Cape Elizabeth birding report May 1 -14

Spring migration hit its stride during the first couple of days in May. Eastern Towhees showed up right on time. A House Wren was seen and heard along Shore Road. Our hummingbird feeders had males on them by the 4th of May. Three Brown Thrashers were spied along the edges of the Goddard Mansion tangles in Fort Williams; one sang its rich melodious double phrases for quite some time. Returning from their tropical winter grounds, Baltimore Orioles have arrived in solid numbers. On two different occasions I witnessed a female with nesting material in her beak.

While on the topic of birds heard more often than seen (due to preferences for the upper canopy), good numbers of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks with their rich whistling song and Great Crested Flycatchers with their penetrating whee-eep whistles can be found across Cape’s leafy woodlands.

The night sky over Cape Elizabeth on the 13th and 14th was filled with Northbound Neotropicals migrants of the wood warbler variety. Our town’s location makes it an important migratory funnel for these inspiring little gems - favoring unbroken tracts of coastal woods, mixed hardwood and pine. Some will remain in our neck of the woods to breed – others go farther north in the state and beyond. Common Yellow Throat’s, American Yellow’s, Black-throated Green, American Redstarts and Pine warblers are confirmed Cape nesters.

Additional and previously mentioned warblers seen and heard within Cape so far this spring include a Yellow-throated Warbler on May 4 along Pond Cove Beach (This is a rather uncommon bird to see this far north, a bobby dazzler indeed). Sightings in order by frequency of spotting - Black-throated Green warbler, Pine warbler, Palm warbler, Myrtle warbler, American Yellow warbler, Northern Parula, Black and White warbler, American Redstart, Nashville warbler, Ovenbird (a warbler of the forest floor), Chestnut-sided warbler and Magnolia warbler!