Local birding report

In the first few weeks of January, I am thankful for many things, including the fine sweet trill of Red-breasted Nuthatches, the way a Brown Creeper’s song calls to mind pine boughs sighing in the wind or the low sweet melodies sung by Dark-eyed Juncos and the hurried winter song from ever the curious Carolina Wren couple. I also appreciate the daily visits to our backyard by North Flickers and a male Pileated Woodpecker along with bluebirds and house finches that spread cheery chatter.

More shy but twice as big as their cousin the Downey, Hairy Woodpeckers are residents across our woodlands. During the winter months male and female woodpeckers typically carve out their own territories. When one female enters the territory of another female the two woodpeckers will jerk back and forth, waiving their thornlike bills at each other. The slow courtship of Hairy Woodpeckers begins in deep winter, and it is the male who typically comes to the female’s territory to court, pair up and nest.

Speaking of winter romances, many duck species along our shorelines and inland ponds court and form pair bonds over the course of the next several months. On January 9 within a small pond in Scarborough I spotted two Hooded Mergansers. The male was attempting to impress the female by dashing back and forth while raising and lowering his oversized black and white hood. Apparently in parts of the South these mergansers are called “frog-ducks” because during courtship the male has a bellowing call that is reminiscent of a pickerel frog.

Additionally, January 8 off Trundy Point I spotted two hardy Common Goldeneyes in the act. The male launched into a move called the “Bowsprit.” This special position entails neck angles at about 45 degrees from the body with the head extended out. The name comes from a type of sailboat mast extending forward of the bow. Goldeneyes use this Bowsprit pose as part of both a courting dance and also as part of a greeting process. Other poses such as the “Masthead” (males beak straight up and neck vertical) were noted along with the female’s “jiving” courtship response.

On January 7 along Fort Williams’ Cliff Walk I spotted a Peregrine Falcon, a Northern Mockingbird and a male Long-tailed Duck yodeling just off Portland Headlight. Around dusk on January 3 my son and I were exploring the forest section Turkey Hill Farm. We had just spotted the silhouette of the old fire lookout station when the low-pitched hoot from a Great-horned owl caught my ear, somewhere in the distance.