Green Pond, Hollo Road, and a Leucistic White-throated Sparrow at the Nazareth Quarry ~ October 31, 2024

I birded the afternoon starting with Green Pond. The southeastern-most retention pond held 7 American Black Ducks. Three Green-winged Teal were in the pond closest to Farmersville Road as were 5 Eastern Bluebirds, but there wasn't much else happening there.

American Black Ducks

The next stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond to see if the Least Sandpiper was still there, which it was.

Least Sandpiper

The 2 Pectoral Sandpipers were also still there actively feeding in the diminishing puddles caused by the continuing drought along with one Killdeer.

Pectoral Sandpipers

Over at the Nazareth Quarry, I found 15 Ruddy Ducks, 9 American Black Ducks, 2 Ring-necked Ducks, and an American Coot in among about 1000 Canada Geese, but the real surprise was along the woods edge when a leucistic White-throated Sparrow popped up out of the brush and allowed me to get photos of it.

A leucistic White-throated Sparrow.

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Melchor Tract Park and the Hollo Road Pond ~ October 30, 2024

In the backyard before sunrise, I saw this very well-fed Raccoon who had just left my small pond and feeders.

Raccoon

I birded the Melchor Tract Park this morning. An Eastern Bluebird sat up for a photo in the taller patch closest to the parking lot.

Eastern Bluebird

A Common Raven croaked as it flew by over the park.

Common Raven

It was another good day for sparrows and other migrants. I counted at least 19 White-throated, 15 Savannah, 5 Field, 3 Swamp, 3 Chipping Sparrows, and 4 Dark-eyed Juncos among 22 Song Sparrows.

White-throated Sparrow

Other notables seen there included Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, American Goldfinch, nice totals of 37 Cedar Waxwings, 9 Palm Warblers and 46 Red-winged Blackbirds, plus 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers.

My other stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond. The Least Sandpiper was still there, and it was joined by 2 Pectoral Sandpipers.

Least Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpipers

At the nearby Shoeneck Creek, I spotted a White-crowned Sparrow with 4 White-throated Sparrows, plus 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers.

White-crowned Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warblers

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St. Luke's Anderson Campus Trails ~ October 29, 2024

I took a walk around some of the trails behind the St. Luke's Anderson Campus. The cattails around the pond held 13 Red-winged Blackbirds while a Northern Flicker, 2 Northern Mockingirds, 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a Chipping Sparrow were in the trees around the pond.

Northern Flicker

Brown-headed Cowbird

A conservative count of at least 100 American Goldfinches were seen in the patch of sunflowers next to the pond.

The trails through the weedy area southeast of the pond produced a good amount of sparrows. I saw at least 16 Savannah Sparrows, 11 White-throated Sparrows, 8 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 3 Field Sparrows among 59 Song Sparrows.

Savannah Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Other birds present were a 'fly-by' Merlin, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 13 American Robins, and 14 Cedar Waxwings.

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Ballas Park and the Nazareth Quarry ~ October 28, 2024

I spent a good portion of the morning at Ballas Park near Wind Gap. I walked clockwise around the loop trail. A Belted Kingfisher flew by, headed towards the pond.

Belted Kingfisher

The western portion of the trail yielded Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, and Field, Chipping, and White-throated Sparrows among many Song Sparrows.

Along the eastern part of the trail, I came across a large group of birds working several trees loaded with berries. The group included an impressive 71 American Robins, 17 Cedar Waxwings, and 5 Purple Finches.

Cedar Waxwings

Purple Finch

Almost back at the parking lot, I saw two White-crowned Sparrows and 3 Savannah Sparrows.

White-crowned Sparrow

The one White-crowned Sparrow had unmarked lores and a slightly more orangeish bill, making it one of the "Gambel's" race.

An immature "Gambel's" White-crowned Sparrow.

At the eastern corner of the pond, I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and 2 Swamp Sparrows.

I left the park and stopped at the Nazareth Quarry on the way back home. There were 2 Snow Geese among around 2000 Canada Geese.

Snow Geese

Melchor Tract Park Again ~ October 27, 2024

I had been spending many mornings at the Melchor Tract Park since the habitat is favorable for finding something like a Dickcissel or a Clay-colored Sparrow, birds I hadn't seen yet this year. Sparrows continued to be present in good numbers. I counted 23 Savannah, 18 Song, 5 White-throated, 3 Field, 3 Chipping, and 2 Swamp Sparrows, plus 4 Dark-eyed Juncos. Five Palm Warblers and a Purple Finch were also found. A Merlin zipped over the field to the west of the park and sent up at least 60 American Pipits. I got some pretty poor photos of a few of them as they flew around or kept partly hidden in the grass.

American Pipits

The treeline on the east edge of the park produced 13 Eastern Bluebirds, 14 American Robins, 33 Red-winged Blackbirds, and 23 Cedar Waxwings.

Cedar Waxwings

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Little Gap and Green Pond ~ October 26, 2024

I spent six hours at Little Gap watching the migration. Birds passing by included 10 Bald Eagles and a Golden Eagle, 10 Black Vultures, 17 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Cooper's Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 19 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, an American Kestrel, 5 Common Ravens, and two groups containing a total of 97 Double-crested Cormorants.

I stopped on the way home and saw a Great Blue Heron at Green Pond. The retention pond across the road held 2 American Black Ducks and 3 Green-winged Teal. The fence surrounding the pond acted as perches for 8 Eastern Bluebirds, which one allowed me to get nice photos of.

Eastern Bluebird

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