Jason Horn, and Adam and Owen Smith met me at Graver's Arboretum at 7:00 AM for this year's Wild Creek - Little Gap Christmas Bird Count. They had already heard Eastern Screech-Owl, and 2 Great Horned Owls were still calling when I arrived. Periods of rain continued on and off to around 10:00 AM. We slowly drove down Schlegel Road. Another Great Horned Owl, 2 Wild Turkeys, and a Pileated Woodpecker were calling. A small group of around 20 Horned Larks contained one Snow Bunting! Over at Graver's Hill, 23 more Horned Larks were seen. Two Savannah Sparrows were also found there along with a hunting Northern Harrier and a lone Snow Goose.
Several pockets of birds were seen along the section of South Oaks Road east of N. Hokendauqua Drive. Notables included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Field Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow. A stop along E. Walker Road produced our only White-crowned Sparrow of the day.
The Church Road marsh and fields held a lot of birds. We conservatively counted 75 Dark-eyed Juncos and 30 White-throated Sparrows there. In among them were a Winter Wren, 2 Carolina Wrens, a Northern Mockingbird, 2 American Tree Sparrows, and a Swamp Sparrow. Over at E. Best Road near Copella Road, we found a Cooper's Hawk, a leucistic American Crow, a Field Sparrow, and an American Tree Sparrow.
We did another slow run down Schlegel Road. This time we found around 60 Horned Larks with the Snow Bunting, plus 3 American Pipits! A nice adult Red-shouldered Hawk was seen along N. Summit Road right after we turned off of Schlegel.
A Great Blue Heron and 2 Common Ravens were spotted along Route 946 just west of Point Phillips Road. Along Lilly Hill Road, there were another 18 Horned Larks, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, and a Field Sparrow. At the State Game Lands along Mountain Road, we saw 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 3 Hermit Thrushes, and 2 American Goldfinches. Four Red-winged Blackbirds were present along Bushkill Drive.
We finished the day with 53 species. The list follows.
1) Snow Geese
2) Canada Goose
3) Mallard
4) Wild Turkey
5) Great Blue Heron
6) Black Vulture
7) Northern Harrier
8) Cooper's Hawk
9) Red-shouldered Hawk
10) Red-tailed Hawk
11) Killdeer
12) Rock Pigeon
13) Mourning Dove
14) Great Horned Owl
15) Eastern Screech-Owl
16) Red-bellied Woodpecker
17) Northern Flicker
18) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
19) Downy Woodpecker
20) Hairy Woodpecker
21) Pileated Woodpecker
22) Blue Jay
23) American Crow
24) Common Raven
25) Horned Lark
26) Tufted Titmouse
27) Black-capped Chickadee
28) White-breasted Nuthatch
29) Winter Wren
30) Carolina Wren
31) Golden-crowned Kinglet
32) Eastern Bluebird
33) Hermit Thrush
34) American Robin
35) Northern Mockingbird
36) European Starling
37) American Pipit
38) American Tree Sparrow
39) Field Sparrow
40) Fox Sparrow
41) Savannah Sparrow
42) Song Sparrow
43) Swamp Sparrow
44) White-throated Sparrow
45) White-crowned Sparrow
46) Dark-eyed Junco
47) Snow Bunting
48) Northern Cardinal
49) Red-winged Blackbird
50) Common Grackle
51) House Finch
52) American Goldfinch
53) House Sparrow
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