Bird Walk at Jacobsburg State Park and Two Ponds ~ August 20, 2023

I led a bird walk at Jacobsburg State Park in the morning. With the passage of a strong cold front, I was figuring that there might be some migrants on the move. Six birders joined me as we did a loop up past the Environmental Education Center, over to the Boulton area, and back. We hit several nice pockets of birds and ended up with a total of 51 species. There were several Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles seen along with six species of warblers that included Black-and-white, Tennessee, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, and American Redstart. The best bird of the day was probably this Yellow-billed Cuckoo that perched in the open for all to see.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

"Fly-by' birds included an adult Bald Eagle, a Double-crested Cormorant, and three immature Broad-winged Hawks.

Immature Broad-winged Hawks

Here's the species list from the bird walk.

1. Mourning Dove-12
2. Yellow-billed Cuckoo-1
3. Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1
4. Double-crested Cormorant-1
5. Black Vulture-1
6. Turkey Vulture-3
7. Bald Eagle-1
8. Broad-winged Hawk-3
9. Red-bellied Woodpecker-5
10. Downy Woodpecker-5
11. Hairy Woodpecker-1
12. Northern Flicker-2
13. Eastern Wood-Pewee-7
14. Eastern Phoebe-4
15. Eastern Kingbird-5
16. Red-eyed Vireo-4
17. Blue Jay-7
18. American Crow-3
19. Fish Crow-7
20. Black-capped Chickadee-1
21. Tufted Titmouse-3
22. Tree Swallow-4
23. Barn Swallow-1
24. White-breasted Nuthatch-1
25. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-1
26. House Wren-1
27. Carolina Wren-4
28. European Starling-4
29. Gray Catbird-13
30. Brown Thrasher-1
31. Northern Mockingbird-1
32. Eastern Bluebird-6
33. American Robin-22
34. Cedar Waxwing-7
35. House Finch-4
36. American Goldfinch-7
37. Field Sparrow-1
38. Song Sparrow-1
39. Eastern Towhee-2
40. Baltimore Oriole-7
41. Common Grackle-1
42. Black-and-white Warbler-2
43. Tennessee Warbler-1
44. American Redstart-2
45. Blackburnian Warbler-1
46. Chestnut-sided Warbler-3
47. Black-throated Blue Warbler-1
48. Scarlet Tanager-7
49. Northern Cardinal-4
50. Rose-breasted Grosbeak-1
51. Indigo Bunting-1
plus Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee-3

I made two stops on the way home. The Hollo Road retention pond held one each of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, and Killdeer.

The Newburg Road retention pond held the sporadically-continuing Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and a Bald Eagle circling to the east, but the surprise was when I spotted a Belted Kingfisher flying by with something in its beak. I quickly took photos of it as it headed off to the west.

Belted Kingfisher

Sixteen Killdeer were scattered over the large grassy field next to the pond.

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