Ingalls Pond in Baldwin Maine: 5 swallow species & some good warblers

[Sean S]

Driving by Ingalls Pond (just on the Baldwin side of the Hiram/Baldwin town line, along Rt. 113) the past couple of days I've seen a ton of swallows milling around over the shallow expanses of water there.   Late this afternoon I decided to check it out closer.  Surprisingly, Tree Swallows were not the dominant species in terms of numbers, though there were a fair number of them.   The most seen and heard species were Bank (30), followed closely by Northern Rough-winged (of which I included a video link in my eBird list), then Tree, Barn Swallow (5), with Cliff (2) being the fewest ID'd.    The swallows were present along the entire length of the estimated 1/4 mile of trail.   There were also a fair number of warblers for such a chilly day, including a PRAIRIE and a WILSON'S in the low waterside brush, along with a single GREEN HERON flying overhead, chased by a Red-winged Blackbird.

This seems such a potentially great spot, as there's an easy to walk sand path running parallel to the out-of-commission railroad tracks with very clear views of the pond that extend for over 1/4 mile along the trail.   GREAT visibility and quick access at this site.  There's a small parking area just off the highway on Hiram Dam Road, from which you can take a right and walk along the trail next to the railroad in the direction of the pond.

List: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56291536

NRWS video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOEJwNvzDfY

Sean Smith