The Big Sit that Louis Bevier and I did at Ocean Point, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on Friday ended up being tougher than we had hoped for. The stormy/shower front line across New England effectively shut off the stream of migrants that could be seen on radar moving in droves in the mid-Atlantic region so that our midnight to 4 AM period was pretty dry. I suppose that is why we were passing the time by watching the radar images in the dark on Louis' iPad. Our first two species were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls that we could hear occasionally from the nearby ocean. We actually only had a single nocturnal migrant--a Savannah Sparrow that called sometime after 2 AM. Several walks through the pitch black woods to the nice looking marsh in the back of the property yielded nothing. Tons of owl toots and hoots provided only a single Barred Owl response. Between midnight and 4 AM our total list consisted of seven species.
The pace did pick up as expected at dawn when the property rang with a cacophony of White-throated Sparrows, Winter Wrens, Hermit Thrushes, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Purple Finches, Nashville Warblers, Northern Parulas, Black-throated Green Warblers, and other birds. And there were some migrant warblers and other species but more like a trickle than a flood. By 7:30 AM our list was at 54 species.
The property where we did the Big Sit is a spruce-dominated habitat beside a small freshwater pond that drains into a marsh. There are more open areas within the spruces where there are tangles of blowdowns of the kind that Winter Wrens love to nest in and small seeps and vernal pools. On the uphill side there are nice ledges with blueberries and shrubby growth and a mix of some deciduous trees in certain areas. The Boothbay Region Land Trust owns four acres around the pond and is now trying to acquire the adjoining 25 acre parcel which is the largest piece left within the area at the end of the peninsula. A trail circumnavigates the perimeter of the property.
Louis and I varied from sitting near the pond to scaning the skies and surrounding trees to walking the trails back to the marsh and around the perimeter and a little bushwacking through the blowdowns (not recommended!). One particular Big Day challenge was that we had only very limited views of the ocean of Linnekin Bay through the trees so it was really tough to scan and add to our list with ocean-loving species.
After the morning flurring our list increased regularly but in small increments. There was the Eastern Kingbird at a quarter-mile distance, fly-over Least and Solitary Sandpipers, single Northern Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse, and the nesting Sharp-shinned Hawk that passed by with a bird in its talons every hour or so. By noon when the food provided for us by the East Boothbay General Store arrived, our list stood at a respectable 65 species (by the way the Ocean Club sandwiches are the size of bricks and delicous!).
The afternoon was a struggle just to keep us both awake but we countered the sleepiness by doing several hikes around the perimeter trail and each time the warbler flocks gave us a few new species--Blackpoll, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Yellow, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush. We ended up with 13 warbler species by the end. We found a few Brown Creepers and heard a Pileated Woodpecker. A Scarlet Tanager, Bobolink, and some Cedar Waxwings flew over. By 5:30 PM we were at 74 species and we were stalled. It took two more hours and much eye-aching scans between the trees before we were able to find some distant Surf Scoters on Linnekin Bay to push us to 75 species which became our final total when we decided to close up shop at 8:45 PM so we could drive home without falling asleep. The full list and the totals by hour are posted below.
Over 50% of the birds that we found are species that have 25% or more of their total population breeding with the Boreal Forest!
My wife Allison joined us for part of the day and did some filming to produce a really fun video about the day:
All the video and sounds you hear on it were recorded during the Big Sit. We have identified 10 species that can be heard in the video. Let us know if you want the list to see if you can hear them all or if you find any that we missed.
We posted updates during the day at: www.borealbirds.org/blog
OCEAN POINT BIG SIT, MAY 14, 2010
Midnight
2 AM - 2 species
3 AM - 5 species
4 AM - 7 species
4:30 AM - 10 species
5:30 AM - 27 species
6:30 AM - 45 species
7:30 AM - 54 species
9:00 AM - 58 species
10:30 AM - 60 species
Noon - 65 species
2:30 PM - 67 species
4:30 PM - 72 species
5:30 PM - 74 species
6:30 PM - 74 species
7:30 PM - 75 species
8:45 PM - 75 species - FINAL TOTAL
GEESE & DUCKS
Canada Goose B-N1
Wood Duck B
American Black Duck B
Mallard B-N1
Common Eider B
Surf Scoter
TURKEY
Wild Turkey N2
LOONS
Common Loon B
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant B
HERONS & IBISES
Great Blue Heron B
KITES, EAGLES & HAWKS
Osprey B
Sharp-shinned Hawk B
SANDPIPERS
Spotted Sandpiper B
Solitary Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
GULLS & TERNS
Laughing Gull B
Herring Gull B
Great Black-backed Gull B
AUKS & PUFFINS
Black Guillemot B
PIGEONS & DOVES
Mourning Dove B
TYPICAL OWLS
Barred Owl B
WOODPECKERS
Downy Woodpecker B
Hairy Woodpecker B
Northern Flicker B
Pileated Woodpecker B
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Phoebe B
Eastern Kingbird B
VIREOS
Blue-headed Vireo B
JAYS & CROWS
Blue Jay B
American Crow B
SWALLOWS
Tree Swallow B
Barn Swallow B
CHICKADEES & TITMICE
Black-capped Chickadee B
Tufted Titmouse B
NUTHATCHES
Red-breasted Nuthatch B
White-breasted Nuthatch B
CREEPERS
Brown Creeper B
WRENS
Winter Wren B
KINGLETS
Golden-crowned Kinglet B
Ruby-crowned Kinglet B
THRUSHES
Hermit Thrush B
American Robin B
THRASHERS
Gray Catbird B
STARLINGS
European Starling N1
WAXWINGS
Cedar Waxwing B
WOOD-WARBLERS
Nashville Warbler B
Northern Parula B
Yellow Warbler B
Magnolia Warbler B
Black-throated Blue Warbler B
Yellow-rumped Warbler B
Black-throated Green Warbler B
Blackburnian Warbler B
Blackpoll Warbler B
Black-and-white Warbler B
American Redstart B
Northern Waterthrush B
Common Yellowthroat B
SPARROWS
Chipping Sparrow B
Savannah Sparrow B
Song Sparrow B
Swamp Sparrow B
White-throated Sparrow B
Dark-eyed Junco B
CARDINALINES
Scarlet Tanager B
Northern Cardinal B
Rose-breasted Grosbeak B
BLACKBIRDS & ORIOLES
Bobolink B
Red-winged Blackbird B
Common Grackle B
Brown-headed Cowbird B
Baltimore Oriole B
FINCHES
Purple Finch B
House Finch N1
American Goldfinch B
__________
LEGEND
B Breeds regularly in Maine
N1 Introduced and established breeding population in Maine
N2 Successfully re-established and breeding in areas of former occurrence within Maine
