Eared Grebe and More Shorebirds ~ September 4, 2025

I made a quick run around the area in the early afternoon. At Green Pond, there were 5 Green Herons, a Great Blue Heron, 3 Great Egrets, and a Solitary Sandpiper.

Great Egrets

Over at the Regency Boulevard ponds, the Eared Grebe continued in the south pond for the sixth day, providing point blank views. One of the photos I got showed the bird scratching its head with its lobed toes.

Eared Grebe

Other birds present included a Wood Duck, 4 Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron.

At the Newburg Road pond, I found 3 Greater Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, 17 Least Sandpipers, and a Great Blue Heron.

Greater Yellowlegs

The Hollo Road pond held 5 Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, 26 Least Sandpipers, and 3 Killdeer.

The Tatamy Exit retention pond held one Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and 6 Least Sandpipers among 6 Killdeer.

Pectoral Sandpiper

After 4:00, I noticed it was getting a lot darker to the west as the predicted storms were heading our way, so I started checking the trees in the backyard for migrants. A couple Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were visiting the feeder and the honeysuckle. That's when I noticed swallows flying overhead. And then more. And they didn't stop coming. I went into the house and got my clicker that I use for hawk counting. When the rain finally came, I had counted over 700 swallows! Almost all of them were Tree Swallows, but I did see several Bank Swallows among them. I got a blurry photo of one of the Banks as it zoomed by.

Bank Swallow

---

Eared Grebe and Shorebirds Today ~ September 2, 2025

I walked Jacobsburg State Park this morning. It was pretty dead except for 6 Eastern Wood-Pewees, an Eastern Phoebe, a Common Raven, a Veery, 3 Eastern Towhees, a Common Yellowthroat, 2 American Redstarts, and a Chestnut-sided Warbler.

The Tatamy Exit retention pond held a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 9 Least Sandpipers and 2 Killdeer.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

A quick stop at Heintzelman Park produced 5 Black Vultures, a Cooper's Hawk that just missed catching a Mourning Dove, 4 Bank Swallows, 8 Tree Swallows, and 2 Indigo Buntings.

The Eared Grebe continued to show off for birders in the Regency Boulevard's south pond. I got there just after noon as it was making its rounds in the eastern end of the pond. I got some more photos of this very cooperative bird.

Eared Grebe

Other birds present included 2 Chimney Swifts, a Spotted Sandpiper, 5 Green Herons, 2 Great Blue Herons, one Bank Swallow, 3 Tree Swallows, 3 Barn Swallows, and 3 American Goldfinches.

At the Newburg Road pond, I saw 7 Killdeer, one Spotted and one Solitary Sandpiper, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 19 Least Sandpipers, plus one each of Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Green Heron.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Here are some comparison photos between a Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Least Sandpiper that I took there. The Semipalmated is larger with an overall grayish appearance, a scalloped-looking back, a whiter, cleaner-looking breast, black legs, and a much thicker bill, whereas the smaller Least shows a more rufous overall appearance, a dirtier-looking breast, greenish-yellow legs, and a thinner, slightly-drooping bill.

A Semipalmated Sandpiper (center) and a Least Sandpiper (upper left).

A Semipalmated Sandpiper (rear) and a Least Sandpiper (front).

Here are two more comparison photos of the two species in flight.

A Least Sandpiper (left) and a Semipalmated Sandpiper (right).

A Semipalmated Sandpiper above 4 Least Sandpipers.

My last stop was Green Pond, which continued to hold 7 Green Herons and 2 Great Egrets.

---

Eared Grebe Continues at the Regency Ponds! ~ September 1, 2025

The Eared Grebe, only the third record for Northampton County and the only other August record for the entire state of Pennsylvania, continued in the Regency Boulevard's south pond. I went there at first light to help birders gain access to this gated community. As far as I know, all of the visiting birders that came to see the bird followed the specific instructions I had posted, so everything went well. It was a "life" bird for some of the roughly 20 birders that came to see it and a "state" bird for others. We all enjoyed the bird as it worked its way around the eastern end of the pond giving nice, close views. One of the birders was Eric Zawatski, who was the one who correctly identified this as an Eared Grebe rather than the similar-looking Horned Grebe. Here are some photos I got of it this morning.

Eared Grebe

Several residents stopped by to see what us birders were looking at and were given scope views of the rarest bird found in their ponds to date. All of the residents were very friendly and obliging to us visitors getting this opportunity to view it. The original spotters of the bird, Andy & Ann Coote, also came to see it and got better views of it in my scope.

A nice list of other birds seen there included 2 Wood Ducks, 3 Chimney Swifts, 2 Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, a Double-crested Cormorant, 4 Green Herons, 2 Great Blue Herons, 3 Eastern Kingbirds, at least 15 Bank Swallows, 6 Tree Swallows, 7 Barn Swallows, 2 Cliff Swallows, one Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 3 American Goldfinches, and a female Bobolink. The Bobolink was my 144th species for the site.

The Newburg Road pond produced 6 Killdeer, one Spotted and one Solitary Sandpiper, one Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 11 Least Sandpipers, a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and 2 Savannah Sparrows, plus 68 Canada Geese. The Semipalmated Sandpiper was my 114th species for there.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Great Egret

Savannah Sparrow

The Hollo Road retention pond held 7 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Pectoral Sandpiper, and a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 19 Least Sandpipers.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

The Tatamy Exit retention pond also produced a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 8 Least Sandpipers and 6 Killdeer.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

I also got this mediocre comparison photo of a Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Least Sandpiper. The Semipalmated is larger with an overall grayish appearance, a scalloped-looking back, a whiter, cleaner-looking belly, black legs, and a much thicker bill, whereas the smaller Least shows a more rufous overall appearance, a dirtier-looking belly, greenish-yellow legs, and a thinner, slightly-drooping bill.

A Semipalmated Sandpiper (left) and a Least Sandpiper (right).

---

Eared Grebe in Northampton County! ~ August 30-31, 2025

Yesterday, I had reported a Horned Grebe at the Regency ponds. I swung over there again today and found it the same place it was yesterday. I mentioned on a text that it was still there. Craig Becker, who happened to be visiting his parents there in the development went over to the pond and took some photos of it, one of which he posted on Discord. Soon after, Eric Zawatski and Ross Gallardy, who have much more experience than I do with Eared Grebes, posted that it was actually the rarer Eared Grebe! Wow!

When I got home last night, I had processed the photos and mostly ruled out Eared Grebe because this bird had a white neck, a white area at the lores, and no hint of the white notch at the back of the head behind the eye. Apparently, the juveniles can show a lot of variation at this time of year. The peaked head and the chiseled bill pointed towards Eared, but thinking that Horned was much more likely than the western U.S.-located Eared, I figured it had to be a Horned. Wrong! And even more surprising! If accepted, this would be only the third record for Northampton County and one of only a handful of records for the Lehigh Valley area, plus there is only one other August record of Eared Grebe in Pennsylvania. That one was from south-central PA in August of 2023. Regardless of which species, it was my 143rd species for the Regency site. These are the photos from yesterday.

A juvenile Eared Grebe!, not the similar-looking Horned Grebe.

The grebe was on the far side of the pond today, so the photos weren't near as good.

Eared Grebe

Other birds seen there included 2 Wood Ducks, 5 Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron.

Wood Duck

At the Newburg Road pond, I saw the continuing Double-crested Cormorant.

Double-crested Cormorant

Also present were 5 Killdeer, a Lesser Yellowlegs, one Spotted and one Solitary Sandpiper, 11 Least Sandpipers, and a Great Blue Heron.

The Hollo Road retention pond held 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, 5 Least Sandpipers, 2 Common Ravens, and an Osprey.

Osprey

The Tatamy Exit retention pond produced 5 Lesser Yellowlegs and a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 14 Least Sandpipers.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

---