Thursday, September 28, 2023

Little Gap, Regency Ponds, and Green Pond ~ September 28, 2023

The weather forecast was supposed to be partly sunny in the morning with increasing cloudiness in the afternoon. I decided to go up to Little Gap and see what might be there. As it turned out, the mountain was draped in fog when I got there, so no raptors were moving. The only interesting birds I found were a Magnolia Warbler and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
I left Little Gap earlier than planned, so I headed for the Regency Ponds, getting there at around 11:30. The winds were calm and it was totally overcast, so I decided to walk the woods edge even though it was now almost noon. I'm glad I did. I first came across a small group of warblers that contained a Blackpoll Warbler, a Magnolia Warbler, a Blackburnian Warbler, a Northern Parula, and a male and first-year Black-throated Blue Warbler.

A little farther along, I found a few Common Yellowthroats and Indigo Buntings, plus a very late Baltimore Oriole.

The last group of birds included about 25 Red-winged Blackbirds, 6 Cedar Waxwings, several Gray Catbirds, 2 Eastern Phoebes, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a Lincoln's Sparrow, a Scarlet Tanager, and several Northern Flickers.
I scoped the north pond and found a Northern Shoveler, several Wood Ducks, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

In the south pond, several Green-winged Teal and more Wood Ducks were present.

The swallows zipping over both ponds were comprised of about 75 Tree Swallows, 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and 2 Barn Swallows. I ended up seeing 43 species there before heading over to Green Pond.

At the retention pond along Farmersville Road, across the road from Green Pond, I saw two Green Herons and a Savannah Sparrow that flew up and perched on the fence just long enough to get a very nice photo of it.

Monday, September 25, 2023

An Early Bonaparte's Gull near Martins Creek ~ September 25, 2023

I checked out the area near the Martins Creek PPL power plant and found 20 Green-winged Teal in the fly-ash pond, but the real surprise was when an immature Bonaparte's Gull flew in, circled the pond a couple times, and then headed off towards the west. I got some fairly good photos of it as it flew by.

I believe this bird represents a record early date for the Lehigh Valley area.

Friday, September 22, 2023

A Day of Several Good Finds ~ September 22, 2023

I decided to go up to Little Gap mainly for migrants but also for raptors. Partway up the trail, I ran into Adam Miller and Mike & Corinne Schall. They were focused on a nice group of migrants. I missed some of the ones they saw, but I did get to see Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, Northern Parula, American Redstart, and one of two Philadelphia Vireos, which I got two poor photos of.

Birds seen near the lookout included Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Cape May Warbler.

While hawkwatching, I got these photos of a close Broad-winged Hawk.

I left Little Gap around noon and checked out the Regency Boulevard ponds. The north pond held a Pied-billed Grebe, 10 Wood Ducks, and a Great Blue Heron.

I was checking out the swallows when I caught sight of a Merlin zipping low over the pond!

Five Green-winged Teal were on the berm in the south pond. A walk along the woods edge produced Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and House Wren. Seven "Western" Palm Warblers were feeding along the fence by the north pond with 4 Cedar Waxwings and an Eastern Phoebe.

Two Red-tailed Hawks and a Broad-winged Hawk were also seen overhead.
My last stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond. In addition to several Yellowlegs, I saw a long-winged 'peep' along the near edge of the pond. The grayish, scaly back and the buffy head and breast meant I was looking at a Baird's Sandpiper! I sent out a text about it and then got these fairly good photos of it before a Killdeer chased it to the back right corner of the pond.

It was a really good end to a really good day.