Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks, Barn Swallows, and more ~ March 30, 2025

The advancement of a strong warm front caused me to check some of the county's bodies of water. So after I noted two Golden-crowned Kinglets in my backyard, I drove up to the Nazareth Quarry. There, I found an impressive number of 98 Ruddy Ducks and 29 American Coots, 14 Buffleheads, 7 American Black Ducks, 4 Common Mergansers, 4 Horned Grebes (one in breeding plumage), 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a pair of Gadwall, and a Common Loon, which was close enough to attain some mediocre photos.

Common Loon

American Coots

A very distant pair of Gadwall among the American Coots.

From there, I headed over to the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve. There, I found 7 Long-tailed Ducks, which surprisingly allowed me to get some fairly good photos of them.

Four of the seven Long-tailed Ducks.

Three male Long-tailed Ducks.

Two Long-tailed Ducks in transitioning plumage.

A pair of Long-tailed Ducks.

Male Long-tailed Ducks.

Seven was the most that I saw at one time, so that's what I conservatively entered as my count. There may have easily been more than seven, but they were so actively diving that I could never see all of them at the same time in order to get an accurate count. Later, I found out that Billy Weber had seen ten there earlier, so that was likely what I had there, too. Also present were 3 Snow Geese, a Mute Swan, 53 Buffleheads, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Greater Scaup, 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, 3 Tree Swallows, and 2 very early Barn Swallows.

Greater Scaup

Two Barn Swallows with a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Barn Swallow

Nearby, I saw 2 American Kestrels and a Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier

Closer to home, I stopped at the Hollo Road retention pond. Three Wilson's Snipe were there with 11 Green-winged Teal, 2 Wood Ducks, an Eastern Phoebe, and a fly-by Common Raven.

Wilson's Snipe

Over at Green Pond, what was probably the same female American Kestrel I saw there yesterday was perched on a tree along Green Pond Road.

American Kestrel

The Wilson's Snipe continued in the retention pond along Farmersville Road as did the male Blue-winged Teal in the back middle pond with a pair of Mallards..

Wilson's Snipe

Blue-winged Teal

---

Regency Ponds and My 181st Species at Green Pond ~ March 29, 2025

I did a late afternoon run over to the Regency ponds. The pair of Blue-winged Teal continued in the south pond.

Blue-winged Teal

Over at the north pond, the 3 Pectoral Sandpipers and the Lesser Yellowlegs continued.

Pectoral Sandpipers

Scoping the rest of the pond revealed 5 Green-winged Teal and 3 Wilson's Snipe.

Two of the three Wilson's Snipe.

I stopped at Green Pond on the way home. The Wilson's Snipe was again in the retention pond along Farmersville Road.

Wilson's Snipe

The male Blue-winged Teal was still in the back middle pond feeding with a pair of Mallards.

Blue-winged Teal

Along Green Pond Road, I noticed a bird on a wire, which turned out to be a female American Kestrel. I had seen American Kestrels many times at Green Pond long before eBird and the development existed but apparently had never written down any of the dates, so this was my first "official" American Kestrel for Green Pond, my 181st species for the site!

American Kestrel

---

Continuing "Goodies" and Copulating Bald Eagles ~ March 27, 2025

After attending an early morning appointment with my wife, I drove the short distance up to the Silver Crest Road pond. Seen there were 9 Snow Geese, 13 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Buffleheads, and a Lesser Scaup.

I then drove the short distance down to the Regency ponds. The north pond held the continuing 3 Pectoral Sandpipers and the Lesser Yellowlegs.

Pectoral Sandpipers

Lesser Yellowlegs

Also flying around there were my first Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows of the year plus around a dozen Killdeer.

Over at the south pond, the Wilson's Snipe count increased from four yesterday to five today.

Wilson's Snipe

Three of the five Wilson's Snipe.

Also there were a pair of Northern Shovelers, a female Green-winged Teal, and a pair of Blue-winged Teal.

A pair of Blue-winged Teal (center) and a pair of Northern Shovelers (right).

In the mid-afternoon, I stopped at the Bethlehem eagle nest and found two adults on the tower. This was good news since the female had recently died of what was presumed to be bird flu and the male had pretty quickly found another mate.

Bald Eagles

As I taking some photos of them, I noticed them begin to copulate! I managed to grab some photos of them in the act, although the female could be barely seen since she was deep in the nest at the time.

A pair of Bald Eagles copulating!

The last stop on the way home was Green Pond. In the retention pond along Farmersville Road, across the road from Green Pond, I found my sixth Wilson's Snipe of the day.

Wilson's Snipe

The male Blue-winged Teal continued in the back middle pond next to the development along with an Eastern Phoebe and 4 Eastern Bluebirds.

Blue-winged Teal

Eastern Phoebe

---