The Southern Section of Northampton County ~ February 26, 2024

A walk around the Woodland Hills Preserve produced 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets among 22 species.

I stopped at the Koch property to see if the "Oregon" Junco would show, but it didn't. However, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and one of the American Tree Sparrows did make an appearance.

American Tree Sparrow

My plan was to bird the Melchor Tract Park near sunset to hopefully find American Woodcock. As I walked out the path along the woods edge, I found 3 Fox Sparrows with a couple White-throateds. I was happily surprised how well the photos turned out considering it was now after sunset.

Fox Sparrow

Two of the three Fox Sparrows (left and right) with a White-throated Sparrow (top right).

A little later, I heard the "peenting" of an American Woodcock, but by then it was pretty dark. That was soon followed up by the trill of an Eastern Screech-Owl that was coming from some evergreens just on the other side of the treeline.

---

Killdeer Arriving in Numbers ~ February 25, 2024

A stop at the Newburg Road retention pond produced 12 Killdeer in the grassy field behind the hospital.

One of the twelve Killdeer present.

A Bald Eagle flew by while I was there.

Bald Eagle

The Nazareth Quarry held around 4000 Snow Geese, 39 Ruddy Ducks, 22 American Black Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 3 Gadwall, 2 Ring-billed Gulls, a Bald Eagle, and a Brown-headed Cowbird.

Over at Green Pond, I found three more Killdeer, 6 American Robins, 5 Eastern Bluebirds, 4 Red-winged Blackbirds, 2 Common Grackles, 16 Mallards, and 3 American Black Ducks, plus one Snow Goose with about 300 Canada Geese.

---

Birding Plainfield and Bushkill Township and the Nazareth Quarry ~ February 21, 2024

I scoped out the Grand Central landfill hoping to find a Glaucous Gull, which have been almost non-existent this year. I struck out again with two Iceland Gulls (an adult and a first-winter bird) and two Great Black-backed Gulls being the best finds.

Adult Iceland Gull

One Black Vulture circled low overhead.

Black Vulture

The Albert Road ponds held 8 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Common Mergansers, 2 Hooded Mergansers, and 2 Ring-billed Gulls.

Over at nearby Ballas Park, 3 American Tree Sparrows and 8 Red-winged Blackbirds were present while a Northern Harrier hunted the field.

American Tree Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Harrier

At the Nazareth Quarry there were 31 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 5 Gadwall, 5 American Black Ducks, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, a pair of Northern Shovelers, and a pair of Bald Eagles that circled overhead.

A pair of Bald Eagles

A Killdeer was at the Hollo Road retention pond.

---

Killdeer, American Pipits, a Canvasback, and more on President's Day ~ February 19, 2024

I drove by Green Pond and found two Killdeer in the flooded field on the north side of Green Pond Road.

One of the two Killdeer present.

Eleven American Black Ducks and a Common Merganser were on Green Pond along with 26 Mallards.

As I headed west, a Peregrine Falcon was perched atop one of the smokestacks at the old cement mill by the Dutch Springs Quarry. I got one very distant photo of it.

Peregrine Falcon

I stopped at the intersection of Steuben Road and Little Creek Drive to check the flooded, corn-stubble field there for more Killdeer and was surprised to find 4 American Pipits instead.

American Pipit

I caught one of the pipits doing a wing and tail stretch, which revealed the white in the outer tail feathers.

An American Pipit doing a wing and tail stretch.

Over at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds, I saw the male Canvasback, although it was in the north pond today with 3 Buffleheads because there is construction going on at the "cove area" by the south pond. A resident there told me that they are repairing a sinkhole that was partly draining the ponds.

Canvasback

The nearby Silver Crest Road pond held 2 Ruddy Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, and 3 Snow Geese among around 800 Canada Geese.

At the Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds, I counted 19 Red-winged Blackbirds that included some singing birds. There were likely more than that there.

---

Arrowhead Road, Graver's Hill, and the Grand Central Landfill ~ February 15, 2024

I returned to Arrowhead Road for another chance at finding the Lapland Longspurs. An adult Bald Eagle flew by low over the fields. Again, the numbers of Horned Larks kept getting flushed by passing cars, so I gave up and headed for Graver's Hill.

At Graver's Hill, most of the 200 Horned Larks were feeding along the shoulder of South Delps Road. Two Savannah Sparrows were also spotted there. After seeing nothing but Horned Larks for at least a half-hour, I finally spotted a Lapland Longspur running across the top of the snow in the field. What was even better was that it allowed me to get photos of it, too!

Lapland Longspur

From there, I drove to the Grand Central landfill. There, I found 4 Iceland Gulls, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, and 6 Bald Eagles among the Herring, Ring-billed, and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Iceland Gull

I got a couple very distant photos of three of the four Iceland Gulls that I found there. There's an adult at center left, a first-winter bird at center, and another adult at center right.

Three Iceland Gulls

Here's two photos of one of the first-winter Iceland Gulls in flight, showing the whitish, unmarked wingtips.

Iceland Gull

And here's a distant Great Black-backed Gull at the top of the hill.

Great Black-backed Gull

---

Arrowhead Road and the Regency Ponds ~ February 14, 2024

In the morning, a Cooper's Hawk paid a visit to my tiny pond at home. He tried to nab some of the birds but was unsuccessful.

Cooper's Hawk

Two Lapland Longspurs had been reported at Arrowhead Road, so I made a stop there. There were about 200 Horned Larks present, but they were constantly being chased by the passing cars. Five Savannah Sparrows were feeding at the edge of the fencerow. A total of 14 Turkey Vultures were taking turns feeding on a very smelly skunk carcass. I spent about an hour-and-a-half there but never saw any longspurs.

I left there and decided to check the nearby Regency Boulevard ponds. The north pond held 11 Buffleheads while the south pond held the male Canvasback, which wasn't there the last time I stopped.

Canvasback

---