Gray Flycatcher in Pennsylvania! ~ November 24, 2023

On Thanksgiving Day, Amish birders Christopher Yoder and Ivan Byler along with Jay Zook discovered a Gray Flycatcher, an Empidonax flycatcher that is normally found in areas of sagebrush in western states! The bird was on their farm in Mifflin County, about a 2 hour and 45 minute drive from home. I checked around to see who was interested in going in the early morning on Friday. Jason couldn't go and Rick was in Cape May, so I texted Mike & Corinne Schall to see if they were thinking about going. Mike was going to wait for Adam to get out of work in the morning. I wanted to be there around sunrise, so I ended up going by myself.

I left around 4:00 AM and got there just before sunrise. More birders began arriving and we spread out around the area looking for the bird. There was still no sign of it as of 11:00, so the possibility that it had moved on looked more and more likely. A good number of birders left. I decided to go to the car and eat one of my sandwiches while warming up a little at the same time. Around 11:30, Kurt Engstrom came to his car, which has parked behind mine, and said that the bird was on the white fence! I jumped out the car, grabbed my gear, and headed down there. By then, the bird had flown and disappeared. One of the few remaining birders spotted it on the back side of the patch of scrubby trees next to the fence by the house. Soon after, I spotted it between two of the trees, got several birders on it, and began taking photos. Unfortunately, the bird was terribly backlit, but I was able to get one photo showing the dark tip on the orangish lower mandible, its short primary projection, and longish tail with white edgings.

A poor photo showing the bill, short primaries, and longish tail of the Gray Flycatcher.

Soon after, the bird flew to the back (west) edge of the scrubby area and was lost again. A few of us walked the treeline along that back edge but couldn't refind it. It wasn't until over two hours later that someone spotted the bird back at the original spot by the fence. Again, the lighting wasn't that great and many branches blocked views of it, so I decided to walk back over to the treeline where the lighting was much better. Thankfully, the bird eventually returned to that area and perched up in full view near me. That's when I got these photos of it.

Note the long, thin bill showing a yellow-orange lower mandible with a dark tip, the white around the eye running through the lores and across the top of the bill on a grayish head, two wingbars, and whitish throat with a yellowish wash on the belly.

It moved to another perch that was mostly open where I got more photos of different angles of it.

Note the grayish head slightly contrasting with the olive-washed back, the bold white edgings on the short primaries, and the white edging on the tail, in addition to the previously mentioned identification points.

Other birds seen there while looking for the flycatcher included 2 Black Vultures, a Northern Harrier, a Cooper's Hawk, 2 Bald Eagles, 3 Common Ravens, 5 Eastern Bluebirds, 8 American Goldfinches, 4 White-crowneds, 3 Field, 2 White-throateds, and a Savannah Sparrow among the Songs, and this nice Red-headed Woodpecker that I only managed to get poor photos of.

Red-headed Woodpecker

If accepted, this would be a 1st Pennsylvania record and a bird only previously recorded in six eastern states! Many thanks goes to the landowners for allowing access to their property, giving many birders the chance to see this historical record.

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An Area Pond Run ~ November 22, 2023

Around noon, I drove over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. The north pond continued to hold 7 Buffleheads and a Great Blue Heron. A skein of about 250 Snow Goose flew overhead.

Over at the Silver Crest Road pond, a pair of Hooded Mergansers were present along with 10 Common Mergansers, 8 Ruddy Ducks, and the continuing Lesser Scaup and Belted Kingfisher.

A pair of Hooded Mergansers

Lesser Scaup

Over at the Hollo Road retention pond, 24 Green-winged Teal and 5 American Black Ducks were seen. The brushy area next to the pond held a Ruby-crowned Kinglet among 11 White-throated Sparrows.

Green-winged Teal

American Black Duck

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Two Killdeer were in the field between the hospital and Koch Toyota at the Newburg Road pond area while a Bald Eagle perched on one of the high-tension powerline towers.

Killdeer

Bald Eagle

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Iceland Gull (Again) at the Forks of the Delaware ~ November 20, 2023

I headed down to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to check out the gull situation. I scanned through the Ring-billed Gulls to get a count on the Herring and Lesser Black-backeds. While doing that, I found a first-winter Iceland Gull taking a bath and playing with leaves. It is very likely that this is the same bird I saw here back on the 14th. I got these photos while it was in the river.

A first-winter Iceland Gull

It eventually stood on one of the rocks but was mostly blocked by a Lesser Black-backed Gull the majority of the time. The bird was still there when I left.

A first-winter Iceland Gull

I left there and drove over to the Regency Boulevard ponds. Seven Buffleheads and a Hooded Merganser were in the north pond while a Great Blue Heron stood along its edge.

Seven Buffleheads

Hooded Merganser

A walk along the edge of the woods produced 2 Field Sparrows and a Chipping Sparrow among White-throateds, 26 Red-winged Blackbirds, 2 Cedar Waxwings, and a late Eastern Phoebe.

Cedar Waxwing

A late Eastern Phoebe

A stop at the Silver Crest Road pond yielded 11 Common Mergansers, 6 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Green-winged Teal, a Lesser Scaup, a Belted Kingfisher, a Great Blue Heron, and a Cackling Goose among the hundreds of Canadas.

A Belted Kingfisher (top) and a Great Blue Heron (bottom).

Belted Kingfisher

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Iceland Gull at the Forks of the Delaware ~ November 14, 2023

I drove down to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to see if there were any gulls there. I was not disappointed. There were hundreds of gulls on the Delaware River and a large group standing on the rocks below the dam on the Lehigh. I started scanning through them, counting the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the abundant Ring-billeds. I had gone through about two-thirds of the group when I was surprised to find a first-winter Iceland Gull! I was able to get these photos of it as it stood there.

A first-winter Iceland Gull

It occasionally would drop into the water to wash up and also grabbed a leaf for a while. The bird was still there when I left.

A first-winter Iceland Gull

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A Late Greater Yellowlegs at the Hollo Road Pond ~ November 13, 2023

When I stopped at the Hollo Road pond, I found a pretty late Greater Yellowlegs there along with three Killdeer.

Greater Yellowlegs

A stop at the duck-feeding area near Bushkill Park produced the single Snow Goose that's been there for at least a year now plus 20 Wood Ducks.

Snow Goose

Wood Ducks

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Cackling Goose at the Newburg Road Pond ~ November 12, 2023

I stopped at the Newburg Road pond behind the hospital. Among the roughly 100 Canada Geese was one Cackling Goose. It was my first one at that site.

Cackling Goose

There wasn't anything significant at the Hollo Road pond, but I realized that the surrounding warehouses really did have a purpose. It was to give the Canada Geese a place to stand.

Canada Geese on a warehouse roof.

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