Fork-tailed Flycatcher AND Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in PA! ~ June 4, 2006

With my Pennsylvania Life List in the 360's, seeing a new state bird gets really tough anymore. So, I was totally blown away when I came home with TWO state birds in ONE day!

In late morning, I heard about four Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks that had been found in Bucks County by Rudy Keller. Since I had previously missed seeing the ones found in Westmoreland and Lancaster Counties in 1993, I was ready to head down there to look for them. But soon after that, I got another call about a probable Fork-tailed Flycatcher that was found near Morrisville in Bucks County by Bill Keim!

Billy Weber just happened to be birding at Arlene Koch's house when I got the call, so he and Arlene hopped in the car and the three of us headed down there while the bird's identification was changing from Fork-tailed to Scissor-tailed and eventually back again. When we got there, we saw that the bird had a much shorter tail than what is shown in most of the guides and, at first glance, could have possibly been passed over as an Eastern Kingbird by an inexperienced observer. This was a great find, especially since the bird was found in unusual habitat, trees right along the Delaware River.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Morrisville, Bucks County. Note the bird's dark cap, gray mantle, all-white underparts, and fairly long tail, which is much shorter than what is portrayed in most of the field guides because it is not an adult bird. This bird represents the first record for Pennsylvania!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Morrisville, Bucks County. Note the bird's dark cap, gray mantle, and fairly long tail. Here, the shaft of the tail feather on the right side can be seen protruding longer than that on the left. This bird represents the first record for Pennsylvania!

After watching and photographing the flycatcher for about an hour or more, we left and headed for the pond where Rudy Keller had seen the Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in the late morning. We arrived at the pond, just west of the town of Pleasantville, in the early evening and found Harold Lebo and Drew Weber there. The only ducks on the pond were a pair of Mallards, but Arlene said that Rudy told her that they had been hiding in the surrounding vegetation when they weren't in the pond. So, after about 20 minutes of checking every spot we could from the road, Harold went over to the farmhouse and asked the lady there if we could walk out the path to check the near side of the pond. She kindly gave us permission and also told him that she had noticed them there a few days before. We walked out the path and there, in the near right corner of the pond (when looking from the road), were the Whistling-Ducks in just high enough vegetation that they could not be seen at all from the road. We watched them, took photos, and left them right where they were with about an hour of daylight left.

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks near Pleasantville, Berks County. Note the black belly, white wing patch, red bill, and light eye ring on the gray face. All four birds are in this picture, although the fourth bird is hidden by the dead gray stems just below and in front of the tallest bird. There are very few records of them for Pennsylvania.

To say the least, I was thrilled with getting two state birds (and great-looking ones at that) in just several hours!

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