A Nice Selection of Birds Around the County ~ January 3, 2026

I met up with Stephen Kloiber and Megan Davis at the St. Luke's Anderson Campus at 10:00. Soon after, Adam Miller joined us as we walked the large field behind the pond, looking for the Lapland Longspur with the large Horned Lark flock that we had found late last year on the Bethlehem Christmas Bird Count. Despite a sweep of the field, we only found around a dozen larks, so the large flock must have flown to greener, or in this case, browner pastures. While there, we had several hundred crows, a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Savannah Sparrow.

From there, Stephen, Megan, and I drove up to Moore Township. One Red-headed Woodpecker was along E. Best Road.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Near Copella Road, we found Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Common Raven, and 4 Eastern Bluebirds. Along Schlegel Road, we found a dozen Horned Larks. Over at Graver's Hill, we found 'fly-by' Snow Geese, a Black Vulture, and only 6 Horned Larks. No Snow Buntings or longspurs were there to be had.

At Beacon Road, we split up and I headed for Ballas Park, hoping to find American Tree Sparrow and other year birds. I parked at Ballas, got out of the car, walked fifty feet along the brushy edge, and found a group of Tree Sparrows. I thought, "Wow, that was too easy." They are one of my favorite sparrows, sporting that distinctive bright yellow lower mandible. The bicolored bill is one definite way to tell a Tree Sparrow from the similarly-colored Field Sparrow, which has an all-pink bill. I was even luckier as they posed for some nice photos. I got one of a 'dark' adult, showing its rusty sides and flanks, and a few of a 'pale' adult.

A 'dark' adult American Tree Sparrow.

A 'pale' adult American Tree Sparrow.

A little farther up the path, I found a small group of Cedar Waxwings feeding on berries with 11 American Robins.

Cedar Waxwings

Nearby, a Hermit Thrush was found among the many White-throated Sparrows.

Hermit Thrush

In the southwestern corner of the park, I found two Golden-crowned Kinglets. One allowed me to get a couple photos, but as usual, it was behind a few branches.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

As I was almost back to the car, I spotted a Northern Harrier and got this distant photo before it continued up over the hill.

Northern Harrier

I left Ballas and drove the short distance over to the Albert Road Ponds. Two Mute Swans were there along with one Ring-necked Duck and a couple hundred Canada Geese.

Mute Swans

On the way back home, I stopped at the Nazareth Quarry. I met Mark Rauzon there. He was looking for the Long-tailed Duck, which he eventually found while I was scoping the little cove. I took another documentation photo of it.

Long-tailed Duck

The male Redhead that we found on last year's Christmas Bird Count was also there. I got this horrible documentation photo of it through the thick brush.

Redhead

Other birds found there included 300 Canada Geese and 5 Snow Geese, 42 Ruddy Ducks, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 7 American Black Ducks, 2 Mallards, a Green-winged Teal, 7 Common Mergansers, and 14 American Coots.

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