Monhegan Island CBC, 2 Jan

[Doug Hitchcox]

I took a last minute opportunity to head out to Monhegan Island yesterday, with a goal of counting birds for the CBC and winter bird atlas. It was quite mild with no snow on the island, though most freshwater was still frozen. Overall it was a low quantity, high quality day, with some lingering migrants while otherwise common birds were completely absent. No finches, no Blue Jays, no nuthatches, etc. Highlights included: Yellow-breasted Chat, House Wren (apparently the first documented winter record for Maine, and the previous latest recorded in eBird is 18 Nov), Gray Catbird, 4 Swamp Sparrows, Northern Flicker, plus a couple first-cycle Iceland Gulls, a drake Harlequin Duck, and four Dovekies foraging in the surf off Lobster Cove.

A full list is below and an eBird list with notes/photos can be seen here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S62980661

Mallard - 29
American Black Duck - 3
Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) - 1
Common Eider - 35
Harlequin Duck - 1
White-winged Scoter - 2
Black Scoter - 5
Long-tailed Duck - 10
Red-necked Grebe - 4
Mourning Dove - 8
Dovekie - 4
Razorbill - 2
Black Guillemot - 3
Black-legged Kittiwake - 8
Ring-billed Gull - 2
Herring Gull - 132
Iceland Gull - 2
Great Black-backed Gull - 50
Red-throated Loon - 3
Common Loon - 16
Northern Gannet - 3
Great Cormorant - 12
Northern Flicker - 1
American Crow - 14
Common Raven - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 16
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
House Wren - 1
Winter Wren - 2
European Starling - 26
Gray Catbird - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Dark-eyed Junco - 22
White-throated Sparrow - 3
Song Sparrow - 6
Swamp Sparrow - 4
Yellow-breasted Chat - 1
Common Grackle - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Maine Bird Atlas - Outreach Coordinator
Maine Audubon - Staff Naturalist
207-781-2330 x237
dhit...@maineaudubon.org