Day 19.142: Beach birding

Our nature group gathered an hour earlier than usual - at 6 am - on Sunday to see if we could see 75 species. In the end we managed 63 in a variety of locations around Biddeford Pool. Our time started and ended on the beach - here are some of our sightings there. 

Common terns with some of their catch

Common loon

Black scoters

Northern mockingbird

Semipalmated sandpipers

Killdeer

Piping plover

Spotted sandpiper

Semipalmated sandpipers

Spotted sandpiper

Northern mockingbird 

Killdeer chicks

Killdeer

Day 19.141; Exile #2’s Sunday Column #554

Exile #2 writes...

Exile #1 and I made the bold choice to get up at 5am to join our nature group at the coast for a couple of hours before church. I was not the only one to opt for a winter coat and nor did I regret it! Although we have not had any, there has been snow in the mountains, which is fairly unusual for Maine in May. It’s been pretty chilly though.

Afterwards, we swung by the house to grab the other Exiles and headed to church where Exile #4 joined the group of those being celebrated for graduating from college and high school.

Exile #4 then spent a bit of time catching up with a friend before we all settled down this evening to watch a movie. As always, we had a lengthy discussion about what it should be. Having enjoyed the very sweet Remarkably Bright Creatures last night, we opted for the grittier classic Fargo tonight. I hadn’t seen it since moving to the US, so I’m pretty sure I understood different things this time - but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it again and it seemed to be a hit with everyone.

Day 19.140: Scarborough Marsh

After a wild night with heavy rain and strong winds, the morning continued with fairly steady rain. When it eased off after lunch, Exile #2 and I went for a walk on the Eastern Trail at Scarborough Marsh. Here are some of the birds we saw:

Glossy ibis 

Snowy egret

Saltmarsh sparrow

Little blue heron and snowy egrets

Little blue heron

Saltmarsh sparrow 

Saltmarsh sparrow

Great egret

Barn swallow

Northern yellow warbler

Gray catbird 

Red-eyed vireo

Cedar waxwing

Launch!

Eastern wood pewee

Willet

Pretty good camouflage 

Bald eagle

Willet showing its flashy wing patterns

Snowy egret 

Song sparrow 

Day 19.139: It’s artificial anyway

This is your reminder that AI doesn’t always get it right:

No papercraft - intricate or otherwise - was used in that video. Or maybe it was and I didn’t have “intelligence” enough to detect it. 

Day 19.138: Memorial Day (part 2) birds

Here are some of  the birds we saw on our Memorial Day afternoon outing to Biddeford Pool including South Point Sanctuary and East Point Preserve.

Northern yellow warbler

Northern yellow warbler

Gray catbird

More common eiders with chicks

Eastern kingbird

House finch

Brown thrasher

Common eiders

Double-crested cormorant

Common tern

Double-crested cormorant

House finch

Great Snowy egret (almost unrecognizable with the naked-eye with its neck so retracted)

Much easier when it extended it again