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1) 23 Apr 1892 Kenduskeag --Palmer 1949:171
One record. A male in winter plumage was shot on April 23,
1892, at Kenduskeag, Penobscot County, and acquired by Harry
Merrill of Bangor (Webster,1892a; Merrill,1892b).
2)19 May 1951 Sherman Mills, Sherman --AB 31(5):974
3)14 May 1977 Bailey I., Harpswell --AB 31(5):974
"Most extraordinary and perplexing is the record of a
Willow Ptarmigan found on Bailey I., Me., May 14 (Paul K. Donahue
et al.). Seen by five competent observers for a period of several
hours
and identifiably photographed {a photograph credited to Jan Pierson,
printed in black-and-white, appears with this report} (showing
feathered toes), there is no possible confusion with albino
Spruce Grouse. Preliminary speculation about this very odd occurrence
centered on the massive n.e. storm May 9-10 (May 11-12 further
northeast) but ptarmigan is not the kind of bird likely to
be storm-tossed for hundreds of miles. Two previous Maine occurrences
are both spring records: one shot in Kenduskeag Apr. 23, 1892
and the second a bird captured in Sherman Mills May 19,
1951. There exists a lone Massachusetts sight record: May 10,
1895. A study of old weather records for both the Kenduskeag
and the Massachusetts ptarmigan sightings indicates no correlation
with any large storm systems. The consistency of the spring dates,
all within the 3 1/2 week period, Apr. 23-May 19, indicates that
these misguided occurrences might be related to either a
reversed migration, or possibly, something gone berserk in the
breeding cycle." -P.D. Vickery
3.1){At the Maine Bird Conference in late April 1996, Bill
Sheehan mentioned a bird that, if I recall correctly, had frequented
a feeder in Waterville, somehow died, and was only identified
a long
time after the fact (by Ron Joseph?) when he examined the specimen
which had been preserved in a freezer. I need to get this story
in writing from Sheehan; does anyone keep this species in
captivity?}
{In a telephone conversation the afternoon of 23 March 1998,
Tom Hodgman mentioned a bird in Brooks captured and kept in a
pen by a Brooks (Rt. 139) resident (after his dog injured it?).
Resident turned the dead bird in to the state; Hodgman accepted
the specimen and recommended it go to the State museum (rather
than the University collection). I didn't ask about the date.
I
wonder if Waterville is the precise locality of the record Sheehan
told me about, since Waterville and Brooks are within 25 miles
of each other. Or maybe someone released some in that area?
Maybe, being boreal types, the birds find a cryogenic afterlife
attractive and stray out of range in hopes of winding up in a
freezer?}-Jody Despres
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