Last week my wife, Pam, and I spent a couple of relaxing days at a friend’s cottage in East Boothbay overlooking the Damarsicotta River. The cottage was set on the rocks about 80 feet above the water, with excellent views of a family of ospreys that cruised up and down the shore. The young had recently fledged and the parents appeared to be teaching them to be self-sufficient by diving down into the water, grabbing a fish, and then flying up and down the coast tempting the young with the fish clutched in their talons. This activity went on from dawn to dusk, the ospreys communicating with short shrill whistles. Walking along the rocks we heard the mournful call of a loon and spotted a common loon out in the middle of the river. Common loons are usually found on quiet freshwater lakes in the summer. They migrate south and can often be found along the coast in the winter. Our friend Jenny noticed a raft of pure white gulls about 50 feet offshore. Upon viewing them through the binoculars, I noted a distinctive black patch behind the eye. I was not sure what gulls they were, but on returning to the cabin we checked in Sibley’s Guide to Birds and identified them as Bonaparte’s gulls. Every day at dusk we saw hundreds of cormorants in groups of four to eight heading down the river, seemingly inches above the water, en route to their night roost, probably on one of the islands out in the bay.
Last weekend I took advantage of the Mass. Audubon bird walk at “the big three”—Bolton Flats, Oxbow, and Great Meadows. We met at Bolton Orchards and drove to the entrance of Bolton Flats off Route 117, but after five inches of rain the day before, the area was completely flooded. Rather than wading through that, we drove on to what I know as Culley’s sand pit a little farther west on 117. This area has been an active sand and gravel pit but, unbeknownst to me, had recently been acquired by, I believe, Mass. Fish and Wildlife.
We were hoping to see birds migrating through this area, and after walking through the pit and not seeing much of anything, we came across a flock of birds feeding in the cherry trees and other fruitful bushes. As often happens, migrating birds tend to appear in waves and we certainly caught one here. In the space of one hour we saw about 25 species of birds. The most vocal was a family of bluebirds. We also saw prairie and pine warblers, blue-grey gnat catchers, and red-eyed vireos flitting around. Higher up in the trees were cedar waxwings and scarlet tanagers. Down lower were a towhee, house wren, and catbird, along with the “usual” chickadees and tufted titmouse. Three fly-catchers that got our attention were the yellow-bellied, wood peewee, and Phoebe, with its distinctive flicking tail. On the floor of the sand pit there is now a good cover of grasses. We saw field sparrows and a vesper sparrow, which was a life bird for me. Up in the sky we saw hawks—red-tailed, red-shouldered, and an American kestrel—as well as several flocks of migrating grackles.
Having our fill of birds here, we moved on to the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge at the bottom of Still River Depot Road. There was plenty of water here also, and as usual, the tank road was flooded, though not enough to impede our progress. It was very quiet, with very little bird activity, but we did see warbling vireos, another red-eyed vireo, and three woodpeckers common around here, the downy, hairy, and red-bellied.
Getting in our cars, we drove to Great Meadows, off Route 62 in Concord. The pans were completely flooded, driving some of the shore birds that would normally be here to slightly drier areas. Ducks were fairly abundant and we got great views of green-winged teals and blue-winged teals. Both of these ducks are fairly small, but very distinctive when one catches the bright green wing feathers of one and the pale blue on the other. Being a sunny day made this observation that much easier, as the colors are so much brighter when the sun catches them. Talking about color, the wood duck is one of the most colorful ducks you will see around here, and they are easily spotted at this refuge. Flocks of red-winged blackbirds were wheeling around the flats getting ready to head south, as were a few barn and tree swallows. We walked on down to the river and saw great egrets, great blue herons, lesser yellowlegs and a few least sandpipers.
Walking back to the parking lot across the dike, I was thinking of what a pleasant day we had had when, as a finale, a sora flushed up not six feet to the right and flew in front of us. These secretive birds are rarely seen, usually camouflaged in the reeds. Although I have heard the sora in the past in this area, this is the first time I had seen one—what a satisfying end to a great birding day.
David Durrant lives with his wife, Pamela, on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they run their business, Durrant Design, and watch birds—their own peacocks, chickens, and wild birds.
