It\u2019s now mid-November and the images of swallows flocking in August as they prepare to migrate are distant memories.\u00a0 Yet, the fall migration still continues.\u00a0 The fall spectacle is a wonderfully protracted event.<\/p>\n
The schedule of bird migration is largely governed by food.\u00a0 Migratory birds leave Maine when their preferred food is no longer sufficient. The first to leave are the aerial insect-eaters like swallows, swifts and nighthawks.\u00a0 Leaf-gleaning insect-eaters like warblers, vireos and tanagers are next on the calendar. The caterpillars and other insects on which these birds depend can be found through September.\u00a0 Few warblers linger into October.<\/p>\n
Sparrows occur throughout October as the seeds of grasses and other plants are available for these ground-feeders.\u00a0 Most sparrows will depart before the first snows cover their food.<\/p>\n
The migration we are enjoying now is waterbird migration.\u00a0 As long as lakes are unfrozen, these birds can find the sustenance they need.<\/p>\n
Fall birding on lakes and ponds can be exciting.\u00a0 You never know what you might see.\u00a0 In late October, I took one of my two ornithology lab sections to Sabbatus Pond, a known hotspot for ducks and other waterbirds in autumn.\u00a0 The first day we saw the expected Buffleheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks and American Coots.<\/p>\n
The next day, those same birds were present but a student pointed out a group of birds in the middle of the Pond.\u00a0 Several hundred dark ducks were arranged in a line, a common behavior in Black Scoters.\u00a0 Sure enough, that is what they were.\u00a0 The orange bills of these birds seemed to be illuminated from within.<\/p>\n
The flock took flight and we were able to pick out two White-winged Scoters.\u00a0 Bill Hancock saw these birds later in the day near sunset.\u00a0 He watched the flock fly south from the lake, making this sighting a one-day wonder.<\/p>\n
Black Scoters nest at high latitudes on small ponds.\u00a0 They winter along the coast. The hopscotch migration of these seaducks gives us a chance to see them on freshwater bodies.<\/p>\n
In early November, a smaller flock of Black Scoters and White-winged Scoters visited North Pond in Smithfield. They were accompanied by a few Red-necked Grebes, another species that winters along the coast.<\/p>\n
On November 6, Tom Aversa and Bruce Barker found some remarkable waterbird diversity on Sebasticook Lake in Newport.\u00a0 They saw the expected freshwater species like Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck and Green-winged Teal.\u00a0 But, if you just saw the rest of their list, you would certainly think Tom and Bruce were birding at a coastal site.\u00a0 They saw Common Eiders, Black Scoters, White-winged Scoters, probable Surf Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, a Red-throated Loon, a Red-necked Grebe, four Horned Grebes and Bonaparte\u2019s Gulls.\u00a0 As is normally the case, these coast-bound migrants did not linger.\u00a0 Striking it rich with fall waterbirds is a hit-or-miss proposition.<\/p>\n
On that same day at Lake Josephine in Aroostook County, Bill Sheehan found a Greater White-fronted Goose among the 800 Canada Geese there.\u00a0 He was also able to find two Cackling Geese, a miniaturized version of the Canada Goose.<\/p>\n
November can be a good time to see vagrant species as well.\u00a0 On November 1, Derek and Jeannette Lovitch, Kristen Lindquist and Evan Obercian found a Gray Catbird and two Orange-crowned Warblers in Portland.<\/p>\n
On November 7, Lisa Dellwo and Bill Schlesinger found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Lubec.\u00a0 On November 9, Don Reimer found a Blue-winged Warbler at Sebasticook Lake.<\/p>\n
Although none have been reported this year to my knowledge, Cave Swallows occasionally appear along the New England coast in November.\u00a0 The closest breeding population is in east Texas.<\/p>\n
The big excitement this November has been the Franklin\u2019s Gull Lake Sebasticook, present for several days.\u00a0 This vagrant from breeding areas in the Great Plains provides the tenth record for the state.<\/p>\n
[Originally published on November 25, 2015]<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s now mid-November and the images of swallows flocking in August as they prepare to migrate are distant memories.\u00a0 Yet, the fall migration still continues.\u00a0 The fall spectacle is a wonderfully protracted event. The schedule of bird migration is largely governed by food.\u00a0 Migratory birds leave Maine when their preferred food is no longer sufficient. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[429],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}