Eared Grebe and More Shorebirds ~ September 4, 2025

My wife had partial knee replacement surgery yesterday, so my birding would have to be restricted to making short visits to local spots over the next week or two. After setting her all up for a while, I made a quick run around the area in the early afternoon. At Green Pond, there were 5 Green Herons, a Great Blue Heron, 3 Great Egrets, and a Solitary Sandpiper.

Great Egrets

Over at the Regency Boulevard ponds, the Eared Grebe continued in the south pond for the sixth day, providing point blank views. One of the photos I got showed the bird scratching its head with its lobed toes.

Eared Grebe

Other birds present included a Wood Duck, 4 Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron.

At the Newburg Road pond, I found 3 Greater Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, 17 Least Sandpipers, and a Great Blue Heron.

Greater Yellowlegs

The Hollo Road pond held 5 Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, 26 Least Sandpipers, and 3 Killdeer.

The Tatamy Exit retention pond held one Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and 6 Least Sandpipers among 6 Killdeer.

Pectoral Sandpiper

After 4:00, I noticed it was getting a lot darker to the west as the predicted storms were heading our way, so I started checking the trees in the backyard for migrants. A couple Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were visiting the feeder and the honeysuckle. That's when I noticed swallows flying overhead. And then more. And they didn't stop coming. I went into the house and got my clicker that I use for hawk counting. When the rain finally came, I had counted over 700 swallows! Almost all of them were Tree Swallows, but I did see several Bank Swallows among them. I got a blurry photo of one of the Banks as it zoomed by.

Bank Swallow

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