May 28, 2024

Birding Monhegan May 25, 2025

Steve here. Cat and I went on a day trip to Monhegan Island with Midcoast Audubon led by Mael Glon and Jeff Cherry. The focus of this trip was spring migration.

I really appreciated Mael and Jeff's knowledge and bird-spotting skills. We wouldn't have seen half of these birds without them.

Photos by Steve Branam. You can click on any photo to bring up a gallery of all of them.

We took Hardy Boat Cruises for the hour-long ride out of New Harbor, ME.

Cormorant

There were a number of cormorants in the harbor.

Common Eider

The first birds we saw as the boat came in were gulls and common eiders. They appeared to be nesting in the seaweed-covered rocks just off the dock.

Cedar Waxwing

The primary evidence of migration was the sizable flocks of cedar waxwings. I had never seen one before, but on this trip we saw hundreds! Groups of them kept moving in and out of the trees. The challenge is picking out individuals in the branches.

Alder Flycatcher

This was one that Mael wasn't sure about. He said it was either a willow flycather or an alder, and needed to hear it sing to tell the difference. I wasn't familiar with either one; I was amazed that he was able to narrow it down to those two! Merlin identified my photos as alder.

Ring-Necked Pheasant

Yellow Warbler

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Red-Winged Blackbird

There were a number of red-winged blackbirds. What made this one unique was the leucism that showed up as a white patch on its wing as it flew directly away from us.

Red Crossbill

Mallard Duck

I love the colors of the mallard.

Blackburnian Warbler

This little beauty was another challenging one to catch flitting around in the branches of an apple tree right in front of us. We were surprised he gave us so much time to see him, and I was surprised to get so many usable photos!