A visit with friends in Orono earlier this week happily coincided with the first of Maine Audubon’s Neighborhood Bird Walks. The fact that it was led by my friend Paul Markson, and co-sponsored by the Orono Land Trust, was an added bonus.
The group of people that met at Gould’s Landing on Pushaw Lake in Orono was a mix of beginning and more experienced birders, so Paul began with an emphasis of the different habitats we’d be exploring and what we could expect to see in each.
The day was overcast but not gloomy, the lighting just right to enable clear views in all directions without being blinded by bright sunlight — which can be the bane of a birder’s experience. As we walked to the lake’s edge, someone called attention to a group of male mallard ducks in a small inlet some distance away.
Commenting on the lack of females in the all-male flock, someone joked they were “looser birds.” While these could very well have been unmated males, it was also possible they were birds who had deserted their mates. According to “The Birds of North America,” species account, male mallards leave their mates once the female begins incubation. This may not happen if nesting occurs very early in the season, in which case the male will accompany the female when she takes a break from incubation. However, he does not feed her or assist in incubating the eggs.
The blame isn’t all on the male, though. After consulting the “Stokes Nature Guide to Bird Behavior,” I learned it is the female who drives the male away once she begins incubating in earnest, but I could find no explanation as to why.
After discussing the mallards for a bit, we headed over to the causeway that overlooks a marshy backwater of the lake. A song sparrow put on a show for us, perching in plain sight while singing its song, which sounds as if it is saying, “Maids, maids, maids, put on your tea-kettle-ettle-ettles.”
Tree swallows zipped overhead, keeping up a constant twittering, which added a nice backdrop to the song sparrow’s melody. Tree swallows are among the easiest to identify on the wing because they are the only swallow with a completely white underbody, without any bands of color or shading of any kind. Their upper-bodies are a metallic blue-black.
The requisite loons made an appearance, displaying a very distinct silhouette for easy identification even at great distances. Loons tend to ride lower in the water than do ducks, and of course their streamlined outline and lance-like bills add to their unique appearance.
We entered the mixed forest surrounding the lake and saw examples of yellow-bellied sapsucker activity — rows of “sap wells” drilled through the bark of trees. These woodpeckers do indeed drill these small holes to mine the tree’s sap.
While this practice may seem destructive, according to the BNA these birds play an important role in their habitat. Other birds take advantage of the insects attracted to the sap, and ruby-throated hummingbirds feed on the sap itself. In fact, according to the BNA, this hummingbird “places its nest near sap wells, follows sapsuckers in their daily movements, and may even time its migration to coincide with that of sapsuckers.”
As we continued on the walk, the forest was surprisingly quiet, save for the song of an American goldfinch. The Peterson Field Guide describes it as “canary-like” and is a continual series of lilting notes. In flight, it has a distinctive four-noted call, per-chik-or-ree, and this can sometimes be heard in its regular song.
Other highlights of the walk included sightings of a black-and-white warbler, yellow-rumped warblers, chipping sparrows, an eastern kingbird, a pair of northern flickers and the call of a pied-billed grebe.
These walks will continue throughout the month of May. Coming up next week: The Indian Trail and Penobscot Conservation Association in Brewer this Tuesday, Mt. Hope Cemetery in Bangor on Wednesday, the Kenduskeag Stream Trail in Bangor on Friday and Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden on May 15. For more dates and information, call the Audubon Center in Holden at 989-2591.