I spent last week travelling through New Brunswick and New England (Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). I had high hopes that I would be able to spend evenings birding when my work was done but it was dark early, and I was on the road late so there was very little birding to be had. In fact, I think my heart broke a little more each of the 4 times I drove by the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge and could not stop.

However, when you drive thousands of miles you are bound to see something right?

I had 4 new to me birds that were spotted incidentally, the best find being the Rusty Blackbird on the first night I spent in St. Andrews by-the-Sea.

Driving though Maine I spotted a flock of Eastern Bluebirds flying in a farmer’s field so stopped to have a peek.  Those little guys are so cute, and not very common back home.

It would turn out that I was so scared driving in the i-95 toward NYC, that once I reached my stop in Greenwich I vowed to never drive on it again and took the backroads out of the city.  And so, I ended up in one of the richest neighbourhoods in North America.  Like think Dupont family rich.  Well, I’m sure it went over like a ton of bricks when I stopped to photograph this Turkey Vulture, but hey you only live once.  Would have been awesome to have had time to visit the Babcock Preserve which is known for Hooded Warblers…will do in the Spring I guess.  I’ll take the Turkey Vulture for now.

Mother Nature must have a sense of humor because later that evening I happened upon a family of Wild Turkeys, first ones I’ve even seen.

The Ferry ride is about the closest thing to a pelagic trip I’ll get in some time but all I saw was Northern Gannets and Surf Scoters. It’s pretty neat to watch the Gannets hours from land though I must say.

Although I had no time for birding in New England, my ferry was due to land in Yarmouth at 8am on Saturday morning so I had planned to visit Cape Forchu to look for Warblers and Kinglets once back in Nova Scotia. However, the ferry landed 7 hours late. Even though I know this would be a terrible time to visit Cape Sable Island for the first time (and it was blowing a gale to boot) I made a stop to see it for the first time at least. Gorgeous habitat for birds can’t wait to get there someday to do some real birding. I did finally get to see a female Belted Kingfisher at least, so not a total wash.

Overall, it was the least birdy road trip I’ve been on but I have great ideas for where to stop when I visit next time. Nothing worth having comes easy they say.

I spent last night in a little beach tourist town called Ogunquit (just outside of Wells).  I prefer to get out of the big cities for the night when I’m on the road so I can reboot, and birding has certainly upped that game. This morning I was off to Portland.  I stopped at a pet store in down town Portland and in the parking lot I looked up and there was Black-crowned Night Heron in a tree,

Off I drove to the other end of town to see another pet store and in the back of the store I was greeted by a House Sparrow (my bird familiar perhaps?) and a few Savannah Sparrows.  The birds, they are everywhere when you start looking for them.

Then off to Wiscasset for the night.   On the way down I stopped in the country to try to snag a shot of a large group of Barn Swallows who were, you guessed it, living in a barn, but didn’t have a lot of luck.  They were super fun to watch and listen to though.  If you click twice on the photos to zoom in you will see they are actually Barn Swallows, not blackflies  😉

My final destination, The Squire Tarbox Inn, is a haven for birds and a heaven for people.  I’ve given a view of the outside of my room both looking in and looking out.  Hands down one of the nicest places I’ve ever stayed.  Although I do remember the Lodge at the Old Dorm on Bowen Island, Vancouver was amazing as well.  The owners at the Squire Tarbox Inn are wonderful and serve food that is farmed by their son down the road and prepared by an executive chef.  Best salad greens ever!  I can’t wait for my “farm to table” breakfast in the morning and to hear the songbirds who are all over the property.

Roni, the owner of the Squire Tarbox Inn told me of a little wildlife preserve I could get to in the area so I took a little drive to see the local scenery and a walkabout on the trail.  First thing I saw at the trail head though was evidence of a bird massacre…oh dear!  What kind of bird I wonder?   Once on the trail, I was completely surrounded by songbirds the entire time but the trees were dense and very tall so I did not see many although I do think I finally got my Hermit Thrush?  I could use some ID verification with my photos, but I swear by that Hermit Thrush song.  Joel Plaskett knows a thing or two about songs I always say…

 

The trail was nice and I walked to the end but didn’t see much more.  I think if the river had been filled up with water there would have been lots of birds but it was pretty much just mud.  But as usual my birding adventure ended with a surprise as I noticed a Ruffed Grouse on the way out.   Boothbay Harbour and Rockland in the morning and then up the coast to New Brunswick for another night at the palace they call the Algonquin Resort before visiting some stores in Saint John and heading back to Nova Scotia.   Birding sure makes my business travel feel like a vacation.

First I must credit the Nova Scotia Bird Society‘s Facebook page and many knowledgeable members for making it possible to identify these birds more easily.  I don’t have a field guide yet but recognize many of the birds I see from other people’s photos and from ID help from some serious birders who are good enough to share their knowledge with us newbies.  PS if someone could check my IDs here that would be great too  🙂

I drove across the border into Maine early this morning (May 5th).  I’m here to visit pet stores and that is my first priority but when I crossed the border I realized that the time was earlier and that I had an extra hour I didn’t plan to have so spent it birding this morning before my first scheduled visit.

There was a small wildlife preserve just outside the border in Maine so I stopped but didn’t see anything.  Just around the bend I stopped to get a pic of a Belted Kingfisher though.

Then a minute or two later I stopped on the side of the road because a Heron like bird was on the side of the road.  A woman saw me stop and she stopped too on the other side of the road.  Susan, if you read this let me know if you think that might have been a Green Heron or an American Bittern we saw.  The stripe on the eye seems to be the giveaway.  Of course, no photo before he flew off into the woods.  Memory is rarely accurate but I feel it was one of those two.

I have this thing when I go birding that I never see what I went to see and often spot birds I never thought I would see instead.  Of course if you go to a nature reserve all bets are off you just see everything.  What a spectacular place the Wells Reserve is!  Many of the same birds that are in our marshes and conservation areas in Nova Scotia are here too of course.  Anyway, in a place like this even the Crows look extra special.

As soon as I walked onto the property I was great by two Eastern Phoebes who were chasing each other around and making their scratchy Fee-Bee calls.  I didn’t even have my camera out so of course they posed on the park bench and I didn’t get the photo.  But off to a great start I thought anyway.  I vowed to be ready for the next bird though.

And I got my Eastern Towhee finally, who turned out to be a female.  The photo is dreadful but I didn’t bother to crop it because you can just click on it twice to enlarge it.  I think there were tons of Towhees there scratching in the bushes but they stay in the brush for the most part so I only got this one bad shot.  But still happy to have discovered a Towhee in it’s natural habit when I did not expect to.  Birding serendipity, my favorite!

There weren’t many Robins around, and not a Bluejay to be found (uncommon here apparently) but I did find a Porcupine and a Ground Hog.  Go figure.

Next up was a real treat as when I looked up high to see what birds were making the new to me noise, it was a pair of Brown Headed Cowbirds.

I even found a Northern Mockingbird!

There were 4 male Red Winged Blackbirds staking out their territory in the marsh.

And if all that weren’t enough in one day I grabbed a couple more lifers on the way out.  Mixed in with the Song Sparrows on the grass were a group of White Throated Sparrows, and I believe at least one White Crowned Sparrow (orange beak).  My apologies as I ran out of light for the Sparrow shots but I think they are good enough for IDs.  And to that a good night.