Little Gap, Graver's Arboretum, and the Nazareth Quarry ~ November 19, 2024

I again spent the morning at Little Gap. I knew it wasn't going to be a good day for raptors, but I was again hoping for a Pine Siskin or a crossbill to pass by. And again, unfortunately that didn't happen. The only birds of note were a Pileated Woodpecker, a Northern Flicker, 46 American Robins, and 41 Dark-eyed Juncos.

My next stop was Graver's Arboretum, again hoping for a siskin or a crossbill. I wasn't seeing any small bird activity at all. I realized why when I saw a Merlin perched nearby in a tall tree. Closer inspection of the Merlin revealed an extremely pale, grayish individual, the most pale Merlin I had ever seen. There were almost no brownish tones to this bird. The upperparts and top of the head were gray. Even the underside markings were more grayish than brownish, and the vent and undertail coverts were whitish instead of the usual buffy or rusty coloration. I was able to get several photos of it, which show this pale pattern.

An extremely pale, grayish Merlin.

The last stop was at the Nazareth Quarry, which produced 106 Snow Geese among about 2000 Canada Geese, 40 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Buffleheads, 4 American Coots, and 2 Herring Gulls with 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

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Another Afternoon Run Around the County ~ November 15, 2024

I did another afternoon run to several spots in the area. At the Regency Boulevard retention ponds, I saw 16 Buffleheads among about 500 Canada Geese.

At the Silver Crest Road retention pond, 2 Snow Geese (one white and one young "Blue" Goose) were there with 5 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Common Merganser, and a Great Blue Heron among about 300 Canada Geese.

An immature "Blue" Goose, the dark form of a Snow Goose.

A stop at the Gun Club Road retention ponds between Bath and Newburg produced nothing of note in the ponds, but a male American Kestrel was perched on the fence and 6 Dark-eyed Juncos were in the overgrown area across the road.

American Kestrel

Dark-eyed Junco

My last stop was the Nazareth Quarry, which held 22 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Buffleheads, and 2 Pied-billed Grebes among about 3500 Canada Geese.

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Crested Caracara in Pennsylvania! ~ November 14, 2024

On Wednesday the 13th, Sam Perloff found a Crested Caracara at the Pine Run Reservoir in Bucks County! I found out about it right before I had to go to an appointment, so there was no way I could try for it. He found it perched in a tree along the reservor around 11 AM, but it took off a little while later and flew off to the northwest. Other birders searched there and the surrounding area. At around 4 PM, the bird was refound in the same tree it was seen in earlier. Again, it stayed there for a short time before flying off to the west and disappearing in the vicinity of a vulture roost out beyond the dam.

At 5 AM, I picked up Rick Wiltraut at the nearby Park & Ride and we drove down to Pine Run. We got there just before sunrise and walked out the paved trail towards the dam. The water level of the reservoir was extremely low due to the drought. I was surprised that vultures started lifting off of the roost right at sunrise. Normally, they don't tend to lift off until around mid-morning. We checked out the group, which was comprised of both Turkey and Black Vultures. Ross Gallardy decided to station himself at the roost. About an hour later at 7:42 AM, Ross spotted the bird among a group of vultures and called to let us know that it was flying somewhat in our direction. We quickly searched through the group and found the Crested Caracara! The fairly narrow and long wings with white outer wing patches, long white head with a dark cap, and long tail were all noted. Unfortunately, the bird was very distant and never came close enough for a good photograph. It flew off to the northeast and dropped behind the ridge to the north.

We spent the rest of the day there, hoping that it would come back for better views, but that never happened. While there, a couple Bald Eagles flew in and perched in a tree across the reservoir.

Bald Eagles

The Crested Caracara represents my 400th species for Pennsylvania. It was the second time I had reached 400 species for the state after seeing Kirtland's Warbler and then losing Hoary Redpoll after it was 'lumped' with Common Redpoll. Both are now considered subspecies and are simply called "Redpoll".

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Little Gap, the Nazareth Quarry, and Hollo Road ~ November 12, 2024

Jason Horn and I spent seven hours at Little Gap on a favorable day for a good raptor flight. On the way up the trail, Jason spotted a Fox Sparrow.

Fox Sparrow

From the hawkwatch, raptor totals included 16 Bald Eagles, 7 Golden Eagles, 2 Black Vultures, 20 Red-tailed Hawks, a Merlin, a Peregrine Falcon, 5 Cooper's Hawks, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Bald Eagle

Golden Eagles

A total of 362 Canada Geese, a Common Loon, 7 Common Ravens, 30 Cedar Waxwings, 16 Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Common Grackle were also seen.

Common Raven

A stop at the Nazareth Quarry on the way home revealed a Cackling Goose among the roughly 1500 Canada Geese, 30 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Buffleheads, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 American Black Ducks, 6 American Coots, 19 Herring Gulls and 2 Ring-billed Gulls among about 300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a Horned Grebe that was too close to the near cliff to be able to get a documentation photo through the vegetation.

One last stop was at the Hollo Road retention pond where 9 Green-winged Teal and 3 Killdeer were present along with 67 Mallards. There was no sign of the Least Sandpiper, which was last seen on the 9th.

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Another Day at Little Gap ~ November 11, 2024

I once again spent the day at Little Gap. It was a slow day for raptors, but I was hoping for a Pine Siskin or a crossbill to pass by. Unfortunately, neither one appeared. The minimal raptor count was comprised of 4 Bald Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers, 13 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and a Cooper's Hawk.

Northern Harrier

Other birds seen included a Northern Flicker, 2 Common Ravens, an Eastern Bluebird, 71 American Robins, 2 Purple Finches, and 8 Dark-eyed Juncos.

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Little Gap ~ November 10, 2024

I decided to spend most of the day at Little Gap. Two Eastern Bluebirds were seen along the pipeline cut near the parking lot.

Eastern Bluebird

Although there wasn't a lot of activity at the hawkwatch, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, 2 Common Ravens, a Bald Eagle, and a Golden Eagle did pass by.

An immature Golden Eagle.

A total of 204 American Robins were counted, and what was strange was that they were all flying north, not south. On the way back down the trail to the car, I saw 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Brown Creeper, and a Winter Wren.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

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An Afternoon Run Around the County ~ November 9, 2024

I got up late after recovering from the drive to Erie and being up for around 24 hours, so I made an afternoon run to a bunch of sites in the area. My first stop was at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. There, I saw 3 Green-winged Teal, 6 Buffleheads, a Killdeer, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Great Blue Heron, and 5 American Pipits.

Up at the Silver Crest Road retention pond, there were 10 Ruddy Ducks, a Green-winged Teal, a Bufflehead, and a Great Blue Heron among about 200 Canada Geese.

A stop at the Gun Club Road retention ponds between Bath and Newburg produced 3 Killdeer and an American Pipit.

American Pipit

At the overgrown area along the fence across from the large pond, I found a surprising number of 9 White-crowned Sparrows plus 3 White-throated Sparrows and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos.

White-crowned Sparrow

A White-crowned Sparrow and a White-throated Sparrow perched side-by-side on a fence for a great comparison between the two. Compare the bolder head stripes, the uniform plain gray face and throat, and pinkish bill on the White-crowned (left) with the obvious white throat patch and, on this bird, the yellow lores on the White-throated Sparrow (right). The White-crowned is a much larger sparrow with a longer tail, but that isn't quite as noticeable here because of the head-on views.

A nice comparison between a White-crowned Sparrow (left) and a White-throated Sparrow (right).

I then checked the Nazareth Quarry, which held 24 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Buffleheads, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 2 American Black Ducks, and an American Coot among about 2500 Canada Geese.

Over at the Hollo Road retention pond, I was a little surprised to see that the Least Sandpiper was still there feeding in the remaining tiny puddles that were getting smaller each day because of the drought that had been going on since late September.

Least Sandpiper

Four Killdeer were also there. The nearby Shoeneck Creek produced 45 American Robins, 18 Red-winged Blackbirds, 2 White-throated Sparrows, an American Goldfinch, and a Brown-headed Cowbird.

At my last quick stop, 5 Killdeer were present over at the Newburg Road retention pond behind the Hecktown Oaks campus of the Lehigh Valley Hospital.

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