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.

Note the smaller size, jet black neck and breast, and stubby bill on this "blue phase" Ross's Goose.

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.

Greater White-fronted Goose

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.

Hermit Thrush

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.

A shy Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

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 Cackling Goose surrounded by Canada Goose.

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.

Swamp Sparrow.

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

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