Birding report for May 15 – 28

A kaleidoscopic array of wood warblers has been pouring through Cape Elizabeth over the last two weeks. In the late afternoon of May 28 the Gull Crest trails were absolutely teeming with American Yellows, Redstarts, Ovenbirds and Common Yellowthroats. With a bit of luck, I finally got a Black-throated Blue Warbler in what is to be, Robinson Woods III. These birds are typically found in larger tracts of mix hardwood-evergreen forests with a shrubby understory. I also heard Wood Thrushes, Veery’s and Hermit Thrushes calling consistently across the Greenbelt system. Rounding out this rather epic walkabout, a Least Flycatcher (compact with bold white eyering and two white wingbars) and a Ruffed Grouse crossed my path – only the third time in two years that I have seen a Ruffed Grouse in Cape Elizabeth.

On May 21 eleven types of warblers were seen along Shore Road, many of them within the upper canopy of our old oaks, including a wonderful pair of Blackburnian Warblers and greater numbers of Canada (with both male and female exhibiting the telltale black streaked necklace), Wilson’s, Magnolia and Tennessee Warblers.

On May 20 we had a rather uncommon migrant visitor at our feeders, a single White-Crowned Sparrow.

Overall 2018 is shaping up to be a very good spring season. There are many factors that play into songbird migration – species type, weather, energetic condition (amount of fat stored) and age - along with other directional decisions including habitat availability, i.e. land preservation.