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.
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.
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