Local birding report

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a steady progression of spring migrants crossing into and passing through Cape.

A few notes from the yard and field include, on the mizzly morning of May 4 a shadowy dark blue bird appeared under our finch tube feeder. Closer inspection revealed the dazzling deep sapphire plumage of a male Indigo Bunting.

Whether it’s your first time seeing an Indigo Bunting or the hundredth time, its brilliance is undeniable and with electric blue feathers the bird almost seems surreal. Imagining that this bird just arrived from some far away land, likely either Central America, the Caribbean or north South America is unfathomable. Understandably this tiny jewel was hungry, and he dined on sunflower kernel pieces, canary and Nyjer seeds throughout the day, departing sometime well after sunset.

That afternoon five Baltimore Orioles devoured orange slices in my backyard and a single White-crowned Sparrow showed up to the party as well. Upon first impressions this bird’s largely plain gray appearance can be rather deceiving. My favorite thing about these large sparrows is the alternating black and white bands, with a broad white stripe running down the center, flanked by two black stripes that adorn the top of its head.

Edward Forbush, an early 1900s ornithologist, wrote “It is a red-letter day for the novice in New England ornithology when he or she meets this bird of distinguished appearance. Its gray vesture, black and white crown and elegant form give it an aristocratic appearance as if it were above the common herd of sparrows and in a class by itself.” This sparrow is a somewhat uncommon migrant in Cape and most years a small number are reported in the spring. That afternoon a walk around Hinkley Park in South Portland with my family yielded a Northern House Wren, Black-and-white Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, three Northern Parulas, a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a pair of male American Restarts.

On the rather raw and rainy May 5 I came across a second Indigo Bunting within the Spurwink Church Cemetery along with my first female Common Yellowthroat of the year. Travelling on from there to Spurwink River Crossing I discovered two Willets and a Belted Kingfisher perched directly below an adult Bald Eagle in an old Snag along the river.

Next stop was the Sawyer Road section of the Spurwink River. As i traversed the road across the marsh my thoughts were consumed with a recent reporting of a Black-necked Stilt. Scanning the marsh I noted a large flock of Glossy Ibis’ along with Least Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. A Merlin who had been watching from the fringes of the forest took wing, spooking the shorebirds on the marsh and low and behold the Black-necked Stint came flying right out from a hidden pool and landed not far from where I was standing along the road! Nicknamed the “Lawyer” because of its vociferousness, this long-legged dandy’s sharp, rapid ip-ip-ip alarm call provided a warning to other wild denizens on the marsh. After the danger had passed the stint went on wading in a shallow saltwater pool, pecking and probing for fish and plant material while being trailed by several Lesser Yellowlegs.

Described as a straggler and casual spring vagrant (meaning that it is quite rare) to Maine, this distinctive, tall but lean, small-bodied shorebird is somewhere between a robin and a crow in size. This handsome bird has a bill that is twice as long as its head and is black above with greenish reflections. Its forehead and underparts are snow white and its long legs are a spectacular lake red or coral color. Females look similar but slightly duller.

I had never seen this bird in Cape, in fact the only time I had ever seen a Black-necked Stint was in Florida years ago. Pushing the northern boundaries of its range into Maine and Nova Scotia, each year a very small handful of sightings are reported. There are no known breeding records in Maine, yet.

The first Black-necked Stint was recorded being taken in Rockland in 1889. Back then the eastern populations were decimated by hunting and not until this activity became regulated in the early 1900s did their numbers rebound to the extent that the population began to expand back to Virginia and Delaware. Today the Black-necked Stint’s population on both the east and west coast of North America is stable according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey; however, they are still vulnerable to wetland destruction and pollution from pesticides.

One of the many reasons that I am drawn to birding relates to how kind, energetic and helpful other birders are that I meet in the field. While watching the Stint a fellow birder showed up and with a scope picked out a White-faced Ibis in the crowd of Glossy Ibises. Just when I thought the day could not get any better it did!

Not long-ago White-faced Ibises were considered accidental visitors in Maine with the first Maine record of this bird in 1996. Today this large purple, green and bronze wading bird with ruby red eyes looks very similar to a Glossy Ibis but has a bare patch of skin in front of its eyes which is bordered with a sharp white mask. White-faced Ibises are more common in marshes across large parts of the American West.

A few more noteworthy mentionings include: on May 7 I spotted three Black-crowned Night Herons flying together at dusk over IGA. And on May 8 my youngest son and I hung our Great-crested Flycatcher box in a boggy area of our property. Minutes later we heard the loud, penetrating whee-eep whistle call of from a flycatcher not far off. On the morning of May 8 the first pair of male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks feasted together at our feeder while a Barn Swallow and two Chimney Swifts flew high overhead.

And finally, on the sun filled day of May 12 at Hinkley Park, I spied a Swainson’s Thrush in a wooded section of the park and shortly thereafter a dashing Prairie Warbler sprang out from the low bushes under the powerline section to utter a succession of summery mellow buzzy notes. Unlike any other wood warbler its distinctive buzzy song increases in pitch as it progresses.