Monhegan Blog

This is not really a blog so the story is in reverse order but I don't think that matters. If you want to see the photos larger, double click on them.

The Species List

Here's the list with a count of 102 species. Not too bad for a 5-day period where little or nothing new came into the island and the wind was coming from the wrong direction (east) to blow in new species.

Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Wilson?s Storm-Petrel (sp?)
Northern Gannet
Great Cormonrant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Wood Duck
Mallard
Common Eider
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Merlin
Ring-necked Pheasant
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Iceland Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Razorbill
Black Guillemot
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Flycatcher (Empidonax sp.)
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Grey Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prairie Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood Peewee
Red-eyed Vireo
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak

The kiss

The kiss

Sharing meals in the common room of the inn was a highlight of each day.  This is a simple breakfast but dinners were excellent. Julie is praying for Good Birds.

Some of the birds

One of the great things about Monhegan is that the poor little birds have been blown off-course and they are very tired and hungry. Some of the tiny warblers even hop around on the beach. Here is the Yellow Warbler.

When we turned over a clump of seaweed, little critters would be revealed and the birds would come right over to eat them up. Here is Micky talking to a Black-throated Blue Warbler.

This is not a bird. It is one of the many very interesting mushrooms growing on a tree. Actual size=large.

This stone wall with the bright yellow lichen is at the beach. Look for the Black-throated Green warbler.

I was watching a Black and White warbler picking up the bugs from the seaweed when it decided to hop up onto my hands for a few seconds. My most intimate birding experience.

Here is a good look at a Black-throated Blue. He is just below my feet.

Details

 Can you see the Black-throated green warbler in the spruce tree?

Given the dampness of the woodlands, trees are sometimes covered in lichens.

Forest and Sea

 Spruce trees in Spring. They seem to be the dominant tree on the island.

 The trails through the forest are enchanting.

 The rocks are gabbro - a type of intrusive igneous rock formed in a volcano but not extruded like basalt.

Foggy days

 Julie! Don't jump!

It was cloudy and sometimes rainy for our whole 6 days but an island is beautiful in these conditions.

The cliffs on Monhegan are some of the highest on the eastern coast.