An Exciting End to a Great Afternoon ~ March 5, 2023

I was actually on the way to the Nazareth Quarry when I got a text from Billy Weber that he had found a Ross's Goose there. I got there a little after 1:00 and found 60 Ruddy Ducks, 11 American Black Ducks, 10 Common Mergansers, 8 American Wigeon, 6 American Coots, 4 Buffleheads, 3 Northern Shovelers, a Horned Grebe, a Pied-billed Grebe, and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Herring Gull among 70 Ring-billed Gulls. Mike Schall joined me in the search for the Ross's Goose, which I eventually spotted among about 150 Snow Geese.

I stopped at the Silver Crest Road pond and found 10 Ring-necked Ducks and 6 Ruddy Ducks among the 500 Canada Geese. One of the geese, which I had seen there before, had white blotches on its head and neck.

An oddly-marked Canada Goose

I checked out the fields along Arrowhead Road and found a flock of around 150 Horned Larks, but they continued to nervously fly around, never giving me a chance to scan for the two Lapland Longspurs that had been seen there a while ago.

At the south pond along Regency Boulevard, I saw two male Blue-winged Teal and the continuing Wilson's Snipe.

Blue-winged Teal

Wilson's Snipe

The north pond held 16 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Buffleheads, and a second Wilson's Snipe.

Ring-necked Ducks

Buffleheads

There were around 75 Snow Geese there along with about 125 Canadas. The two Snow Geese with yellow neck bands 'YF11' and 'YE31' were again present there.

Snow Goose with the yellow neck band 'YF11'

Snow Goose with the yellow neck band 'YE31'

As I was about to leave, 17 Ring-billed Gulls flew by to the north.

Ring-billed Gull

I stopped at Green Pond as the sun was getting low. Four Hooded Mergansers were diving in the pond.

Hooded Merganser

The flooded field area held 14 Green-winged Teal and 4 American Black Ducks.

Green-winged Teal

One thing about birding: You never know what surprises might occur. It was sunset when I pulled up to the retention pond along Green Pond Road and noticed two large birds flying very low past the car. They were Sandhill Cranes! I quickly grabbed my camera, jumped out of the car, and luckily managed to get several photos before they disappeared behind the trees.

Two Sandhill Cranes at sunset!

I drove in that direction, hoping to spot them in flight beyond the trees but never did. Maybe they will be return there tomorrow or be found in one of the nearby corn-stubbled fields. It was an exciting end to a great afternoon.

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