Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks, Barn Swallows, and more ~ March 30, 2025

The advancement of a strong warm front caused me to check some of the county's bodies of water. So after I noted two Golden-crowned Kinglets in my backyard, I drove up to the Nazareth Quarry. There, I found an impressive number of 98 Ruddy Ducks and 29 American Coots, 14 Buffleheads, 7 American Black Ducks, 4 Common Mergansers, 4 Horned Grebes (one in breeding plumage), 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a pair of Gadwall, and a Common Loon, which was close enough to attain some mediocre photos.

Common Loon

American Coots

A very distant pair of Gadwall among the American Coots.

From there, I headed over to the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve. There, I found 7 Long-tailed Ducks, which surprisingly allowed me to get some fairly good photos of them.

Four of the seven Long-tailed Ducks.

Three male Long-tailed Ducks.

Two Long-tailed Ducks in transitioning plumage.

A pair of Long-tailed Ducks.

Male Long-tailed Ducks.

Seven was the most that I saw at one time, so that's what I conservatively entered as my count. There may have easily been more than seven, but they were so actively diving that I could never see all of them at the same time in order to get an accurate count. Later, I found out that Billy Weber had seen ten there earlier, so that was likely what I had there, too. Also present were 3 Snow Geese, a Mute Swan, 53 Buffleheads, 2 Green-winged Teal, a Greater Scaup, 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, 3 Tree Swallows, and 2 very early Barn Swallows.

Greater Scaup

Two Barn Swallows with a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Barn Swallow

Nearby, I saw 2 American Kestrels and a Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier

Closer to home, I stopped at the Hollo Road retention pond. Three Wilson's Snipe were there with 11 Green-winged Teal, 2 Wood Ducks, an Eastern Phoebe, and a fly-by Common Raven.

Wilson's Snipe

Over at Green Pond, what was probably the same female American Kestrel I saw there yesterday was perched on a tree along Green Pond Road.

American Kestrel

The Wilson's Snipe continued in the retention pond along Farmersville Road as did the male Blue-winged Teal in the back middle pond with a pair of Mallards..

Wilson's Snipe

Blue-winged Teal

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