Monhegan Island

A May morning on Monhegan "is a birdwatcher’s version of Christmas morning.”

Monhegan Island. Image: Flickr.

I birded more fervently in 2024 than I’ll typically be able to. That doesn’t mean I won’t bird this year, but I’ll bird less. Migration still shouldn’t be wasted.

Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens). Image: James Freitas.

Spring beats fall; beginning beats ending. Spring means warmth and long days, leave jackets on their hangers. Fall bids warmth and sunlight farewell. Jackets become necessary.

It’s easier to spot birds amid spring foliage; their movement feels urgent—nest site, mate. Seasons Flow adds: “Birds are in their best plumage in spring,” making males “easy to see.” In addition, “spring is the time of year when birdsong is prevalent.”

To mark migration, I’m visiting Monhegan Island. 1.7 miles long and 0.7 miles wide, ten miles off the Maine coast. “Monhegan” means “Island of the Sea.” Miles of trails “meander and climb throughout the island ‘wildlands’, through the forests and meadows, out to the headlands and along the coves and ledges.” You can’t bring a car, so trails are how you get around. Ambulatory pursuit of migratory warblers will give me birds to write about—encounters or birds that evade me.

American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Image: James Freitas.

I’ll be there May 23 to 25. It’ll be my migration highlight, though I have other places I want to bird too.¹ BirdWatching calls May on Monhegan “a birdwatcher’s version of Christmas morning.” Maine Birding Trail adds:

At peak migration, a morning might turn up twenty different species of warbler. Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlins, and Peregrine Falcons follow coastal migration routes and often touch down on the island. Out-of-range species are a common occurrence.

Sunrise will be 5:03 AM. Waking up early on the island to maximize birdable hours made sense—so a weekend trip.

Merlin says common warblers when I’ll be there are the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), Black-throated Green (Setophaga virens), Blackpoll (Setophaga striata), and Magnolia (Setophaga magnolia).

Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata). Image: James Freitas.

2025’s target, the Blackburnian (Setophaga fusca), isn’t uncommon but less common. Less common still is Wilson’s (Cardellina pusilla)—which I missed on Cutthyhunk.

Also less common: Bay-breasted (Setophaga castanea), Nashville (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), Tennessee (Leiothlypis peregrina), and Cape May (Setophaga tigrina).

Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina). Image: James Freitas.

Exciting non-warbler species on Merlin’s list for Monhegan at the end of May are Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) and Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Scarlet (Piranga olivacea) and Summer Tanagers (Piranga rubra).

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica). Image: animalia.bio.

Monhegan is a good spot for seaglunking—beachcombing for sea glass. There seems an overlap between glunking spots and birding spots. Newfoundland has a Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) but also has Glassy Beach.

Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus). Image: animalia.bio.

I’ll spend Monhegan mornings searching for warblers: 20 species in a morning. Once it’s too late for birds I’ll glunk, though I’m a novice glunker. Glunking with an aficionado, who has jars of sea glass from many beaches, I preface outings: You’ll find a dozen pieces. I’ll find maybe one.

I hope Monhegan will yield the Blackburnian I want. A puffin would also be excellent—or a sea marble: the “Holy Grail of the beach.”

Warblers, puffins, or glass, Monhegan seems a fitting place to mark Spring 2025.

1

• Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary. Thank you for the recommendation,

  Bob Warner Photography
  .

• Seabrook Town Forest. An article I edited for New Hampshire Bird Records was about Seabrook Town Forest by a knowledgable young birder. Seabrook Town Forest has brought Hooded (Setophaga citrina), Bay-breasted (Setophaga castanea), and Canada Warblers (Cardellina canadensis)—not to mention a Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus).

• Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

• Odiorne Point State Park.

• Horse Hill Nature Preserve.

• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. This is where I took nice photos of a Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) I mindlessly deleted. I remember the boardwalk, the bird concealed and unbothered. I’ll always cherish the memory (no photos to cherish). Ipswich River has provided many photos:

  

  

  

  Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens); Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis); Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis); White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis); Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos); Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus); White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis); Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Images: James Freitas.

• Doe Farm.

• Wells Reserve at Laudholm. I’ve heard many Chestnut-sided Warblers here. Heard; I want to see.

• Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. Saltmarsh Sparrows (Ammospiza caudacuta).

  

  Saltmarsh Sparrow at Rachel Carson NWR, Bri Benvenuti/USFWS, Public Domain, https://www.fws.gov/media/saltmarsh-sparrow-rachel-carson-nwr

• Silk Farm Wildlife Sanctuary. I missed a Tennessee Warbler here. (Leiothlypis peregrina).

• Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Sandy Point State Reservation. I’ve taken many photos at Parker River:

  

  

  

  Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos); Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca); Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus); Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius); Merlin (Falco columbarius); Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus); Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis); Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii). Images: James Freitas.

  Pamela Leavey
  writes about Parker River:

  Reflections: Refuge

• Peaked Hill Reservation links to Fulling Mill Brook, which links to Ocean View Farm. Nearby is Waskosim’s Rock, which

  Susie Middleton
  writes about:

  Meet the Erratics

  Waskosim’s links to Tiasquam—meaningful places to me. Peaked reminds me of a Black-and-white Warbler, a Decorated Owlet and Pearl Crescent that same day. In 2023, a Prairie Warbler.

  

  

  Praire Warbler (Setophaga discolor), Decorated Owlet (Pangrapta decoralis), Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos). Images: James Freitas.

• Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Cemeteries can be good birding. See

  Carl Ingwell
  ’s latest:

  Alive, and Glad to Be Birding

• Belle Isle Marsh—again, Saltmarsh Sparrows (Ammospiza caudacuta). See Bird Observer. It’s my Year of the Blackburnian, but Saltmarsh Sparrows are special.