Regency Boulevard and Green Pond ~ November 28, 2022

After spending most of the last three days in extreme southeastern PA to finally get to see the first Pennsylvania record of Hermit Warbler, I decided to run over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds to see if the Dunlin might still be there. I conducted a pretty substantial search but couldn't find it.

I scoped the north pond and picked out two Ruddy Ducks, two Hooded Mergansers, the continuing Gadwall, and two Green-winged Teal among the geese.

Ruddy Ducks

Hooded Mergansers

Gadwall

Green-winged Teal

A check of the retention pond along Green Pond Road produced three Gadwall, two American Black Ducks, and seven Snow Geese among the Canadas.

Gadwall

American Black Ducks

The nearby retention pond along Nulton Avenue held a Green-winged Teal and a Great Blue Heron.

Green-winged Teal

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Hermit Warbler in PA! ~ November 27, 2022

Friday, November 25, 2022

On the morning of the 25th, Eric Gulson and Teresa Pegan were at her parents' house in Aston, Delaware County looking at House Finches when a Hermit Warbler miraculously flew into a dogwood in the front yard! They got some cell phone video of it and the word got out. I spent the afternoon searching the area with a good number of other birders, but we came up empty. A couple Red-shouldered Hawks were a small consolation prize.

Red-shouldered Hawk

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Saturday, November 26, 2022

The next morning, the bird was refound by Ross Gallardy just north of there in a line of white pines along the parking lot at the Chichester Baptist Church along Cherry Tree Road. It was observed off and on for about two hours before it flew off towards a nearby woodlot. I made the 90-minute drive but got there after it had flown and spent the rest of the day again searching in vain until dusk with Rick Wiltraut and other birders. Although we didn't see the warbler, another friend spotted an immature Golden Eagle, which eventually circled fairly close to us.

Golden Eagle

Other notables were two Red-shouldered Hawks and at least two Bald Eagles.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Bald Eagles

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Sunday, November 27, 2022

At 5:30 AM, I met Rick at the William Penn Highway Park & Ride and we headed for Aston for a third day. We arrived at sunrise and watched the now famous row of pines. It wasn't looking too promising when, after about an hour of looking, the main sighting was that of a nearby Merlin.

Merlin

At around 8:25, Devich Farbotnik spotted the Hermit Warbler! It mostly stayed near the inside part of the pines around three-fourths of the way up the tree where the thickest branches were, making it frustrating to get a clear look at it. At one point, it came to the outside of the tree where I got about a one-second look at it before it darted back inside. The yellow face and gray back was seen but much too briefly. It took close to another hour of watching until I was lucky enough to get a much better look and finally get photographs of this quick and well-hidden bird.

Hermit Warbler

Rick and many others finally got a nice look at it when it finally came out in the open for maybe ten seconds.
This bird represents the 1st Pennsylvania record.

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Dunlin Continues at the Regency Ponds ~ November 23, 2022

I drove back over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds to see if the Dunlin might still be there and once again found it feeding atop the berm between the two ponds.

Dunlin

Later, it flew down to the cove of the north pond and continued to feed along its edge.

Dunlin

The Gadwall was still in the north pond while the south pond held 14 Snow Geese among the Canadas.

Gadwall

Birds seen at the nearby Silver Crest Road pond included 7 Ruddy Ducks, a Common Merganser, and a Great Blue Heron.

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Dunlin at the Regency Boulevard Ponds ~ November 22, 2022

I was sent a few photos by one of the residents that live in the development at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds and asked if I could identify them for her. One of the photos was that of a Dunlin! I replied to her with the identifications and asked where the Dunlin was photographed. I went over there a couple hours later and found the bird where I had been told it was----in the cove of the north pond. After looking at the bird, I am almost positive that this is the same bird that I found there back on November 2nd because it has the same patch of slightly oiled feathers on its breast like the bird I found back then. I got some photos of it feeding along the shoreline of the cove.

Dunlin

Surprisingly, the bird flew across the cove and landed on the top of the bank separating the two ponds, ending up much closer to me. In the flight photo, you can see that none of the flight feathers appear to be oiled, so I'm assuming that the bird would not be impeded to migrate, which makes me wonder why it's still here. I watched it for at least a half-hour feeding there with two Starlings. It was still there when I left that section.

Dunlin

I checked the main section of the north pond and found the continuing Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck, and Green-winged Teal plus 2 Killdeer.

The south pond produced 11 Snow Geese (one of them a "Blue" Goose) among the Canadas.

Snow Geese

A stop on the way home at Green Pond produced a Northern Harrier, a few Eastern Bluebirds, and 21 Snow Geese among the Canadas.

Northern Harrier

Eastern Bluebird

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Silver Crest and Regency Ponds plus 'Forks of the Delaware' ~ November 21, 2022

The Silver Crest Road retention pond held 5 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Hooded Mergansers, a Great Blue Heron, and one Snow Goose among 300 Canada Geese.

Over at the Regency Boulevard ponds, the Gadwall, the Ring-necked Duck, a Ruddy Duck, and a Green-winged Teal were still present. The new birds were 4 Hooded Mergansers, one of which was an occasionally displaying male. They stayed at the far end of the south pond, so my photos were pretty distant.

Hooded Mergansers

My last stop was at the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton where I found a Great Black-backed Gull among 19 Herring and around 650 Ring-billed Gulls.

Great Black-backed Gull

Four Buffleheads dove nearby and a Common Raven circled overhead. The two Bonaparte's Gulls that were there earlier in the day had moved on.

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Regency Boulevard and Silver Crest Road Ponds ~ November 19, 2022

The Regency Boulevard ponds continued to hold the Gadwall, a Ring-necked Duck, a Ruddy Duck, and a Green-winged Teal, plus a Cackling Goose among the Canadas.

Gadwall

The Silver Crest Road retention pond contained 4 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers, 4 Hooded Mergansers, and a Great Blue Heron in addition to a couple hundred Canada Geese.

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A Quick Run Around Northampton County ~ November 17, 2022

In the early afternoon, I stopped at Green Pond. The most interesting birds were a Great Blue Heron and a Red-tailed Hawk perched atop a pole along the road.

Red-tailed Hawk

The next stop was at the Regency Boulevard ponds where I found another Great Blue Heron, 3 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Snow Geese, and 3 Cackling Geese among the Canadas. I got a pretty nice comparison photo of the smaller Cackling Goose behind a Canada Goose. Note the shorter neck and the square-shaped head with the vertical forehead above the short, stubby bill. This bird also has the thin, white line separating the light-colored breast and the base of the dark neck.

A Cackling Goose behind a Canada Goose

Just up the road, the Silver Crest Road retention pond held yet another Great Blue Heron, 9 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers, and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

I headed up Route 512 and weaved my way to the Albert Road ponds south of Wind Gap. There, about a hundred Ring-necked Ducks and one immature Snow Goose were with a couple hundred Canada Geese.

My last stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond, which held a Bufflehead and 9 Green-winged Teal.

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Regency Boulevard Waterfowl ~ November 15, 2022

Since I hadn't checked the Regency Boulevard ponds in a few days, I decided to see what waterfowl might be there. Men were working along the fence on the east side of the pond, so the birds were often moving to the far side of the pond and even from pond to pond. The north pond was over half-empty when I arrived except for the numbers of Canada Geese that were huddled in one section. I scanned through them and found three Cackling Geese swimming together.

Cackling Geese

The birds in the south pond were also being moved around by the workers' activities. I set up my scope and spotted a transitioning male Gadwall, a new site bird for me. It had flown away from the workers and luckily landed in the pond very close to me. It was very skittish and quickly flew to the far corner of the pond after realizing I was there, but it stayed long enough for me to get these photos of it.

Gadwall

A Green-winged Teal and two Great Blue Herons were also present in the pond among a couple hundred Canada Geese.

The cove of the north pond continued to hold the two Northern Shovelers, the Ring-necked Duck, and two Killdeer.

Northern Shovelers

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