June 28, 2020: Bobolinks and Ospreys

We took a trip to the coast of Maine this week for a little anniversary getaway, pandemic-style.

Plenty of distance here.

We found a gorgeous, quiet campground in Wiscasset, far enough off the main drag to be peaceful, but still with easy access to the great central coast areas of Boothbay, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Pemaquid, and Popham.  The Chewonki Campground is right on the Monstweag River, surrounded by tidal marshes and fields full of wildflowers.

Foggy sunrise is the standard on the Maine coast.

Tidal marshes along the Monstweag River change constantly throughout the day.

Some of the best birding was to be seen right there, including swallows, goldfinches, yellow warblers, and especially bobolinks which were plentiful, visible, and loud.

Yellow Warbler

Bobolink

The bobolinks liked to sit high in a tree with a good view of the field and sing their rambunctious song, although the bright sky behind them made them difficult to capture in a photo.

Every now and then this one would fly down to sit on the tallest stem in the field, and then fly back up to a tall tree.  The bobolink's habitat is that of tall grasslands which is probably why I haven't seen one of these before - we don't have a lot of wild grasslands in New Hampshire - but I'm hoping that as the fields in Meredith's Page Pond Town Forest are restored we will have this special habitat in town and we'll be able to host a wider range of birds such as these.

Wildflower fields attract a different set of birds, bees, and butterflies than found in forests.

 

There are so many wonderful places to visit with nature in the Wiscasset vicinity that we couldn't possible see them all in a week.  The most spectacular vista we saw was probably Pemaquid Point.

Pemaquid Point at the western edge of Muscongus Bay.

I kept my eye open for whales and dolphins, but saw none, though we did see a couple of seals.  A bit up John's River, Pemaquid Harbor and the historic colonial community were also very picturesque.

 

But the best nature moment came when we were hiking in the LaVerna Preseve in Bristol, along the western shore of Muscongus Bay (from here you're looking out at Monhegan Island, some twelve miles offshore).  Along the trail on the shore of Muscongus Bay Linda saw an osprey nest with a white head poking up above the sticks.

Osprey nest at LaVerna Preserve.

As we watched quietly, one of the residents spread its wings and took off right over us.

 

It then spent the next 15 or so minutes flying off somewhere behind the trees, then circling back in a well-defined flight pattern where it flew over the nest, circled downwind, then came up into the wind and landed gently on the nest.  Sometimes it would just do a touch-and-go, not landing but appearing to drop something down into the nest.

Osprey on approach to runway 16R.

We wondered if we were bothering it by standing there, but thought that unlikely considering there is a constant flow of hikers walking by all day long - the nest is literally feet from the trail.  More likely we think it was collecting food or nest material and bringing it to the nest.  The male osprey typically brings the building materials, while the female arranges them to suit her domestic fancy.  The male also usually brings all the food to the nest during nesting season, while the female tends to the eggs and chicks.  Whatever the activity was, we enjoyed seeing the nesting behavior of a bird we see regularly in the Lakes Region.

Back at Wicwas, it was nice to see familiar faces again;  mother mallard and her seven not-so-little ducklings came by the very first evening home to greet us.

They tend to visit us twice a day, morning and evening.

As for a quick check on the loons, they are still hanging in there, dealing with the double challenge of heat and now low water - the lake is down several inches from when they nested.  But both pairs are still on their nests, so we're still hopeful for chicks.  They should be hatching just about one week from now - we'll let you know as soon as there is any news!