First In – Last Out

By James Reddoch 

Titmice are a bit larger than chickadees, with light gray above and white below and a rusty smear along their sides just below their wings. They have a large head topped with a crest and big black eyes.

Back in January, I wrote about the first bird I saw in the new year – a red-breasted nuthatch. I was motivated to write after hearing some birders believe the first bird seen in the new year is a sign of what is to come. (Click here if you missed the article.) Here we are at the end of the year and I thought I’d tell you about the last bird I saw this year – well, not the last bird, but the last bird I saw on my final visit to the Flint Mountain Wildlands preserve. At the start of 2025, I set a goal of visiting this parcel at least once a month and made notes of what I observed while perched from the top of a huge boulder that sits just below the cliffs. 

I made my last visit of the year on December 3, just after we got around 6 inches of fluffy snow. The skies were clear. The temperature was mild and there was hardly a breeze. It was a perfect day to be in the woods. On the hike in, I crossed the tracks of some of the creatures that live in these woods – deer, coyote, porcupine, vole, squirrel. However, things were quiet aside from the swish, swish, swish as I pushed through the snow. 

I didn’t hear any birds until on my way out. It was my old friend the red-breasted nuthatch accompanied by what sounded like a couple of chickadees and a white-breasted nuthatch. This type of mixed flock is to be expected in the winter months.

As they approached, I heard another call. Although chickadee-like, something struck me as different. Then I caught a flurry of wing beats high in a red oak. It was two tufted titmice.

Titmice are a bit larger than chickadees. They are light gray above and white below with a rusty smear along their sides just below their wings. The smear was the color of the beech leaves still clinging to some branches. Titmice have a large head topped with a crest and big black eyes. The pair busily foraged in the canopy sometimes hanging upside down from the tip of a limb. I fancy them as little elves tending to the forest. 

This is a bird that I seldom saw when I first began visiting Maine. Historically, it is a more southerly species, but it has been expanding its range north for several decades. Today it can be found regularly in our area. I had seen them occasionally on my visit to the Flint Mount Wildlands and was happy it was the last bird on my final visit of 2025. 

Now, if the first bird seen in the new year is a sign of what is to come, then what does the last bird out signal? I think I’ll leave that type of speculation to fortune tellers and Ouija Boards. For me, seeing this elf-like bird moving through the treetops on a beautiful day in Western Maine brings delight enough.

I wish to them—and to you and your family—good health and safe travels at this year’s end, and may 2026 be full of adventure and discovery for us all as we continue to explore the Mahoosuc Region.  

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.