Greater White-fronted Goose at the Silver Crest Road Pond ~ October 25, 2025

I went up to Little Gap this morning. The winds were very light, so most of the raptors were on the south side, but I did get this photo of 3 Bald Eagles together on the north side.

Three Bald Eagles.

Raptors seen while I was there included 2 Black Vultures, 9 Turkey Vultures, 13 Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Cooper's Hawk, 2 Northern Harriers, 4 Bald Eagles, a Red-shouldered Hawk, and 5 Red-tailed Hawks. Other species seen there included an Eastern Phoebe, 8 Common Ravens, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, 6 American Robins, 14 Cedar Waxwings, 4 Purple Finches, a Dark-eyed Junco, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Back down in the valley, I stopped at the Silver Crest Road pond and spotted a Greater White-fronted Goose among about 600 Canada Geese!

Greater White-fronted Goose

I sent out a text about it to the other birders. A Great Blue Heron was also present there.

Down at the Regency ponds, I found 5 Killdeer among around 360 Canada Geese.

Killdeer

My last stop was the Green Pond area. I walked the paved path along the Green Pond retention ponds and found the continuing Lesser Yellowlegs with 8 Killdeer in the Farmersville Road pond.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Landbirds seen along the paved path included a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 3 Eastern Bluebirds, 4 Cedar Waxwings, and sparrows comprised of 14 White-throateds, 3 Songs, a Chipping, and a Savannah Sparrow.

Eastern Bluebird

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Newburg Road Pond and Green Pond ~ October 24, 2025

The Newburg Road Pond didn't reveal anything notable, but the brushy field across the street produced 11 Song Sparrows, 3 Savannah Sparrows, and a Lincoln's Sparrow.

I walked the path at Green Pond and found 3 Killdeer in the Farmersville Road pond, a Cooper's Hawk flying over it, and a Green-winged Teal in the back middle pond.

Cooper's Hawk

Green-winged Teal

I then found the continuing Lesser Yellowlegs in the Green Pond Road pond.

Lesser Yellowlegs

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Green Pond ~ October 23, 2025

On the way back from my other daughter's place, I had enough time to make an early evening stop at Green Pond. The Lesser Yellowlegs was still present in the Farmersville Road along with 8 Killdeer.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Along the edge of that same pond were 8 Song Sparrows and a Savannah Sparrow.

Savannah Sparrow

Birds along the paved path included 13 White-throated Sparrows, 3 Chipping Sparrows, and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos.

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Several Ponds in the Afternoon ~ October 22, 2025

I stopped at the Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds on the way to my daughter's house and found a Pied-billed Grebe and a Great Blue Heron.

After leaving my daughter's, I stopped at the Silver Crest Road pond and saw 2 Ruddy Ducks among around 500 Canada Geese.

The nearby Regency Boulevard retention ponds held another Pied-billed Grebe and 2 Tree Swallows among the Canada Geese and Mallards.

Over at Green Pond, the Lesser Yellowlegs continued in the Farmersville Road along with 8 Killdeer.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Along the edge of the back middle pond, I spotted three birds that turned out to be a Gadwall, an American Black Duck, and an American Coot.

A Gadwall (left), an American Black Duck (center), and an American Coot (right).

Gadwall

American Black Duck

American Coot

Birds along the paved path included an Eastern Phoebe, 2 Chipping Sparrows, and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos while Green Pond held a Great Blue Heron and the continuing Belted Kingfisher.

Over at the Newburg Road retention pond, there were 8 Killdeer among around 500 Canada Geese.

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Williams Township Field Birding ~ October 21, 2025

My long-time birding friend, Arlene Koch, saw a Dickcissel on her property in Williams Township yesterday, so I got permission to bird her property this morning, hoping to refind it. I spent most of the morning in the low area along the stream bordered by great sparrow habitat. There were many sparrows feeding there, including my first White-crowned Sparrows of the season.

One of the birds appeared to be an intergrade between the 'leucophrys' and 'gambelii' subspecies. There is only a tiny hint of a lore line, and the lower mandible appeared to be orangish while the upper mandible appeared to be a bit more pinkish, although the sun is probably affecting the true colors of the bill. You can see the difference in the bill color between the two birds in the cropped version of the last photo. My opinion is that this is mostly a "Gambel's" White-crowned, but not pure enough to call it that. The single bird photo, and the left bird in the other three photos, is the bird in question.

This appears to be a mostly pure "Gambell's" White-crowned Sparrow.

The left bird appears to be a mostly pure "Gambell's" White-crowned Sparrow.

The left bird appears to be a mostly pure "Gambell's" White-crowned Sparrow.

In this cropped version, note the more orange bill color compared to the right bird's more pale pinkish color, pointing mostly towards a "Gambell's" White-crowned Sparrow.

While checking the rest of the area, an immature Northern Harrier flew by.

Northern Harrier

Other raptors seen there included a Cooper's Hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and an adult Bald Eagle.

Two Common Yellowthroats were seen, including this one that cooperated for a couple photos.

Common Yellowthroat

A pair of Purple Finches were also spotted deep in a tree near the stream.

Purple Finch

Other notables included an Eastern Phoebe, one Golden-crowned and one Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, 3 Cedar Waxwings, 13 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 7 American Goldfinches, and 3 Red-winged Blackbirds. I ended up with 39 species in about three hours.

I came up with sparrow counts of 43 Song, 12 Swamp, 11 White-throated, 5 Savannah, 2 Lincoln's, 2 Field, a Chipping Sparrow, and one Dark-eyed Junco.

Savannah Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

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Little Gap, Regency Ponds, and Green Pond ~ October 19, 2025

I had the chance to go up to Little Gap this morning. There was an impressive flight of Purple Finches and several Pine Siskins there yesterday, so I was hoping there might be more this morning. Adam Miller was at the parking lot when I got there, so we both walked up the trail together. Two Golden-crowned Kinglets and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet were found right at the parking lot. Along the way to the lookout, we had some Yellow-rumped Warblers and Dark-eyed Juncos plus 6 Hermit Thrushes.

Hermit Thrush

At the top, a fair number of Purple Finches were flying by, but nothing near the 220 that they had yesterday. The winds were strong, but out of the south, so most of the birds were on that side of the mountain. Raptors seen while I was there included 2 Black Vultures, 8 Turkey Vultures, 36 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 6 Bald Eagles, a Red-shouldered Hawk, 11 Red-tailed Hawks, and a Peregrine Falcon.

Cooper's Hawk

Northern Harrier

Bald Eagles

Red-shouldered Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Other birds seen there included 2 American Herring Gulls, 111 Blue Jays, 5 Common Ravens, 21 American Robins, and 4 Cedar Waxwings.

I swung by the Regency ponds and found 3 Killdeer there, but seeing a Barn Swallow this late in the season with 2 Tree Swallows was the most notable find.

Barn Swallow

I walked the paved path along the Green Pond retention ponds and found a Lesser Yellowlegs with 8 Killdeer in the Farmersville Road pond and 3 Green-winged Teal in the back middle pond.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Green-winged Teal

The female Belted Kingfisher continued to fish around the edges of Green Pond itself.

Belted Kingfisher

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