Our Birdathon grand prizes are two limited edition, signed Atlantic Puffin art prints by our featured 2008 seabird artist—Karl Mårtens. These 13 x 20” prints are valued at $199 each and will go to the person whose guess was closest to the total number of species that we identified and to the person that guessed the total number of puffins seen at all Project Puffin islands during our count on May 30th.

Thank you to all who made a difference for seabirds on May 30, 2009 by supporting our 21st annual Birdathon!

Twenty-two Project Puffin staff and volunteers on six islands and the mainland searched for birds along the Maine coast from dawn to dark on May 30th. The total count of 193 species is notable for the number of migrants that appeared on the islands. A downpour interrupted the count in mid-coast Maine, but this passed by 10AM and clear skies prevailed the rest of the day.

The morning rain was the continuation of the drenching showers that soaked Maine for most of the past week. This was a cold and soggy beginning for the interns and volunteers that are now living on islands from Portland to Rockland. However, these rains forced migrant landbirds to seek shelter on our islands and most teams reported impressive migrant lists including 18 species of warblers and 13 species of shorebirds. Each team had their own highlights, but most reported experiences like those of the Egg Rock team who were able to sit on the roof of their tiny cabin watching tree-loving species such as American Redstart, Canada Warbler and Baltimore Orioles feeding ravenously on insects near the ground.

All of the teams had memorable sightings including Scott Hall who recalled a pair of American Bitterns calling to each other and then flying toward him at dusk- so close that he could see their chestnut color in the waning light. Certainly, the strangest bird of all was the Red-billed Tropicbird which (for the fifth summer) again frequents Seal Island NWR—far from its usual southern home. Sometimes on birdathon the most common birds leave the best memories—like the pair of courting Cedar Waxwings that Steve Kress’ team watched passing an apple petal back and forth while side-stepping in complete oblivion to the observers.

Success!

The total count was 193 species—second only to the 200 species tallied in 2001. Equally impressive, the puffin island teams tallied a total of 571 puffins—well past the previous high record of 506 in 2004. See complete list of birds by clicking HERE (pdf file).

NOTE: The winners of this year’s grand prizes and random drawing will be announced soon.