A Very Early Wilson's Snipe at Regency ~ February 28, 2023

I drove over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds to see what might be there after the storm passed. There were around 75 Snow Geese there along with about 125 Canadas. The Snow Goose with the yellow neck band 'YE31' that I had seen there yesterday had returned. As mentioned yesterday, this bird was banded in northern Canada back in August of 2019.

Snow Goose with the yellow neck band 'YE31'

Two pair of Buffleheads were in the north pond.
In the south pond, I was happily surprised to see a Wilson's Snipe feeding in its northwest corner. This is a very early arrival date for this species.

Wilson's Snipe

At its eastern edge, the Northern Pintail continued from yesterday.

Northern Pintail

A total of 7 Killdeer were also present. I got these photos of one of them in the snow.

Killdeer

The Great Blue Heron continued at the nearby Silver Crest Road pond.
The flooded field by Green Pond held a Northern Pintail and 3 American Black Ducks along with some Mallards, plus 3 Killdeer.

---

A Fine Afternoon of Birding Before the Storm ~ February 27, 2023

Just before I left home, I noticed a Merlin perched in the neighbor's tree. I only managed to get one photo before it headed off to the west.

Merlin

On the way to the Grand Central landfill, I came across a huge flock containing thousands of "blackbirds" along Pen Argyl Road. I estimated around 5000 Common Grackles, 3000 Red-winged Blackbirds, 1000 European Starlings, and at least 300 Brown-headed Cowbirds, but there were probably more than that of each.

A small portion of the thousands of Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Starlings, and Cowbirds

One section of the flock was feeding right along the road. Brown-headed Cowbirds were sprinkled throughout the flock.

Brown-headed Cowbirds among the Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and European Starlings

I searched through the flock, hoping to find a Yellow-headed Blackbird, but was unsuccessful.

There weren't that many gulls at the landfill when I got there, but I did manage to find a first-winter Iceland Gull among the expected species.

Iceland Gull

Four Bald Eagles were also there, and an Eastern Bluebird posed nearby.

Eastern Bluebird

I headed for the Albert Road ponds near Wind Gap. The private north pond held 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Common Mergansers, and a Belted Kingfisher. The large, middle pond held 2 Lesser Scaup, a Pied-billed Grebe, and 43 more Ring-necked Ducks.

Pied-billed Grebe with a fish

My next stop was the Nazareth Quarry, which produced a nice variety of waterbirds. I scoped the quarry and found 800 Canada Geese, 250 Snow Geese, 67 Ruddy Ducks, 38 Ring-necked Ducks, 25 American Black Ducks, 23 Common Mergansers, 13 Buffleheads, 6 Green-winged Teal, 5 American Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, and a Horned Grebe.

Horned Grebe

On the way over to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds, I spotted an adult Bald Eagle flying along Georgetown Road. It was pretty low, so I stopped to see if I could get a photo of it. As I got out, I noticed it drop into a yard and lift off with a Gray Squirrel in its talons. It quickly flew right past me, so I could only get a few photos of it as it was flying away with its catch.

Bald Eagle with a Gray Squirrel in its talons

At the Regency ponds, I discovered a pair of Buffleheads, 5 Killdeer, and a Northern Pintail among 96 Snow Geese and around 125 Canada Geese.

A pair of Buffleheads

Killdeer

Northern Pintail

The Northern Pintail was my 130th species seen at Regency. Also, two of the Snow Geese had yellow neck bands. One was labeled 'YF11' and the other was tagged 'YE31'. A search of the band information revealed that 'YF11' is a female that was banded on Bylot Island, Canada during August of 2021, and 'YE31' was banded at the same spot back in August of 2019.

A quick check of the nearby Silver Crest pond yielded a Great Blue Heron and 5 Ring-necked Ducks. I got home just as the snow started.

---

A Day's Worth of Birding During the Great Backyard Bird Count ~ February 20, 2023

On the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I decided to make a counter-clockwise run around the county. I birded at nine different spots.

Stop 1) 'Forks of the Delaware' in Easton. I was hoping to find some unusual gulls here, but that wasn't the case. Notables were a distant adult Bald Eagle circling over the toll bridge, a Common Merganser, and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls among 7 Herring Gulls and around 250 Ring-billed Gulls.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Stop 2) Martins Creek Environmental Preserve. Highlights were 57 Ring-necked Ducks, 22 Buffleheads, a Greater Scaup, and an American Coot, plus 2 American Kestrels.

Stop 3) Cedar Road ponds. I had seen a report of 2 Mute Swans from here, so I stopped by and easily found them there.

Mute Swan

Stop 4) Grand Central landfill. Once again, I was looking for some unusual gulls. I spent almost two hours scoping the dumping area, sort of a gull version of "Where's Waldo". I found 3 Iceland Gulls flying among around a thousand other gulls.

An adult Iceland Gull (center)

A first-winter Iceland Gull (center)

A first-winter Iceland Gull (center)

Eventually, I found two first-winter Icelands standing on the hillside.

Two first-winter Iceland Gulls (6th bird from the left and 4th bird from the right at the top of the hill) and an adult Iceland Gull (the standing bird facing left, two birds below the left first-winter bird)

I also found a Great Black-backed Gull there in addition to a total of 6 Bald Eagles and a Common Raven.

An adult Great Black-backed Gull (center)

Stop 5) Albert Road ponds. The ponds were pretty empty. The private north pond only held 12 Ring-necked Ducks and 3 Common Mergansers.

Stop 6) Ballas Park. I was surprised to find that the large center section had been mowed. The only birds seen here were 18 Common Grackles.

Stop 7) Silver Crest Road pond. Like Albert Road, this pond was pretty empty with the exception of 6 Ring-necked Ducks and 3 Ruddy Ducks.

Stop 8) Regency Boulevard retention ponds. This was another spot fairly devoid of birds, producing only 8 Snow Geese and 17 Common Grackles.

Stop 9) My last stop was Green Pond. The flooded field area held 6 Green-winged Teal, 4 Northern Pintails, and 4 American Black Ducks.

---

Nice Finds on a Transitional Day ~ February 17, 2023

While waiting for the morning's steadier rain to let up, I had 16 Common Grackles perch in one of the neighbor's trees. Once it wound down, I headed for Green Pond. The flooded field area held 61 Mallards, 9 American Black Ducks, 6 Green-winged Teal, 2 Northern Pintails, and 2 Killdeer.

Northern Pintail

Killdeer

A Great Blue Heron was at the main pond and 2 Eastern Bluebirds and 3 American Goldfinches were in the brush by the treeline along the golf course.

Four more Eastern Bluebirds were seen along Hecktown Road on the way to the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. The north pond at Regency held 3 Lesser Scaup, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and 5 Killdeer.

Lesser Scaup

Hooded Mergansers

Killdeer

On the way to the Silver Crest Road pond, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew across Route 512 and landed in a pine tree by the Unangst Tree Farm. Then, just north of there, an adult male Northern Harrier flew across the road and continued westward.

Northern Harrier

The Siver Crest Road pond produced 4 Ring-necked Ducks and 3 Ruddy Ducks among the Canada Geese.

I drove past a pond on Sickle Road and saw 8 Gadwall and a Belted Kingfisher.

Gadwall

Belted Kingfisher

Next, I stopped at a spot in Moore Township and found 4 Red-winged Blackbirds and a Winter Wren, which not surprisingly, never cooperated for a photo. While there, a Peregrine Falcon zipped by. I did manage to get a few dark photos of that before it went behind the treeline.

Peregrine Falcon

I checked a few spots for Horned Larks but was unsuccessful.

On the way home, I checked the Nazareth Quarry. There were only five (yes, 5) Snow Geese there. Other birds seen there included 46 Ruddy Ducks, 17 American Black Ducks, 11 Buffleheads, 8 Common Mergansers, and 7 American Coots.

In a little over 6-1/2 hours, I registered 39 species. The day's list follows.

1 Snow Goose
2 Canada Goose
3 Mallard
4 American Black Duck
5 Gadwall
6 Green-winged Teal
7 Northern Pintail
8 Ring-necked Duck
9 Lesser Scaup
10 Bufflehead
11 Hooded Merganser
12 Common Merganser
13 Ruddy Duck
14 Great Blue Heron
15 Turkey Vulture
16 Black Vulture
17 Northern Harrier
18 Red-tailed Hawk
19 Peregrine Falcon
20 American Coot
21 Killdeer
22 Mourning Dove
23 Belted Kingfisher
22 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
23 Downy Woodpecker
24 Blue Jay
25 American Crow
26 Black-capped Chickadee
27 Tufted Titmouse
28 White-breasted Nuthatch
29 Winter Wren
30 European Starling
31 Eastern Bluebird
32 Song Sparrow
33 White-throated Sparrow
34 Dark-eyed Junco
35 Northern Cardinal
36 Red-winged Blackbird
37 House Finch
38 American Goldfinch
39 House Sparrow

---

Two Iceland Gulls and Two Great Black-backed Gulls in Easton ~ February 13, 2023

I made it a point to get down to the 'Forks of the Delaware' in Easton before noon today to see if there was more gull activity at the earlier time, and there was. A lot more. The far shore was lined with several hundred gulls. As expected, most of them were Ring-billed Gulls. Among them were over a hundred Herring Gulls and several Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I scoped along the shoreline and found two distant Great Black-backed Gulls.

Great Black-backed Gulls

As I looked through the gulls on the river, I noticed a first-winter Iceland Gull. It eventually flew to the partially-exposed island just below the dam where I was able to get some pretty good photos of it.

First-winter Iceland Gull

While making another scan through the gulls on the river, I spotted another first-winter Iceland Gull. That bird eventually flew upriver.

First-winter Iceland Gull

From there, I drove up to the Nazareth Quarry. Notable birds there included 42 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 9 Common Mergansers, 4 American Black Ducks, a Pied-billed Grebe, and about 2000 Snow Geese.

Four Eastern Bluebirds were feeding along the Newburg Road retention pond.

Eastern Bluebird

The flooded field by Green Pond held 9 American Black Ducks, 8 Green-winged Teal, and 2 Northern Pintails among 86 Mallards. Two Great Blue Herons were also present.

Northern Pintails

Green-winged Teal

---