Newburg Road, Green Pond, and others ~ September 3, 2023

I walked one of the trails around the Newburg Road pond and hospital. The only warbler there was a Magnolia Warbler.

Magnolia Warbler

The parking lot was mostly empty of cars, but it was pretty full of Killdeer. I ended up with a good count of 33 birds. Soon after, a Cooper's Hawk made a pass through the lot and sent all of the Killdeer flying.

Cooper's Hawk

A portion of the group of Killdeer in flight.

A Horned Lark was also present along the edge of the lot.

Horned Lark

I headed over to the Green Pond area. The adjacent retention pond along Farmersville Road held a Great Egret, 7 Green Herons, and 2 Great Blue Herons. A Double-crested Cormorant quickly flew by, only allowing me to get one poor photo of it before heading south over the trees.

Double-crested Cormorant

I then checked Green Pond itself and found another Great Blue and another Green Heron. There were also four Eastern Kingbirds flycatching over the pond.

Two Eastern Kingbirds (one at the upper left and one in the lower right).

Eastern Kingbirds

Two Warbling Vireos were flitting around in the trees by the pond. I was fortunate to get a photo of one of them among the thick leaves.

Warbling Vireo

Then, another Double-crested Cormorant flew by me with what appeared to be about an 18-inch Catfish in its beak!

Double-crested Cormorant with a Catfish

It landed near the center of the pond and proceeded to reposition the Catfish so it could swallow it, which had to be head-first because of the fish's scales.

Double-crested Cormorant with a Catfish

After struggling for about a minute trying to get the fish into a head-first position, it realized after several attempts to down it whole that the fish was just too big. It eventually gave up, let the fish go, and continued on towards the back of the pond.

Double-crested Cormorant with a Catfish

From there, I drove over to the flooded field along Richmond Road by Frutchey Hill Road. The southern end where most of the shorebirds had been found on previous days was mostly dried up, but the area along Frutchey Hill Road held a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Least Sandpiper, one Greater and one Lesser Yellowlegs, a Killdeer, and two Wood Ducks. The sun was in a terrible position, hence the poor photos.

Pectoral Sandpiper

A Pectoral Sandpiper (left) with a Least Sandpiper

On the way home, I stopped to check out a new retention pond at the Werner Trucking facility along Newlins Mill Road. There, I found a Green-winged Teal among the Canada Geese and Mallards plus swallows that included Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged.

Green-winged Teal

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

My last stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond. Birds found there included 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, a Wilson's Snipe, a Solitary, a Semipalmated, and 6 Least Sandpipers, one Greater Yellowlegs, 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, 8 Killdeer, a Cooper's Hawk, and 3 Cedar Waxwings.

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