Bob Duchesne

It was a dark and stormy night. As I looked at the next day's forecast, Saturday didn't look much better for Penobscot Valley Audubon's annual boat trip to find harlequin ducks and other seabirds around Isle au Haut.

My spring morning ritual has begun. I get a cup of coffee and step out on the porch at daybreak just to see who is singing.

"First, don’t blindly trust books, apps or yourself. Books mislead, apps misidentify and people make mistakes. Forgive them all, especially yourself."

Now the fun begins, as many birds and quite a few birders return to Maine for the summer. It's time to get organized.

"If you have a porch, deck, garage, shed or anything with an eave, I assume phoebes have completed work on their seasonal home and moved in by now."

"Canines, felines and weasels are at risk. Hawks and owls are particularly vulnerable, especially since sick prey is easier to catch."

“Poor Merlin. It does a good job identifying birds by sound, but throw it into a bunch of northern mockingbirds that are all mimicking other birds and it struggles mightily.”

"The most important thing to know is that most of the sound comes from just a handful of birds."

Outdoors The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine.

"Renesting is a common survival strategy. If at first, you don't succeed ..."