Sora and Common Gallinules at East Bangor Dam ~ April 19, 2024

I walked the boardwalk at Bear Swamp in the late morning. At the beginning of the boardwalk, I spotted a male Rusty Blackbird perched about four feet up. It dropped down just as I got my camera on it. I slowly walked up and noticed a female flipping over leaves in the swamp. I was waiting for them to get into an opening for photos when a lady and her dog came running down the boardwalk. Needless to say, that was the end of that. Other birds seen there included Pileated Woodpecker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Hermit Thrush.

At nearby Lake Minsi, there were 9 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a Horned Grebe, 7 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, and 2 Barn Swallows among at least 300 Tree Swallows. I got two distant photos of the Horned Grebe before a boat made it fly off.

Horned Grebe

My last stop was East Bangor Dam. My main objective was to check for Marsh Wren but, instead, I heard a Sora call! I very slowly walked up and found it peeking out through the cattails.

Sora

After standing still for what seemed to be an eternity (probably only about 5 minutes), it finally walked through an open area before ducking back into the cattails.

Sora

Soon after it ducked back in, it called, and then I heard a Common Gallinule a little farther down! Again, I slowly crept in that direction. It would occasionally call just out of sight from the back side of another cattail patch. A while later, I spotted it moving away from the patch. I took a couple poor photos of it through the reeds.

Common Gallinule

Then it took off and flew over in the direction of the Sora. As it dropped into the vegetation, a second Common Gallinule took off from behind the same cattail patch and joined the first one.

Common Gallinule

Other notables from there included 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 3 Great Blue Herons, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Pileated Woodpecker, an assortment of Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and a Mute Swan. It was a great end to the birding day.

Mute Swan

---

Long-tailed Ducks at the Nazareth Quarry ~ April 18, 2024

This morning, Adam Miller found 17 Long-tailed Ducks at the Nazareth Quarry. I stopped there at around 1:00 PM and the tight group of ducks were still there near the middle of the quarry. I took some distant photos for documentation purposes.

A group of 17 Long-tailed Ducks.

I then did a check of Green Pond. There were at least 30 Chipping Sparrows in the area next to the flooded field area. Also there was a Palm Warbler.

Palm Warbler

Several Northern Rough-winged Swallows were perched at Green Pond.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

A Good Movement of Migrants in the Backyard ~ April 17, 2024

While eating breakfast, I noticed several small birds moving around in the neighbor's oak tree. It turned out to be several Yellow-rumped Warblers and a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets. As I continued to watch, more and more birds flew into the oak as others left. It was fairly easy to keep track of the Yellow-rumpeds since there were males and females and they were in different stages of plumage. I conservatively counted 23 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 11 Ruby-crowned Kinglets. In among them, I spotted my first Blue-headed Vireo of the year.

Blue-headed Vireo

A pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets came to my little waterfall to bathe and get a drink. The male was apparently showing off his ruby crown to the female, which allowed me to get photos of the uncommonly seen patch of red.

The male Ruby-crowned Kinglet showing off its ruby crown.

At one point, both birds were together at the waterfall.

Two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, the male above the female.

---

A Full Day of Birding With Recent Arrivals ~ April 16, 2024

I got to Bear Swamp Park around 9:30 AM and walked the boardwalk. I was hoping to find some Rusty Blackbirds. Instead, I found a pair of Louisiana Waterthrushes.

Louisiana Waterthrush

On the south side of the road, I found a Pileated Woodpecker and a Hermit Thrush.

Over at Lake Minsi's west parking lot, at least 9 Purple Martins were checking out the martin houses.

Purple Martin

Other birds found at the lake included 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 3 American Coots, 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, 3 Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and 17 Tree Swallows.

From there, I headed over to East Bangor Dam. Notables there included 10 Wood Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Blue-winged Teal, a Pied-billed Grebe, 3 American Coots, 8 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Ospreys, an immature Bald Eagle, an Eastern Phoebe, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, a Swamp Sparrow, 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Palm Warbler.

Green-winged Teal

Osprey

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I left Upper Mount Bethel Township and drove down to the Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem. Todd Watkins had seen 2 Yellow-throated Warblers there the day before. Since I didn't get there until the mid-afternoon, they apparently weren't singing when I got there. Because of that, I had to watch the tops of the trees for movement. The only small birds I saw while doing that were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and American Goldfinches. While walking along the south edge of the cemetery where it drops off down to the river, I heard one call. I kept looking for it near the treetops and was surprised when I found it feeding only about 15 to 20 feet up, occasionally coming down as low as 10 feet! It was windy at the time, so I can only assume that the insect activity forced it down lower than normal. I was thrilled with the opportunity to get close and near eye-level photos of this bird.

Yellow-throated Warbler

I scanned the Steel Stacks area and found one of the Peregrine Falcons near the top of one of the smokestacks. I took this very distant photo of it.

Peregrine Falcon

My last stop was Green Pond. I spotted a Wilson's Snipe as I parked at the little pulloff by the flooded field. I slowly got out of the car and took this photo from behind it.

Wilson's Snipe

Two Ring-necked Ducks continued in the retention pond along Farmersville Road.

A pair of Ring-necked Ducks

A pair of Savannah Sparrows were in the grassy area between the ponds.

Savannah Sparrow

The southeast pond held one Spotted Sandpiper, which was my fourth year bird of the day.

Spotted Sandpiper

---

Another Afternoon Pond Run ~ April 14, 2024

I headed over to Green Pond in the mid-afternoon. The four Blue-winged Teal continued in the flooded field area.

Blue-winged Teal

Two Ring-necked Ducks were in the retention pond along Farmersville Road. Around the perimeter of that pond were 2 Eastern Bluebirds and 2 Palm Warblers. A Great Blue Heron, an Osprey, and 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows were seen flying around, too.

A Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and 2 Killdeer were at the Newburg Park retention pond.

The flooded field by the Christian Springs Road pond held 6 Greater Yellowlegs.

The Wilson's Snipe that I saw yesterday at the Hollo Road retention pond was still there.

Wilson's Snipe

Four Northern Rough-winged Swallows were feeding over the pond while a Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead.

Red-tailed Hawk

In one small tree next to the pond, I saw my first-of-the-year Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

---