by Britney Fox
The goal of our recent outing was to search for owls and explore the Pine Point area of Scarborough, where multiple snowy owls have been spotted throughout the winter. It seems that as soon as the calendar hit March, the snowies decided to make themselves scarce on the day of our MYBC trip. As daylight increases, they will begin their epic journeys back to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. But as with most things in birding, we made the best of the situation — and Pine Point beach was absolutely packed with birds!
We made our way down the beach to the jetty, where just beyond, we could see large flocks of ducks out on the water. With two spotting scopes, we got to work identifying the different species. We found all three scoter species (black, surf, and white-winged) as well as both scaup species (lesser and greater). Scaup can be tricky to identify, so we leaned on our guest leader Magill Weber, who walked us through the differences between the two species. Greater scaup dominated the raft, but we spotted a couple of lesser scaup mixed in as well.
A horned grebe came in close, giving us excellent views — its red eye is particularly striking. A bald eagle flew overhead, spooking the duck rafts and sending many birds flying out to sea. We also got great looks at long-tailed ducks and were able to appreciate just how large common loons are by comparing them to the surrounding ducks. Another highlight: one of our young birders found an intact sand dollar, which impressed everyone!
With no owls in sight, we moved the group to Dyer Point in Cape Elizabeth, where a Pacific loon — a rare species in Maine — had been reported. Dyer Point was noticeably colder and windier than the sheltered Pine Point beach. While the reported loon turned out likely to be a common loon, the location still delivered. We got excellent views of harlequin ducks, a lifer for many in the group, and also spotted multiple black guillemots — fitting, since it's MYBC's mascot!
We ended the outing with around 25 species. You can view our eBird reports here:
A huge special thanks to Magill Weber for supplying lots of birding knowledge as well as cookies!
Keep an eye out for our next trip announcement — the annual woodcock walk! The weather hasn't cooperated the past couple of years, so here's hoping our luck turns. Thanks, and happy birding until we see you again!
