A Garganey in Pennsylvania! ~ December 11, 2025

When my phone rang in the late afternoon and I saw the caller was Jason Horn, I thought, "Oh boy, what did somebody find now?" I answered and he told me that a Garganey had been photographed on a pond in Bedford County by Connor Schmitt! I just went and asked him. "What time in the morning do you want me at your house?" We agreed that 3:30 AM plus the 3-plus hour drive would get us there just before light. Another birder, Marjorie Keefe would also be going with us. So we met at his house, loaded everything into his car, and got to the pond as scheduled, just before light.

We walked the short way down to the pond and started searching the area as soon as we could see. While searching among the Mallards, several American Black Ducks, a few Green-winged Teal, and a Northern Pintail, we quickly found the Garganey! Its tan-colored head sported a dark cap, dark eye line, dark ear spot, and short dark line from the gape. It also had a fairly long bill (longer than that of the Green-winged Teal's) and two white bars on the wings. As soon as it got light enough to try and get photos, I started snapping away.

A Garganey in Pennsylvania!

I got this photo of the Garganey between two Green-winged Teal, showing the distinctive markings on the lighter head, rufous breast, and lighter sides.

A Garganey between two Green-winged Teal.

Even though the wind chill was 12 degrees, we happily spent the next few hours getting more looks and photos of this rare vagrant. I got these photos when it stood atop a fallen log.

Garganey

It walked along the ice close enough that we could tell that it was not banded and had both of its hind toes intact, ruling out the possibility of it being an escaped bird. Many bird collectors will clip their birds' hind toes to mark them. This bird showed no evidence of that.

Note both hind toes sticking out in the middle photo of the Garganey and the unbanded legs in the bottom photo.

When a Canada Goose lunged toward the Garganey as it walked by, it caused it to fly a short distance. Luckily, I got a series of shots of it. Unfortunately, many of them were blurred, but they still show the distinctive upper and underwing patterns of the bird. The upperwing shows the speculum bordered by two broad white stripes, and the underwing shows a dark leading edge, a white center section, and a gray trailing edge.

The Garganey in flight.

The Garganey extending its wing while preening.

The Garganey preening and exposing its undertail.

Other birds seen there were 2 Snow Geese among the many Canadas, plus a Bald Eagle that flushed most of the ducks, including the Garganey.

Northern Pintail

A Northern Pintail with the Garganey.

Bald Eagle

They all eventually returned to the area. We left there with big smiles on our faces and enjoyed getting the feeling back in our fingers and toes on the ride home in the warm car. I got back home in the late afternoon.

It was the first confirmed Pennsylvania record of Garganey! I heard that there were a couple previous sight records, but they were without documentation. This sighting is even more significant given that there are only about a dozen records or so for the entire eastern quarter of the country. This was my fourth Garganey sighting. I saw my 'life' Garganey at Brigantine, New Jersey in June of 1997 and saw a pair on St. Paul Island, Alaska in May of 2024.

---

Nazareth Quarry ~ December 9, 2025

I made another late afternoon run up to the Nazareth Quarry to check it out. I scanned through the continuing large amount of geese. There were about 35,000 Snow Geese there and about 800 Canadas. Nothing different was spotted.

The Snow Geese filling most of the quarry.

Other notables were 25 Ruddy Ducks, 7 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Buffleheads, an American Black Duck, and a Common Merganser.

---

Nine Greater White-fronted Geese and a Huge Influx of Snows ~ December 6, 2025

Mike Schall checked out the Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds and found 9 Greater White-fronted Geese there. I was planning on checking the Nazareth Quarry at the end of the day, so I swung by that way beforehand. I found all nine. Among about 500 Canada Geese, I found two on the larger pond, two on the berm between the two ponds, and five on the north bank by the houses.

Two of the 9 Greater White-fronted Geese in the pond.

Two of the 9 Greater White-fronted Geese on the berm.

Five of the 9 Greater White-fronted Geese on the north bank in the pond.

Also there were 6 Cackling Geese showing their lighter-colored backs, short necks, and stubby bills, plus a Great Blue Heron.

Two of the 6 Cackling Geese bordered by Canada Geese.

I then went to the Nazareth Quarry as planned. A huge number of Snow Geese had apparently moved into the area overnight. After seeing 6000 there two days ago, there were roughly 35,000 Snows there today, filling two-thirds of the quarry and dwarfing the 3000 Canadas. At one point, about a third of them took off.

Roughly 35,000 Snow Geese!

Adam Miller and Guy de Bruyn were there. Adam pointed out a group of about 40 scaup that appeared to be mostly Greater Scaup, but they were too far back in the quarry to be sure.

A group of scaup, appearing to be mostly Greater Scaup.

Several Redheads were also with them. Other birds seen there included about 30 Ruddy Ducks, 20 Ring-necked Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 3 American Black Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers, 22 American Coots, and a Pied-billed Grebe. After 4:30, a small group of gulls dropped in and briefly landed long enough for me to notice a first-winter Iceland Gull with 23 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 9 American Herring Gulls before taking off again.

---

Nazareth Quarry ~ December 4, 2025

With the unseasonably cold temperatures freezing up all of the local ponds, I made a late afternoon run up to the Nazareth Quarry to see what might be there. I spent most of my time going through the geese and gulls. I didn't find anything notable among the 6000 Snow Geese and 4000 Canada Geese, but I did pick out two Iceland Gulls among the roughly 600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 16 American Herring Gulls, and 4 Ring-billed Gulls.

Single Iceland Gulls (at center).

Two Iceland Gulls (top center and bottom center).

Other notables were 18 Ruddy Ducks, 7 Ring-necked Ducks, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

---

Twelve(!) Greater White-fronted Geese at the Silver Crest Road Pond ~ December 3, 2025

In the morning, Adam Miller sent out a text that he had found 12(!) Greater White-fronted Geese at the Silver Crest Road pond. This impressive number became the most ever seen at one site in Northampton County. I took a ride over there in the afternoon and located all twelve, which was a little difficult since they weren't all together and some were in among the roughly 700 Canada Geese. I got photos of a group of seven and a group of five.

Seven of the 12 Greater White-fronted Geese.

Five of the 12 Greater White-fronted Geese, two of them immatures.

There were at least two immature Greater White-fronteds in with the adults. I got a pretty nice photo of one of them with one of the adults, which shows the lack of white on the face.

An immature Greater White-fronted Goose (left) with an adult.

There was also a group of 7 Cackling Geese there.

Six of the 7 Cackling Geese with the much larger Canada Goose at top left.

Cackling Geese

Here's another comparison photo between a Cackling Goose and a Canada Goose.

A Cackling Goose (left) and a Canada Goose (right).

When I got back home and went through my photos, I came across these two of a White-fronted Goose showing what appeared to be a light eye ring. This is one of the traits of a Lesser White-fronted Goose, which would be a super rarity for the United States, so it was eye-opening, but I was very skeptical that it was one because of the probability. I have never seen one, so I went on the internet to look at photos. The bill on a Lesser is usually much stubbier than what this bird was showing and it is usually more pinkish, although this bill was pink while all of the Greater White-fronteds there showed a more orange color to their bills. Here are the only two distant photos that I got of this bird.

An interesting White-fronted Goose.

The photos are just a bit out of focus. I wasn't sure whether this eye ring was a trick of the lighting or not. It appeared that it could be the sun reflecting the iris, but I just couldn't be sure. Anyway, I let others know just in case it would stick around and more documentation could be obtained.

A Great Blue Heron was also there, and a Common Raven circled overhead at one point.

Great Blue Heron

Common Raven

Five Ruddy Ducks, 2 Hooded Mergansers, and a Common Merganser were also seen there.

I went down the road to the Regency Boulevard ponds. There were only a few Mallards among the many Canada Geese, but an adult female Northern Harrier was seen hunting along the edge of the south pond while I was at the north pond, so I was only able to get these distant photos of it.

An adult female Northern Harrier.

On the way home, I stopped at the Green Pond area. The male Bufflehead continued in the back middle pond with about a hundred Canada Geese, and a Northern Flicker was in the treeline by the golf course. I couldn't find the lingering Killdeer, so it had apparently finally moved on.

---

Looking For a Rarity and the Nazareth Quarry ~ December 2, 2025

I planned on running up to the Nazareth Quarry to look for storm birds, but before leaving, I found out that there was a brief, one-time sighting of a male Pine Grosbeak at the feeder of a reliable birder in Forks Township as the early snowstorm changed over to all rain. This sighting would be a potential first Northampton County record. I was able to go over to her house, hoping to refind it. I walked around her yard with her and searched the trees in the area for about an hour or so, but it had apparently moved on.

On the way to the quarry, the Hollo Road retention pond held 2 Green-winged Teal and an American Black Duck.

I then went to the Nazareth Quarry and scoped it. I counted 35 Snow Geese among the roughly 2000 Canada Geese when I got there, but as sunset approached, the numbers grew to about 4000 Snow Geese and 5000 Canadas. I took a few cell phone photos of the Snows.

Snow Geese

Other birds seen there included 64 Ring-necked Ducks, 33 Ruddy Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 8 American Black Ducks, 6 Mallards, 4 Common Mergansers, 11 American Coots, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Belted Kingfisher, and gulls comprised of 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 11 American Herring Gulls, 3 Ring-billed Gulls, and a first-winter Iceland Gull.

---

Rechecking the Ponds and the Nazareth Quarry ~ December 1, 2025

In the mid-afternoon, I started at the Green Pond area. At Green Pond, a Great Blue Heron was working on swallowing the fish that it caught.

A Great Blue Heron with a fish.

I walked the paved path and found the continuing male Bufflehead in the back middle pond along with 82 Canada Geese and a couple Mallards. In the treeline next to the golf course, I found 2 Eastern Bluebirds plus a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker pecking away on a trunk.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I checked the retention pond along Green Pond Road and found the lingering Killdeer there.

Killdeer

Over at the Newburg Road retention pond, I picked out 3 Cackling Geese among the 250 Canada Geese. Note the small overall size (close to that of a Mallard), gray or silver back, short neck, small, flat head, and stubby bill. Also note the thin white line separating the dark neck from the creamy breast that some Cackling Geese show prominently.

Cackling Geese

Here are two photos of a Cackling Goose in front of the larger, darker Canada Goose. Again, note the thin white line on the neck that some Cackling Geese show.

A Cackling Goose in front of a Canada Goose.

Here's two more comparison photos of the two species showing the smaller size, shorter neck, smaller, flatter head, and stubbier bill.

A Cackling Goose (left) facing a Canada Goose.

A Cackling Goose (left) with several Canada Geese.

I then headed up to the Nazareth Quarry. Waterfowl there included 31 Ruddy Ducks, 18 Ring-necked Ducks, 7 Buffleheads, 6 American Coots, and 400 Snow Geese among at least 3000 Canada Geese. As has been occurring over the past week, a large group of gulls flew in as sunset approached and landed near the center of the quarry. I found 3 Iceland Gulls among 400 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 14 American Herring Gulls, and 5 Ring-billed Gulls.

An immature Iceland Gull at center.

Immature Iceland Gulls at top left and bottom right.

---