A Nice Selection of Birds Around the County ~ January 3, 2026

I met up with Stephen Kloiber and Megan Davis at the St. Luke's Anderson Campus at 10:00. Soon after, Adam Miller joined us as we walked the large field behind the pond, looking for the Lapland Longspur with the large Horned Lark flock that we had found late last year on the Bethlehem Christmas Bird Count. Despite a sweep of the field, we only found around a dozen larks, so the large flock must have flown to greener, or in this case, browner pastures. While there, we had several hundred crows, a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Savannah Sparrow.

From there, Stephen, Megan, and I drove up to Moore Township. One Red-headed Woodpecker was along E. Best Road.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Near Copella Road, we found Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Common Raven, and 4 Eastern Bluebirds. Along Schlegel Road, we found a dozen Horned Larks. Over at Graver's Hill, we found 'fly-by' Snow Geese, a Black Vulture, and only 6 Horned Larks. No Snow Buntings or longspurs were there to be had.

At Beacon Road, we split up and I headed for Ballas Park, hoping to find American Tree Sparrow and other year birds. I parked at Ballas, got out of the car, walked fifty feet along the brushy edge, and found a group of Tree Sparrows. I thought, "Wow, that was too easy." They are one of my favorite sparrows, sporting that distinctive bright yellow lower mandible. The bicolored bill is one definite way to tell a Tree Sparrow from the similarly-colored Field Sparrow, which has an all-pink bill. I was even luckier as they posed for some nice photos. I got one of a 'dark' adult, showing its rusty sides and flanks, and a few of a 'pale' adult.

A 'dark' adult American Tree Sparrow.

A 'pale' adult American Tree Sparrow.

A little farther up the path, I found a small group of Cedar Waxwings feeding on berries with 11 American Robins.

Cedar Waxwings

Nearby, a Hermit Thrush was found among the many White-throated Sparrows.

Hermit Thrush

In the southwestern corner of the park, I found two Golden-crowned Kinglets. One allowed me to get a couple photos, but as usual, it was behind a few branches.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

As I was almost back to the car, I spotted a Northern Harrier and got this distant photo before it continued up over the hill.

Northern Harrier

I left Ballas and drove the short distance over to the Albert Road Ponds. Two Mute Swans were there along with one Ring-necked Duck and a couple hundred Canada Geese.

Mute Swans

On the way back home, I stopped at the Nazareth Quarry. I met Mark Rauzon there. He was looking for the Long-tailed Duck, which he eventually found while I was scoping the little cove. I took another documentation photo of it.

Long-tailed Duck

The male Redhead that we found on last year's Christmas Bird Count was also there. I got this horrible documentation photo of it through the thick brush.

Redhead

Other birds found there included 300 Canada Geese and 5 Snow Geese, 42 Ruddy Ducks, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 7 American Black Ducks, 2 Mallards, a Green-winged Teal, 7 Common Mergansers, and 14 American Coots.

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Iceland Gull at the "Forks of the Delaware" ~ January 2, 2026

I went down to the "Forks of the Delaware" to check for gulls. There was a large shelf of ice by the Free Bridge that was full of gulls. When I scanned through them, I found a first-winter Iceland Gull.

Iceland Gull

The gulls all stirred when a Bald Eagle flew by. There were also 177 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 59 American Herring Gulls present among roughly 500 Ring-billed Gulls, plus 28 Buffleheads.

Farther upriver near Martins Creek, I found 3 Common Mergansers and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

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Ringing in the New Year With a Long-tailed Duck ~ January 1, 2026

A Long-tailed Duck had been reported late last year at the Nazareth Quarry. I decided to stop there to see if it was still around. When I got there, Mike & Corinne Schall were already looking at it. I took some long-distance documentation photos of it.

Long-tailed Duck

After seeing thousands of Snow Geese there in previous weeks, there were only eight Snows there today. Other birds found there included 77 Canada Geese, 39 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 6 American Black Ducks, 41 Ring-billed Gulls, a Cooper's Hawk, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and 2 Common Ravens. It was a good start to the new year.

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Another False Alarm Produces a Greater White-fronted Goose ~ December 29, 2025

A Barnacle Goose was reported at the Northampton Quarry. I spent three hours searching through around 8000 Snow Geese and 3000 Canada Geese without finding a Barnacle Goose, but I did find a Greater White-fronted Goose, so it wasn't a wasted trip. I got this horrible photo of it through the trees.

Greater White-fronted Goose

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Bethlehem - Easton - Hellertown Christmas Bird Count ~ December 28, 2025

The Bethlehem - Easton - Hellertown Christmas Bird Count was supposed to be on Saturday, the 27th, but an overnight storm of sleet and freezing rain caused it to be postponed until Sunday. So at 6:15 AM on Sunday, I met Jon Mularczyk, Mike & Corinne Schall, and Adam Miller at the Walmart parking lot. We drove to Hollo Road where we heard 2 Great Horned Owls calling back and forth. We couldn't get into the Nazareth Quarry because of the date change, so we went to the vantage point along Franklin Street and scoped from there. There were only about 3000 Snow Geese present when we arrived, but that number increased to 15,000 by the end of our 1-1/2 hour watch as birds flew in from the direction of Merrill Creek Reservoir. Our search of the rest of the quarry produced a thousand Canada Geese, 90 Ruddy Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 3 American Black Ducks, 2 Ring-necked Ducks, a Green-winged Teal, 2 Common Mergansers, 17 American Coots, 2 Common Ravens, and 2 Bald Eagles that stirred up the geese as they flew overhead. Avian flu was again obvious as we noted around 75 dead birds floating along the edge of the quarry.

We left the quarry and walked the nearby Hollo Road pines area, where we were allowed access by the cement company. We made out really well there. There was a partially-unfrozen pond in there that held 7 Cackling Geese among around 200 Canadas, plus 3 Ring-necked Ducks and a male Redhead.

A male Redhead.

A Redhead with a Ring-necked Duck.

In the wooded and open areas, we compiled a nice list of birds that included a few Ring-billed, Lesser Black-backed, and American Herring Gulls, a female Northern Harrier, 2 Bald Eagles, a Red-tailed Hawk, 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 3 Red-bellied and 6 Downy Woodpeckers, one Hairy Woodpecker, a Northern Flicker, a Common Raven, 7 chickadees, 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 4 White-breasted and 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Winter Wren, 3 Carolina Wrens, 3 Eastern Bluebirds, 6 Hermit Thrushes, 30 American Robins, 19 Cedar Waxwings, 7 House Finches, 50 Dark-eyed Juncos, 26 White-throated Sparrows, 6 Song Sparrows, 2 Swamp Sparrows, and 9 Northern Cardinals. Ten Rock Pigeons were flying around the cement company structures while a Peregrine Falcon perched on an adjacent smokestack.

A walk along the Shoeneck Creek by the Hollo Road pond revealed 6 Mallards, a Northern Mockingbird, an American Goldfinch, 4 White-crowned Sparrows, and 7 White-throated Sparrows.

We stopped to get something to eat and then headed towards the St. Luke's Anderson Campus, finding 2 Black Vultures along the way. There, in the big field at St. Luke's, we saw a flock of around 250 Horned Larks that also included a Lapland Longspur! I got some photos of it when it landed nearby.

Lapland Longspur

An estimated 1000 American Crows and 20 Fish Crows were also there along with a Cooper's Hawk.

Next, we hiked from Riverview Park to the Chain Dam. The ice above the dam had melted, so there weren't any gulls there, but we did find a group of 10 Common Mergansers. Along the paths on the way out and back, we picked out 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Turkey Vulture, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Back at the parking lot, not one, but 2 Merlins were spotted. One was on a powerline tower and another was perched right above us at the river overlook platform.

Merlin

Down at the "Forks of the Delaware", we found 29 Buffleheads, 22 Ring-billed Gulls, and a Peregrine Falcon that was perched atop a flag pole in the downtown area.

We circled back for one last check of the Nazareth Quarry, and it was a good thing we did. I found a Ross's Goose among the Snows, and a Cackling Goose was in with them, too.

A Ross's Goose (at center, facing right).

A Ross's Goose (at center, in front of the Snows).

Cackling Goose

We tallied almost 20,000 birds comprised of 64 species. The list follows.

1) Snow Geese
2) Ross's Goose
3) Cackling Goose
4) Canada Goose
5) Mallard
6) American Black Duck
7) Green-winged Teal
8) Redhead
9) Ring-necked Duck
10) Bufflehead
11) Common Merganser
12) Ruddy Duck
13) Pied-billed Grebe
14) Turkey Vulture
15) Black Vulture
16) Bald Eagle
17) Northern Harrier
18) Sharp-shinned Hawk
19) Cooper's Hawk
20) Red-tailed Hawk
21) Merlin
22) Peregrine Falcon
23) American Coot
24) Ring-billed Gull
25) American Herring Gull
26) Lesser Black-backed Gull
27) Rock Pigeon
28) Mourning Dove
29) Great Horned Owl
30) Belted Kingfisher
31) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
32) Red-bellied Woodpecker
33) Northern Flicker
34) Downy Woodpecker
35) Hairy Woodpecker
36) Blue Jay
37) American Crow
38) Fish Crow
39) Common Raven
40) Horned Lark
41) Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee
42) Tufted Titmouse
43) Red-breasted Nuthatch
44) White-breasted Nuthatch
45) Winter Wren
46) Carolina Wren
47) Golden-crowned Kinglet
48) Northern Mockingbird
49) European Starling
50) Eastern Bluebird
51) American Robin
52) Hermit Thrush
53) Cedar Waxwing
54) Yellow-rumped Warbler
55) Song Sparrow
56) Swamp Sparrow
57) White-throated Sparrow
58) White-crowned Sparrow
59) Dark-eyed Junco
60) Lapland Longspur
61) Northern Cardinal
62) Brown-headed Cowbird
63) House Finch
64) American Goldfinch

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