The Contented Naturalist

[Note: this post was originally written in 2023, and now a year later I’m finally posting it while back at Monhegan!]

I’m spending a week with family on Monhegan Island, ten miles off the coast of Maine. The habitat up here in Maine is much different from the warm, moist Mid-Atlantic where I live. There are so many pine trees and other evergreens here! The forests are full of lush banks of moss, tangles of lichen, and hordes of mushrooms. Apparently it’s been raining a lot of the summer this year locally, including in the last few weeks, so there were plenty of mushrooms along some of our favorite trails on the island. Also a lot of biting flies on some of the cliffs, unfortunately. The views were worth it though.

When we hiked up to Pulpit Rock, we saw about 10 gray seals bobbing in the surf, along with a single, much smaller, Harbor Seal lounging on one of the rocky outcrops. While admiring the seals, I suddenly noticed more movement among the barnacles and seaweed near the Harbor Seal. A closer look revealed several beautiful Ruddy Turnstones scurrying around! They were in summer plumage, something I don’t normally get to see if I spot them in my area– they might come through on migration so they’re already in winter plumage by then. But these were bright and fully ruddy. I wished we were closer but at least my binoculars allowed me to get good enough looks. No photos though, we were too far for my cell phone camera to zoom effectively.

That wasn’t the only notable bird observation I had this week that didn’t have photographic evidence. On Sunday afternoon, we were enjoying sunshine on the deck and reading books from the village library, when I heard an interesting “Tseep!” I looked up and noticed a small yellowish bird at the top of the spruce tree. I got my binoculars on it and discovered it had a funny looking bill. I instantly hoped I had a lifer, a crossbill– but wanted to make sure. It could have been some other kind of bird with a beak deformity that made just one mandible grow longer than normal. So I watched it until I got a good view of the beak tip. And indeed, both mandibles crossed, I did have my first-ever crossbill! I looked it up once the bird flew away, it was a female Red Crossbill. I didn’t even have to chase it; it’s so nice when the lifers come to you!

The next day, we all walked down to one of the village bakeries to buy some croissants for breakfast. Once we got back and were seated on the deck, I kept an eye on the spruce tree. Eventually a pine warbler showed up, and hopped around through the branches, gleaning tiny insects off the bark. It was a lot of fun to watch. Suddenly, there was a burst of activity in the inner branches, then the warbler emerged pursued by a larger bird- a kestrel! The kestrel chased the warbler around and into the tree, then emerged with the tiny bird clutched in its talons. As the kestrel flew off, a tiny grey and yellow feather drifted down to our table. I later taped it into my journal as a memento. Wow!