Day 19.165: Other sights at the beach

Still recapping our visit to South Point beach on Sunday. Here are some more sights:

After more than a decade here, I shouldn’t be surprised to see sparrows and crows and the like on the beach but somehow I still am. Sunday’s example were these house sparrows

We watch the piping plover successfully sending them away and one of the chicks even joined in

Semi-palmated plover

There were lots of terns hunting just off the beach

As usual, I couldn’t resist getting some photos of their dives

Eyes fixed on its prey even at this moment

Success

Jellyfish washed up on the sand

Day 19.164: More beach babies

The eiders also had their babies at (or technically just off) the beach:

Day 19.163: Beach babies

Exile #2 and I were not the only parents with our babies at the beach yesterday evening. Here - for example - are the piping plovers:

 

Day 19.162: Exile #2's Sunday Column #556

Exile #2 writes...

This has historically always been one of the busiest weekends of the year. Exile #3’s dance school usually has their dance show this weekend, often involving Exile #3. For probably a decade, however, it has also involved Exile #1, who films, edits, and reproduces videos of the show. Exile #3’s birthday is usually on or around dance show day, too, and to cap it all off, Father’s Day usually rounds off the weekend.

This year was not too different. Exile #1 filmed the show. Exile #3 went to watch and cheer on the dancers, we celebrated Exile #3 on Saturday evening, and today we celebrated Exile #1, mostly by letting him have a very rare lie in, and the opportunity to choose an evening outing. He chose Biddeford Pool and, although we had had a rainy, thundery afternoon, this evening was absolutely perfect.

Day 19.161: Birthday!

I had a very busy day today. The most important part was celebrating Exile #3’s birthday which waited until the end of the day. Happy birthday Exile #3!

Day 19.160: Moose!

One of our most surprising moments on our trip last Sunday was that after a short drive down the road to fill our water bottles at a natural spring we retraced our route for a short distance and during that time encountered this young male moose:

I think that only makes my third sighting - one of the others being near home and the other within a few miles of this one when we stayed at Saddleback in the summer of 2021. 

Day 19.159: Birds after Saddleback

After our five-hour hike to the top of Saddleback and back, we visited several other locations in the area and on the way home. Here are some of the bird sightings:

Eastern kingbird above Sandy River.

Purple martin

Purple martin - this is a private home with a variety of nesting options for these birds

We had great views as they perched and circled

Barn swallow at the nearby Messalonskee Lake

Black tern

Tree swallow

Red-winged blackbird

Canada geese and goslings

We watched this great blue heron arrive. We had been hoping to spot a sandhill crane, so this bird caused a little excitement when it first appeared in the corner of my vision.

A short time later, we were surprised to see it being chased away by this bold red-winged blackbird

Barn swallow

Red-winged blackbird

Black tern