure. 

I returned to scanning over the flats, and not five minutes later I heard a single call of a Caspian Tern coming from somewhere close nearby.  I would have sworn I was about to see it right away flying out over the flats somewhere.  But alas, I never did spot it despite much anxious scanning.  I was sure it was the call of a Caspian, but why did I only hear it once?  And why did we not see the bird afterwards?

Mike and I then walked out on the sandflats to get closer views, and especially to be able to see the area to the east.  We began to find more shorebirds, including quite a number Semi Plovers and Semi Sands.  We also spotted a rare pair of Oystercatchers flying across the flats – only my third for ME.  But we couldn’t come up with any large terns.

A short while later we saw another birder on the flats and were able to compare notes.  He said he too had a larger tern flying out over the water at about 8:30.  Sounds like he saw the same bird I had seen. So that made me feel better about my ID of that sighting, but certainly not the best of sightings.

Since we didn’t see the target bird perched on the flats at lower tide, my strategy was to stay at least until the tide had risen to about mid-tide when there would be only limited amounts of flats still exposed.  In theory, that would concentrate the foraging birds, and hopefully force the Caspian to perch in just a few remaining exposed areas.  But even at mid-tide I couldn’t re-find the Caspian.

As I left the area I recalled in past years that birders have mentioned that they’ve had the large terns flying directly overhead, going back and forth between Biddeford Pool and Hills Beach.  So I wonder if the bird I heard calling was actually over my head and on its way to Biddeford Pool.  Its next calls (if any) would then be behind me so I didn’t hear them.

In any case, certainly not satisfying observations, but good enough to count for my ME list.  As a post-script – the next 2 days a single Caspian Tern was spotted perched on the flats at Hills Beach – potentially the same bird I had, though mine certainly wasn’t nearly as cooperative.

Caspian Tern was the 340th species for my ME statelist, and the 246th species I’ve seen in all 6 New England states.  Given that Caspian Tern has a range that spans much of the continent, it’s not too surprising that ME was the 41st state where I’ve seen this species, not to mention 3 Canadian provinces (see my statebird map and province bird maps below).

Pacific Loon, Biddeford, ME, November 2014

Pacific Loon is a rarity that is reported every year from the New England coast, including ME.  Most don’t stick around for multiple days so are not readily chaseable.  And even if they are chaseable, identification can be a challenge, especially when the target bird is bobbing around on the ocean in the distance.  Over the years I have tried to chase after at least a couple reported in ME without any luck.  Most had turned out to be one-day wonders, or maybe even misidentified.  In any case, this was a target bird for me in ME.

Then came an e-bird report of one seen off Eastern Point in Biddeford.  There were no listserve posts of the bird, so it was a bit under the radar screen.  But when it was reported over the next couple days on e-bird, I started to take notice.  Then finally came a first report on the listserve making it sound rather reliable, though still there were few details on the location or tips for finding it.  Eastern Point sticks out into the ocean with a nearly 270 degree view of the water.  So without any further details on the location, that would make for a lot of ocean to scan.  Finally, an e-bird post from Louis Bevier mentioned that the bird was close to the green buoy.  So I made I made a quick call to Louis and he told me the bird had been hanging out just south of the green buoy, which was itself nearly directly east of the point.  Armed with Louis’ excellent directions, I called Denny Abbott, and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the Eastern Point Sanctuary skies were cloudy meaning there would be no glare off the water.  But there was a strong breeze out of the SW that created a bit of a wind chill, and some considerable swells and waves on the ocean.  So viewing conditions might be a bit of a challenge.  After a short walk we arrived at the point and easily found the green buoy a couple hundred yards to the east.  With binoculars you could pick out a large raft of Common Eiders and another raft of Scoters in the general area.  I set up my scope and began to scan the area just south of the buoy.  On my first several scans I found several Red-necked Grebes but no Loons of any variety.  Then on the next scan I found 2 Common Loons and had the briefest of views of another Loon before it dove.  Even though the sighting was for only a couple seconds at most, I noticed it was darker-backed and smaller than the Commons, so I was cautiously optimistic.  I put Denny on this area, and we scanned again.  This time I had all 3 Loons swimming together – 2 Commons and the third bird was indeed the Pacific Loon.  Over the next several minutes the Pacific stayed on the surface only disappearing briefly when it swam behind a swell.  We were able to see all the field marks, including getting great comparisons with the Commons which were frequently in the same field of view.  I can’t thank Louis Bevier enough for his excellent micro-directions.

Pacific Loon was #334 for me in ME, and #1,989 for New England – just 11 to go to 2,000.  And yet another statebird in November – the best month for vagrants in New England.

I’ve now seen Pacific Loon in 13 states – not bad for a bird typically only seen in the 4 states on the Pacific coast.  Though since it has a tendency for vagrancy, I have now seen it as a rarity in the 5 coastal New England states, along with MD, NV, AZ and CO.  (see my statebird map below) 

Sandwich Tern in MA, White Ibis in NH, and Royal Tern in ME – all in one July 2014 Afternoon

Hurricane Arthur passed by the New England coastline and made landfall in the Canadian Maritimes in early July.  In the days immediately following landfall numerous reports of southern terns were posted in the Maritimes.  And a few days later came reports of Royal and Caspian Terns and Skimmers from the ME coast – birds likely making their way back down the coast.  Most of these reports came from the Hills Beach section of Biddeford.  So I headed to Hills Beach, and despite spending an entire morning there, had no luck with any of the rarities.  As the reports from Hills Beach continued to come in over subsequent days I realized that most sightings were in the evening on rising tides.  I guess I was at the right place but the wrong time of day. 

So it was time to head back to Hills Beach to try again.  High tide on my planned next trip to Hills Beach was at 9 PM, so a rising tide would be at dinner time or later, meaning heading out about mid-afternoon.  But those plans changed when a report of a Sandwich Tern at Plum Island in MA came in around lunch time.  (Actually it was also seen the day before but I missed that report – ugh.)  I alerted Denny Abbott who needed Sandwich Tern for his MA list as well, and he headed right there.  Minutes later I was en route to Plum Island as well, hoping to try for that Tern first and then head to ME.  Denny called me from Plum Island saying that he had the Sandwich Tern, and it was sleeping on the beach in a flock of gulls so no need to rush.  So the pressure was off a bit – I should be able to drop into Plum Island, get the Sandwich Tern quickly, and have plenty of time to head up to Maine.  And then just before I arrived at Plum Island I got a call from Steve Mirick that a White Ibis was just reported on the NH coast.  Wow – another one to try for, through as long as the Sandwich Tern and Ibis cooperated, there still should be enough time.

When I arrived at Lot 1 at Plum Island I noticed a couple birders heading to their cars.  As I passed them en route to the beach I jokingly said something like “Don’t tell me the bird just left”, fully expecting that they would reply that it was still asleep on the beach.  Instead one birder replied that it had just flown away!  My heart sank.  I headed to the beach and the 3 other birders that were still there said that I missed it by less than 5 minutes.  The flock of gulls was still there, but there no terns at all.  They mentioned that it had flown to the south, but were otherwise not very helpful in giving any other details.  Not the friendliest of interactions I’m afraid.

Now what do I do?  Do I cut my losses here and head right up to NH (and then to ME) for the other targets?  Or should I stay here and try for the Sandwich Tern, increasing my chances for this bird but limiting my time and chances of getting the NH and ME targets?  I could see a number of small terns flying over the surf in the distance to the south which was the general area where the Sandwich was last seen.  So I optimistically hoped it could still be around feeding with the others, and decided to stay at Plum Island at least for a while.  I spent the next 10 minutes scanning through the terns but only found Commons and Leasts.  Another birder arrived and we both continued the scans.  Still with no luck searching to the south, I decided to look through the flock of sleeping gulls on the beach thinking that maybe the target bird would return to its roosting spot.  Just then I noticed a tern fly over the flock – it was the Sandwich!  I got the other birder on it, and we watched it make a couple passes before it dropped out of sight and presumably landed on the beach.  That was my first Sandwich Tern for anywhere in New England – my 426th species – and MA statebird number 403.  MA is only my 10th state for this southeastern species.

The other birder decided to walk to a different vantage point to try to see it perched on the beach.  But I had other target birds to try for, so after a brisk walk back to the car, I was headed off Plum Island to try for the White Ibis in NH. 

En route to NH I called Steve Mirick back to get an update on the Ibis.  Steve had refound it at Awcomin Marsh in Rye, NH, and with Steve’s excellent directions I mapped out a route to the spot.  After going through some challenging mid-afternoon coastal traffic, I finally arrived at the marsh and found at least another half dozen birder’s cars there.  Unfortunately the bird was no longer in sight – earlier it was perched on a tree at the marsh edge but has since disappeared from sight.  Maybe if I had gotten the Sandwich Tern quicker I could have been at the Ibis spot sooner and could have gotten that bird before it disappeared.  No one said it would be easy.

By now there were at least a dozen birders at the marsh observation deck all scanning the marsh and surrounding trees.  The tide was falling now, and there were a number of channels in the marsh that the bird could disappear into.  So Steve Mirick and Ben Griffith offered to go walking out in the marsh to try to flush it from a channel somewhere.  I and the others continued to scan the marsh in hopes that Steve or Ben might flush the bird.  After a few minutes with no success our hopes dwindled.  But just then I spotted the Ibis perched on a tree at the edge of the marsh – it had indeed been feeding down in a channel making it not visible from our vantage point.  Many thanks to Steve and Ben for volunteering to walk through the marsh to re-find it.  I got some pretty miserable phone-scoped photos of the bird looking almost directly into the sun.

White Ibis was number 353 for me in NH.  And I’ve now seen White Ibis in 6 Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states plus DC as a rarity, plus most the states in its typical southeastern range. 

I was now 2 for 2 pursuing my targets, with still plenty of time to get up to Biddeford, ME to try for the tern targets there.  After a relatively short 1-hour drive I was in Biddeford and arrived along Hills Beach by late afternoon.  Tide was quite low but rising, so I was hopeful conditions would be right to see the terns.  I parked toward the end of Hills Beach near Sky Harbor Drive where I had been earlier in the week, and started to scan.  There were a number of Common Terns and many gulls on the extensive sand flats, but no bigger terns.  Then I noticed a birder way out on the flats to the west closer to Basket Island, so I decided to head down that way and see if he was having any success – “bird the birders” as I call it.

I parked in the only area where you can legally park and gain access to the beach (opposite Bufflehead’s restaurant), and walked down to the sandflats.  I met up with the birder who told me he had a flyby Skimmer earlier, but no large terns.  There were many small terns on the flats, mostly concentrated in a few larger flocks.  So I set up my scope and started to scan through a flock of terns on one spit and almost instantly found a Royal Tern, and then another, almost side by side.  Until that day no one had seen 2 Royal Terns together during this recent tern “invasion”.  By now another birder arrived and we all got good but distant looks.  The other birders wanted to get some photos, so they headed out to get closer; I decided to keep my feet dry, so I continued to watch from a distance.  I got a couple distant phone-scoped photos that I had to crop extensively to see the Royals.

The other birders must have gotten excellent shots as the terns were not very wary.

 

I spent the rest of the evening there and continued to see both Royal Terns off and on, but there were no other sightings of Skimmers (at least I already had that one for my ME list).  And there were no sightings of Caspian Terns that day or beyond.  I guess if I could only get one tern it was better to get the Royals which were the rarer target.  That gave me 333 in ME and it was my fourth New England state as a rarity.

That capped off an amazing afternoon with 3 New England statebirds in 3 states – all seen in just a 2-hour span.  Only twice before have I been able to get new statebirds in 3 states in one day.  And that gave me 8 New England statebirds in July – an excellent month.  All three species are southeastern birds – in fact my statebird maps are quite similar for each of them.  The terns were likely blown north by Hurricane Arthur though you wouldn’t think the Ibis was affected by the storm.  And as a final thought, one could almost guarantee that I would see the Royal Terns after finding the Sandwich Tern because, as they say, “one good tern deserves another.”

Rufous Hummingbird, Biddeford, ME, and Post-Sandy Birding #1 – October 2012

While away on a business trip some posts started coming in about a Selasphorus hummingbird at a feeder in Biddeford, ME.  And a couple posts were suggesting it might not be the expected Rufous – some leaning toward Broad-tailed.  I have no Selasphorus hummers of any kind in Maine, so obviously worth a try for the bird.  But would it stay until I returned from my trip? 

And then there’s the issue of whether it would survive through Hurricane Sandy.  The hurricane battered the Maine coast with lots of wind and rain though certainly nothing like down on the NY, NJ and CT coasts.  The night of the storm I contacted the local homeowners with the hummingbird and they said they did not see it that day.  Was the wind just too strong for this little bird?  So thinking the bird might be gone, I decided to bird along the coast elsewhere the day after the storm looking for wind-blown birds. 

While driving north to head to the coast the morning after the storm I got a call from the homeowners – the hummer was back!  Needless to say I changed my course, and an hour later was at their front yard looking at the feeder.  After about a 20-minute wait I heard a sharp chip note and soon thereafter the hummingbird arrived to feed.  I had good long views of the bird from the back, and although I never saw the tail spread, I never saw any orange at all in the tail feathers.  Hmm…  Regardless of my possible ID, the bird was banded a couple days later and was confirmed as a Rufous Hummingbird.

After leaving the feeding station I began my search for storm-tossed birds.  Two stops in Biddeford yielded a couple large flocks of gulls but nothing of interest.  Then during an hour-long seawatch at the Cliff House in Ogunquit I saw mostly the normal fall seabird migrants, though a Laughing Gull was very late and perhaps blown north by the storm.  I also had the briefest view of a storm-petrel just before it disappeared behind a large swell never to be seen again.  Next stop was Cape Neddick where the first bird I saw was a very late bedraggled male Black-throated Blue Warbler – was this a storm bird?  With nothing else of interest in the thickets, and the road to Nubble Light closed due to the storm, I began to head home.  But one last check of the listserves mentioned a Leach’s Storm-Petrel at inland Lake Massabesic in NH.  With one more change in course I was at the lake with several other birders watching this poor confused bird bobbing around on the lake waters.  Not a NH statebird, but a great inland sighting none the less.

My statebird map for Rufous Hummingbird is inserted below.  I have now seen Rufous in each New England state (my 215^th species in each of these 6 states), as well as five other eastern and Gulf Coast states as a winter vagrant.