Little Blue Heron Still at Green Pond ~ July 29, 2025

I drove over to Green Pond to see if the immature Little Blue Heron was still there. I walked back the gravel path along the golf course edge to the southeast pond and found the Little Blue Heron there with a Great Egret.

The Great Egret (left) and the Little Blue Heron (right).

The immature Little Blue Heron.

There were also two Green Herons there. The flooded cornfield on the north side of Green Pond Road held 4 Least Sandpipers, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Killdeer.

The Hollo Road retention pond was still very full, but the Pied-billed Grebe continued there along with 8 Barn Swallows, 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and 2 Eastern Kingbirds.

Eastern Kingbird

The Tatamy Exit retention pond held a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, 4 Killdeer, a Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Spotted Sandpipers, and a Solitary Sandpiper.

---

White Ibis AND Little Blue Heron in Northampton County! ~ July 27, 2025

In the early afternoon, Mike Schall posted a text alert that there was an immature White Ibis at East Bangor Dam! It took about an hour before I could head up there. When I arrived, Mike and Corinne were there along with Adam Miller and Adam and Owen Smith, but the bird had dropped out of sight in the thick vegetation. Adam, Owen, and I walked a little farther down the tracks to see if it had moved to the west, but it was still out of view. I had seen the previous two county records, so I wasn't that upset that it wasn't visible. It was really humid, so after about 15 minutes, we decided to walk back out to the car, watching along the way. Luckily, Adam spotted it flying east back towards where it was originally found. I got one fairly good photo of it in flight and another that was blurred, but I added it here to show the underwing pattern.

An immature White Ibis.

I also got a few of it after it landed near one of the Wood Duck boxes.

An immature White Ibis.

Three Wood Ducks, a Double-crested Cormorant, and a pair of Ospreys were also noted while there.

I stopped at the Tatamy Exit retention pond on the way back home and found 2 Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, and 6 Least Sandpipers there.

Great Egret

The Hollo Road retention pond was very full from last night's rain, so there was no shoreline for shorebirds. I drove over to Green Pond and noticed the continuing Great Egret in the retention pond along Green Pond Road. A little farther down the road, I caught a glimpse of another white wader in the flooded cornfield on the north side of the road, but this one didn't look right for a Great Egret. I turned around at the intersection, parked, and slowly walked over to check it out. It was an immature Little Blue Heron! I took some photos of it and then sent out a text.

An immature Little Blue Heron.

A Green Heron was in the small, wooded pond by the house at the intersection.

Green Heron

Mike and Corinne showed up and saw the Little Blue. I checked the back retention ponds along the golf course edge and found a Great Blue Heron and two more Green Herons. While I was there, the Little Blue Heron flew over from the flooded field and landed in the southeast pond that I was at. I took a couple more photos of it and then had to get back home.

The immature Little Blue Heron.

---

Green Pond, Hollo Road, and the Tatamy Exit Pond ~ July 24, 2025

I went over to Green Pond in the mid-afternoon. The flooded field on the north side of the road held some shorebirds. They included 5 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, a Spotted Sandpiper, a Least Sandpiper, and 4 Killdeer.

Five Lesser Yellowlegs.

Solitary Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

A pair of American Goldfinches were also there.

A pair of American Goldfinches.

Four Green Herons were in the back southeast pond, and a Great Egret was in the retention pond along Green Pond Road with 2 Great Blue Herons. A third Great Blue Heron was at Green Pond itself.

Great Egret

Over at the Hollo Road retention pond, I saw the continuing Pied-billed Grebe, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, and 2 Bank Swallows among some Northern Rough-wingeds.

Like the other day, my last stop was at the Tatamy Exit retention pond. There, I saw 11 Killdeer, 9 Least Sandpipers, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Great Blue Heron among 97 Canada Geese.

---

A Summer Sapsucker and Pond Checking ~ July 21, 2025

I went golfing with my friend, Ken, at the Shepherd Hills Golf Club near Wescosville. We got there around 7:30 AM. We were supposed to start on the 'back 9', so we went to the 10th tee, which has a line of tall White Pines along it. That's when I heard the down-slurring 'mew' calls of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! Unfortunately, I had no camera. I tried recording it, but it was barely audible during playback. I wish I would have thought about starting the Merlin app, but it didn't occur to me at the time, plus we had to continue on. On the opposite side of the open area, I then noticed a pair of Cooper's Hawk perched in a snag, which might have been why the sapsucker was constantly calling. Anyway, it was a bird I never expected to encounter in the middle of summer.

After golfing, I checked the Trio Farms retention ponds for the Common Gallinule. As another birder had reported, all of the cattails and other vegetation around the pond had been cut down, so its normal hiding and resting place was gone. I checked the other larger pond, which still had some cattails, but there was no sign of it. Three Green Herons were the only notable birds there.

My next stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond where I found a Pied-billed Grebe, a Solitary Sandpiper, 4 Cedar Waxwings, and an Eastern Kingbird.

Pied-billed Grebe

Solitary Sandpiper

Eastern Kingbird

My last stop was at the Tatamy Exit retention pond. There, I saw a Spotted Sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs, a Least Sandpiper, and a Great Blue Heron plus 3 Killdeer.

---

More Shorebirds at the Tatamy Exit Retention Pond ~ July 20, 2025

After mowing my mom's yard, I stopped at the Tatamy Exit retention pond. This new pond has been showing some real potential lately. I picked out a very early Pectoral Sandpiper, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Spotted Sandpiper, and 2 Least Sandpipers among 13 Killdeer.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Spotted Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

A Green Heron was also standing there along the edge of the pond.

Green Heron

I will definitely be stopping here more often during the shorebird season.

A stop at the Newburg Road retention pond produced a Great Blue Heron at the pond and 13 Killdeer in the grassy field by the hospital.

---

Shorebirds Beginning to Return ~ July 17, 2025

I made another late-day run around to local ponds. The only notable find at the Regency ponds was a Green Heron. At the Newburg Park retention pond, there were 2 Lesser Yellowlegs among a dozen Killdeer.

Lesser Yellowlegs

When I stopped at the Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds, I found that the cattails surrounding the smaller pond that had provided cover for the Common Gallinule for almost three months were all cut down, and there was no sign of it there. I checked the larger pond pretty well and didn't see it there either, but there's a lot of cattails there where it could be hiding. Four Green Herons were seen there while an Osprey flew off with a fish in its talons.

My next stop was the Hollo Road retention pond where I spotted a distant, solitary Solitary Sandpiper.

Solitary Sandpiper

After stopping to eat at the Wendy's at the Tatamy exit of Route 33, I checked the retention pond next to it. It also held a Green Heron.

Green Heron

I checked the two retention ponds along Northwood Avenue on the way home. The 'west pond' held a Great Blue Heron, and the 'east pond' held a Wood Duck.

Great Blue Heron

Wood Duck

---

Green Pond, Newburg Road, and the Tatamy Exit Pond ~ July 15, 2025

After dinner, I made four early evening stops at some local sites. The first was Green Pond where a Great Egret flew overhead and landed along the edge of Green Pond.

Great Egret

A Brown Thrasher was feeding in the yard of the house at the intersection.

Brown Thrasher

Other birds included Killdeer, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Gray Catbird, American Goldfinch, and Chipping Sparrows in addition to the usual Song Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds.

My second stop was the Newburg Road retention pond where another Great Egret was standing on the fence and a Wood Duck was in the pond.

Great Egret

Wood Duck

There was nothing of note at the Hollo Road retention pond. My last stop was a check of a new retention pond located beside the Tatamy exit of Route 33. There were 4 Killdeer there along the edges.

---