Local birding report

After dusk in late July through August, the dreamy tune of Eastern Wood Peewees can still be heard among the whispering trees deep within Robinson Woods. While flycatchers are not considered songbirds, the Wood Peewee’s plaintive song of three sliding notes is simple and true. If you find yourself in the woods after sundown listen for their whistled twilight song.

On the last day of July along the overgrown fringes of Thomas Knight Park in South Portland, I was surprised to spy two Brown Thrashers and a single Northern Mockingbird making their rounds before retiring.

As for late summer nesters, on August 1 I was elated to hear boisterous chatter coming from a House Wren box hidden within the shadowy tangles surrounding our garden. The male wren had patiently sung all summer awaiting a potential suitor. That morning my son and I watched the female wren exit the box with a fecal sack in her beak, neatly depositing the sack on a branch before returning to her new brood. Interestingly, House Wrens have one of the largest ranges of any songbird, breeding from Canada all the way down to the southernmost tip of South America.

On the morning of August 2 while walking Trundy Point I was met with the bright, good cheer of a male Yellow Warbler singing, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweetie - reminding me that summer days are far from over. This wood warbler is a bit of feathered sunshine - cloaked in plumes of golden yellow. Habitually this bright creature keeps to the shrubbery and low trees and is likely the most common nesting warbler in Cape Elizabeth.

August marks the time of year where many shorebirds depart their more northern nesting grounds and start to pass through Cape in significant numbers. A few of the best places to see these southbound migrants are the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge and Scarborough Marsh, Pine Point and Biddeford Pool, Scarborough. Sightings over the last two weeks included a Whimbrel, Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, White-rumped Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Short-billed Dowitchers are beginning to pass through as well.

As for owl encounters, on the evening of July 29 a young Barred Owl flew behind me as I turned to step down a ladder I had set up on the side of the house for painting. A few nights later on August 1 as I was passing by the smaller pond near Great Pond I heard the familiar hiss of a young Barred Owl, and in the same instance noticed a cat sitting in a little open area near the pond’s edge. Advising the cat from afar, I recommended a quick departure. As the cat started to approach me a Barred owl silently glided in and flew right past us both. A close call for the feline and good example of what risks exist for cats allowed outdoors.

In other birding related news, there is a very serious avian “mystery illness” occurring across the mid-Atlantic states. Unlike the pinkeye that affects finches, scientists have yet to determine the cause of this illness that results in crusty eyes, neurological issues and death.

While Maine has yet to confirm the disease, we should keep a close eye on this as it continues to develop. Just to our south, the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has asked that all bird feeders and bird baths be taken down to prevent further spread of this unknown disease. The highest concentrations of reported illnesses are with Robins, Blue Jays and Common Grackles. And to a sligltly lesser extent, Northern Flickers, Eastern Bluebirds and Carolina Wrens. Similar to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease outbreak exposes many of our failures to perform proper hygiene.

With most bird disease outbreaks the cause can be attributed in large part to folks not properly maintaining their bird feeders. To reduce spread vectors for this disease bird feeders should be regularly rinsed using one part bleach to 10 parts water or using one part white vinegar to four part water to rinse the insides of feeders.