Green Pond, Newburg Road Pond, and Home ~ October 18, 2023

The Bonaparte's Gull continued at Green Pond. I got photos of it eating a small fish there.

Bonaparte's Gull with a small fish on Green Pond.

Three American Black Ducks were also on Green Pond. 'Fly-by' birds included a Merlin and a group of 48 Ring-billed Gulls.

Merlin

A portion of the 48 Ring-billed Gulls.

Over at the Newburg Road retention ponds, I saw a Swamp Sparrow among the Song and Savannah Sparrows and spotted an Eastern Meadowlark in a very distant tree.

Swamp Sparrow

Eastern Meadowlark

As I turned into the driveway at home, I noticed a bird at the bottom of it. It was a Hermit Thrush! With all the birding I had done in 2023, I hadn't come across one all year, and now there was one right there in the driveway! I stopped the car and got a couple photos of it before it flew off into the neighbor's yard.

Hermit Thrush

While photographing the thrush, I realized there were a lot of other birds working the area. I ended up finding a Northern Flicker, an Eastern Phoebe, a Tufted Titmouse, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Carolina Wren, 7 American Robins, 5 White-throated Sparrows, a Chipping Sparrow, and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Chipping Sparrow

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Rare Hybrid at Green Pond ~ October 17, 2023

I drove up to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary to meet my old friend and neighbor from way back in high school. Starting back in 1973, he and I would drive up to Hawk Mountain on the weekends in his '67 Mustang to hawkwatch. That's where my birding began. I sat under the same tree that I did 50 years ago, although it was now a lot bigger. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon there and watched a fairly good flight of Sharp-shinned Hawks along with a few Northern Harriers, Red-shouldereds, Bald Eagles, a Golden Eagle, and a Merlin.

An adult Bald Eagle going by below the North Lookout.

An adult male Northern Harrier.

On the way back home, I stopped at Green Pond to see if the Bonaparte's Gull was still there. When I got there, it was circling around and dropping into the Farmersville Road retention pond, which is the one right across the road from Green Pond itself. I've observed a pattern that when it's not on Green Pond, it will fly over and feed in that pond for a while and then return. The flight shot was taken at the retention pond and the one of it on the water was at Green Pond.

Bonaparte's Gull circling over the Farmersville Road retention pond.

Bonaparte's Gull at Green Pond.

I always check the little wooded pond by the house at the intersection. That's when I spotted this "head-scratcher" sparrow. It appeared somewhat similar to a young Swamp Sparrow with the grayish face and some rufous in the wings, but the yellow lores, the plain gray face lacking the stripe behind the eye, and the white throat with lateral stripes had me bugged. It was close to a Seaside Sparrow but didn't match that in several ways. I was initially thinking something like a Swamp x White-throated Sparrow hybrid, but thanks to a consensus from other birders, this is most likely a rare White-throated Sparrow x Dark-eyed Junco hybrid. Luckily, it sat up long enough to grab these photos of it.

A rare White-throated Sparrow x Dark-eyed Junco hybrid

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Bonaparte's Gull Continues at Green Pond ~ October 16, 2023

I stopped at Green Pond to look for the Bonaparte's Gull and quickly found it there. I got some better photos of it on Green Pond and also while it was flying around the Farmersville Road retention pond across the road.

Bonaparte's Gull on Green Pond.

Bonaparte's Gull over the Farmersville Road retention pond.

Other birds seen there included a Ring-billed Gull, 2 Great Blue Herons, 2 Eastern Phoebes, 3 Savannah Sparrows, and 2 White-throated Sparrows.

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Nice Selection of Waterbirds ~ October 15, 2023

The Regency Boulevard ponds produced a nice selection of waterbirds late this afternoon. The north pond held a Pied-billed Grebe, 6 Green-winged Teal, and a pair of Northern Shovelers.

The south pond was the better of the two ponds with several species of waterfowl. Among the Canada Geese and Mallards were a Gadwall, a Ruddy Duck, a pair of Northern Shovelers, 2 American Black Ducks, and 7 more Green-winged Teal along with a 'fly-by' Greater Yellowlegs.

Gadwall

Ruddy Duck

A pair of Northern Shovelers

American Black Duck

Green-winged Teal

The combination of spotty showers and areas of blue sky resulted in an impressive rainbow.

My next stop was at the West Gremar Road retention pond. A sweep of the pond produced 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Killdeer, and a fairly late Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

My last stop was at Green Pond. Surprisingly, the Bonaparte's Gull that Joe Yuhas found there yesterday was still on Green Pond.

Bonaparte's Gull

A Green-winged Teal was in one of the nearby retention ponds.

Green-winged Teal

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Clay-colored Sparrow at Newburg Road Pond ~ October 14, 2023

Just before 11:00 AM, Adam Miller found a Clay-colored Sparrow at the Newburg Road ponds area. Since I was only 10 minutes away, I headed over there. Adam, Mike Schall, and I walked over to the area where he had the bird. Lots of Song and Savannah Sparrows were present along with one or two Swamp Sparrows. Two Eastern Meadowlarks flew from the grassy area, circled around, and landed at the far end of the field. I got a few photos of them before they landed.

Eastern Meadowlarks

After a couple passes through the same area where Adam had found the Clay-colored, a pale sparrow flew up and landed in a maple tree on the Kock Toyota side of the chain-link fence. It eventually flew back down near the edge of the cattail patch where Adam, once again, spotted it sitting up in view. It got some documentation photos of it before it dropped back down into the grasses.

Note the broad, pale gray nape on the Clay-colored Sparrow evident in the last two photos.

Later, an adult Peregrine Falcon was spotted on one of the powerline towers.

Peregrine Falcon

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