Column: Was this spring a poor one for birding in Maine?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 26, 2022

Q: How active was bird migration in Maine this spring? A: Our spring, especially during the second and third weeks of May when we should have been seeing the peak of bird movements, was plagued by evenings with northwest winds. This resulted in many nights with few birds moving, and mornings with little to see. We can use BirdCast – a website that forecasts bird migration based on weather and radar information – to see when some of the peaks were. I had been leading bird walks at Evergreen Cemetery the whole week before, and it was admittedly slow, but the floodgates opened on Monday, May 16, and birds were practically dripping from trees. According to BirdCast, over 2.2 million birds passed over Maine that night. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox