Little Gap and the Ponds ~ September 16, 2025

My wife's knee was finally good enough to allow me to run up to Little Gap for the first time this Fall. I got up early so that I would get there around sunrise since winds were predicted to increase as the day went on. At the light in Danielsville, there was a truck behind a "Road Closed" sign. I asked the guy by the truck what was up and he said that someone had hit a pole and there were wires down across the road. Oh crap! That meant that I had to drive up through Lehigh Gap to Palmerton, then back east to the north end of Blue Mountain Drive by the Blue Mountain Ski Area, and back up to the parking lot at the Appalachian Trail. It was a 13-mile detour, so I got up there a lot later than I wanted to.

I walked up the trail checking for migrants but only found a Black-and-white Warbler and some Cedar Waxwings. I checked the area near the hawkwatch and found Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, and American Redstart. Later, Adam Miller arrived and we came across a small group of birds that included a Philadelphia Vireo plus Red-eyed Vireo, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Northern Parula, and American Redstart.

Philadelphia Vireo

We returned to the hawkwatch where Broad-winged Hawks were beginning to lift off, but they were having trouble finding the thermals that they prefer, which were being sheared off by the increasing northeast winds. Instead of climbing high into the sky, they were flying low along the ridgeline like the Sharp-shinned Hawks. This created some nice photo opportunities of them as they circled at or below eye level.

Broad-winged Hawks

Kettles were popping up in many different areas. By late morning, when I had to begin heading back down to the car, the Broad-winged count was over 300.

Three Broad-winged Hawks in a kettle of more than 40 birds.

Immature birds are mostly all dark on top, but this one bird showed an excessive amount of white on it as it circled off to the north, suggesting some amount of leucism.

A possibly leucistic immature Broad-winged Hawk.

On the way back down, I ran into a "western" Palm Warbler and a Magnolia Warbler, plus a Common Raven calling overhead.

The road was still closed when I got down to the parking lot, so I once again did the 13-mile detour and headed back home by way of Bath so I could stop and check the Regency ponds. Two Wood Ducks and a Great Blue Heron were the only notable birds there.

Green Pond held 2 Great Egrets, 3 Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron plus a Solitary Sandpiper.

Solitary Sandpiper

The Tatamy Exit retention pond continued to hold a nice count of shorebirds that included 12 Killdeer, 2 Greater and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 3 Pectoral Sandpipers among 14 Least Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpiper

The Hollo Road retention pond still held the 5 Green-winged Teal while the Newburg Road retention pond held 6 Killdeer and a Green Heron among around 400 Canada Geese.

---