ESTESBOG

 

Farmington, Maine.  In the week since I arrived we’ve only seen sunshine twice, and then for only 2-3 hours at a time! Consequently I’ve only taken my camera out of its case a few times. Despite my inability to do any long-term birding, I’ve picked up a lot of species as incidentals or on short forays here in Farmington around my brother Tom’s place and at my brother David’s camp in the Rangeley country.

I bought a Maine nonresident fishing license and managed to go trolling on Beaver Mountain Pond in drizzle on two occasions. It was my first time sport fishing in years. I caught 8 landlocked Atlantic salmon and one brook trout, none of which were legal minimum length – but lots of fun just the same.

 

Following is my list for June 28 through July 3, 2009:

 

Birds

 

Canada goose

Common merganser

Common loon

Great blue heron

Turkey vulture

Osprey

Sharp-shinned hawk

Broad-winged hawk

American kestrel

Spotted sandpiper

Ring-billed gull

Mourning dove

Chimney swift

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Belted kingfisher

Northern flicker

Eastern phoebe

Eastern kingbird

Warbling vireo

Red-eyed vireo

Blue jay

American crow

Common raven

 

Tree swallow

Barn swallow

Black-capped chickadee

Red-breasted nuthatch

House wren

Eastern bluebird

American robin

Gray catbird

Brown thrasher

European starling

Cedar waxwing

Northern parula

Chestnut-sided warbler

 

Black-throated green warbler

Blackburnian warbler

Bay-breasted warbler

American redstart

Ovenbird

Common yellowthroat

Scarlet tanager

Chipping sparrow

Song sparrow

Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored race

Indigo bunting

Red-winged blackbird

Common grackle

Baltimore oriole

House finch

American goldfinch

Pine siskin

House sparrow

 

Mammals

 

Eastern chipmunk

Gray squirrel

 

Moose

 

Herptiles

 

American toad

Green frog

 

Common garter snake