Today Don Mairs met me at camp and we set out to see if any shorebirds were at the Flood Dairy, or if any of the birds seen moving by him on radar check last evening had set down in some of his favorite spots. It was a nice sunny brisk morning, and we first stopped at a dirt road just across the road from and before the Flood Dairy that goes to the Kennebec River at the Shawmut Dam. We played his “scold” recording of an Eastern Screech Owl and lots of BCCH mobbing it and got a nice flock of Black-capped chickadees mobbing the recorder. We had a Hermit Thrush come in (Don says they respond well to the recording), WBNU, YRWA, TUTI, but no other warblers or passerines.
At the Flood Dairy water levels in the ponds was high, and we had zero shorebirds. Nada. We did have a ME first for me, a Sharp-shinned hawk give chase to a starling flock, and 6 TUVU overhead.
A stop across the road at a weedy field yielded a nice bouquet of New England Asters I picked for Kay, and not much else of note. We did puzzle over a couple of young Chipping Sparrows, part way into their formative plumage, streaking mostly gone, cap not yet formed.
Last stop was at the kayak launching area across the Kennebec River below the dam, and we had more of the same mostly, adding a few first of the day common passerines, a dozen or so RBGU, DCCO and some “pink morph” of the same species of asters to enlarge the bouquet.
Overall a nice morning, but slow birding.