Iceland Gull at the "Forks of the Delaware" ~ January 2, 2026

I went down to the "Forks of the Delaware" to check for gulls. There was a large shelf of ice by the Free Bridge that was full of gulls. When I scanned through them, I found a first-winter Iceland Gull.

Iceland Gull

The gulls all stirred when a Bald Eagle flew by. There were also 177 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 59 American Herring Gulls present among roughly 500 Ring-billed Gulls, plus 28 Buffleheads.

Farther upriver near Martins Creek, I found 3 Common Mergansers and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

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Ringing in the New Year With a Long-tailed Duck ~ January 1, 2026

A Long-tailed Duck had been reported late last year at the Nazareth Quarry. I decided to stop there to see if it was still around. When I got there, Mike & Corinne Schall were already looking at it. I took some long-distance documentation photos of it.

Long-tailed Duck

After seeing thousands of Snow Geese there in previous weeks, there were only eight Snows there today. Other birds found there included 77 Canada Geese, 39 Ruddy Ducks, 13 Buffleheads, 6 American Black Ducks, 41 Ring-billed Gulls, a Cooper's Hawk, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and 2 Common Ravens. It was a good start to the new year.

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