A red-winged blackbird.
People are encouraged to join bird expert Jeff Cherry for a morning of bird identification on Tuesday, May 7, from 7-9 am. This will be a short-distance, slow walk at the Midcoast Conservancy Bass Falls Preserve to enjoy the recently returned migrant birds of meadow and edge habitat.
A prothonotary warbler.
The meadow section of the Bass Falls trail provides excellent viewing of breeding tree swallows, bobolinks, eastern bluebirds, and other species. Cherry will share his knowledge of identifying birds by sight and sound, and other topics of interest to the group, such as avian breeding biology, eBird, and the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas project.
Cherry is an antiques dealer who specialized in the study of bird migration as a graduate student and has since pursued an avid interest in birds and natural history. He keeps detailed records of his daily bird sightings on eBird and is an active contributor to the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas. He and his wife live along the Dyer River near Sheepscot village.
Participants should bring binoculars if they have them, but it is not absolutely necessary (Cherry will have one extra pair of binoculars and a telescope), appropriate footwear for wet and muddy conditions, and tick-deterrent clothing or repellent. The group will convene at the Bass Falls trailhead in Alna.
There is a limit of 12 people. To register, go to midcoastconservancy.org/events/bird-identification-walk.
