Snowy Owl roundup Sunday?

152 views
Skip to first unread message

Smith, Michael

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 9:45:37 AM12/5/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com

So being a geographer I am always interested in the ‘holes’ in a map.  Looking at the observations that have been posted make it clear the Snowy Owls seem to be limited to the coast south and east of MDI (including MDI).

 

Could I suggest a concerted effort among birders to look for Snowies all along the coast on Sunday?  Weather will be pleasant and we could collectively knock out some of the gaps in the map.

 

Specifically, I am wondering if folks would be willing to look in the following areas that currently don’t show Snowy sightings, but seem likely to have the owls based on location and habitat:

 

 

Fort Foster and Crescent Beach – Kittery

 

East Point/Prebles Point/Long Beach/Cape Neddick

 

Ogunquit (Cliff House area)/Ogunquite Beach/Moody Beach

 

Ferry Beach/OOB/Pine Point

 

Casco Bay Islands

 

Orrs and Bailey Islands

 

Reid State Park

 

Bristol/Pemaquid Point

 

Isle Au Haut (anybody out there?)

 

 

 

East of MDI:

 

Schoodic Point

 

Petit Manan

 

Great Wass Island

 

 

Map is up to date I think: http://bit.ly/1ccRyAo

 

 

===============================
Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530

Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council


State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145
69o 47' 58.9"W  44o 21' 54.8"N

Delia Guzman

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 10:06:23 AM12/5/13
to Smith, Michael, maine...@googlegroups.com
I'll head out to Reid on Saturday!
Delia in Brunswick


--
--
Maine birds mailing list
maine...@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
 
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

image001.jpg

Mike Fahay

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 10:25:27 AM12/5/13
to Delia Guzman, Smith, Michael, maine...@googlegroups.com
Michael;
One of the purposes of my ferry trip to Vinalhaven yesterday was to scan for owls.  None seen.
But the entire perimeter of V. is full of nooks and crannies where a Snowy Owl might be sunning itself.  Plus lots of suitable landscape in North Haven.  Probably can't really do it justice without a slow boat and a long day. 

Snowies don't seem to mind water-crossings (witness one found on an offshore drilling platform, 350 km SE of St. John's, NF).  They could simply be crossing from the So. tip of Nova Scotia over to ME, and leaving Bay of Fundy/Downeast out of the equation. 

Alicia Plotkin

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 11:37:05 AM12/5/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com
On 12/5/2013 10:25 AM, Mike Fahay wrote:
Snowies don't seem to mind water-crossings ...�

No they don't!� See this newspaper article from this past Monday.

�������������� Alicia


On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 9:45 AM, Smith, Michael <Michae...@maine.gov> wrote:

So being a geographer I am always interested in the �holes� in a map.� Looking at the observations that have been posted make it clear the Snowy Owls seem to be limited to the coast south and east of MDI (including MDI).

�

Could I suggest a concerted effort among birders to look for Snowies all along the coast on Sunday?� Weather will be pleasant and we could collectively knock out some of the gaps in the map.

�

Specifically, I am wondering if folks would be willing to look in the following areas that currently don�t show Snowy sightings, but seem likely to have the owls based on location and habitat:

�

�

Fort Foster and Crescent Beach � Kittery

�

East Point/Prebles Point/Long Beach/Cape Neddick

�

Ogunquit (Cliff House area)/Ogunquite Beach/Moody Beach

�

Ferry Beach/OOB/Pine Point

�

Casco Bay Islands

�

Orrs and Bailey Islands

�

Reid State Park

�

Bristol/Pemaquid Point

�

Isle Au Haut (anybody out there?)

�

�

�

East of MDI:

�

Schoodic Point

�

Petit Manan

�

Great Wass Island

�

�

Map is up to date I think: http://bit.ly/1ccRyAo

�

�

===============================
Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530

Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council


State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145

69o 47' 58.9"W��44o 21' 54.8"N

�

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
�

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
�

Doug Hitchcox

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 12:13:43 PM12/5/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com
Hey everyone:

First, a huge thanks to Michael for mapping these points and sharing those maps with us. Also for suggesting a coordinated effort to check some of these 'holes'. Some may not actually be holes but instead are just not being reported on the listserv: both positives and negatives. (For example: Nubble Lighthouse had two reported on 2 Dec and a single bird was photographed there on 3 Dec. Plus Waldo County just got on the map today!)

I would like to strongly encourage everyone to report your Snowy Owl sightings to eBird. As a central database, eBird is poised to track this invasion using reports from across the country and be able to compare this data to past (and future) years. Also, checklists submitted to eBird are archived daily and are accessible to anyone, anytime. Please feel free to email me directly if you have any questions about joining or submitting sightings to eBird. You can get started here: http://ebird.org/ebird/me/submit

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Staff Naturalist
Maine Audubon
<image001.jpg>



State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145
69o 47' 58.9"W  44o 21' 54.8"N

Smith, Michael

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 12:21:21 PM12/5/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com

Yes agreed – if they were all on eBird to begin with we could just use that map.

 

===============================
Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530

Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council



State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145
69o 47' 58.9"W  44o 21' 54.8"N

Kirk Betts

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 12:35:39 PM12/5/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com
If the owls would just check in, it would make a lot of our lives easy.

Kirk Betts
Rangeley


On 12/5/13, 12:13 PM, Doug Hitchcox wrote:
Hey everyone:

First, a huge thanks to Michael for mapping these points and sharing those maps with us. Also for suggesting a coordinated effort to check some of these 'holes'. Some may not actually be holes but instead are just not being reported on the listserv: both positives and negatives. (For example: Nubble Lighthouse had two reported on 2 Dec and a single bird was photographed there on 3 Dec. Plus Waldo County just got on the map today!)

I would like to strongly encourage everyone to report your Snowy Owl sightings to eBird. As a central database, eBird is poised to track this invasion using reports from across the country and be able to compare this data to past (and future) years. Also, checklists submitted to eBird are archived daily and are accessible to anyone, anytime. Please feel free to email me directly if you have any questions about joining or submitting sightings to eBird. You can get started here:�http://ebird.org/ebird/me/submit

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Staff Naturalist
Maine Audubon

On Dec 05, 2013, at 09:45 AM, "Smith, Michael" <Michae...@maine.gov> wrote:

So being a geographer I am always interested in the �holes� in a map.� Looking at the observations that have been posted make it clear the Snowy Owls seem to be limited to the coast south and east of MDI (including MDI).

�

Could I suggest a concerted effort among birders to look for Snowies all along the coast on Sunday?� Weather will be pleasant and we could collectively knock out some of the gaps in the map.

�

Specifically, I am wondering if folks would be willing to look in the following areas that currently don�t show Snowy sightings, but seem likely to have the owls based on location and habitat:

�

�

Fort Foster and Crescent Beach � Kittery

�

East Point/Prebles Point/Long Beach/Cape Neddick

�

Ogunquit (Cliff House area)/Ogunquite Beach/Moody Beach

�

Ferry Beach/OOB/Pine Point

�

Casco Bay Islands

�

Orrs and Bailey Islands

�

Reid State Park

�

Bristol/Pemaquid Point

�

Isle Au Haut (anybody out there?)

�

�

�

East of MDI:

�

Schoodic Point

�

Petit Manan

�

Great Wass Island

�

�

Map is up to date I think: http://bit.ly/1ccRyAo

�

�

===============================
Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530

Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council

<image001.jpg>

State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145

69o 47' 58.9"W��44o 21' 54.8"N

�

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
�

Scott Richardson

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 8:19:13 PM12/5/13
to Maine-Birds
For negative data, I can add morning visits (M, T, W) to Harbor Road in Wells looking over the Webhannet marsh and nearby buildings, plus frequent glances over the fields surrounding the Laudholm campus of the Wells Reserve.

Scott


On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 12:35 PM, Kirk Betts <kette...@gmail.com> wrote:
If the owls would just check in, it would make a lot of our lives easy.

Kirk Betts
Rangeley


On 12/5/13, 12:13 PM, Doug Hitchcox wrote:
Hey everyone:

First, a huge thanks to Michael for mapping these points and sharing those maps with us. Also for suggesting a coordinated effort to check some of these 'holes'. Some may not actually be holes but instead are just not being reported on the listserv: both positives and negatives. (For example: Nubble Lighthouse had two reported on 2 Dec and a single bird was photographed there on 3 Dec. Plus Waldo County just got on the map today!)

I would like to strongly encourage everyone to report your Snowy Owl sightings to eBird. As a central database, eBird is poised to track this invasion using reports from across the country and be able to compare this data to past (and future) years. Also, checklists submitted to eBird are archived daily and are accessible to anyone, anytime. Please feel free to email me directly if you have any questions about joining or submitting sightings to eBird. You can get started here: http://ebird.org/ebird/me/submit

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Staff Naturalist
Maine Audubon

On Dec 05, 2013, at 09:45 AM, "Smith, Michael" <Michae...@maine.gov> wrote:

So being a geographer I am always interested in the ‘holes’ in a map.  Looking at the observations that have been posted make it clear the Snowy Owls seem to be limited to the coast south and east of MDI (including MDI).

 

Could I suggest a concerted effort among birders to look for Snowies all along the coast on Sunday?  Weather will be pleasant and we could collectively knock out some of the gaps in the map.

 

Specifically, I am wondering if folks would be willing to look in the following areas that currently don’t show Snowy sightings, but seem likely to have the owls based on location and habitat:

 

 

Fort Foster and Crescent Beach – Kittery

 

East Point/Prebles Point/Long Beach/Cape Neddick

 

Ogunquit (Cliff House area)/Ogunquite Beach/Moody Beach

 

Ferry Beach/OOB/Pine Point

 

Casco Bay Islands

 

Orrs and Bailey Islands

 

Reid State Park

 

Bristol/Pemaquid Point

 

Isle Au Haut (anybody out there?)

 

 

 

East of MDI:

 

Schoodic Point

 

Petit Manan

 

Great Wass Island

 

 

Map is up to date I think: http://bit.ly/1ccRyAo

 

 

===============================


Michael Smith MS GISP
State GIS Manager, Maine Office of GIS
State of Maine, Office of Information Technology
michael.smith _at_ maine.gov 207-215-5530

Board Member, Maine GeoLibrary
Education Chair, Maine GIS Users Group
State Rep, National States Geographic Information Council


<image001.jpg>



State House Station 145
51 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04333-0145

69o 47' 58.9"W  44o 21' 54.8"N

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
--
--
Maine birds mailing list
maine...@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
 
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

B G

unread,
Dec 5, 2013, 8:31:31 PM12/5/13
to Smith, Michael, maine...@googlegroups.com
Barring unforeseen events that would prevent me, I would be willing to do some Snowy searching around the Schoodic Point area; especially if I can get a few people to join me. Car pool? Meet-up?

Boots. (Hancock County)

On Thursday, December 5, 2013, Smith, Michael wrote:

Could I suggest a concerted effort among birders to look for Snowies all along the coast on Sunday?

Specifically, I am wondering if folks would be willing to look in the following areas that currently don’t show Snowy sightings, but seem likely to have the owls...

Norman Famous

unread,
Dec 6, 2013, 11:13:15 AM12/6/13
to Smith, Michael, maine...@googlegroups.com
Hi all,

I would add to the eastern Maine list the following sites:

Cutler along Rte. 191 including the edge of the Cutler tower field.  You cannot gain access without written permission but you can view a large area though the fence. 

Little Machias Bay from the bridge.  Scan the ledges and shoreline.

End of the road to Dennison Point on the east side of Little Machias Bay.  You need a scope so you can view Old Man Island, one of the more likely spots to spot a Snowy Owl.  An added bonus is the pelagic bird birding can be spectacular.  Keep an eye out for harlequins, alcids, kittiwakes, gannets, purple sandpipers and possible fulmars.  The road to Dennison Point has habitat for Snowy owls. 

Cutler to Lubec along Rte. 191 to Baily's Mistake where you turn left to the road that leads to West Quoddy Head.  This road passes the MCHT Boot Cove Reserve.  Check on the ocean side of Carrying Place Cove near Quoddy Head.

West Quoddy and the South Lubec Bar.  These areas are worth rechecking.  The South Lubec sand and gravel bar is grass covered so birds may not be easily seen unless you scan carefully.  Walking down the road and in and out of the grassy areas or along the saltmarsh side of the bar may flush either a snowy or short-eared owl.  You should pick up snow buntings, horned larks or a Lapland Longspur.

Jonesport blueberry barrens on the east end of Rte. 187 (road to Jonesport from the Machias side).  There are extensive blueberry fields close to the shore.

Columbia Falls/Centerville blueberry barrens.

All of the large blueberry barrens along Pineo Ridge from the old Backscatter antenna array (torn down) west to Deblois (on either side of Rte. 193).  The barrens in Deblois are located along Rte. 193 that connects Cherryfield to Rte. 9 in Beddington.

Addison Marsh and Cape Split in Addison (west side of the split).  The road between Addison Marsh and Cape Spit is lined with good habitat.

The blueberry barrens I listed are relative close to the coast.  There are other very large blueberry barrens between Rte. 1 and Rte. 9.

Point of Maine in Machiasport (located south of Bucks Harbor). There is a road across the intertidal zone leading to a farm at the end of the road.  If you chose to cross, make sure you do this on the falling tide or at low tide so that you can get off before the cove is inundated.  It is a long wait for the next falling tide as I discovered years ago.

Happy searching.  Even if you do not pick up owls, there are many good birds to be found in these areas.

Norm


--
--
Maine birds mailing list
maine...@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
 
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.



--
Norman Famous, Wetlands and Wildlife Ecologist
513 Eight Rod Road
Augusta, ME 04330
image001.jpg

Andrew Aldrich

unread,
Dec 6, 2013, 1:07:12 PM12/6/13
to maine Birds
I am planning on covering The Wells Beach, down the coast to Nubble, check all the marshes in between.  And go home via Mt. A
 
Happy birding
Andy Aldrich
<image001.jpg>

Kayla Pelletier

unread,
Dec 7, 2013, 8:34:01 AM12/7/13
to maine...@googlegroups.com
I'll keep an eye out for snowies on Pine Point/Ferry beach either today or tomorrow!!! :)

Kayla


Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages