Wild Creek/Little Gap Christmas Bird Count ~ December 21, 2025

I met Jon Mularczyk at the Graver Arboretum parking lot at 5:00 AM. Adam and Owen Smith were already there and had an Eastern Screech-Owl lit up when we joined them. They started a little earlier in the morning and had also found a Northern Saw-whet Owl! We headed out to other spots in our count area to see what other owls could be found. Over the next hour-and-a-half, we heard 7 Great Horned Owls, a second Northern Saw-whet Owl, and another Eastern Screech-Owl, but the owl highlight was a Barred Owl found in the State Game Lands that perched long enough for me to get a photo of it! It was the first Barred Owl I'd ever had in my section on this count.

Barred Owl

As dawn approached, we checked Schlegel Road and Graver's Hill for field birds, only coming up with 17 Horned Larks. That's when we began to notice endless skeins of Snow Geese flying west along the mountain. Numbers were estimated at over 17,000. In one of the skeins, Jon picked out a Cackling Goose.

A couple Swamp Sparrows were present along E. Walker Road. Along Church Road, we saw a group of 30 Red-winged Blackbirds and 9 Brown-headed Cowbirds, plus a Bald Eagle on one of the high-tension towers. Later along E. Best Road, we spotted Black Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, and Hermit Thrush. Adam and Owen picked out 2 Field Sparrows and an American Tree Sparrow while Jon and I found a Winter Wren.

Winter Wren

Farther along E. Best Road, we saw a Red-headed Woodpecker, one of the more colorful birds of the day.

Red-headed Woodpecker

A Red-shouldered Hawk was seen perched along Mountain Road.

Red-shouldered Hawk

We ended the day 18,434 birds of 51 species. Here's the list.

1) Snow Goose
2) Canada Goose
3) Cackling Goose
4) Mallard
5) Turkey Vulture
6) Black Vulture
7) Bald Eagle
8) Sharp-shinned Hawk
9) Cooper's Hawk
10) Red-tailed Hawk
11) Red-shouldered Hawk
12) American Kestrel
13) Rock Pigeon
14) Mourning Dove
15) Great Horned Owl
16) Barred Owl
17) Eastern Screech-Owl
18) Northern Saw-whet Owl
19) Red-headed Woodpecker
20) Red-bellied Woodpecker
21) Northern Flicker
22) Downy Woodpecker
23) Hairy Woodpecker
24) Pileated Woodpecker
25) Blue Jay
26) American Crow
27) Fish Crow
28) Horned Lark
29) Tufted Titmouse
30) Black-capped Chickadee
31) White-breasted Nuthatch
32) Red-breasted Nuthatch
33) Winter Wren
34) Carolina Wren
35) Eastern Bluebird
36) Hermit Thrush
37) American Robin
38) Northern Mockingbird
39) European Starling
40) American Tree Sparrow
41) Field Sparrow
42) Song Sparrow
43) Swamp Sparrow
44) White-throated Sparrow
45) Dark-eyed Junco
46) Northern Cardinal
47) Red-winged Blackbird
48) Brown-headed Cowbird
49) House Finch
50) American Goldfinch
51) House Sparrow

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Wild Creek/Little Gap C.B.C. Scouting ~ December 20, 2025

I drove up to Moore Township to scout out my area for tomorrow's Wild Creek/Little Gap Christmas Bird Count. I birded along E. Best Road, found a Red-headed Woodpecker, and got some pretty good photos of it.

Red-headed Woodpecker

At nearby Schiavone Park, a gray morph Eastern Screech-Owl was sunning itself in a nest box.

Eastern Screech-Owl

As I approached Schlegel Road, a mass of about 5000 Snow Geese took off and headed south. Also seen there were 19 Horned Larks.

I couldn't find anything of note at Graver's Hill, so I headed down through Bath and stopped at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. I didn't find anything notable there either.

As I drove along Hollo Road near Route 191, I spotted an adult male Northern Harrier hunting the large fields.

Northern Harrier

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Snow Buntings, a Lapland Longspur, and Greater White-fronted Geese ~ December 14, 2025

Because of last night's snowfall, I decided to check out some of the open areas for field birds. I went to Graver's Hill and found about 75 Horned Larks in the wind-blown snow.

Horned Lark

In the field along S. Delps Road, I noticed 7 Snow Buntings. I got some flight photos of them as they flew over and joined the Horned Larks.

Snow Buntings in flight.

They then fed along the edge of the standing corn where the Horned Larks were.

A first-winter male Snow Bunting.

Snow Buntings along S. Oaks Road.

When some of the Horned Larks landed on the road, one of the Snow Buntings briefly joined them.

Snow Bunting on S. Oaks Road.

They eventually flew back across S. Delps Road and landed in the same field that I found them in. That's when a guy on a loud ATV came up the road and flushed them. As they took off and I tried to get more flight photos, I very briefly noticed one smaller bird with them, which made me think it might be a Lapland Longspur. I tried following it in my camera but unfortunately lost track of it in some similar-colored background. I spent a while searching for it but never refound that bird. When I got home and put the photos on my computer screen, I realized that I actually had gotten some photos of it among the Snow Buntings. Despite being blurry, there was no question that it was a Lapland Longspur!

A Lapland Longspur (top) with 2 Snow Buntings, a female (left), and a male (right).

A Lapland Longspur with a Snow Bunting. This photo shows the white tail corners on the longspur.

A Lapland Longspur with a male Snow Bunting. This photo shows the dark streaks on the sides and the flanks.

A Lapland Longspur showing the rufous wing patches bordered with white, the light-colored head, and the notched tail.

I made a couple stops on the way back home. The first was the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. Both were mostly frozen and devoid of birds. The only notable bird there was an American Kestrel perched on a wire at Steuben Road.

With Green Pond frozen, I continued to the Church Road pond to see if the 8 Greater White-fronted Geese that I found there yesterday were still there. I did find five of them among the 250 Canada Geese and 26 Mallards.

Five Greater White-fronted Geese.

I sent out a text about the White-fronteds and went home to warm up.

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Eight Greater White-fronted Geese at the Church Road Pond ~ December 13, 2025

I left around 12:30 and checked the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. There was no sign of the Tundra Swan that was there recently. I scoped the field at the end of Steuben Road and briefly saw about 40 Horned Larks way in the distance.

I drove down Arrowhead Road looking for field birds but instead found at least 500 American Crows and a Red-tailed Hawk in the treeline.

Most of the retention ponds were frozen. When I stopped at Green Pond, I found a couple Eastern Bluebirds on the fence around one of the ponds and a Northern Harrier hunting the edges of them.

Northern Harrier

While I was there, Paul Shanahan stopped to talk with me. He told me that the Church Road retention pond was still partially open, so I drove over there. I scanned through the 250 Canada Geese and 26 Mallards and found 8 Greater White-fronted Geese! Four were on the ice near the center of the pond and four were on the ice along the western edge of the pond.

Greater White-fronted Geese

While there, 4 Bald Eagles flew over and got the geese all worked up for a while. An adult, a sub-adult, and two immatures were seen.

Bald Eagles

I sent out a text about the White-fronteds and then headed for the Nazareth Quarry. There were roughly 20,000 Snow Geese there. Scanning the rest of the quarry revealed 48 Ruddy Ducks, 18 Ring-necked Ducks, 11 Buffleheads, 6 American Black Ducks, 2 Common Mergansers, and 27 American Coots.

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