We came, we sat, we birded, we laughed, we ate doughnuts, it rained. That pretty much sums up the experience enjoyed by a hardy team of birders who ventured to Gilsland Farm this past Saturday for the 11th annual Big Sit bird count. The goal was to identify as many birds as possible without …
Birds
The Big Sit! The Largest Number of Birds With the Least Amount of Effort
The annual Big Sit is a combination of two things I love: birding and sitting down. The idea is to count as many birds as possible in a single day without leaving a 17-foot circle, and Maine Audubon will be hosting our 11th consecutive Big Sit event this coming Saturday, October 13. Big Sits are …
Trip Report: 50th Anniversary of the Bald Eagles of Merrymeeting Bay
One morning in 1969, Maine Audubon and friends motored up the Kennebec River to Swan Island in hopes of seeing a Bald Eagle. A sighting was no sure thing in those days, as the pesticide DDT and other factors had worked to reduce the state's Bald Eagle population to just 14 nesting pairs. The 1969 …
“How Long Should I Keep My Hummingbird Feeders Up?” – Answers To All Your Fall Hummingbird Questions
Watching hummingbirds zip around a garden or gracefully sip from a hanging feeder are enduring pleasures of a Maine summer. But as the seasons change the hummingbirds leave Maine, flying south to look for warmer temperatures and blooming flowers. So there's no reason to keep your hummingbird …
Rare Bird Alert: GREAT BLACK HAWK [UPDATE: 11/29/18]
[UPDATE Nov. 29, 2018] This just keeps getting wilder. The Great Black Hawk, not seen since Oct. 30, was refound this morning in Deering Oaks Park in Portland. Unlike last month's appearance which was seen by just a single birder, dozens have enjoyed the bird today, and it continues as of …
Nature Moments: How to Build a Bird’s Nest
If you ever have the opportunity (and permits) to dissect an abandoned bird nest, you'll discover that female birds are ingenious architects of solid, well-insulated, camouflaged homes for their eggs. They're able to do it without practice or instruction, using found objects like rootlets, feathers, …
Nature Moments: Birdsong Baby Babble
Every bird in the world makes some kind of sound. But in order to develop a proper song, explains Nat Wheelwright, some of them need to listen to adults and then practice what they hear, in the same way children learn to speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymW5QXppKE Nature Moments are …
Golden-winged Warbler in South Portland
Warbler migration has just about peaked and the diversity we're seeing in southern Maine has been great this year. Our warbler walks at Evergreen Cemetery and Capisic Pond had a slower start but this week we've been seeing around 18 species of warblers each day. One of our "dream birds" to find is a …
5 Things You Can Do For Birds Today
This year is the year -- and today is the day. 2018 has been designated the "Year of the Bird," with a goal of bringing attention to the needs and threats facing wild birds. And today, the second Saturday in May, is “World Migratory Bird Day.” It is also the 100th anniversary of the Migratory …