A Pine Grosbeak collects a berry Tuesday from a tree in Augusta.

Foraging birds are the epicenter of my winter photos.

Words & photos by Andy Molloy, staff photographer

Robins and Cedar Waxwings are the native actors who always enter the visual stage to eat berries.

I spotted a huge flock of birds at dawn recently attached to a fruit tree.

I pulled over, put the camera over my shoulder and sprinted through the fresh snow.

A few yards from the tree, resonating with chirps, I focused the lens on a bird perched in a cluster of berries.

It was an avian freak show. They were neither Robins nor Waxwings.

The Canadians had invaded. The fruit munchers were Pine Grosbeaks who had come in large numbers from the boreal forest of Canada. A spectacular site encountered across Maine this winter.

I burned a 100 frames and returned to my truck. The flock rose, flew across Western Avenue and landed on a fruit tree in front of the Augusta Armory.

I gave chase. The tree, a mix of white snow and blood red berries, was irresistible. I pulled out the long, 500mm lens and started banging frames from inside my truck.

I turned to a knock on my passenger door. It was a soldier. He indicated I should roll down the window. "What are you up to?" h
e asked.

I explained that I was photographing the birds a few feet from us.

He studied the flock clucking with berry delight. He said it was all right if I stayed. He was just vigilant about intruders.

I said he found some airborne ones. From Canada. The tree was overrun. Hundreds had descended. They already conquered an apple tree across the road...

Have a nice day, he said, before abruptly walking back into the armory.

A male Pine Grosbeak eats the buds from a maple tree Thursday in Augusta. The boreal finch is native to Canada and the western United States. Bird watchers are reporting flocks of the birds feeding on fruit in Maine this winter.

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