Nazareth Quarry ~ January 26, 2024

On the way to the Nazareth Quarry, I spotted an adult Peregrine Falcon atop one of the cement mill buildings.

Peregrine Falcon

While scoping the quarry, I saw a Horned Grebe among 47 Ruddy Ducks, 11 Buffleheads, 6 Common Mergansers, 6 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 American Coots, 4 American Black Ducks, 2 Gadwall, and a Pied-billed Grebe. I managed to get two very distant, poor photos of it.

Horned Grebe

Two Common Ravens croaked to each other as they flew by. About 1000 Snow Geese also flew overhead through the low cloud ceiling and never landed.

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Graver's Hill ~ January 21, 2024

I wanted to go back to Graver's Hill before the snow melted to try and find a Lapland Longspur. I spent an hour-and-a-half there but only found Horned Larks. There were around 200 there. A few were close enough to grab some photos of them from the car.

Horned Lark

This one seemed like it was telling me, "Can't a lark have some privacy around here?"

Horned Lark

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Nazareth Quarry and Bushkill Park ~ January 20, 2024

I checked out the Nazareth Quarry. An adult Bald Eagle was circling over the quarry when I got there. Other notables there included 60 Ruddy Ducks, 18 Buffleheads, 10 American Coots, 4 Common Mergansers, 2 American Black Ducks, and a Pied-billed Grebe among 600 Canada Geese and 5 Snow Geese, plus 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 7 Herring Gulls among 50 Ring-billeds. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was also present.

On the way home, I stopped at the duck-feeding spot near Bushkill Park. There, I found 5 Common Mergansers, 5 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Wood Ducks, and a Snow Goose among the Canada Geese, Mallards, and other domestic ducks and geese.

Hooded Mergansers

Male Wood Duck

Female Wood Duck

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Martins Creek Nature Trail and Preserve ~ January 18, 2024

I made a run down the Delaware River from Portland south to Martins Creek. The view from the Portland footbridge only yielded 4 Common Mergansers. I saw a few more Common Mergansers between Portland and Martins Creek.

I walked the Martins Creek Nature Trail over to the river. Along the trail, I found a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Pileated Woodpecker, 2 Common Ravens, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 3 Eastern Bluebirds, a Hermit Thrush, 8 American Goldfinches, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler among others. Along the river, I spotted 27 Common Goldeneye actively diving near the rapids.

Common Goldeneye

At the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve, I saw 11 Common Mergansers, 4 Gadwall, and a bird that was a good candidate for a Greater Scaup.

A probable Greater Scaup

Also seen in the area were 2 Savannah Sparrows and a White-crowned Sparrow.

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Nazareth Quarry ~ January 16, 2024

As the snowstorm wound down, I saw reports of Horned Grebes and a Canvasback at the Nazareth Quarry. I was on the way to my mom's to clear her walks and driveway, so I decided to stop there and take a look. I took a while, but I finally saw a pair of Canvasbacks that moved just far enough out from the near cliff to where I could see them. I got some poor photos of them through the brush on the cliff's edge.

Canvasback

A male Canvasback followed by the female.

I also saw 3 Lesser Scaup, 42 Ruddy Ducks, 18 Buffleheads, 16 American Black Ducks, 12 American Coots, a Common Merganser, and a Pied-billed Grebe among at least 3000 Snow Geese. I could not find the Horned Grebes, so they either left or stayed tight to the near cliff and out of sight.

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Nazareth Quarry and Green Pond ~ January 13, 2024

Once again because of the storm, I decided to go and check out the Nazareth Quarry. The best birds there were a pair of Redheads. I got some mediocre photos of them at a good distance in the low light.

A pair of Redheads

Also there were 66 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 14 American Coots, 3 American Black Ducks, and one Ring-billed Gull among at least 10,000 Snow Geese, most of which were heading out to the fields to feed.

I then did a check of Green Pond. The water levels are the highest that I can ever remember seeing there. There were 8 American Black Ducks on Green Pond.

American Black Ducks

A Northern Pintail was with a good number of Mallards in the flooded field section.

Northern Pintail

The retention pond along Green Pond Road was nearly overflowing its banks. That area held most of the 800 Canada Geese.

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Moore Township Birding ~ January 12, 2024

I made a run around Moore Township today. I started at Rabbit Road near Emmanuelsville where a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flitted along the side of the road, only allowing me to get a quick, crappy photo.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Along East Walker Road, I came across a nice group of birds that included an American Kestrel, 7 Eastern Bluebirds, a White-crowned Sparrow, 8 Red-winged Blackbirds, and a cooperative young Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

At Graver's Hill, I was hoping to find a Lapland Longspur or a Snow Bunting, but with the snow all melted, it would be a tough task to find them. Instead of finding a Snow Bunting, I found a single Snow Goose in one of the fields. At first I thought it might be injured but, after a while, it took off and seemed perfectly fine as it flew away. I found the flock of around 75 Horned Larks but nothing else with them.

My next stop was a wet area along South Summit Road. There, I saw 5 Black Vultures, another Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a Winter Wren, a Carolina Wren, and a Swamp Sparrow.

Along East Best Road, I got to photograph one of the Red-headed Woodpeckers that is wintering over.

Red-headed Woodpecker

My last stop was the Graver Arboretum. I walked all the way back to the conifer section to see what might be there. I thought I heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch, but I only heard it once and never could confirm it. However, I did find a Pileated Woodpecker, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, an Eastern Bluebird, and 2 American Robins, plus around 800 Snow Geese that flew overhead.

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Ballas Park ~ January 11, 2024

I decided to go to Ballas Park late this afternoon and walk the trail loop. On the way up there, I stopped to check out the ponds at Albert Road beforehand. A Common Merganser and the expected Ring-necked Ducks were the only interesting birds found there.

I drove the short distance over to Ballas Park. Right after I got out of the car, a young Northern Harrier flew fairly close by over the field.

Northern Harrier

It was mostly quiet along the trail with the exception of some White-throated and Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. I was almost all the way back around to the parking lot when I noticed a sparrow in a tree and a few more in the brush underneath. They turned out to be American Tree Sparrows. I got some pretty good photos of one of the seven that I saw.

American Tree Sparrow

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A Tour of Northampton County ~ January 10, 2024

With the passing of the huge storm yesterday, I wanted to get out and check the area for any coastal birds that may have been blown inland. My first stop was the Nazareth Quarry. There, I found 82 Ring-billed Gulls, 24 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 12 American Coots, and 2 American Black Ducks among around 6000 Snow Geese. At the Hollo Road pond, a Cackling Goose was in among the Canadas.

Cackling Goose

I then drove to the Martins Creek PPL power plant area. There, I found 17 Buffleheads, 3 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Gadwall, a Cooper's Hawk, 30 American Robins, 4 Purple Finches, and 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Purple Finch

Yellow-rumped Warbler

From there, I headed for Echo Lake. Along the way, I checked the Cedar Road ponds in Washington Township, which held 2 Mute Swans in the pond and 6 Eastern Bluebirds next to the road.

Mute Swans

Echo Lake had a nice selection of birds that included 16 Mute Swans, 88 Ring-necked Ducks, 17 American Wigeon, 5 Gadwall, 4 Buffleheads, 2 American Black Ducks, a Ruddy Duck, and 3 Ring-billed Gulls among Mallards and Canada Geese.

Mute Swans

American Wigeon

Gadwall

Bufflehead

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