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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