BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 23, 2022
It’s been a truly weird winter, with temperatures alternating between 50 above and 25 below zero. I’ve been wondering how this might be affecting normal bird movements around Maine. For instance, I haven’t found many fruit-eating birds in habitats where I expected them. Typically, cedar waxwings, Bohemian waxwings and pine grosbeaks would have devoured most of the ornamental berries and crabapples in eastern Maine by now. And what they didn’t eat, an influx of American robins would finish. For some reason, the northern part of the state is teeming with pine grosbeaks, but they’re not wandering south as much as usual. Likewise, the woods are full of common redpolls, pine siskins, white-winged crossbills, purple finches and evening grosbeaks…and they’re mostly staying north of Millinocket. I surmise that the forest is so productive this year, the finches have all the food they need. ~ Bob Duchesne