Saturday, December 30, 2023

Bethlehem - Easton - Hellertown C.B.C. Highlights ~ December 30, 2023

At 6:00 AM, Jason Horn and Jon Mularczyk met me for the area's Christmas Bird Count. We then met Luis Rodriguez, the Lehigh Cement Company environmental manager, who has thankfully allowed us access to the Nazareth Quarry the last two years. We walked to the edge of the quarry and were surprised that there were only about 6000 Snow Geese present. I say "only" because, in past years, numbers had ranged from 45,000 to as many as 200,000! The thinking on this is that there hasn't been a freeze-up in the Great Lakes and other bodies of water north of us, so many haven't had to move this far south. The good thing about this was that there were fewer birds to scan through for the rarer geese and the other waterfowl. Jon picked out a white Ross's Goose and Jason picked out a dark morph or "blue phase" Ross's Goose. I was able to get a couple distant documentation photos of the dark one.

The other unusual goose found was a Greater White-fronted Goose. Unfortunately, it was on the far side of the quarry, so these photos barely show the orange bill, orange legs, and the slightly smaller, dark brown body.

A search of the rest of the quarry turned up 92 Ruddy Ducks, 25 American Black Ducks, 23 Buffleheads, 10 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Common Mergansers, and a Northern Shoveler, plus 25 American Coots and 2 Pied-billed Grebes. Three Bald Eagles, two adults and one immature, stirred up all the Snow Geese on occasions. A Peregrine Falcon and an American Kestrel were spotted near the cement company buildings.

We then birded the wooded area next to the quarry. One of the 6 Hermit Thrushes seen perched out in the open.

Notables found in the wooded section included 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 4 Golden-crowned and 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Winter Wren, 13 Eastern Bluebirds, 84 American Robins, 18 Cedar Waxwings, a Field Sparrow, and 2 Red-winged Blackbirds. A group of 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also seen flying towards the quarry.
The nearby Hollo Road retention pond held a Cackling Goose among the Canadas. This comparison photo shows the smaller size, the more silvery-gray back, the shorter neck, and the stubby bill contrasting with the larger, darker, longer-necked, and longer-billed Canada Geese around it.
A Ruddy Duck was also in the pond. Along the nearby Shoeneck Creek, we found 2 White-crowned Sparrows and a Swamp Sparrow in addition to a Cooper's Hawk and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

A check of the fields at the Newburg Road retention ponds produced a good number of 11 Savannah Sparrows, 2 Swamp Sparrows, and 12 Horned Larks.

Our last stop was at the Forks of the Delaware in Easton. The river was really high, so the island where the gulls often land on was totally submerged. We only saw 19 Ring-billed Gulls and a couple Sharp-shinned Hawks there. An Adult Bald Eagle was also seen circling over Route 611 just above Easton.

We ended up with a nice total of 61 species for the day. The list follows.

1) Greater White-fronted Geese
2) Snow Geese
3) Ross's Goose
4) Cackling Goose
5) Canada Goose
6) Mallard
7) American Black Duck
8) Northern Shoveler
9) Ring-necked Duck
10) Bufflehead
11) Common Merganser
12) Ruddy Duck
13) Pied-billed Grebe
14) Great Blue Heron
15) Turkey Vulture
16) Black Vulture
17) Bald Eagle
18) Sharp-shinned Hawk
19) Cooper's Hawk
20) Red-tailed Hawk
21) American Kestrel
22) Peregrine Falcon
23) American Coot
24) Ring-billed Gull
25) Lesser Black-backed Gull
26) Rock Pigeon
27) Mourning Dove
28) Red-bellied Woodpecker
29) Northern Flicker
30) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
31) Downy Woodpecker
32) Hairy Woodpecker
33) Blue Jay
34) American Crow
35) Fish Crow
36) Horned Lark
37) Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee
38) Tufted Titmouse
39) White-breasted Nuthatch
40) Winter Wren
41) Carolina Wren
42) Ruby-crowned Kinglet
43) Golden-crowned Kinglet
44) Eastern Bluebird
45) Hermit Thrush
46) American Robin
47) Northern Mockingbird
48) European Starling
49) Cedar Waxwing
50) Field Sparrow
51) Savannah Sparrow
52) Song Sparrow
53) Swamp Sparrow
54) White-throated Sparrow
55) White-crowned Sparrow
56) Dark-eyed Junco
57) Northern Cardinal
58) Red-winged Blackbird
59) House Finch
60) American Goldfinch
61) House Sparrow

Martins Creek Environmental Preserve ~ December 30, 2023

We had finished up covering our area for the Bethlehem C.B.C. by around 3:00, so we decided to head up to the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve where two Short-eared Owls had been seen the last few days near dusk. At around 4:45 with the light fading, the two birds popped into view. I managed to get some fairly good photos of one of them as it flew back and forth.

The other bird perched on a distant stake for at least 15 minutes.

Friday, December 29, 2023

Graver's Hill, Regency Ponds, and Green Pond ~ December 29, 2023

I happened to see Guy de Bruyn's report of a Snow Bunting seen yesterday at Graver's Hill and decided to go up and see if I could find it and the Lapland Longspur found on our Christmas Count last Sunday. I didn't get there until mid-afternoon. A Northern Harrier soared low over the field.
I eventually saw a group of about 150 Horned Larks flying back and forth, but they would land just out of view over a little rise in the field. After waiting for about a half-hour, the group finally flew in and landed a little closer and, more importantly, in view. I searched through the birds but could only find Horned Larks.
They lifted off, circled around, and landed back in the same area. The good thing was that I noticed the white flashes in the wings of the one bird in the group, which turned out to be the Snow Bunting. It worked its way through the field where I got some mediocre photos of it.

I never did see the longspur.

I left there and drove down to the Silver Crest Road pond. There, I found a Great Blue Heron, 8 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Common Mergansers, and a Cackling Goose among about 600 Canada Geese.

The nearby Regency Boulevard ponds held 21 Buffleheads while about 4000 Snow Geese flew overhead in a westward direction.


I didn't get to Green Pond until after sunset. On Green Pond, there were 3 Wood Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, and an American Black Duck. I got some blurry photos of the teal and one of the Wood Ducks in the failing light.
The flooded field held about 2000 Snow Geese.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Wild Creek - Little Gap C.B.C. Highlights ~ December 24, 2023

Due to the fairly mild weather so far, there were several lingering birds found in our area of the Wild Creek - Little Gap Christmas Bird Count. Our group (Jason Horn, and Adam and Owen Smith, and I) found two Red-headed Woodpeckers along E. Best Road, which were the first ones I've ever seen on a Christmas Count. I got photos of one of them on this fairly dark, overcast day.

At a spot along East Walker Road, we came across a large group of birds that included 2 White-crowned Sparrows and an Eastern Towhee among good numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-throated and Song Sparrows.
Later, Jason spotted two Fox Sparrows at an area along Rabbit Road. These were my first ones that I had seen this year.

During a stop at Graver's Hill, Jason again came through when he spotted a Lapland Longspur among about 120 Horned Larks. Unfortunately, it was too distant and hiding among the corn stubble, so I was unable to get a photo of it.

Other nice finds during the day included a Cackling Goose, 5 American Tree Sparrows, and a record number of 22 Swamp Sparrows. We ended up with 55 species in seven hours of birding, including all seven species of woodpeckers normally found in our area. The list follows.

1) Snow Geese
2) Canada Goose
3) Cackling Goose
4) Wild Turkey
5) Great Blue Heron
6) Bald Eagle
7) Sharp-shinned Hawk
8) Cooper's Hawk
9) Red-tailed Hawk
10) American Kestrel
11) Rock Pigeon
12) Mourning Dove
13) Great Horned Owl
14) Eastern Screech-Owl
15) Belted Kingfisher
16) Red-headed Woodpecker
17) Red-bellied Woodpecker
18) Northern Flicker
19) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
20) Downy Woodpecker
21) Hairy Woodpecker
22) Pileated Woodpecker
23) Blue Jay
24) American Crow
25) Fish Crow
26) Horned Lark
27) Tufted Titmouse
28) Black-capped Chickadee
29) Brown Creeper
30) White-breasted Nuthatch
31) Winter Wren
32) Carolina Wren
33) Golden-crowned Kinglet
34) Eastern Bluebird
35) Hermit Thrush
36) American Robin
37) Northern Mockingbird
38) European Starling
39) Cedar Waxwing
40) Eastern Towhee
41) American Tree Sparrow
42) Field Sparrow
43) Fox Sparrow
44) Savannah Sparrow
45) Song Sparrow
46) Swamp Sparrow
47) White-throated Sparrow
48) White-crowned Sparrow
49) Dark-eyed Junco
50) Lapland Longspur
51) Northern Cardinal
52) Red-winged Blackbird
53) House Finch
54) American Goldfinch
55) House Sparrow

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Scouting for the Wild Creek - Little Gap C.B.C. ~ December 23, 2023

I did a little scouting for tomorrow's Wild Creek - Little Gap Christmas Bird Count. I found an immature Bald Eagle and an American Kestrel along Church Road near Emmanuelsville. An adult Bald Eagle was on one of the cell towers along Valley View Drive.
Later, a Merlin was on one of the high-tension power poles along East Walker Road.

Another American Kestrel was perched on a wire along Hoch Road.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Nazareth Quarry and the Hollo Road Pond ~ December 21, 2023

About a week ago, I had met with Luis Rodriguez, the environmental consultant for the Nazareth Quarry, and two guys from the landscaping company that the quarry uses about clearing out the small trees and brush that had grown up and blocked the view from the fence at the south end of Franklin Street. Luis had told me yesterday that they had actually cleaned out the area the best they could, so I stopped there around noon to see what it looked like. It was a fantastic improvement over the previous view where you had to look through a tangle of thick and thin branches. Here are before and after photos of the huge improvement.
I checked out the quarry through the new opening. Birds included 12 Ruddy Ducks, 8 Buffleheads, 5 American Coots, 2 American Black Ducks, and a Common Merganser among about 10,000 Snow Geese.

I then stopped at the Hollo Road pond. There wasn't anything notable at the pond, but just below it along Schoeneck Creek was a White-crowned Sparrow among a few White-throated and Song Sparrows.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Hollo Road and Green Pond ~ December 19, 2023

I stopped at the Hollo Road pond around 2:30. I found a Northern Pintail, a Ruddy Duck, and 2 American Black Ducks among the Mallards and Canada Geese.

I checked Green Pond fairly late in the day. After Sunday's rain, the field area was filled on both sides of the road. One immature Snow Goose was among the roughly 600 Canada Geese.

An adult Bald Eagle flew by to the north and scared up about a thousand Snow Geese over Route 22.

Other birds seen there included 66 Mallards, 14 American Black Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, and a group of 29 Dark-eyed Juncos.