by Britney Fox
The group met at the Kennebunk Plains parking area on the evening of June 20th, joined by two new Maine Young Birders. The weather had been variable throughout the day, but the evening brought sunny skies, mild winds, and comfortable temperatures for our walk. We started strong: one of our young birders spotted an Eastern Meadowlark right by the parking lot, and the group got great looks at several Vesper Sparrows carrying beaks full of insects for their hungry chicks. A Grasshopper Sparrow called close by, but despite our best efforts we couldn't get a visual. We continued on, following the sounds of screaming ravens coming from the back tree line.
Crossing the plains, we entered a wooded trail where we picked up Black-and-white Warbler, a flyover Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a gorgeous male Scarlet Tanager — along with, unfortunately, a lot of dog ticks. Working our way through, we spotted Field Sparrows and Prairie Warblers and heard many Eastern Towhees calling.
Then came one of the most incredible mammal sightings. On the perimeter trail, the sparrows suddenly began alarm calling and something darted across the trail behind the last young birder — fast enough that a couple participants tentatively called weasel, but the movement was too quick to be certain. Moments later, the mystery resolved itself in spectacular fashion: animals were sprinting up trees and launching off branches, diving to the ground and racing in every direction. It took a few seconds to process before it clicked — a Short-tailed Weasel was chasing a couple of chipmunks for its dinner! One chipmunk ran directly through our group to escape. The weasel, for its part, wasn't entirely sure what to make of us: it popped up repeatedly from the ground cover to check us out, giving everyone amazing looks, before running right past the feet of one of our young birders. We were all completely reeling from seeing this tiny, ferocious, and absolutely adorable creature.
Continuing on, we found several Pine Warblers, including one that appeared to be a young bird. Then another young birder spotted a small brown snake on the trail. As is becoming something of a group tradition, it was gently caught and passed around for a closer look — and revealed itself to be a Redbelly Snake, with a beautiful red underbelly. After everyone had a chance to admire this very charming "snek," we released it and made our way back to the parking lot to listen for Whip-poor-wills. None were calling on this side of the plains that evening, but with so many memorable bird, mammal, and reptile sightings already under our belts, no one walked away disappointed.
We finished the outing with around 30 species. You can view our full eBird checklist here.
Keep an eye out for our next trip announcement — a very special visit to a nesting tern colony on Stratton Island!
