You can tell it is October when we start using words like Selasphorus or Archilochus - these two mouthfuls are the genera of some of the hummingbirds that occur in North America, which could be in your yard right now. Even though mostly all of our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have left Maine by the …
Birds
Photo: Geese and other birds are on the move
October is a busy time for many bird species, as their migration routes bring them through Maine. You've likely seen flocks of geese and other migrating birds in the sky -- a sure sign of autumn. Our Wild Goose Chase van trip next month is a great opportunity to look for migrating geese. Consider …
62 species seen at our 2017 Big Sit!
On Saturday we hosted the Big Sit at Maine Audubon's Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth. Over the course of the day, more than 30 people came by to help us count as many birds as we could. Ultimately, we counted 62 species of birds (see the full list), which was 10 more than last year. …
Photos from our Merrymeeting Bay Trip
On Saturday, September 23, Maine Audubon's 48th annual Bald Eagles of Merrymeeting Bay trip left Boothbay Harbor with beautiful, sunny weather. The five-hour round trip took us through a variety of habitats as we cruised on open ocean to the mouth of the Kennebec River, up the river to Merrymeeting …
WHERE ARE THE BIRDS?!
Over the last two weeks or so I've received daily calls asking "what has happened to our backyard birds?" Even on the MAINE Birds Facebook Group (membership required) there is a thread titled "Where are all the back-yard birds ? No birds at feeders for days !!" that has 345 comments of people mostly …
2017 Bar Harbor Pelagic Trip Summary
Maine Audubon's annual pelagic out of Bar Harbor ran on Sunday, September 17th this year. In the week building up we'd been monitoring wind (which was calm) and seas (which had dissipated) from the hurricanes moving over the Atlantic. We even used a larger boat this year, Bar Harbor Whale Watch's …
Rare Bird Alert: Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Fall is upon us and birds are migrating. While many of us think of birds leaving for the winter, this also means the potential for vagrancy and rare birds showing up almost anywhere. Hotspots, like Monhegan Island, have already seen rarities like Say's Phoebe, Painted Bunting, and Red-headed …
Head Harbor Passage 2017 Trip Report
On 26 August, we ran our inaugural trip to explore the waters of Head Harbor Passage and it was awesome! The bottlenecked water from the extremely high tides off Eastport literally create a whirlpool, known as the Old Sow, where a variety of 'bird food' (especially krill) is brought to the surface …
Are you seeing fewer birds in the summer?
Each year I receive a number of phone calls or inquires from people worried about the lack of birds at their feeders in the summer time. Fear not! This is generally a good thing. Below, I'll use some eBird data to illustrate some of the changes in a bird's frequency or abundance throughout the …