Freeport Wild Bird Supply

09/17/2026

Our annual “weekend” downeast followed by a three-day tour to Monhegan headlined my birding this week, along with visits to shorebirds and Sandy Point to bookend the period. Here are my copious observations of note over the past 10 days.

We teased out one, likely continuing Little Gull from the unseasonably small masses of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Head Harbor Passage, New Brunswick on 9/9. Our annual “weekend” downeast followed by a th…

09/16/2026

We were Downeast last week to check out the gulls and shorebirds. On one of our boat trips from Eastport, among the hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls, this Little Gull put on a fantastic show for us!

09/15/2026

Sandy Point Morning Flight, 9/15.

46F, clear, NNW 5.4-6.2 to N 1.5-2.6
6:20-10:05.

A great flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth Island this morning. Jayden Mowry and Bill Thompson were on the bridge with me for most of the count. Pulses of birds early and high resulted in lots of unidentified. Northerly winds resulted in lots of swirling and non-crossings, making counting migrants even more challenging! The hunting Merlin also didn’t help. A family group of 4 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS on a sandbar (first spotted today by Matthew Gilbert) was my 199th species at Sandy Point!

297 Northern Parula
283 Unidentified
85 Blackpoll Warblers
45 American Redstarts
38 Black-throated Green Warblers
30 Cedar Waxwings
20 Red-eyed Vireos
19 Yellow-rumped Warblers
16 Yellow Warblers
15 Magnolia Warblers
9 Swainson’s Thrushes
7 Black-and-white Warblers
7 Northern Flickers
6 Ospreys
6 American Goldfinches
6 Nashville Warblers
5 Red-breasted Nuthatches
4 Northern Waterthrushes
4 Bay-breasted Warblers
3 Palm Warblers
3 Chestnut-sided Warblers
3 Chipping Sparrows
3 American Pipits
3 Common Loons
3 Black-throated Blue Warblers
3 Tennessee Warblers
3 Philadelphia Vireo
3 Blue Jay
3 Wilson’s Warblers
2 Cape May Warblers
2 Purple Finches
2 DICKCISSELS
2 Blue-headed Vireos
2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
2 Eastern Phoebes
2 Least Flycatchers
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
1 Merlin (plus 1 hunting)
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER (getting late)
1 Canada Warbler
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Blackburnian Warbler
1 Downy Woodpecker (at least 4 “false starts”)
1 unidentified vireo
1 Warbling Vireo
1 Scarlet Tanager
X Common Yellowthroat

T= 956
6 Monarchs

09/15/2026

Our first Mourning Cloak of the year always brings joy and anticipation of warmer weather to come. Remarkably, their life history tells them to stick out the winter here in a frozen state.

09/14/2026

Ruddy Turnstones use their upturned bills to flip over pebbles, shells, rocks, and seaweed looking for delicious flies and springtails. This individual was on Biddeford Pool Beach shoveling through the wrack line doing just that.

09/13/2026

NIKON SALE!
Nikon is running a promotion through October 3rd where you can instantly save $30 - $50 on Monarch and Prostaff binoculars. Come in and try a pair!

09/12/2026

As warbler migration heats us, we have been treated to up to a dozen Cape May Warblers in our Durham yard recently. They have been feasting on our Black Cherries.

09/11/2026

Join Derek and Maine Conservation Voters for a free Birdwalk in Portland next month!

09/10/2026

Arrival.