October Surprise!

By James Reddoch

A rare white sandhill crane was found foraging in a plowed cornfield outside Fryeburg, ME

For a birdwatcher, late fall may not be the most exciting time of year. Most spring migrants have headed south, and I entertain myself by putting out feeders and stocking up on birdseed for our winter residents. This October proved to be the exception. A number of unusual, even rare, birds were discovered in the Mahoosuc Region. 

One of those rare birds prompted me to get up before sunrise and stake out a small stand of trees at the Bethel Airport. A rare-bird alert from the citizen-science site eBird had gone out the night before. Daniel McDermott, a new teacher and coach at Gould Academy, reported a Townsend’s solitaire going into a stand of birches near the airport as the sun went down. I got there early the next morning hoping to find the bird at first light. I’m sure the commuters on North Road wondered what that strange person was doing at sunrise searching the airport grounds with binoculars. 

In spite of my efforts, I did not find the bird that morning. Nine days later, though, I got a call from Daniel. He had relocated the bird, and I got there just in time to catch a brief glimpse of it as it flew east along the Androscoggin. 

The Townsend’s solitaire, a member of the thrush family, is a common bird in the western mountains from Alaska south into Mexico. In Maine, however, it is considered a vagrant and has only been reported about two dozen times. It relies on juniper berries in its normal range, but, when it wanders, it seems to rely on eastern redcedar as a substitute.

If you are driving down North Road by the Bethel Airport and the Riverside Cemetery, watch for a bird that is a bit smaller than a robin. It is mostly gray with a bold white eye-ring. It often perches on a fence, wire, or exposed perch. If it can find enough redcedar, crabapple, winterberry, or other fruits, it may just stick around this winter. 

Northern mockingbirds have been pushing their range north for decades but it has only been reported twice at Valentine Farm.

Another October surprise was a northern mockingbird. Northern mockingbirds have been pushing their range north for decades, but this is only the second report of one at Valentine Farm. These birds are gray and, interestingly, can be confused with Townsend’s solitaire in regions where they overlap. The mockingbird is a bit larger than a solitaire, but its most distinctive feature is its “wing-flashing.” It abruptly opens and lifts its wings exposing  striking white wing-patches. This wing-flashing behavior is a good indication that you may be seeing a northern mockingbird. 

Watch for a gray bird with a bold white eye ring, perched on a fence, wire, or exposed perch. Photo © Steve Wolfe Photography

A third October surprise came on Halloween. A group of us traveled to the fields outside Fryeburg looking for sandhill cranes. These tall, gray birds gather there each fall to feed and rest up before continuing south. We were delighted to find a flock of 63 foraging in a plowed cornfield. Much to our surprise, a white crane was in their midst. 

I’ll admit, seeing this bird got my heart racing. In North America, the only crane with naturally white feathers is the incredibly rare whooping crane. They are not known to occur in Maine, and finding one would be a big deal. After taking a few pictures, we consulted with others. This wasn’t a stray whooping crane. Instead, it was a rare white, sandhill crane. Doug Hitchcock from Maine Audubon examined our photos and suggested “partial leucism” as probably the best description. Leucism is a genetic condition that reduces pigmentation in feathers. Although it is well documented, it is unusual and always a rare surprise to encounter. 

These unusual sightings made for an exciting October in the Mahoosuc Region. It was also a nice reminder to me that there is always more to discover. Who knows what surprises might be hidden among the chickadees, nuthatches, and our other year-round residents? You just have to keep looking!

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Sources

Bowen, R. V. (2020). Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.towsol.01

Farnsworth, G., G. A. Londono, J. U. Martin, K. C. Derrickson, and R. Breitwisch (2020). Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.normoc.01

Urbanek, R. P. and J. C. Lewis (2020). Whooping Crane (Grus americana), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whocra.01

eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available: http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed: November 1, 2026).