Local birding report

The unsettled weather that continued through much of April and into the first week of May seemed to have slowed the northbound journey of many migrating songbirds. By the first day in May last year Gray Catbirds had already arrived as had Blue-headed Vireos, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and Barn Swallows. As unpredictable as the weather may be during springtime, birds are driven by a sense of urgency to get to their territories and find a mate. And with over 100 species of breeding migratory birds in the state of Maine, the next couple weeks leading up to peak songbird migration between May 15-21 will be a whirlwind of activity.

As for early April, a few mentionables from the yard and field include, on the afternoon of April 5 I was listening to the wind among the pine trees in Robinson Woods III when the wild warbler of a Winter Wren briefly rang out somewhere deep within the tangles of fallen timber. Few sounds bring as much joy to my heart as the melodious song of this little forest dweller whose song is his supreme charm. Over the course of the last month the songs from the Winter Wrens of Robinson Woods have become noticeably longer and fuller of babbling and rippling trill notes.

Naturalist John Burroughs once described the experience as “a wild, sweet rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced.” In our latitudes Winter Wrens first start arriving in early to mid-April through mid-May. Slightly smaller than a House Wren and less hardy than its cousin the Carolina Wren, this absurd little creature habitually holds its stubby tail straight up while darting to and fro. Pioneering ornithologist Florence Merriam Bailey wrote after first hearing the song of a Winter Wren that it was “the event of the summer in the woods. Full of trills, runs and grace notes, it was a tinkling, rippling roundelay.”

On April 7 along the Spurwink Marsh I was admiring a large flock of foraging Glossy Ibis when I noticed one of the birds did not have a long, curved bill. Upon closer inspection this purplish maroon wader was a Little Blue Heron. An uncommon migrant along the southern Maine coast in spring through summer, the Little Blue Heron is a rare breeder on Stratton Island in Casco Bay.

On April 11 I heard my first Pine Warbler of the season, and the following day our yard was visited by both a female Pine Warbler and a male Palm Warbler. Female and immature Pine Warblers lack the significant amount of yellow coloration present in the male. The Pine Warbler that showed up in our yard was completely devoid of yellow and identified by the presence of two wing bars.

Also, on the late afternoon of April 19 I was replenishing one of my backyard seed feeders when a small bird caught my eye. Unlike the House Finches, titmice and nuthatches that took flight upon my presence, this bird lingered curiously before flying to a nearby tree branch. Shortly thereafter I noticed the distinct facial markings and whitish eyebrow of Haemorhous purpureus, the first female Purple Finch that I had seen on our property since last Spring! The following morning, I awoke to find six Purple Finches, including three glowing bright reddish-pink males, foraging for seed on the ground. Amazingly it was back in April 20 of 2021 that five Purple Finches last visited our feeders.

Purple Finches are melodious songsters but often challenging to see. A key to identifying this bird is to recognize and differentiate between the song of House Finches, which has a shorter, chirpier quality and alternates between high and low notes. The Purple Finches song is full of gentle warbling calls that are noticeably longer in duration. Purple Finches can imitate songs from Barn Swallows, Goldfinches, Towhees and even Cowbirds. Unfortunately, this boreal species has been driven deeper into the woods by the introduction of the more aggressive House Finch in 1939 and its population throughout southern Maine is in a slow decline.

Additionally, on the afternoon of April 21 three adult male Bald Eagles flew over our house and on the evening of April 26, I stepped outside to listen for owls and instead heard the ahr-ahr-ahroulit of Long-tailed Ducks yodeling. Most vocal of the sea ducks, male Long-tailed Ducks call can be heard from long distances and are known to yodel both during the day and when migrating at night. The Long-taileds I was hearing were gathering in large flocks off our rocky shorelines before departing in the wee hours to their northern breeding grounds.

And lastly on April 28 along the fringes of the Spurwink Cemetery I came across a single “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow and separately two Savanah Sparrows. The Ipswich variety of Savannah Sparrow is always a thrill to encounter along its journey to Sable Island, a thin crescent shaped island of sand located in the middle of the ocean, 180 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, and the only place in the world where this special species breeds. The following day two Broad-winged Hawks circled high above our house while two Red-breasted nuthatches went about their business in an old crab apple tree.