Cape Elizabeth birding report

The northward push of birds showed no signs of slowing down through May 28. Over Memorial Day weekend, a kaleidoscopic array of wood warblers poured into and over Cape Elizabeth. Along Shore Road in nearly every flowering tree there were significant numbers of Magnolia warblers, American Redstarts and Tennessee warblers. Compared to the Magnolia and Redstart the Tennessee warbler is a drab, slightly greenish little bird that visibly is not as flashy, however its song, a three-parted series of accelerated trills, noticeably trumps that of the other warblers in loudness. Given the sheer numbers of Tennessee warblers seen so far this spring I have to imagine that we are experiencing a population upswing which is thought to be closely aligned with the spruce budworm population.

On May 27 highlights included a much-welcomed male Indigo Bunting with its deep-sea blue coloring and a Rough-legged Swallow in the company of a dozen or more Barn Swallows. On May 25 Pollack Brook Preserve yielded multiple combinations of wood warblers including my favorite trio, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia and Wilsons.

On May 24 along the Spurwink trail abutting the Spurwink river the American Woodcock display was wondrous. There must have been twenty or more males performing their conspicuous mating display as dusk settled in. Other noteworthy observations on this day included two striking male Scarlet Tanagers at our feeders dining on oranges and great numbers of hard to see Blackburnian and Blackpoll warblers within the upper canopies. A female Canada warbler threw me for a bit of a loop as well. The female’s onyx necklace is far less noticeable than that of the male.

House Wrens are also here and there across Cape. We had two House Wrens check out our accommodations and decided to make a start of it in the wren box I had built a few seasons back dubbed the “wren condo.” On May 23 a total of five Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were on the feeders including a season high three females. On the 21 I had my first of the year Red-eyed Vireo.

I have also seen and heard many Veery’s and Wood Thrushes calling consistently right now across the green belt system and Robinson Woods II & I. Thrushes are often a tricky bird to identify, especially when you consider the other Thrushes passing through our forests right now, including the Swainson’s Thrush, Bicknell’s Thrush and the ever-elusive Gray-Cheeked Thrush. Speaking of which, two Gray-cheeked Thrushes were spotted on May 19. On this same day an adult Bald eagle flew over Green Spark Farm while American Yellow Warblers danced and sang along the tangled fringes. Glossy Ibis’ can be seen overhead almost daily now as well.

On May 16 Pond Cove saw the arrival of the largest tyrant flycatcher in North America, the fearless Eastern Kingbird. Flycatchers are a group of insect-eating birds that reach their highest diversity in the tropics. So far this spring there has been a surprising number of flycatchers seen across Cape including multiple Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. This bird of the deep shade prefers moist northern boreal evergreen forests and is typically one of the later migrating flycatchers. Other flycatchers seen include Eastern Phoebe, Great-crested Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher and Eastern Wood Pewee. From my own records this is the best flycatcher spring for Cape in three years.

Last but certainly not least, On May 15 a Great Horned Owl was spotted for the second time, perched high atop a great old oak tree on our property. While observing this owI (which sat silently before flying off after 15 minutes) I was caught off guard by a rhythmic song of sorts coming from deep within the woods below. More often heard and very seldomly seen, the call was that of the Eastern Whip-poor-will. This bird from the nightjar family is strictly nocturnal and its population is in significant decline, thought likely due to overall general reduction of large beetles and moths.