Cape Elizabeth birding report

Birds with shorter migratory flights like many sparrow and blackbird species have the luxury of sensing local conditions to their north and selectively capitalizing on favorable winds and clear stary night skies to move from one leg to the next.

On the other end of the spectrum many songbirds, shorebirds and raptors must travel significantly longer distances and are driven more by instinct. Travelling hundreds of miles in a single night and facing a perilous journey, this grouping of spring migrants innately and expeditiously push northward to their respective breeding grounds.

Because individual species generally migrate within a certain window, arrival dates can be predicted with reasonable accuracy. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birdcast website produces migration forecasts and maps in near real-time, showing predicted nocturnal bird migration three hours after local sunset. The intelligence behind these predictive models comes from over 23 years of bird movements in the atmosphere as detected by the US NEXRAD weather surveillance radar network.

As for notes from the field, on the afternoon of April 8 along the wetland edges of the GreenBelt and CELT Spurwink trails I counted sixteen American Woodcock sounding off. An interesting tidbit I recently learned about Woodcock is that this cryptic upland shorebird is one of only two shorebirds legally hunted in Maine. The other is Wilson’s Snipe.

Earlier on that same day our local male Pileated Woodpecker flew into the yard and was going about his typical business when out of nowhere a female appeared. With very little chase or ceremony, the male awkwardly mounted the female for a couple seconds before taking off into the forest.

Additionally, on April 9 a Peregrine Falcon zipped past me heading west as I was standing on the footbridge in Pond Cove – perhaps headed for the crags surrounding the Androscoggin River valley. The name “Androscoggin” comes from the Eastern Abenaki tribe and means “river of cliff rock shelters.” Also, on this day my wife spotted two first of season Tree Swallows along Crescent Beach.

On April 10 I spotted a second falcon, smaller and visibly darker, flying over the high school fields and was able to tell from the short, piston-like wingbeats (and the aid of my binoculars) that it was a Merlin! The sweet trill of Pine Warblers could be heard singing high atop old stands of mature white pines starting on April 10. I counted nine Pine Warblers within Robinson Woods III, and two male “Yellow” Palm Warblers (with bright rust caps) and a single, boisterous Ruby-crowned Kinglet foraging along a pasture trail in Robinson Woods I. While the Pine Warbler most likely breeds in Cape’s coniferous forests, the Palm Warbler will continue along on its journey to the sphagnum bogs of central and northern Maine.

Also, in Robinson Woods on the afternoon of April 11 I overheard the wild melody of a Winter Wren. I was also able to pish this little forest elf to come closer. Quite quickly the bird appeared on a snag about eye-level and performed the most elegant whirling jig for me! To hear the ecstatic song of this little bird calling from the dark places, coniferous woods with old stone wall nooks is a very special occasion indeed. Describing the voice of a Winter Wren is no easy task. Singing sixteen notes per second, this wren, per unit weight has ten times the sound power of a crowing rooster. As the wren performed, three Hermit Thrushes emerged from the ground, perched low in young white spruce trees, and observed this absurd little dance.

Continuing on I encountered several more Hermit Thrushes busy within a Rhododendron thicket. Most hardy of the brown-backed thrushes, the Hermit is a very special bird. In 1910, pioneering Maine ornithologist Cordelia Stanwood published her first observation study titled, “The Hermit Thrush: The Voice of the Northern Woods,” and she wrote, “to know and love the hermit thrush – the voice of the northern woods – and to receive his benediction in the twilight is one of the privileges nature confers on those who worship at her shrine.” Lastly, on April 12 my wife and son spotted our first Osprey of the season sitting atop an old snag deep in Pond Cove.