Palmer Bikeway and the Tatamy area ~ February 24, 2025

I drove over to Penn Pump Park and walked the Palmer Bikeway. In the section of pines, a Brown Creeper worked its way up a tree right next to the trail. It's amazing how much their plumage matches the tree bark.

Brown Creeper

Just past the pines, I found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet fairly high up in a tree.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

A little farther up the trail, I heard and then found a Winter Wren, which posed very nicely for photos.

Winter Wren

On the way back to the car, I spotted a Golden-crowned Kinglet flitting from branch to branch.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

A pair of Carolina Wrens were also there, one of which was singing away.

Carolina Wren

After a dentist appointment, I headed for the Wendy's near Tatamy. There, I spotted a male Northern Harrier, also called a "Gray Ghost", hunting the field on the north side of Main Street.

Northern Harrier

During one of the drops into the grasses, it successfully caught a mouse.

Northern Harrier with a mouse.

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Red-breasted Mergansers at the Nazareth Quarry ~ February 22, 2025

I dropped my wife off at my daughter's work for a hair appointment and had about an hour-and-a-half to play with, so I drove over to the Nazareth Quarry. There were three Redheads continuing along the northern side along with a Horned Grebe, 16 Buffleheads, 6 Common and 5 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, and 2 American Black Ducks. During one of the scope scans I spotted a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. Apparently, they were previously out of sight in the cove behind the first point. I took some very long-distance documentation photos of it.

A male Red-breasted Merganser.

Also seen there were about 60 Ruddy Ducks, 8 American Coots, and 9 Snow Geese among about 600 Canada Geese.

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Dickcissel at a Wind Gap Area Feeder ~ February 19, 2025

I got a text from Stephen Kloiber with an attached photo of a Dickcissel! He discovered one coming to his feeder on the 16th. I was unable to get there until this afternoon. After watching the feeder and the nearby bushes for about an hour, the bird showed up. Unfortunately, I got some horrible photos of it because it was in one of the bushes where I had no choice but to take them through the windshield.

Dickcissel

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Housenick Park and Wy-Hit-Tuk Park ~ February 3, 2025

It was pretty late in the morning when I stopped at Housenick Park to see what might be there, so I wasn't expecting too much. I walked the trail down along the creek where I saw 5 Green-winged Teal.

Green-winged Teal

Also along the creek were a Cooper's Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which definitely didn't help with being able to find landbirds.

Cooper's Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

In the open section with the newest trail loop, I found a Merlin surveying the area.

Merlin

So, it was a good day for raptors, but not for the smaller birds.

I left there and eventually ended up at Wy-Hit-Tuk Park. I checked for the Greater White-fronted Goose and Tundra Swan that were being reported from there. I saw the Tundra Swan just south of the park with several hundred Canada Geese, but the Greater White-fronted was not seen.

Tundra Swan

One large group of Canada Geese dropped down onto the river and joined the others. Among them was a Cackling Goose with its noticeably smaller size, shorter neck, and more narrow wingspan.

Cackling Goose

Also present on the river were 28 Mallards, 26 American Black Ducks, and 7 Common and 5 Hooded Mergansers. A pair of Mallards were nicely lit on a log in the canal with the male showing off his bright colors that are usually overlooked because it's such a common bird.

A pair of Mallards.

Other birds along the canal were a Common Raven, a Hairy Woodpecker, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, one of which was checking out a hole in the trunk.

Pileated Woodpecker

I also heard some calls that sounded like pure Carolina Chickadees. I spotted two birds and got photos of one of them showing the lack of white in the greater wing coverts, the gray edges on the secondaries, a very clean-cut bib, and some gray at the rear of the white cheek by the nape.

Carolina Chickadee

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Nazareth Quarry and Hollo Road ~ February 2, 2025

Around noon, I checked out the Nazareth Quarry. It had a nice variety of waterfowl. There were around 8000 Snow Geese and 1500 Canada Geese present. Scoping the area, I found the two continuing male Redheads plus 28 Ring-necked Ducks, 16 Buffleheads, , 8 Mallards, 7 American Black Ducks, 2 Lesser Scaup, a Gadwall, a Green-winged Teal, 9 Common Mergansers, 3 Hooded Mergansers, 31 American Coots, and a Pied-billed Grebe in among an impressive number of 94 Ruddy Ducks. A Horned Grebe had recently been reported there, but I wasn't seeing it. After about an hour-and-a-half, I finally spotted it among one of the groups of Canada Geese. I ended up with 16 species of waterbirds. I also saw 2 immature Bald Eagles and 2 Red-tailed Hawks, one of which was carrying a branch in its beak.

I stopped to see if the Hollo Road retention pond was still frozen, and it was, so there wasn't anything there. However, the corn-stubbled fields and brush along the adjacent Shoeneck Creek held a good number of sparrows. I conservatively counted 23 White-throated Sparrows, 18 Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 Song Sparrows, and one White-crowned Sparrow. Closer inspection of the White-crowned's head revealed clean, pale lores and a dull orange bill with a hint of pink, which most closely matched that of one representing the "Gambel's" race. I managed to get one decent photo before it flew off.

A probable "Gambel's" White-crowned Sparrow.

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Tundra Swan near Wy-Hit-Tuk Park ~ January 28, 2025

Yesterday afternoon, Owen Smith found a Tundra Swan on the Delaware River south of Wy-Hit-Tuk Park. I went over there late this afternoon and found it about a mile south of the park. At first, it was resting on the ice with its head tucked in. Then, it preened a little, got into the river, and fed for a while before returning to the ice.

Tundra Swan

Also seen there were 11 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Hooded Mergansers, and 5 American Black Ducks.

Hooded Mergansers

Common Merganser

A Pileated Woodpecker and 5 Eastern Bluebirds were seen along the canal.

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Ballas Park, Field Birding, and the Nazareth Quarry ~ January 26, 2025

In the morning, I walked around Ballas Park. An adult Red-shouldered Hawk was perched in a tree at the pond across the road. In the southwestern corner, I came across 18 American Goldfinches, 4 Eastern Bluebirds, and 2 American Tree Sparrows. On the east side of the park, there were 21 American Robins. I had been keeping an eye out for Northern Harrier, which is often seen there, but instead spotted this circling Peregrine Falcon!

Peregrine Falcon

I birded four different field areas and found Horned Larks at each one of them, but couldn't find a Snow Bunting or Lapland Longspur among them.

Horned Lark

I eventually ended up seeing a male Northern Harrier, also known as a "Gray Ghost", from S. Summit Road between Moorestown and Bath, but it was too far away for photos.

My last stop was at the Nazareth Quarry. Two male Redheads continued along its northern edge. After a while, I spotted a male Greater Scaup with them. Lesser and Greater Scaup are tough to tell apart, but this bird always showed a head with its peak in front of the eye and sloping from there down the rear of the head. It also appeared about the same size or larger than the adjacent Redheads. Unfortunately, it never flew or raised its wings to allow a look at its wing stripes.

A Greater Scaup with two Redheads.

A Greater Scaup with one of the Redheads.

Greater Scaup

Redhead

Two Redheads with a Greater Scaup.

A pair of Gadwall was also present, staying very tight to the rocky shoreline in the northwest corner.

A pair of Gadwall.

There was only one Snow Goose present and it was in among 77 Ring-billed Gulls and 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. I counted about 45 Ruddy Ducks and 16 American Coots sprinkled in among the Canada Geese. Also seen in the quarry were 9 Buffleheads, 6 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 American Black Ducks, and 3 Common Mergansers, plus a Belted Kingfisher was heard doing its loud, rattling call while a Common Raven flew by.

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