This story was originally published in April 2017.

Birdsong announces spring, sure. But what exactly are you hearing? Who makes up the chorus?

I’m only starting to learn, but it’s pretty cool when you can actually picture the birds serenading you. And it’s even better when that knowledge helps you spot the birds, and in my case, photograph them.

The best way to do that is go for a walk and be observant (a pair of binoculars or a camera with a good zoom function helps). You can also listen to the songs of certain birds on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website to get a head start.

Here are a few birds I heard recently while on the public trails in Essex Woods in Bangor.

Red-winged blackbird

Listen here.

A red-winged blackbird sings on April 11, 2017, in the Essex Woods wetlands in Bangor. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

Song sparrow

Listen here.

A song sparrow perches on a branch to sing on May 13, 2020, at Fields Pond Audubon Center. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

Bohemian waxwing

Listen here.

A Bohemian waxwing holds up a frozen fruit while foraging with its flock in Bangor on Feb. 12, 2015. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

Grackle

Listen here.

A red-winged blackbird and a grackle cling to cattails at the edge of Pushaw Lake in Orono in this June 2019 file photo. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

Also while walking in Essex Woods (for about 2 hours during the afternoon), I spotted a few different types of ducks, and a furry friend:

Mallards

A female mallard, left, swims with her ducklings in a pond near the trailhead of the Kittredge Brook Forest in Bar Harbor in this June 2017 file photo. At right, a male mallard glides across the calm water of the bog in Essex Woods on Oct. 26, 2014, in Bangor. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

Hooded Mergansers

Two female common mergansers stand on the shore of Union River on Feb. 9, 2022, in Ellsworth, while a male and female mallard swim nearby. Credit: Courtesy of Aislinn Sarnacki

I like to return to Essex Woods several times throughout the year to see how the wildlife community changes. Later in the year, the wetlands will attract a variety of wading birds, including herons and egrets. People have reported also seeing Virginia rails, soras and a wide variety of warblers and ducks. I’ve also seen hawks near the wetlands (likely hunting). You never know what you might see!

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Aislinn Sarnacki is a Maine outdoors writer and the author of three Maine hiking guidebooks including “Family Friendly Hikes in Maine.” Find her on Twitter and Facebook @1minhikegirl. You can also...

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