Local birding report

Year after year there is a predictable order to the arrival of songbirds migrating north along the Atlantic Flyway. The early birds arriving and passing through Cape in April are mostly short-distance migrants that winter in the southern United States. Many of these birds are flexible with food sources and can get by with seeds if insects have not yet hatched. This group includes but is not limited to many sparrows, kinglets, thrushes, and a few wood warblers like the Yellow-rumped, Pine and Palm. The second wave is largely made up of Neotropical travelers, bright-colorful migrants journeying from the tropics like the Blackburnian, Black throated Blue, Magnolia and Yellow Warbler. These birds leave their wintering grounds when they sense subtle cues such as changes in day length. The third wave of songbirds coincides with the arrival of flying insects and caterpillars, this group includes cuckoos, four different flycatcher types, Red-eyed Vireos, American Redstarts and Wilson’s Warblers.

In the last week of March through the first couple days of April there was plenty of action around the ponds and streams within Robinson Woods II and III. On the morning of March 24 the frog-like croak of male Hooded Mergansers pursuing mates intermingled with the shrill little whistles of Wood ducks concealed along the pond’s fringes. I noted eight Hooded Mergansers and four Wood Ducks in the Pond Cove Brook Corridor that day. Also worth a mention, I spotted a duck I rarely see, the American Wigeon. This medium sized dabbling duck is one of the rarest breeding waterfowl in Maine. The male has a wide green stripe behind his eye and a snowy white cap upon a rounded little head. The body of both sexes is pale cinnamon with white patches on the side and rump. One characteristic that helped me identify this shy duck was its short, pale grayish blue bill with a black tip.

On March 27 along the Sawyer Road stretch of the Rachel Carson Wildlife Preservation I caught sight of a flock of tiny ducks feeding in the tidal marsh. With a wingspan of only twenty-three inches, the Green-winged Teal is the smallest dabbling duck in North America. The male ducks have a chestnut-colored head with a Metallic green streak behind the eye and a vertical white stripe on the side. Green-winged Teals have been recorded nesting in all Maine counties except Androscoggin. On this same outing I also noted three Common Mergansers and four first of the season Lesser Yellowlegs.

On March 31 along Pond Cove, I came across my first of the year Eastern Phoebe working the wrack line and a Merlin headed north. That same day around dusk, under a visible waxing gibbous moon, a Great-horned Owl flew over our yard. I noticed two short periods of wing flapping alternating with glides before the large bird disappeared into a strand of conifers. Typically, male Great-horned owls have a favorite roosting site not far from the nest.

And on April 1 while walking along the Canter Lane section of Robinson Woods I came upon a medium sized hawk watching me from a tree snag about twenty feet up. After a minute of my own observations, I had to pass under the perched bird in order to continue along and the bird seemed totally unphased by my presence. Interestingly, I have read more than one account of Red-shouldered Hawks being tamer than other hawk species, often allowing close approach. Additionally, this hawk hunts mostly from perches within small patches of large trees, usually near wet open fields and meadows.

Ornithologist Edward Howe Forbush once said that “there is no more pleasing spring sound than the lusty scream of the ‘Red-shoulder’ as it rings through the bare leafless woods as they stand up straight and brown against the pale blue sky of April.” Slightly smaller and not so heavily built as a Red-tailed Hawk, this secretive forest raptor has a visibly longer banded black, brown and white tail.

Red-shouldered Hawks in these parts are medium-distance migrants and fairly common across Cape. By common I do not mean that this raptor may be seen as often as that of a Robin. And, the commonest hawk is rare compared to the Robin, though it may be common for a hawk. Often this species uses the same nest year over year, even repairing previous years nests and adorning with various greenery. On a positive note, the Red-shouldered Hawks population has slightly increased by 2% between 1966 and 2019 according to the North American Breeding Survey.

Lastly, on the sunny morning of April 2 the first Fox Sparrow of the yard appeared in our yard. For me, seeing this bird is a rite of spring. Larger than a Bluebird or Song Sparrow this rather robust sparrow sports a uniform reddish-chestnut cloak and a clear, full, and flutelike song. In fact, many birders believe that the Foxy’s song is unequalled by any native member of the sparrow family. Later in the afternoon a walk-through Robinson Woods yielded five Eastern Phoebes and many Kinglets and Creepers.