Arizona - California Trip ~ October 8, 2014

The remmants of a tropical storm in Mexico were advancing into Arizona. It was cloudy with a few showers as I left Flagstaff and headed to Sedona. It was an uncharacteristically dreary day when I took these photos.

Castle and Cathedral Rock near Sedona, Arizona.

Rock formations near Sedona, Arizona.

Chimney Rock and other formations near Sedona, Arizona.

Castle, Bell, and Cathedral Rock near Sedona, Arizona.

Castle and Cathedral Rock near Sedona, Arizona.

Bewick's Wren near Sedona, Arizona.

Black and Say's Phoebe and Western Scrub-Jay were also present.
As I continued down I-17, the rain increased in intensity all the way into Phoenix. I birded the Gilbert Water Ranch in the afternoon among periods of showers and mosquitoes, finding most of the expected species.

Neotropic Cormorant

Abert's Towhee

Inca Dove

Verdin

Curve-billed Thrasher

Gambel's Quail

The one large pool held Snowy Egret, Green-winged Teal, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, and Long-billed Dowitcher. Also noted were Green Heron, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, American Coot, Anna's Hummingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Cliff Swallow, Verdin, Orange-crowned and "Audubon's" Warbler, White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrow, and Great-tailed Grackle.
I had a few hours before having to catch my flight, so I stopped at a Lone Star Steakhouse and enjoyed a steak at the bar while watching the Flyers - Bruins game. I turned in the rental car with an extra 1782 miles on it. I tallied six 'life birds' among the 132 species. More photos can be found in my California Photo Album and my Arizona Photo Album.

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California and Arizona ~ October 2-8, 2014
1) Mallard
2) Green-winged Teal
3) American Wigeon
4) Wild Turkey
5) Gambel's Quail
6) Eared Grebe
7) Western Grebe
8) Pink-footed Shearwater
9) Black-vented Shearwater
10) Black Storm-Petrel
11) Ashy Storm-Petrel
12) Least Storm-Petrel
13) Brown Pelican
14) Neotropic Cormorant
15) Brandt's Cormorant
16) Double-crested Cormorant
17) Black-crowned Night-Heron
18) Green Heron
19) Snowy Egret
20) Great Egret
21) Great Blue Heron
22) Turkey Vulture
23) Osprey
24) Northern Harrier
25) Cooper's Hawk
26) Red-tailed Hawk
27) Crested Caracara
28) American Kestrel
29) American Coot
30) Black-bellied Plover
31) Semipalmated Plover
32) Killdeer
33) Black Oystercatcher
33a) American X Black Oystercatcher (hybrid)
34) American Avocet
35) Black-necked Stilt
36) Willet
37) Greater Yellowlegs
38) Wandering Tattler
39) Whimbrel
40) Long-billed Curlew
41) Marbled Godwit
42) Black Turnstone
43) Western Sandpiper
44) Least Sandpiper
45) Short-billed Dowitcher
46) Long-billed Dowitcher
47) Wilson's Snipe
48) Red-necked Phalarope
49) Heermann's Gull
50) Ring-billed Gull
51) California Gull
52) Western Gull
53) Sabine's Gull
54) Elegant Tern
55) Royal Tern
56) Caspian Tern
57) Pomarine Jaeger
58) Craveri's Murrelet
59) Cassin's Auklet
60) Rock Pigeon
61) Mourning Dove
62) Eurasian Collared-Dove
63) White-winged Dove
64) Common Ground-Dove
65) Inca Dove
66) Rosy-faced Lovebird
67) Greater Roadrunner
68) Broad-billed Hummingbird
69) White-eared Hummingbird
70) Magnificent Hummingbird
71) Black-chinned Hummingbird
72) Anna's Hummingbird
73) Broad-tailed Hummingbird
74) Acorn Woodpecker
75) Gila Woodpecker
76) Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker
77) Red-naped Sapsucker
78) Arizona Woodpecker
79) Nuttall's Woodpecker
80) Downy Woodpecker
81) Western Wood-Pewee
82) Pacific-slope Flycatcher
83) Black Phoebe
84) Say's Phoebe
85) Cassin's Kingbird
86) Loggerhead Shrike
87) Steller's Jay
88) Clark's Nutcracker
89) Western Scrub-Jay
90) Mexican Jay
91) American Crow
92) Common Raven
93) Cliff Swallow
94) Bridled Titmouse
95) Mountain Chickadee
96) Verdin
97) Bushtit
98) White-breasted Nuthatch
99) Bewick's Wren
100) Cactus Wren
101) Rock Wren
102) Canyon Wren
103) Ruby-crowned Kinglet
104) Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
105) Western Bluebird
106) Northern Mockingbird
107) Curve-billed Thrasher
108) European Starling
109) American Pipit
110) Red-throated Pipit ("Lower 48" bird)
111) Phainopepla
112) Orange-crowned Warbler
113) Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler
114) Townsend's Warbler
115) Common Yellowthroat
116) California Towhee
117) Canyon Towhee
118) Abert's Towhee
119) Chipping Sparrow
120) Black-throated Sparrow
121) "Belding's" Savannah Sparrow
122) Lincoln's Sparrow
123) Song Sparrow
124) White-crowned Sparrow
125) Varied Bunting
126) Western Meadowlark
127) Red-winged Blackbird
128) Great-tailed Grackle
129) House Finch
130) Lesser Goldfinch
131) House Sparrow
132) Scaly-breasted Munia (Nutmeg Mannikin)

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Road Trip to Iowa ~ September 11-14, 2014

Thursday, September 11, 2014

After having been in 48 of the 50 states, I decided to take a drive out to the one remaining state of the 'Lower 48' that I'd never been in. I left in the early afternoon on Thursday and headed out I-80 through western PA and into Ohio, stopping in Milan, OH for the night.

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Friday, September 12, 2014

Friday morning, I drove to Magee Marsh, a place that I'd eventually like to see some year during Spring migration. Despite the cloudy and windy conditions, there were several small groups of birders on the boardwalk, but nothing like the masses of birders that I've heard about during Spring.

A Great Egret stood in the marsh.

Halfway across the boardwalk, I came across a small group of migrants that included Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson's and Wood Thrush, Pine Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

While there, 3 Bald Eagles (one adult and 2 immatures) circled overhead and two Sandhill Cranes called as they flew by.

I left the boardwalk and walked over to the Lake Erie shoreline with West Sister Island visible about 8 miles off to the north.

A pond along the way back out to Route 2 held a family of Trumpeter Swans.

Thanks to a strong cold front, the temperature dropped about twenty degrees as I drove through Indiana and Illinois. By the time I crossed the Mississippi River into Davenport in the late afternoon, it was in the upper 40's. Just inside the Iowa border is Nahant Marsh.

Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Wood Ducks were obvious. A couple Sandhill Cranes flew in from the direction of the Mississippi; and a Pied-billed Grebe swam and dove at one end. Around a hundred swallows were zooming over the water. At dusk, they were replaced by about 30 Common Nighthawks. I spent the night near Davenport.

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Saturday, September 13, 2014

Saturday morning, I returned to the marsh.

About 40 Great Egrets were present along with good numbers of Wood Ducks.

The majority of the swallows were Cliffs, with Tree and Barn Swallows in smaller numbers, and a few Northern Rough-wingeds.

Other birds seen there that morning included Gadwall, Double-crested Cormorant, Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Cedar Waxwing, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, and American Goldfinch.

Early afternoon, I learned about the Crested Caracara sighting back in PA, so I began the long drive back east and spent the night in Washington, PA.

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Sunday, September 14, 2014
I spent Sunday morning with Geoff Malosh and several other western PA birders looking for the Caracara that had unfortunately moved on to parts unknown. I got back home in the late afternoon, 1482 miles later. More photos can be found in my Ohio Photos Album and my Iowa Photos Album. Hawaii is my next target.

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Snowy Plover in PA ~ July 2, 2014

After finding out from Devich Farbotnik and Jason Horn that the Snowy Plover was still present at Presque Isle State Park, I decided to take the long drive out to hopefully see it. Unfortunately because of an appointment that I couldn't cancel, I wasn't able to leave until the afternoon. I picked up Rick Wiltraut at Jacobsburg State Park and we were on our way at 1:00. Both Rick and I had tried for this bird twice before and came up empty both times. Would the third time be the charm?
Six hours and a few thunderstorms later, we parked and headed out to Gull Point with only about two-and-a-half hours of light left. Thankfully, soon after reaching the observation platform, Rick spotted the 'little wind-up toy' on a sandbar. With a new state bird added to our memories, the pressure was off and we were able to enjoy it for at least an hour before sunset. A nicely-colored American Avocet was also there. We took a lot of photos of the plover, especially when the bird flew to the pool nearest the tower.

While scoping the other birds, I spotted a large shorebird that, at first glance, I thought was a godwit but turned out to be a Willet. Soon after, a Bald Eagle stirred up all of the gulls as it flew by.

A rain shower was heavy enough to send us down underneath the tower for a while. After it subsided and we went back on top, Rick spotted a Whimbrel that had just dropped in.

So in a little over an hour, we had seen a Snowy Plover, an American Avocet, a Willet, and a Whimbrel----all exceptional finds in PA. Other birds present included 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, Common and Caspian Terns, Purple Martins, and Bank Swallows. At sunset, we made the long hike back out to the car. A few American Woodcocks took off from the trail along the way. A Willow Flycatcher and Brown Thrashers were also noted. We got back home at 4:15 AM, 782 miles later, tired but happy at the same time. More photos are posted on my Pennsylvania Notables Album.

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Common Raven nest in Bethlehem ~ June 23, 2014

You may remember reading reports of Common Ravens being seen on and around the 'steel stacks' at the old Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem. Some people speculated that they might be nesting somewhere in the vicinity. While having a family dinner at my parents' house, I asked my daughter's boyfriend, who happens to work at the Sands Casino, if he happened to know that the Peregrine Falcons had three young and were about to fledge. He told me that he did and that he also noticed a huge nest inside one of the buildings next to the 'steel stacks' and asked if eagles nested inside buildings. That peaked my interest. I said that I was planning to go down and check out the Peregrines and asked him if there was a way to get some photos of it. He told me to give him a call the day I planned on going there and he would get me into the building. Obviously, this late in the year, the nest was empty, but I took several photos of the nest and the debris underneath.

To give an idea of scale, the cross beams under the nest are around 18-24 inches high.

When I mentioned it to Rick Wiltraut, he mentioned that ravens typically line their nest with deer hair. That pretty much assured that this was a ravens' nest since there were, indeed, patches of hair underneath it. It will be interesting to see if they return for the next breeding season.

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"Common" Teal Hybrid in Northampton County ~ April 5, 2014

Mike Schall called me about a Green-winged Teal that appeared to be a hybrid between a "Common" Teal (the Eurasian form) and a Green-winged Teal of the American race. The bird had the white horizontal stripe along the wing, pointing to a "Eurasian" or "Common" Teal, but it also had the vertical white spurs on its sides, pointing to our "American" Green-winged Teal. It was being seen in a flooded field just north of Newburg between Routes 191 and 946 with ten 'traditional' Green-winged Teal. I got there and took the following photos of it. It was the first hybrid like this that I had ever seen.

"Eurasian x American" Green-winged Teal

I was lucky enough to get two flight photos of it showing the brigher, whiter bars on the wings compared with the duller, buffier bars of the "American" race, so it definitely had "Eurasian" blood.

"Eurasian x American" Green-winged Teal (lower bird closest to center) showing bolder, whiter wing stripes

There was also a Blue-winged Teal there (obvious near the top of the above flight photos) along with four Bonaparte's Gulls.

Bonaparte's Gull

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Waxwings and Robins Invade the Yard ~ January 16, 2014

This afternoon, it was fun to watch as the yard was being invaded by about a hundred Robins while, at the same time, around 30 Cedar Waxwings descended into the Crabapple and Mulberry trees. Many of them took turns getting a drink from the waterfall at my tiny pond, which has lately attracted Bluebirds and a Hermit Thrush among the usual winter suspects. Lugging all those rocks into place has been well worth it. I was able to get a few satisfying photos of them through the window.

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Bethlehem - Easton - Hellertown C.B.C. ~ December 28, 2013

This was one of those days that you just can't accurately describe or imagine unless you were there. I was lucky enough to have Jason Horn, Billy Weber, and Stephen Kloiber along with me to do my section of the Bethlehem - Easton - Hellertown C.B.C. I have been covering the Nazareth Quarry and its surrounding Hollo Road pines area (also formerly known as the Twin Ponds Rod & Gun Club) since the 1980's. Over the past several years, the quarry has been a magnet for the wintering numbers of Snow Geese in our area. Christmas Bird Count totals of 20,000 to 30,000 Snow Geese have become the norm.

Saturday's weather was near the best we could have hoped for----no precipitation and very little or no wind. Scoping birds from the top of a quarry for several hours in precipitation or with a cold wind blasting you in the face is no fun. I have spent a few of those days trying to hold the scope steady while your eyes tear up, so things were looking good when we met early enough to do some owling. Although the machinery noise from the adjacent cement mill make listening tough, we did manage to get at least one Eastern Screech-Owl and a Great Horned to respond. As daybreak approached, a Great Blue Heron took flight.

We then went over to the quarry to get a good estimate on the number of Snow Geese that filled the entire western two-thirds of it before they took off to feed in the neighboring fields. This is also the best chance at picking out a Ross's Goose, which equates to finding a needle in a huge, white haystack. Billy picked out the first Ross's and, after a lot more searching, a really good total of four birds were found. Stephen picked out a Peregrine Falcon sitting on one of nearby buildings. When one of three adult Bald Eagles that we would see there decided to soar over the quarry, the masses of Snows lifted off, making a sound similar to several helicopters taking off at once.

The guys and I continued to scope the quarry, picking out a Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Lesser Scaup, and 2 Pied-billed Grebes among the expected numbers of American Black Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, and American Coots. Billy spotted a pair of Common Ravens soaring over the north side of the quarry.

Checking the east end of the quarry produced a Greater White-fronted Goose and 4 Cackling Geese among the roughly thousand Canadas. It's interesting that each year the Canada Geese claim the back half of the quarry and the Snows inhabit the large end, a goose version of segregation.

Walking the wooded area with the two ponds, we found two Hooded Mergansers and a Belted Kingfisher on one of the ponds in addition to a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Brown Creeper, two each of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Swamp and American Tree Sparrows, and 3 Red-winged Blackbirds.

While making one last check of the quarry, we noticed increasing numbers of gulls flying in and overhead. They included 2 Iceland Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull among a number of Lesser Black-backeds and Herrings. We left the quarry around noon with over 60 species!

On the way down to the Chain Dam on the Lehigh River, we found another Peregrine Falcon pursuing a large flock of Starlings and picked up a White-crowned Sparrow and one Savannah Sparrow. Working our way down along the Lehigh to the Forks of the Delaware didn't produce much at all except for the one Common Goldeneye on the Delaware, which added another new species to our total.

On our way back towards the quarry, our good fortune continued when the Snowy Owl that hadn't been reported since last Monday was sitting on a house roof!

As we set up scopes on the Snowy, we noticed skein after skein of Snow Geese that lined the sky from the quarry all the way back to the horizon over the town of Tatamy.

We 'guesstimated' that there were at least 15,000 in view at any given time. The procession continued for over 45 minutes with birds constantly coming as far as we could see. They were streaming through when we got there around 4 PM and were still moving through at dusk. We conservatively estimated more than 200,000 Snows! I would've loved to had a videotape of the whole scene. While all this was happening, the Snowy Owl left the roof and flew directly at us! It passed within eight feet of us and flew across the road, landing on a telephone pole near Hollo Road. Also while there, the guys picked out 7 Northern Pintails and 2 American Wigeon among the geese and 10 Horned Larks that flew across the road. A quick run back to the quarry found it two-thirds full and wall-to-wall with geese with more still dropping in. That was the end to a great day, which netted us 73 species for the day, a C.B.C. record for all of us!

A few photos from the day can be seen in my Local Notables - 2013 Album.

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Here are our totals from the day:

Greater White-fronted Goose------------1
Snow Goose------------------------200,000
Ross's Goose-------------------------------4
Cackling Goose----------------------------4
Canada Goose------------------------1,400
Mallard-----------------------------------215
American Black Duck--------------------16
American Wigeon-------------------------2
Northern Pintail---------------------------7
Ring-necked Duck------------------------61
Lesser Scaup------------------------------2
Common Goldeneye----------------------1
Bufflehead--------------------------------14
Common Merganser---------------------27
Red-breasted Merganser-----------------1
Hooded Merganser------------------------2
Ruddy Duck-------------------------------38
Pied-billed Grebe-------------------------2
Great Blue Heron-------------------------1
Turkey Vulture----------------------------3
Black Vulture------------------------------8
Bald Eagle---------------------------------4
Sharp-shinned Hawk---------------------1
Cooper's Hawk----------------------------2
Red-tailed Hawk--------------------------3
Merlin--------------------------------------1
Peregrine Falcon--------------------------2
American Coot---------------------------17
Ring-billed Gull-------------------------560
Herring Gull------------------------------30
Iceland Gull--------------------------------2
Lesser Black-backed Gull---------------24
Great Black-backed Gull-----------------1
Rock Pigeon----------------------------111
Mourning Dove--------------------------14
Great Horned Owl------------------------1
Snowy Owl---------------------------------1
Eastern Screech-Owl---------------------1
Belted Kingfisher-------------------------2
Red-bellied Woodpecker-----------------5
Northern Flicker--------------------------6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-----------------1
Downy Woodpecker-----------------------5
Blue Jay------------------------------------7
American Crow-------------------------115
Common Raven---------------------------2
Horned Lark-----------------------------10
Tufted Titmouse-------------------------5
Black-capped Chickadee-----------------8
Brown Creeper----------------------------1
White-breasted Nuthatch----------------2
Carolina Wren----------------------------8
Golden-crowned Kinglet------------------2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet--------------------2
Eastern Bluebird--------------------------6
Hermit Thrush----------------------------2
American Robin------------------------178
Northern Mockingbird--------------------3
European Starling-----------------------90
Yellow-rumped Warbler------------------4
American Tree Sparrow-----------------42
Savannah Sparrow------------------------1
Song Sparrow----------------------------22
Swamp Sparrow---------------------------2
White-throated Sparrow----------------75
White-crowned Sparrow------------------1
Dark-eyed Junco-------------------------21
Northern Cardinal-----------------------18
Red-winged Blackbird--------------------3
Brown-headed Cowbird-------------------4
House Finch-------------------------------7
American Goldfinch---------------------12
House Sparrow----------------------------6
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Totals of 73 Species-------------203,262

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