Upcoming ABC trips and events for 2023
All trips open to anyone, free of charge (gas costs for carpooling on long trips may be shared). See below for our currently planned trips and activities, please check back later for more or changed trips or details. We may also have additional trips with short notice through the birding club Google group email.
2023 Trips and Events
New birders are welcome on all trips and activities!
All local trips start at 7 am. Please arrive a couple minutes early if possible. We request that people minimize conversation when we’re actively birding as a group (harder to hear and focus on the birds).
Local May migration walks
Monday, May 15th and 22nd: Hallowell Reservoir, Hallowell [park in the roadside parking area beside the gate, on Town Farm Road about 0.25 miles south of Winthrop Street]
Tuesday, May 9th, 16th, and 23rd: Viles Arboretum, Augusta [153 Hospital Street]
Wednesday, May 10th, and 17th: Harrison Avenue Nature Trail, Gardiner [meet in the large dirt parking lot at the intersection of Rte 126/9]
Wednesday, May 24th: Belgrade birding spots, Belgrade. Meet at the Messalonskee Marsh canoe/kayak launch on Rte 27 in Belgrade (just south of Hammond’s lumber, east side of road) at 7 am.
Thursday, May 11th, 18th, and 25th: Viles Arboretum, Augusta [153 Hospital Street]
Friday, May 12th, 19th, and 26th: Bond Brook Recreation Area, Augusta [meet at the end of the Tall Pines Way access road off Bond Brook Road in large dirt parking lot in the “bowl”]
Saturday, May 6th, 13th, and 20th: Harrison Avenue Nature Trail, Gardiner [meet in the large dirt parking lot at the intersection of Rte 126/9]. Upstream (a local non-profit founded by Maine Master Naturalist Program grad Tina Wood and dedicated to restoring sea-run fish passage and ecological health to Cobbossee Stream) in conjunction with the Augusta Bird Club and Maine Master Naturalist Program volunteers is holding walks along the Cobbossee Stream in Gardiner throughout the month of May. Celebrate Migratory Bird month and the return of sea-run fish to the Cobbossee by hiking the Harrison Avenue Nature Trail with the volunteers.
https://www.facebook.com/alewivesupstreamcobbosseecontee
June boreal breeding birds trip
Caribou Bog (near Sugarloaf) on Saturday June 10th (rain date June 11th). We will likely carpool very early (4:30 am?) from the Augusta area to arrive by 7 am. More details to follow as we get closer. Total hike (round trip) expected to be about 8 miles with about 700 ft of elevation gain. Potential birds include: Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Spruce Grouse, and Bicknell’s Thrush. We may also stop by the Sugarloaf Snowfluent ponds to look for breeding Common Goldeneyes.
Selected Completed Trips
Saddleback Mountain hike, Saturday June 8th, 2019
Seven of us had a spectacular day on Saddleback. And the birding was good too!
We heard Bicknell’s Thrush but they were elusive to see. The highlights were nice looks at Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Winter Wren and Canada Jay.
Cheryl’s eBird checklist is here:
https://ebird.org/view/
Howard reports that it was well worth getting up at 4:00 am!
Thanks to Howard and Brenda for organizing and scouting the trip.
Sabattus Pond, November 2018
All 15 or so of us on Monday’s Sabattus Pond trip enjoyed the mild sunny weather and calm winds which made it pleasant to stand on a beach in November and scan for ducks. Waterfowl was our main goal and we were able to see 13 species, including good but distant looks at a Redhead and close looks at a pair of Northern Pintails. Other ducks etc. included close to a thousand Ruddy Ducks, lots of Greater and some Lesser Scaup, Black Duck, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ring-necked Duck (which should be called Ring-billed Duck), Bufflehead, Canada Goose, and Mallard. For a couple of the trip lists with some pictures:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49897559
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49897850
Red-billed Tropicbird Seal Island trip, July 2018
Several ABC members braved the high seas (was actually fairly calm that day) in hopes of seeing the Red-billed Tropicbird at Seal Island. It’s a rare bird in the North Atlantic but one bird has been returning to Seal Island (south of Stonington) for a dozen or so summers. It can be disappointing to focus an entire trip on one bird and we did expect to see other good pelagic species. Happily, the Tropicbird did make an appearance and we also saw Great Cormorant (unusual breeders in the U.S.), Razorbill, Atlantic Puffins Common Murre, Manx Shearwater, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Arctic Tern among others.
https://ebird.org/atlasme/view/checklist/S47207032
https://ebird.org/atlasme/view/checklist/S47207029
Long Falls Dam Road boreal trip, June 2018
Ten of us had a good day birding in the north woods, on and near the Long Falls Dam Road near Flagstaff lake. We saw 58 species overall and a good variety, though fewer true boreal birds than we were hoping for. Highlights included Mourning Warbler, Boreal Chickadee, and Black-billed Cuckoo.
One of the goals of our trip was to document evidence of breeding for the Maine Bird Atlas, a 5-year statewide project. We were able to confirm breeding for several species, including finding a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker nesting hole with adults actively feeding young and a hanging lichen nest woven by Northern Parulas, also with active feeding going on. We found at least some breeding evidence for 14 species of warbler. For some pictures plus site lists, see the below links:
Monhegan Island, May 2018: Eleven of us had a great time on Monhegan (except for the rough ride over) and spent most of the day out there. We saw 58 species of birds, including Blackpoll Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, and Puffin and Northern Gannett on the trip back.
Much gratitude to Howard Lake for initiating the trip and gathering information from several recent visitors there, so we could make the most of our time on the Island. All birders agreed that we should make this Monhegan trip an annual ABC event.
https://ebird.org/atlasme/view/checklist/S46051657
https://ebird.org/me/view/checklist/S46024747
https://ebird.org/me/view/checklist/S46024629
Long Falls Dam Road Trip near Flagstaff Lake, March 2018: 12 birders traveled to Somerset County on a quest for crossbills and other boreal species.
We were thrilled to observe a total of 24 Red Crossbills and 5 White-winged Crossbills – more Crossbills than any of us had ever seen in a single day. Also fun to see were 44 Pine Siskins, 12 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Ruffed Grouse, and an adult Bald Eagle soaring overhead – and other more usual species. On the way home, we stopped at the Messalonskee boat launch in Belgrade and were pleased to see a Northern Harrier soaring over the marshes, and a flock of 13 springtime Red-winged Blackbirds flying by.
One of the purposes of the trip was not only to see crossbills, but to record their calls, with the intent of forwarding the sonograms to Cornell Researcher Matt Young for his analysis of which of the ten Types these crossbills represented. The usual “type” for Maine is #10, known as the “Sitka spruce” type and, indeed all of the Red Crossbills were observed in high concentrations of Red Spruce. However, Matt confirmed a Big Surprise – that 4 of the RECRs were Type 3 – a species found usually in the Hemlocks of the Pacific Northwest (but which are also highly irruptive). These Type 3s are apparently only the third time that Type 3’s have been documented in Maine, the first two on Monhegan in the fall/winter of 2012/2013.
Here is a link to Matt Young’s article discussing irruption and the ten types of crossbills, as well as links to calls for each type: https://ebird.org/news/crossbills-of-north-america-species-and-red-crossbill-call-types/
Our photos of crossbills may be seen in this eBird list:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43351829
We had a great day for our Morse Mountain/Seawall Beach on August 2017. Thanks to Doug Suitor for leading the trip. Highlights included a nice variety of species, including Northern Gannett flying offshore, Baird’s Sandpiper, and large numbers of Sanderlings. For a full list and some pictures:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38883903
We had a fun day of birding at Kibby Mountain, June 2017. Quite an adventure as you take a right just before Quebec and go 10 miles down logging roads to the trailhead. Fifteen of us made the trip.
Despite the wind and the heat, which probably kept some of our target birds well hidden, it was a wonderful day for a fairly bug-free hike with some great people. The highlight for many of us was the very cooperative Mourning Warbler along the Gold Brook logging road. This is a difficult bird to find, let alone photograph. Another highlight was hearing Bicknell’s Thrush at the top, amazing for the middle of the day and so warm and sunny. We had 35 species for the trip, including Blackburnian Warbler, many Blackpoll warblers (most heard, not seen), Swainson’s Thrush, Philadelphia Vireo, Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher, and Rusty Blackbird.
Trips coordinated by Cheryl Ring, Glenn Hodgkins, and others