Little Egret at Scarborough Marsh WMA
Little Egret as Photographed by Doug Hitchcox
Yet another extraordinary bird has turned up in southern Maine's premier coastal Wildlife Management Area. On Wednesday, June 29, Doug Hitchcox identified and photographed a Little Egret in the salt panne complex east of the Dunstan River crossing along the Eastern Road Trail. Over the years this area has produced many great birds including European golden plover, seaside sparrow, yellow rail, short-eared owl, etc., etc. We ask that birders looking for the egret limit their access to the Eastern Road as it is currently nesting season for Nelson's and saltmarsh sparrows. Eastern Road is elevated and provides a good vantage point for observations this time of year.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is working hard to continue land acquisition efforts to better buffer the existing wetland habitats from encroaching development and to preserve areas that will support future marsh habitat as sea level rises. We recently completed the purchase of the Gervais property off of the Mason Libby Road on the eastern side of Dunstan River and south of Route 1. The Gervais site features freshwater and brackish ponds adjacent to salt marsh habitat, and also provides great marsh viewing with a large publicly accessible look out tower. If you haven't birded there yet, its got great potential as the next place an unusual species turns up in Scarborough Marsh.
