Mistle Thrush in New Brunswick, Canada! ~ December 28, 2017

On Wednesday afternoon, the 27th, Stephen Kloiber and I started the 14-hour run towards the town of Miramichi in New Brunswick, Canada. Way back on December 9th, Peter and Deana Gadd discovered a bird in their backyard that had never previously been recorded in North America. The bird, a Mistle Thrush, is a Eurasian bird that is common in that area of the world, but instead of this one migrating to North Africa, it somehow ended up in eastern Canada.

I had been unable to try for the bird until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, so I was pleasantly surprised that the bird was still there. The Gadds have been giving daily updates on the bird, which was a huge help when deciding to make such a long-distance try for it. One of our activities while driving the long stretch of I-95 through Maine was watching the car thermometer, which dipped down to minus 16 (-16) degrees Farenheit at one point! In Canada, we hit some light snow between Fredericton and our destination. When we arrived at their backyard just before first light on the 28th, it was zero degrees Farenheit. Luckily, the blustery winds from the day before had calmed down. After watching the bird's main food source, a mountain ash tree full of berries, for over an hour, a Texas birder drove up and told us that he had seen the bird at another group of mountain ash trees about a block away. We decided to go up there while the other birding couple stayed at the original site. About 15 minutes later, they drove up and told us that the bird was back at its favorite tree. Thankfully, the bird was still there when we got there. We got great looks at it through the scope and I managed to get some fairly decent photos of it through the many branches.

When the snow starting picking up in intensity, we eventually headed home. It was a very successful 1701-mile journey. Thanks to the Gadds for a historic find and all their hospitality and help.
More photos of the bird can be found in my New Brunswick Adventures Album.

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Barnacle Goose in Northampton County ~ December 3, 2017

Last week, I got an E-mail from Tom Love, an Oregon birder stating that he was on a business trip to Washington, D.C. and wanted to know if I could provide him with any information on the Barnacle Goose that had been sporadically seen in the area since it would be a 'lifer' for him. I wrote him and let him know that it hadn't been reported in a while but would be glad to take him around to the local spots to look for it if he was willing to give it a try. He decided to go ahead and drive up here on Sunday morning and we'd meet at the Wawa on Schoenersville Road. An hour before his arrival, I checked out many of the favorable spots and came up empty.

Upon meeting up at the Wawa, we headed out to the nearby ponds along Valley Center Parkway and High Point Boulevard, only finding small groups of Canada Geese. From there, we stopped at Seiple's farm pond, the Silver Crest Road retention pond, and the Gremar Road ponds. There was one Snow Goose at Seiple's and four Buffleheads at the larger Gremar pond but no sign of the Barnacle. A stop at the Nazareth Quarry yielded several thousand Canadas at the far end of the quarry. We stopped a few times to check out groups of geese in the corn-stubbled fields between Nazareth and Bath, but they were all Canadas, too. The Northampton Quarry was devoid of birds.

Time was running out since he had to be back in Washington for a 7 PM flight, so we headed for his car but decided to make one last check of the Valley Center Parkway ponds. At around 12:30, we pulled up and made a sweep of the southern pond and he said, "There it is!" Amazingly, ten minutes before he had to leave, there was the Barnacle Goose on the back edge of the pond.

I quickly got out the scope so he could get some great looks and then took him back to his rental car where he headed back south with a big smile.

I called Arlene Koch, who was nice enough to post it to PABIRDS, and then headed back over there where I managed to get some better photos.

Mike and Corinne Schall showed up soon after and told me that there was a Ross's Goose in the northern pond just across the road. I walked over there and took some photos of it, too.

More photos from the day can be found in my 2017 Local Notables Album.

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