Copulating Great Horned Owls! ~ January 24, 2025

In the mid-afternoon, I returned to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to check out the gulls. There were 7 American Herring Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed among the roughly 250 Ring-billed Gulls. There were 25 Buffleheads actively diving above the dam.

Buffleheads

At the confluence of the Lehigh and the Delaware, I saw 7 Common Mergansers, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, and a distant Common Goldeneye.

Common Goldeneye

I left there, drove up the Lehigh, parked at Riverview Park, and walked to the Chain Dam. Just below the dam, there were around 350 Ring-billed Gulls with one American Herring Gull among them, plus about 125 Canada Geese. Among the geese, I spotted an aberrant-plumaged goose. It lacked the full white 'chinstrap' of a Canada Goose, had a faint line on its crown, and had some faint white markings on its neck.

An aberrant-plumaged Canada Goose.

There were also a total of 7 Common Mergansers there, five above the dam and two below it.

It was late afternoon, so I decided to drive over to Penn Pump Park and walk the Palmer Bikeway. There has been a pair of Great Horned Owls present in that area for years and they were being reported there again this year. I saw 7 Common Mergansers and a Snow Goose on the adjacent Bushkill Creek. I just happened to meet Amy Opitz and her husband there on the trail. A Golden-crowned Kinglet called and flew across the trail as the pair of Great Horned Owls starting calling back and forth to each other. After some searching, I found the male perched in one of the pines.

The male Great Horned Owl.

His white throat patch would expand and vibrate as he called.

The male Great Horned Owl calling.

Two other birders showed up and I pointed the male out to them. Soon after, the female flew in and landed closer to us.

The female Great Horned Owl.

She then flew back near the male, landed on a branch in a fairly open area, and continued calling.

The female Great Horned Owl calling.

That's when I saw something I'd never seen before. The male flew over, landed on her back, and they began copulating! What was even more amazing was that I managed to get some fairly decent photos of it despite them being backlit by the setting sun.

The pair of Great Horned Owls copulating!

After a few seconds, the male flew off to the right and the female flew a short distance to the left.

The female Great Horned Owl.

As the light continued to fade, I walked back to the car with a big grin on my face, still not believing what I got to see.

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Iceland Gull at the Forks of the Delaware ~ January 22, 2025

With the continuing days of below-freezing weather, I went down to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to see how iced-up the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers were. Both rivers were roughly half-frozen and there were a congregation of gulls on the ice above the dam on the Lehigh. I scanned through about 200 Ring-billed Gulls and smaller numbers of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls and spotted an adult Iceland Gull! This one was an individual with fairly dark eyes and very extensive charcoal-gray markings on the wingtips. The eyes and wingtip pattern brought up the possibility of the involvement of some "Thayer's" genes, but it best fit the darkest form of a "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull.

A very dark form of "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull.

I also did a double-take when I came across what seemed to be an American Herring Gull with no black in the wingtips, making it appear at first glance to be one of the "white-winged gulls".

An American Herring Gull with almost no visible dark wingtips.

I eventually discovered that it was indeed an American Herring Gull. The last three outer primaries were just growing in, so the dark markings were not visible at all on the left wing and there were only a few markings on the right wing.

An American Herring Gull with almost no visible dark wingtips. Note the three very short primaries just coming in at the top of the wing.

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Taiga Bean-Goose in New York! ~ January 10, 2025

I was up very late the night before, so when my phone rang around 9:00, it woke me up. It was Jason Horn. He wanted to know if I was interested in trying for a Taiga Bean-Goose that had been seen late in the day yesterday and was refound this morning. I told him I was interested but asked him how soon he was leaving. He said, "I can be at your house in 20 minutes", so I ran to the bathroom, got dressed, threw some food down my throat, grabbed my gear, and got into his Jeep about a half-hour later.
We did the 250-mile drive in a little over 4 hours, quickly stopping for something to eat, and getting to the spot on the Hudson River a little after 2:00 PM. There were a few other birders there scanning through the Canada Goose flock. It wasn't long when one of them found the bird swimming across the Hudson. I grabbed a few photos of my 'life' Taiga Bean-Goose!

Taiga Bean-Goose

It eventually got up onto the ice in among the Canada Geese. Luckily, it stood a bit taller than the Canadas most of the time.

Taiga Bean-Goose

Late in the day, as the Canadas left the ice, the Bean-Goose was unblocked, showing off its orange legs and feet.

Taiga Bean-Goose

Eventually, it flew downriver and off towards the southwest with a small group of Canadas.

Taiga Bean-Goose

Also there was a very unusual Ross's x Cackling Goose hybrid. The bird was the size of a Ross's or Cackling Goose, smaller than the surrounding Canadas, had a white head and neck, a stubby bill, and the body color of a Cackling Goose.

A Ross's x Cackling Goose hybrid.

Other birds present on and around the river included 46 Common Goldeneye, 5 Common and 2 Hooded Mergansers, a Bufflehead, 7 Snow Geese, and a Bald Eagle.

We stopped before getting on the highway to get something to eat and then drove back to my house, getting there around 8:30 PM.

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Greater White-fronted Goose at the Regency Ponds ~ January 3, 2025

This was my first real afternoon of birding in 2025. I stopped at Green Pond where I found a small group of Snow Geese. In the retention ponds across the street, I saw 3 American Black Ducks among the Mallards and Canadas. A Bald Eagle and a Common Raven flew overhead.

Bald Eagle

I drove over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds and checked the south pond. Nine Ring-necked Ducks and 7 Buffleheads were the notables there. As I scanned the shoreline of the north pond, I came across a Greater White-fronted Goose at its south end! I grabbed some photos of it as many of the Canada Geese were beginning to take off.

Greater White-fronted Goose

Eventually, it lifted off when the Canadas that were with it took off to the west.

Greater White-fronted Goose

Over at the nearby Silver Crest Road pond, 5 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Ruddy Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, and a Belted Kingfisher were present.

Hooded Merganser

About 6000 Snow Geese, 74 Ruddy Ducks, 21 American Coots, 9 Buffleheads, 6 American Black Ducks, 2 Redheads, and 2 Common Mergansers were at the Nazareth Quarry. I spent about an hour searching through the Snows for a Ross's Goose but came away empty-handed.

At the nearby Hollo Road retention pond, I spotted 2 Green-winged Teal and an American Black Duck among the usuals.

Green-winged Teal

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