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2017 Evergreen Cemetery and Capisic Pond Warbler Walks

Our annual Warbler Walks at Evergreen Cemetery and Capisic Pond are underway and the birds are not disappointing! We will continue these walks through next Friday, May 19th, so I hope you can join us at Evergreen, Mondays through Thursday, or Capisic on Friday. Here is a quick summary of what we’ve seen so far – check back for more updates!

8-10 May 2017
Last week the weather-people were predicting a very wet start to this week so I feel fortunate that we have not been rained on yet. That said, the weather has not been great for producing good movements of birds. The evening radars haven’t shown great movements, mostly because of birds being blocked by rain either over Maine or in southern New England. It looks like the wind will stay out of the north through the rest of the week, which isn’t great for getting a new pulse of birds in, but at least the temps should increase a bit (upper 50s on Friday). Despite the north wind, more southern vagrants continue to appear in the state with two ‘new’ Blue Grosbeaks reported today at Goose Rocks Beach and near the Cathance Preserve.

That brings us to the highlight of the week: a female HOODED WARBLER that was found on Tuesday morning by Brendan McKay on the edge of the main pond at the back of Evergreen. Thankfully the bird stuck around until our walk started and put on a show throughout the morning. Even better, the bird was back again on Wednesday morning, allowing even more people to connect! (This is a bird guides dream come true.) On the bright side of the weather forecast, this less-than-ideal weather may help keep this bird around for a few more days… Below is my pretty-terrible digiscoped shot of the Hooded Warbler but you can see a great shot the Rob Speirs got here: ML57400201

Hooded Warbler – Portland, ME – 9 May 2017

Looking at the numbers from this week: we have seen 56 different species with a high of 40 species on Monday and Wednesday – so the diversity has been fairly spread out. Very few flycatchers are around, it is still a bit early for some flycatcher species to show up but the cold weather is keeping many insects down, and therefore we aren’t seeing many things that eat them. Including warblers… We are up to 15 different species of warblers for the week but the overall numbers of each are pretty low. This will definitely change with the weather. Our trip to Capisic Pond on Friday will also help diversify our list and boost our numbers! Full lists from each day are linked below.

Birders on Day 1 looking at a singing Wood Thrush

eBird checklist from Evergreen Cemetery on 8 May 2017: S36652953
eBird checklist from Evergreen Cemetery on 9 May 2017: S36679631
eBird checklist from Evergreen Cemetery on 10 May 2017: S36706168

Make a pledge to the 2017 Bird-a-thon!
And anyone who has been on these walks has heard me asking for support for our annual bird-a-thon, which will be May 20th this year. Each year we hold this fundraiser to help advance our educational programming (my team supports work at Gilsland Farm) and to create more birding opportunities specifically focused for youth birders. Each year I’ve put together a ‘youth’ team, the “Sub-adult Twitchers” and we spend 24-hours trying to tally as many species as possible, staying within the state. So, if you’ve enjoyed these Warbler Walks or are want to help support the work we do, please consider making a pledge to the “Sub-adult Twitchers” at: crowdrise.com/sub-adult-twitchers

-Doug