Tuesday, April 16, 2024

A Full Day of Birding With Recent Arrivals ~ April 16, 2024

I got to Bear Swamp Park around 9:30 AM and walked the boardwalk. I was hoping to find some Rusty Blackbirds. Instead, I found a pair of Louisiana Waterthrushes.

On the south side of the road, I found a Pileated Woodpecker and a Hermit Thrush.

Over at Lake Minsi's west parking lot, at least 9 Purple Martins were checking out the martin houses.

Other birds found at the lake included 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 3 American Coots, 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, 3 Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and 17 Tree Swallows.

From there, I headed over to East Bangor Dam. Notables there included 10 Wood Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Blue-winged Teal, a Pied-billed Grebe, 3 American Coots, 8 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Ospreys, an immature Bald Eagle, an Eastern Phoebe, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, a Swamp Sparrow, 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Palm Warbler.

I left Upper Mount Bethel Township and drove down to the Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem. Todd Watkins had seen 2 Yellow-throated Warblers there the day before. Since I didn't get there until the mid-afternoon, they apparently weren't singing when I got there. Because of that, I had to watch the tops of the trees for movement. The only small birds I saw while doing that were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and American Goldfinches. While walking along the south edge of the cemetery where it drops off down to the river, I heard one call. I kept looking for it near the treetops and was surprised when I found it feeding only about 15 to 20 feet up, occasionally coming down as low as 10 feet! It was windy at the time, so I can only assume that the insect activity forced it down lower than normal. I was thrilled with the opportunity to get close and near eye-level photos of this bird.

I scanned the Steel Stacks area and found one of the Peregrine Falcons near the top of one of the smokestacks. I took this very distant photo of it.
My last stop was Green Pond. I spotted a Wilson's Snipe as I parked at the little pulloff by the flooded field. I slowly got out of the car and took this photo from behind it.
Two Ring-necked Ducks continued in the retention pond along Farmersville Road.
A pair of Savannah Sparrows were in the grassy area between the ponds.
The southeast pond held one Spotted Sandpiper, which was my fourth year bird of the day.

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