MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND REPORT

[RALPH ELDRIDGE]

The migration here continues to studder along, with more species appearing but only a few individuals in most species.
Many of the birds that I'm seeing appear to be hanging around for several days, rather than having a brief rest and then moving on.
But we are into the annual colourful phase with several BALTIMORE ORIOLES; ORCHARD ORIOLES; TOWHEES; GOLDFINCHES; PURPLE FINCHES; ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAKS & BLUE JAYS. A couple CEDAR WAXWINGS dropped by this afternoon. We are still waiting for INDIGO BUNTINGS.

Warblers are finally showing themselves with BLACKBURIAN, YELLOW, BLACKPOLL, YELLOW RUMPED, BLACK THROATED BLUE & CHESTNUT SIDED visiting the patio today.

There are still a lot of WHITE THROATED SPARROWS and a strong resident population of SAVANNAHS SPARROWS.
Also, there are several WHITE CROWNED SPARROWS which have been tending out on the patio for about a week.

CATBIRDS are the notable species this year. We regularly see them but usually just a scattered few each year.
This season they are everywhere and very conspicuous. Undoubtedly most are stop-overs, some of whom have been here for perhaps a week.
There are 2 or 3 or more on the patio whenever I look, and I have seen as high as 9 there at once. Strolling the boardwalks sends them squirting out everywhere.
And they have developed a strong taste for my suet mix, as well as GRAPE JELLY and ORANGES.
That's not a surprise but the Catbirds are vying with the Orioles and the sparrows.
I've always had one or two Savannah Sparrows with a sweet tooth, but this year there are many more Savannahs who have discovered the jelly dishes.
On top of that, many White Throated Sparrows and some White Crowned have developed a love of jelly & oranges.
So, with a minimum of a dozen Catbirds, 7 Orioles, 4 R. B. Grosbeaks, 3 Towhees and dozens of sparrows all with a sweet tooth, they are taking a full jar of jelly every day and would like more. The orange and jelly supply is running very low, very quickly.

Several RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES continue to find enough to keep them happy.

A few HUMMINGBIRDS have showed up over this past couple of days. They haven't paid much attention to the feeder, but our lawn is about 30% yellow with Dandelions so perhaps they are getting enough to eat.

Tuesday night started to look like a fall-out night, but the weather turned dry after midnight and before the local night flight intensified. There were quite a few shorebirds visible overhead, many of which appeared to be PHALAROPES.
It was also a bit of a Petrel night, with several bumbling onto our front doorstep.  I only identified LEACH'S STORM PETRELS, but WILSON'S were likely around, too.

COMMON EIDERS are numerous on the water, but nesting is just getting underway.

A lone CANADA GOOSE settled on our lawn. It looked to be getting comfortable amid the zillion DANDELIONS, so I gave it the bum's rush.

There are fewer Gulls haunting the island and only a few apparent pairs scouting for nest sites.

EAGLES have been strikingly absent for about a week. However, other raptors have been steady.
I've seen 1 or more PEREGRINES daily, with at least 4 passing through on Sunday.
The long-staying SHARP SHINNED HAWK seems to have moved on, while HARRIERS have been passing through daily and at least some of them pause to hunt the island. Today there were at least 3 individuals here at one time. Needless to say, the jelly binge halted abruptly whenever one of those hunters cruised into view. 

There are sprinklings of DC CORMORANTS each day, far fewer than a week ago.

The ALCIDS are well into their season with lots of eggs.
PUFFIN numbers look to me to be about like recent years, COMMON MURRES up somewhat and RAZORBILLS up substantially.

TERNS are showing up daily, with some fairly short landings. So far, I'm not seeing the strong courtship displays that I'd like to see.