Little Gap, Regency, and Newburg Road Ponds ~ September 14, 2023

With the passage of a fairly strong cold front, I decided to go up to Little Gap to check out the raptor migration. Along the trail to the lookout, I saw Red-eyed Vireo and Scarlet Tanager. Up at the lookout, I got some photos of a Broad-winged Hawk, a Merlin, and a Bald Eagle.

Adult Broad-winged Hawk

Merlin

Bald Eagle

Here's my personal list and counts from Little Gap:
1) Rock Pigeon-1
2) Mourning Dove-1
3) Chimney Swift-51
4) Black Vulture-5
5) Turkey Vulture-11
6) Osprey-4
7) Sharp-shinned Hawk-13
8) Cooper's Hawk-1
9) Bald Eagle-12
10) Broad-winged Hawk-32
11) Red-tailed Hawk-3
12) Northern Flicker-1
13) American Kestrel-4
14) Merlin-3
15) Eastern Wood-Pewee-1
16) Red-eyed Vireo-1
17) Blue Jay-2
18) Common Raven-5
19) Cedar Waxwing-2
20) Scarlet Tanager-1

I drove back through Bath and checked the Regency Boulevard ponds. They were still very full of water. There was one Wood Duck among the Canada Geese and Mallards. Two Cedar Waxwings were along the edge of the north pond and 2 Bank Swallows were noted with 4 Barn Swallows and 21 Northern Rough-winged Swallows.

My last stop was at the Newburg Road retention ponds. The west pond by Koch Toyota produced 16 Lesser Yellowlegs and 3 Greater Yellowlegs. I got a nice comparison photo of the two.

A Greater Yellowlegs (left) and a Lesser Yellowlegs (right).

I noticed that none of the birds were feeding. They were mostly motionless all along the edge of the pond. I finally figured out why when I spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched on the nearby powerline tower. He was still sitting there when I left for home.

Immature Peregrine Falcon

The field next to the hospital held 7 Killdeer and 13 Horned Larks. I took this photo of three of them together.

Horned Larks

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