Martins Creek Nature Trail and Grassland Birding ~ May 5, 2026

I walked the Martins Creek Nature Trail, formerly called the Tekening Trail and now called the John M. Mauser Nature Education Trail System, which to me is a ridiculous mouthful. The overgrown field areas held numbers of Gray Catbirds, American Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroats, Northern Yellow Warblers, plus several Blue-winged Warblers and 2 White-eyed Vireos.

White-eyed Vireo

Farther down the trail, I found Chimney Swift, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, White-throated and Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Ovenbird, more Northern Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, and Black-and-white Warbler.

Northern Yellow Warbler

Baltimore Oriole

The section of the trail along the river produced 2 Wood Ducks, a Double-crested Cormorant, 2 Great Blue Herons, plus Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green Warbler, a 'western' Palm Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

American Redstarts

Palm Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

Back at the parking lot, I watched an Eastern Kingbird diving on a Fish Crow. I tried getting photos of it, but they were zig-zagging back and forth too much. Eventually, the kingbird continued flycatching from a perch.

Eastern Kingbird

I drove the short distance over to Miller Road where I found a very cooperative Grasshopper Sparrow.

Grasshopper Sparrow

I then headed for Moore Township and found Vesper Sparrow and Horned Lark along Schlegel Road.

Vesper Sparrow

Horned Lark

---

Upper Mount Bethel Township Birding ~ May 4, 2026

I went back to National Park Drive and, although the migration had quieted down a bit, I still recorded 46 species that included 9 warbler species. They were Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Hooded, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Northern Parula, and Louisiana Waterthrush.

Worm-eating Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was very accommodating for some photos.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Surprises of the day included a Red-breasted Nuthatch, found where the old powerline crosses the road; and at the far east end of the road, I did a double-take when I saw this strangely-marked Red-tailed Hawk fly by.

A Red-tailed Hawk with mostly white primaries and a few white secondaries.

I saw one Bobolink at the Totts Gap Conservation Area and got these very long distance photos of it.

Bobolink

At least two Killdeer chicks continued at the Tatamy Exit retention pond along with 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, and 2 Spotted and 3 Least Sandpipers.

Killdeer chicks.

The Christian Springs Road pond held 11 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, and 6 Least Sandpipers.

Least Sandpipers

---

An Orange-crowned Warbler Among Many Migrants ~ May 3, 2026

Adam Miller had a fantastic morning of birding yesterday along National Park Drive, so I decided to bird there this morning. I briefly stopped at Lake Minsi and just happened to run into Adam there. He was headed to National Park Drive, too, so we teamed up and headed over there. We also were joined by Adam and Owen Smith for some of the morning. Along the road, we found Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Purple Finches, Baltimore Oriole, and warblers that included Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Nashville, Hooded, Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, many Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Northern Parula.

Blackburnian Warbler

A walk back to the Slateford Historical Farm produced a 'fly-by' Common Loon and Broad-winged Hawk, plus Hairy and Pileated Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, and Blue-winged and Magnolia Warbler.

Magnolia Warbler

We walked all the way from the farm down to the Arrow Island Overlook area, adding a Wild Turkey, Common Raven, Gray Catbirds, Veery, American Goldfinch, and Worm-eating Warbler.

Wild Turkey

On the way back from the Arrow Island area, I just happened to notice a bird pop up a few feet from the ground and perch partly hidden behind a branch. I pointed it out to Adam and our original thought was that it might be a female Common Yellowthroat. Luckily, it flew up to a bush next to the trail and perched in the open with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. That's when we both realized it was an Orange-crowned Warbler! Unfortunately, I was unable to get a photo of it before it disappeared back into the brush. It had a thin dark eyeline on its pale gray head that slightly contrasted with the drab green back, had no wingbars, and had noticeable yellow undertail coverts, which made it a bird of the 'celata' subspecies. It was a nice surprise to find one in Spring.

In the area around the parking lot at the east end of the drive, we spotted Northern House Wren, Wood Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, Chestnut-sided and Palm Warbler, many more Yellow-rumped Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting.

Scarlet Tanager

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

From there, we walked back to the farm and up the road back to our cars, adding 6 'fly-by' Double-crested Cormorants, an Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-throated Vireo among more warblers, an Eastern Bluebird, and Field and Swamp Sparrow.

Yellow-throated Vireo

Black-throated Green Warbler

My checklist contained a total of 58 species, 15 of them warblers! It can be seen here.

On the way back home, I stopped at the Tatamy Exit retention pond, which held a Spotted and a Least Sandpiper.

---