Eared Grebe Continues at the Regency Ponds! ~ September 1, 2025

The Eared Grebe, only the third record for Northampton County and the only other August record for the entire state of Pennsylvania, continued in the Regency Boulevard's south pond. I went there at first light to help birders gain access to this gated community. As far as I know, all of the visiting birders that came to see the bird followed the specific instructions I had posted, so everything went well. It was a "life" bird for some of the roughly 20 birders that came to see it and a "state" bird for others. We all enjoyed the bird as it worked its way around the eastern end of the pond giving nice, close views. One of the birders was Eric Zawatski, who was the one who correctly identified this as an Eared Grebe rather than the similar-looking Horned Grebe. Here are some photos I got of it this morning.

Eared Grebe

Several residents stopped by to see what us birders were looking at and were given scope views of the rarest bird found in their ponds to date. All of the residents were very friendly and obliging to us visitors getting this opportunity to view it. The original spotters of the bird, Andy & Ann Coote, also came to see it and got better views of it in my scope.

A nice list of other birds seen there included 2 Wood Ducks, 3 Chimney Swifts, 2 Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, a Double-crested Cormorant, 4 Green Herons, 2 Great Blue Herons, 3 Eastern Kingbirds, at least 15 Bank Swallows, 6 Tree Swallows, 7 Barn Swallows, 2 Cliff Swallows, one Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 3 American Goldfinches, and a female Bobolink. The Bobolink was my 144th species for the site.

The Newburg Road pond produced 6 Killdeer, one Spotted and one Solitary Sandpiper, one Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 11 Least Sandpipers, a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and 2 Savannah Sparrows, plus 68 Canada Geese. The Semipalmated Sandpiper was my 114th species for there.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Great Egret

Savannah Sparrow

The Hollo Road retention pond held 7 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Pectoral Sandpiper, and a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 19 Least Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

The Tatamy Exit retention pond also produced a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 8 Least Sandpipers and 6 Killdeer.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

I also got this mediocre comparison photo of a Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Least Sandpiper. The Semipalmated is larger with an overall grayish appearance, a scalloped-looking back, a whiter, cleaner-looking belly, black legs, and a much thicker bill, whereas the smaller Least shows a more rufous overall appearance, a dirtier-looking belly, greenish-yellow legs, and a thinner, slightly-drooping bill.

A Semipalmated Sandpiper (left) and a Least Sandpiper (right).

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