May is the month when warblers migrate north. Here are two of my favorites. An Ovenbird (left) and a Black-and-white Warbler. Ovenbird nests are woven domes on the forest floor. Unlike nuthatches, which generally move down, and Brown Creepers, which generally move up, Black-and-white Warblers go up, down, and all around tree trunks and branches, gleaning insects to eat.
Eastern Phoebes are always the first flycatchers to return to my yard in the spring. They often reuse nests year after year so there’s a good chance that I’ve seen this individual phoebe for a few years in a row now.
American Tree Sparrows have been regulars in my yard for winter 2025-2026 and early spring 2026. American Tree Sparrows nest in the far north of North America, including on the tundra where there are no trees. Their winter range includes much of the United States.
Here is a portrait of a male Red-breasted Merganser taken close to sunset. I like the colors of the water and snow, and the reflection of the duck as he is floating along. Of the three species of merganser found in Maine, I see Red-breasted Mergansers the most frequently.
Here is a Gray Catbird pausing for a split second before reaching up to eat a berry. Gray Catbirds leave Maine in the winter, but can be found year round along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Colombia.
This year I’ve seen and heard Red-breasted Nuthatches in my yard far more often than in 2023 and 2024. Here, a female briefly clings to dead goldenrod after a snowstorm.
Belted Kingfishers can be found year-round in southern Maine. Males, like this individual, have a dark blue collar. Females have the dark blue collar, and a rusty orange band below it. Belted Kingfishers, as their name suggests, mostly eat fish. Occasionally however, they eat foods like amphibians, young birds of other species, and berries.
Tufted Titmice pairs usually remain in the same territory year round, and they are one of the birds I most frequently see and hear in my yard. At this time of year they are busy caching seeds to help them get through the winter.
The pigeons in this photo are from the same flock that appear in my June image of the month. The day I took this photo, the pigeons were resting on the power line when this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk swooped in and flew around with them for a bit. In the end, the hawk decided to try and catch a shorebird rather than a pigeon.
Here is a portrait of a katydid that I took at the very end of July. There are about 255 species of katydids in North America. I normally only see them in flight, when I accidentally flush them. I was thrilled to find this one posed nicely, backlit by the morning sun.