A Full Day of Birding With Recent Arrivals ~ April 16, 2024

I got to Bear Swamp Park around 9:30 AM and walked the boardwalk. I was hoping to find some Rusty Blackbirds. Instead, I found a pair of Louisiana Waterthrushes.

Louisiana Waterthrush

On the south side of the road, I found a Pileated Woodpecker and a Hermit Thrush.

Over at Lake Minsi's west parking lot, at least 9 Purple Martins were checking out the martin houses.

Purple Martin

Other birds found at the lake included 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 3 American Coots, 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, 3 Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and 17 Tree Swallows.

From there, I headed over to East Bangor Dam. Notables there included 10 Wood Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Blue-winged Teal, a Pied-billed Grebe, 3 American Coots, 8 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Ospreys, an immature Bald Eagle, an Eastern Phoebe, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, a Swamp Sparrow, 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Palm Warbler.

Green-winged Teal

Osprey

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I left Upper Mount Bethel Township and drove down to the Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem. Todd Watkins had seen 2 Yellow-throated Warblers there the day before. Since I didn't get there until the mid-afternoon, they apparently weren't singing when I got there. Because of that, I had to watch the tops of the trees for movement. The only small birds I saw while doing that were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and American Goldfinches. While walking along the south edge of the cemetery where it drops off down to the river, I heard one call. I kept looking for it near the treetops and was surprised when I found it feeding only about 15 to 20 feet up, occasionally coming down as low as 10 feet! It was windy at the time, so I can only assume that the insect activity forced it down lower than normal. I was thrilled with the opportunity to get close and near eye-level photos of this bird.

Yellow-throated Warbler

I scanned the Steel Stacks area and found one of the Peregrine Falcons near the top of one of the smokestacks. I took this very distant photo of it.

Peregrine Falcon

My last stop was Green Pond. I spotted a Wilson's Snipe as I parked at the little pulloff by the flooded field. I slowly got out of the car and took this photo from behind it.

Wilson's Snipe

Two Ring-necked Ducks continued in the retention pond along Farmersville Road.

A pair of Ring-necked Ducks

A pair of Savannah Sparrows were in the grassy area between the ponds.

Savannah Sparrow

The southeast pond held one Spotted Sandpiper, which was my fourth year bird of the day.

Spotted Sandpiper

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Another Afternoon Pond Run ~ April 14, 2024

I headed over to Green Pond in the mid-afternoon. The four Blue-winged Teal continued in the flooded field area.

Blue-winged Teal

Two Ring-necked Ducks were in the retention pond along Farmersville Road. Around the perimeter of that pond were 2 Eastern Bluebirds and 2 Palm Warblers. A Great Blue Heron, an Osprey, and 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows were seen flying around, too.

A Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and 2 Killdeer were at the Newburg Park retention pond.

The flooded field by the Christian Springs Road pond held 6 Greater Yellowlegs.

The Wilson's Snipe that I saw yesterday at the Hollo Road retention pond was still there.

Wilson's Snipe

Four Northern Rough-winged Swallows were feeding over the pond while a Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead.

Red-tailed Hawk

In one small tree next to the pond, I saw my first-of-the-year Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

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A Late Afternoon Run to the Ponds ~ April 11, 2024

Around 4:00 PM, I headed over to the Regency Boulevard ponds, which held 26 Buffleheads, 15 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, and 5 Killdeer.

The Silver Crest Road pond produced a Lesser Scaup among 6 Ruddy Ducks and 2 Ring-necked Ducks.

Lesser Scaup

The flooded field just east of the Christian Springs Road pond contained 8 Ring-necked Ducks, 7 Green-winged Teal, and 2 Greater Yellowlegs.

Over at the Hollo Road retention pond area, I found a Wilson's Snipe along with 2 Green-winged Teal and 2 Killdeer.

Wilson's Snipe

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Upper Mount Bethel Birding ~ April 9, 2024

I headed up to Lake Minsi in the late afternoon to do some late day birding. The most interesting thing there was an Osprey that dove into the lake and successfully caught a fish.

Over at Echo Lake, there were 28 Ring-necked Ducks, a Ruddy Duck, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, and 5 Tree Swallows. I also saw the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and got photos of one next to the nest.

Red-shouldered Hawk

A Red-shouldered Hawk next to its nest.

I visited East Bangor Dam about an hour before sunset. I saw 22 Double-crested Cormorants, 20 Ring-necked Ducks, 11 Wood Ducks, 6 Mute Swans, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Great Blue Heron, 4 Tree Swallows, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 Brown Thrashers, and a Swamp Sparrow. At sunset, two Virginia Rails began calling. Although one of them was only about 8-10 feet away, it was almost impossible to see in the vegetation. I would occasionally catch glimpses of it moving through small open patches and was only able to get one blurred, mostly hidden photo of it.

A blurry photo of a mostly hidden Virginia Rail. You can see parts of the bird's orange bill, grayish face, and vertical stripes on its flanks.

After dark, I heard the eerie calls of at least one Barred Owl along Institute Drive.

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Saturated Ground and Full or Overflowing Ponds ~ April 5, 2024

I checked out the Nazareth Quarry and saw 46 Ruddy Ducks, 19 American Coots, 3 Buffleheads, and 2 Double-crested Cormorants.

The close-to-four inches of rain earlier this week on top of the already saturated ground has created many flooded field areas and has either filled or overflowed ponds. The Hollo Road retention pond held 9 Green-winged Teal, 5 Buffleheads, and a Killdeer.

Buffleheads

While checking out the pond, an adult Bald Eagle flew overhead.

Bald Eagle

The Christian Springs Road pond was full right up to the edge of the road. Two American Wigeon and a Wood Duck were the interesting finds there, plus there were 14 Green-winged Teal and a Ruddy Duck in the flooded field just to the east of there.

The Newburg Park retention pond continued to hold the one each of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a Killdeer.

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

At the Regency Boulevard ponds, I found 18 Ring-necked Ducks, 14 Buffleheads, 4 Northern Shovelers, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, 3 Killdeer, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk that shot by before I even had a chance at a photo.

Northern Shovelers

The normally tiny Monocacy Creek was out of its banks at Steuben Road and Little Creek Drive. A pair of Common Mergansers, a Killdeer, and 13 American Robins were along the creek and the surrounding flooded field.

Common Mergansers

Green Pond was pretty empty considering that all of the ponds and the flooded fields were full. Four American Black Ducks, a Killdeer, an Eastern Phoebe, and 54 American Robins were at the flooded field area. One Northern Rough-winged Swallow zipped by in the wind, which was my first one for the year.

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Lake Minsi, Echo Lake, and the Martins Creek Preserve ~ April 4, 2024

I drove up to Lake Minsi to see if the Red-breasted Mergansers seen yesterday might still be there. I scoped the east side of the lake looking for them, but they had apparently moved on. Instead, I found 18 Double-crested Cormorants, 6 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Ruddy Ducks, a Pied-billed Grebe, and the consolation prize, a Bonaparte's Gull.

Bonaparte's Gull

A group of 11 Northern Shovelers flew from the west side of the lake to the east side, and 3 Ospreys were fishing there. Two Common Ravens croaked as they flew by. Other birds seen at the lake included 18 Turkey Vultures, 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Great Blue Herons, and 3 Eastern Phoebes among a couple hundred Tree Swallows.

Great Blue Heron

Over at Echo Lake, there were 43 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a Double-crested Cormorant, a Great Blue Heron, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, an Eastern Phoebe, and 2 Red-shouldered Hawks. I followed one of the hawks as it flew up and eventually settled down into its nest.

My next destination was the Martins Creek PPL power plant area. The fenced-in pond held 34 Buffleheads, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 2 American Coots, and a Lesser Scaup. Three Tree Swallows and a Barn Swallow zipped by. Nearby, 4 American Kestrels, 2 Northern Harriers, and an Eastern Meadowlark were also seen.

Eastern Meadowlark

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Kinglets, Ducks, and Both Yellowlegs ~ April 1, 2024

In the late afternoon, I headed over to Green Pond. The flooded field area produced 10 Green-winged Teal, 4 American Black Ducks, and a Killdeer in the flooded field area, and a Great Blue Heron, 2 Eastern Phoebes, and 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets at Green Pond. I rarely get a chance at a photo of a Golden-crowned exposing the red patch in the center of its yellow crown. I managed to get that here but, unfortunately, the focus was a little off.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

When I got to the Regency Boulevard ponds, I heard a Common Raven croaking and watched as it constantly got dive-bombed by 2 American Crows. The north pond held 27 Buffleheads, 10 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Hooded Merganser, and 3 Killdeer.

Ruddy Duck

The south pond held 14 more Ring-necked Ducks and a Northern Shoveler.

Northern Shoveler

Over at the Silver Crest Road pond, there were 9 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Ring-necked Ducks, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk that quickly scattered some Dark-eyed Juncos.

Ruddy Duck

The West Gremar Road retention pond, which is now referred to as the Newburg Park retention pond, contained a Killdeer and my "FOY" (first-of-the-year) Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs, one of each.

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Here's a comparison photo showing the size and bill length differences between the two.

A Greater Yellowlegs in front of a Lesser Yellowlegs.

My last stop was at the Christian Springs Road pond. Two Green-winged Teal were at the pond plus 2 American Wigeon were in the flooded field just east of there.

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