Another American Bittern at East Bangor Dam ~ April 8, 2026

I still haven't seen a Bonaparte's Gull this year. One was at Lake Minsi late yesterday, so I headed up there this morning, Around the lake, I saw 5 Wood Ducks, 32 Ring-necked Ducks, one Ring-billed Gull, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, 24 Double-crested Cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, an Osprey, a Belted Kingfisher, and an estimated 350 Tree Swallows. Near the east parking lot, I found a nice-sized group of 14 Rusty Blackbirds among 7 Red-winged Blackbirds, and around 40 Common Grackles.

Rusty Blackbird

Nearby Bear Swamp Park held 2 Tufted Titmice, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 Swamp Sparrows, and a circling Bald Eagle.

Over at Echo Lake, there were 2 American Wigeon, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers, and a Pileated Woodpecker on a tree trunk.

Pileated Woodpecker

Next, I went to East Bangor Dam and walked the railroad tracks. Like on the 3rd, I accidentally flushed another American Bittern! I was only able to get one half-decent photo of it before it dropped back down into the distant cattails.

American Bittern

A Virginia Rail called from the other side of the tracks. Farther down, I came across a group of birds that contained 8 Palm Warblers, 3 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Carolina Wren.

Palm Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Other notables there included 13 Wood Ducks, a Green-winged Teal, 8 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Hooded Mergansers, a Double-crested Cormorant, a Great Blue Heron, a Bald Eagle, 2 Eastern Phoebes, 4 Swamp Sparrows, and 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows among about 30 Tree Swallows.

I then drove over to the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve, which held 57 Buffleheads, 3 Green-winged Teal, and 4 American Kestrels.

The Nazareth Quarry produced a high count of 21 Northern Shovelers, 7 Buffleheads, 19 Ruddy Ducks, a Common Merganser, a Pied-billed Grebe, and 4 Double-crested Cormorants.

The nearby Hollo Road pond held 2 Green-winged Teal, a Greater Yellowlegs, a Killdeer, and 7 Turkey Vultures.

Greater Yellowlegs

Turkey Vulture

My next stop was at Green Pond where I found 58 Snow Geese, 52 Canada Geese, 19 Mallards, an Eastern Phoebe, an Eastern Bluebird, an American Goldfinch, and 3 Dark-eyed Juncos.

I stopped at the Newburg Road retention pond and found 2 female Hooded Mergansers and a Killdeer.

Hooded Mergansers

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Wilson's Snipe and Greater Yellowlegs at Hollo Road ~ April 4, 2026

I only had a few hours to bird today, so I drove to the Nazareth Quarry. Many of the waterfowl has moved on since the weather has warmed up. Numbers there today included 12 Northern Shovelers, 7 Gadwall, 8 Buffleheads, 5 Common Mergansers, 14 Ruddy Ducks, 3 American Coots, a Horned Grebe, 7 Double-crested Cormorants, and a 'fly-by' American Kestrel.

The Osprey was on the nest along the Nazareth-Tatamy Road as I passed it on the way to the Hollo Road pond. There, in the harsh light, I found a Wilson's Snipe, a Greater Yellowlegs, and a pair of Green-winged Teal.

Wilson's Snipe

Greater Yellowlegs

Over at the Green Pond area, I saw 59 Snow Geese, 46 Canada Geese, 28 Mallards, a Wood Duck, 4 American Black Ducks, a Great Blue Heron, an Eastern Phoebe, an Eastern Bluebird, and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos.

Wood Duck

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Several Good Birds Around the County ~ April 3, 2026

Adam Smith texted that there were 4 Bonaparte's Gulls at the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve this morning. I was planning to check that spot out today anyway, so I headed up there. Adam Miller was there when I got there. Unfortunately, the gulls had already moved on, but there were 2 Long-tailed Ducks there along with 4 Northern Shovelers, 3 Green-winged Teal, around 20 Ring-necked Ducks, 15 Buffleheads, 10 Tree Swallows, and an injured Snow Goose.

On the way to Lake Minsi, I made a quick stop at the Riverton Road pond and saw a Mute Swan, 16 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Green-winged Teal, and 2 Tree Swallows. Echo Lake held 13 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Lesser Scaup, and 5 Buffleheads.

Adam Miller and I checked out Lake Minsi, which produced 14 Gadwall, 5 Green-winged Teal, 61 Ring-necked Ducks, 8 Buffleheads, a Ruddy Duck, 8 American Coots, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, 20 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, 2 Ospreys, 2 Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, a Red-headed Woodpecker, 50 Tree Swallows, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, 4 Rusty Blackbirds, and 2 Ring-billed Gulls.

Rusty Blackbirds

Ring-billed Gulls

From there, we birded East Bangor Dam. The dam end held 18 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Lesser Scaup, and a Belted Kingfisher. At the eastern end, we found a few more Rusty Blackbirds.

Rusty Blackbird

While I was photographing one of the Rusty Blackbirds, two woodpeckers were squabbling. They turned out to be a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Red-headed Woodpecker! The Red-headed appeared to be checking out a nest hole.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Then, a Viginia Rail called a few times and, soon after, an American Bittern flushed from the cattails! I was lucky to get these flight photos of it before it flew farther back and dropped out of sight.

American Bittern

Three Ospreys were flying around. One was chased by a Bald Eagle trying to steal its fish.

An Osprey with a fish.

On the north side of the marsh, we saw Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Blue-winged Teal, and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

Blue-winged Teal

Hooded Mergansers

A Brown Thrasher sang from a snag on the way back to the car.

Brown Thrasher

Other notables found there were 2 Wood Ducks, 19 Green-winged Teal, 18 Ring-necked Ducks, 75 Tree Swallows, 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, a Swamp Sparrow, and 3 Palm Warblers.

My next stop was the Nazareth Quarry. Notables found there included 4 Northern Shovelers, 3 Gadwall, 7 Ring-necked Ducks, a Lesser Scaup, 8 Buffleheads, 4 Common and 6 Red-breasted Mergansers, 56 Ruddy Ducks, 8 American Coots, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a Horned Grebe, 2 Common Loons, and a Double-crested Cormorant.

A Horned Grebe in breeding plumage.

A very distant Common Loon in breeding plumage.

My mom had called to let me know that she saw something in the Osprey nest along the Nazareth-Tatamy Road earlier in the day, so I swung by there and did find an Osprey sitting on the nest. I didn't see any mate nearby.

An Osprey on a nest.

The Hollo Road pond only held 2 Green-winged Teal and a Killdeer. The Newburg Road retention pond held a pair of Common Mergansers. They were standing at the same exact place I saw them a couple days ago.

A pair of Common Mergansers.

Over at Green Pond, a walk along the paved path produced a Wilson's Snipe at the back edge of the Farmersville Road pond, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, and a few Dark-eyed Juncos.

A distant Wilson's Snipe.

Eastern Bluebird

Dark-eyed Junco

There were 51 Snow Geese wandering around the edge of Green Pond. The flooded field area held 50 Canada Geese, 45 Mallards, 5 American Black Ducks, 10 Green-winged Teal, and the continuing 4 Pectoral Sandpipers.

One of the 4 Pectoral Sandpipers.

I ended the day with seven new 'year birds'.

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Another Quick Run To Nearby Sites ~ April 1, 2026

I went back to Green Pond and found the four Pectoral Sandpipers continuing in the main flooded field along with 2 Killdeer. Other notables there included 33 Snow Geese, 52 Canada Geese, 2 American Black Ducks, and 3 Eastern Bluebirds.

Two Killdeer and a Great Blue Heron were present at the Newburg Road retention pond, and two more Killdeer and 2 Green-winged Teal were at the Hollo Road retention pond.

I happened to notice three dark birds in the Northwood Avenue 'west' retention pond, so I stopped and they turned out to be 3 Hooded Mergansers.

A first-Spring male Hooded Merganser.

Hooded Mergansers

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