03 January 2010

Top Ten Lifers of 2009: Number 5

Trail Map of Evergreen Cemetery, Maine


My trip to Maine was one of the best trips of the year and it also netted me some amazing birds. I had been dreaming of Maine since college. A friend of mine lived there and I often dreamed of driving up the coast. So this May I decided to visit my dear friend Rupp, fresh back from Bolivia, and see her job and also look for some birds.

On my first full day without her I decided to head into Portland and check out this Evergreen Cemetery I had heard of online. You may remember my number nine bird was also found at an Evergreen Cemetery but on the opposite side of the Eastern seaboard in Florida. So imagine my delight when once again I found myself in a cemetery that was literally dripping with neotropical migrants. There were Chestnut-sided Warblers and Indigo Buntings and all sorts of delights but the best two birds were my lifer Canada Warbler and lifer Baybreasted Warbler. Warblers hold a dear place in my heart since they are the main reason I really got into birdwatching. I found them terribly intimidating but once I started observiing them I found them also even more bewitching to behold. I love the small compact bodies, the skinny legs, the eye rings and wing bars and other number of subtle differences between them. They are my favorite nature puzzle and you can't imagine my happiness in seeing these two little birds in a cemetery in downtown Portland, Maine.

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