Birding report for mid-April

Despite the unsavory weather conditions that persisted through mid-April, Cape Elizabeth saw the return of Osprey - on April 8 a first of season bird was spotted fishing the northwest side of Great Pond.

Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets are also arriving in good numbers, including five flying northbound together at dusk and a scattering of herons and egrets from Scarborough Marsh to the Purpoodock golf course water hazards.

Excellent numbers of Glossy Ibis have been spotted so far in April, including a flock of over 25 birds.

Increasing numbers of White-throated Sparrows with their signature song, “Oh-sweet-Canada” have been showing up daily. Although these birds can be found year-round in Maine, this winter they were surprisingly sparse when compared to the previous two winters. Interestingly, two distinct morphs or plumage variations of White-throated sparrow exist-white stripe and tan stripe. Males (and females) of the former sing more often and are noticeably more aggressive towards the latter. Additionally, the white striped males and females are more absent and/or less caring during raising of young. In order to prevent a nest run by two lackluster parents, this species is negatively assortative, meaning that the white striped males favor tan stripe females, and the tan stripe males favor white striped females!

Enough with sparrows. At least two Red-breasted nuthatches were seen (by my wife) within the old strands of white pine that meander through the land to be Robinson Woods III.

Finally, April 15 delivered the first of the season Chipping Sparrows and Northern Flickers (Yellow-shafted). There was also a solid handful of Pine Warbler reports including a beautiful male that showed up (and remained through April 16th) dining on suet and mealworms in our backyard. Pine warblers are one of the few warblers that will regularly eat suet, however during spring migration season practically anything is possible. For instance on April 15, 2017 a female Prothonotary warbler hunkered down on our suet cage for a couple of days.