Bethlehem/Easton/Hellertown Christmas Count ~ December 31, 2022

It was a very foggy day during the Bethlehem/Easton/Hellertown Christmas Bird Count. Poor visibility made it tough to find and identify birds at the far sides of the quarry. Nevertheless, Jason Horn, Jon Mularczyk, Stephen Kloiber, and I managed to record 57 species. Highlights included Ross's Goose, Double-crested Cormorant, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel, Horned Lark, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, both kinglets, Hermit Thrush, and Savannah Sparrow. One of the Hermit Thrushes cooperated enough to let me get a couple photos of it.

Hermit Thrush

In the early afternoon, an American Kestrel was seen near the St. Luke's Anderson Campus retention pond.

American Kestrel

Here's the species list for the day.

1 Snow Goose
2 Ross's Goose
3 Cackling (Richardson's) Goose
4 Canada Goose
5 Mallard
6 American Black Duck
7 Northern Shoveler
8 Redhead
9 Ring-necked Duck
10 Lesser Scaup
11 Bufflehead
12 Hooded Merganser
13 Common Merganser
14 Ruddy Duck
15 Pied-billed Grebe
16 Double-crested Cormorant
17 Great Blue Heron
18 Turkey Vulture
19 Black Vulture
20 Cooper's Hawk
21 Red-tailed Hawk
22 American Kestrel
23 Peregrine Falcon
24 American Coot
25 Ring-billed Gull
26 Herring Gull
27 Rock Pigeon
28 Mourning Dove
29 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
30 Red-bellied Woodpecker
31 Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker
32 Downy Woodpecker
33 Blue Jay
34 American Crow
35 Fish Crow
36 Horned Lark
37 Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee
38 Tufted Titmouse
39 Brown Creeper
40 Red-breasted Nuthatch
41 White-breasted Nuthatch
42 Carolina Wren
43 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
44 Golden-crowned Kinglet
45 Northern Mockingbird
46 European Starling
47 American Robin
48 Hermit Thrush
49 Cedar Waxwing
50 Savannah Sparrow
51 Song Sparrow
52 White-throated Sparrow
53 Dark-eyed Junco
54 Northern Cardinal
55 House Finch
56 American Goldfinch
57 House Sparrow


Also seen were 2 Snow x Ross's Goose hybrids (1 "Blue" and 1 White) and a Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid.

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