An Indigo Bunting was singing along the field edge near Jacobsburg Road.
A Belted Kingfisher and two Common Mergansers were seen from the walkbridge over the creek.
A Wood Thrush hopped along the trail right in front of me while a lot more secretive Swainson's Thrush stayed in the thick cover along the creek near the small overlook.
A Pileated Woodpecker pecked at the fallen logs along the creek, providing nice looks and several chances for photos.
An Ovenbird was constantly singing from a tree right next to the trail.
Other notables seen there included Cooper's Hawk, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Veery, Baltimore Oriole, and still a good number of White-throated Sparrows.
I left Jacobsburg and drove to Moore Township. Along Schlegel Road, I spotted a Vesper Sparrow and an Eastern Kingbird.
Next, I checked Smith Gap Road where I found Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireo, Wood Thrush, and warblers that included Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, and Yellow-rumped.
At the bottom of Smith Gap, I headed down Skunk Road. I got out of the car after hearing a Scarlet Tanager and found this male right over the road.
A second male was on the other side of the road and, at one point, the two males were sparring with each other. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos of these two flashes of brilliant color hovering together.
Soon after, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak also flew in while a Broad-winged Hawk soared overhead.
From there, I drove down E. Best Road and saw two Red-headed Woodpeckers copulating on one of the snags.
A Pileated Woodpecker was hammering on a tree stump along the road while a Brown Thrasher that had just taken a bath was shaking itself off and preening away.
From there, I drove down through Bath to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. Although it was mid-day, I took a quick walk along the woods edge and happened to find two calling Least Flycatchers.
Adam Miller had texted me in the morning that he found what he thought was either a female Redhead or Ring-necked Duck there, which would be a fairly late date for either one. When I walked over to the north pond, the bird was there on the small point by the gatehouse. It eventually swam out a bit and took a bath, allowing me to get some nice photos of the wing pattern. After several birders studied the photos, it was determined to be a Ring-necked Duck.
There continued to be a good number of shorebirds there. I found 17 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12 Spotted Sandpipers, 7 Solitary Sandpipers, 36 Least Sandpipers, and 9 Killdeer. While I was scoping the shoreline for shorebirds, I noticed a recently-hatched Killdeer chick. As I was watching it, a pretty large Bullfrog lunged at the chick and got a hold of its leg! Immediately, the Killdeer parent ran over and started pecking at the frog, which eventually let the chick go. It makes you wonder how many times young birds go through life-threatening situations.
I made the short drive down Steuben Road to the Monocacy Creek. The two White-rumped Sandpipers continued at the back of the flooded field. I took a long-distance photo of the two for the record.
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