Birding Bangor
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Bangor is the third largest city in Maine. It is surrounded by some of the best birding in the state. The city, the University of Maine, several land trusts, and the Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge maintain a surprising number of hot locations good for four-season birding. By the first week of April, American Robins and Song Sparrows have returned and begun singing. By the second week of the month, rivers are running free of ice, and by the third week ponds have begun to open up.  A great variety of ducks move into the open water at this first opportunity. Purple and House Finches also reappear about this time. By the third weekend of April, Tree Swallows and the earliest three warblers species have also begun to show up: Yellow-rumped, Pine, and Palm Warblers. Calls of the first Eastern Phoebes and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers liven up quiet mornings. Hawks also begin to return around this time.

Many of Maine’s wintering ocean ducks use the Penobscot River, as well as the Allagash and St. John rivers further north, to reach Hudson Bay. It’s common for eiders, buffleheads, and scoters to show up on rivers and adjacent lakes in migration. By the first of May, the remaining warbler species begin to return, peaking by Memorial Day. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can be expected around Mother’s Day. Some migrants such as Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows may not return until early June. By July the woods are more quiet as the parents raise their broods. This is when a shaded walk in the Bangor City Forest, Demerritt University Forest, and Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge can prove the most rewarding. In August, southward migration begins again. Though most shorebirds use the ocean beaches and marshes, a surprising number can be found on mudflats of the Penobscot River and at places like the former Taylor Bait Farm on the Newman Hill Preserve in Orono. Peregrine Falcons and Merlins follow the shorebirds so either may be encountered at these places. The bulk of hawk migration occurs around the middle of the September and in October the sea ducks begin to return from Hudson Bay, again passing over the Penobscot River and surrounding waters.

By November Bangor begins to discover what kind of winter it will be. Each year, some species that breed in Canada irrupt into northern New England. Common (and sometimes Hoary) Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks, White-winged and Red Crossbills, and Bohemian Waxwings may turn up everywhere after an absence of several years. Snow Buntings may be common or scarce in any given winter. Snowy, Great Gray, and Northern Hawk-owls are all rare but in the right winter they can be found in unpredictable places.

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