Common Gallinule (again) and a very productive day in Northampton County ~ May 3, 2021

On Monday morning, I did a loop through Upper Mount Bethel Township. I scanned the northwest corner of Lake Minsi and found (or refound) a Common Gallinule! The bird was playing hide-and-seek in the vegetation around where the tallest and leftmost strip of cattails are in the northwest corner of the lake when viewing from the end of the small jetty that’s at the western parking lot. I say “refound” because I’m not sure if this is the same one I saw back on 4/18 or if it’s a new arrival. I took some long-distance documentation photos of it.

Common Gallinule

As I was getting ready to leave, an adult Bald Eagle flew in and landed in the trees right next to the parking lot.

It was a good part of what turned out to be a fine birding day. I found 79 species from roughly 6 AM to 4 PM. A late Merlin first thing in the morning before I left my house and a Common Gallinule at Lake Minsi were the most unexpected birds.
I birded the National Park Drive section of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and spotted Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue-headed, Yellow-throated, and Red-eyed Vireo, Common Raven, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and twelve warbler species that included a Hooded Warbler. I spent almost an hour there at one spot as a wave of warblers, vireos, and others worked their way through. It was one of the best patches of migrants I’d seen in several years. I didn’t know which of the several trees to look through and wished that I had more pairs of eyes looking. I wonder how much I missed in the process.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

/Hooded Warbler

Additional stops were made at:
Bear Swamp Park
Bangor Vein Road, the
Hollo Road retention pond, and
Green Pond.

I had 6 shorebird species, 5 woodpecker species, 4 species of vireos, and 13 warbler species.

Here’s the list.

1 Snow Goose
X Canada Geese
1 Mute Swan
6 Wood Ducks
16 Mallards
4 Pied-billed Grebes
3 Mourning Doves
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
1 Common Gallinule
1 American Coot
5 Killdeer
1 Least Sandpiper
8 Spotted Sandpipers
10 Solitary Sandpipers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
5 Lesser Yellowlegs
4 Great Blue Herons
6 Green Herons
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Osprey
1 Bald Eagle
1 Belted Kingfisher
8 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
4 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Hairy Woodpecker
2 Pileated Woodpeckers
1 Northern Flicker
1 Merlin
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Eastern Kingbird
1 Yellow-throated Vireo
2 Blue-headed Vireos
1 Warbling Vireo
2 Red-eyed Vireos
16 Blue Jays
1 American Crow
1 Fish Crow
1 Common Raven
2 Carolina/Black-capped Chickadees
4 Tufted Titmice
14 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
3 Purple Martins
12 Tree Swallows
2 Barn Swallows
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
5 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
X European Starlings
4 Gray Catbirds
2 Eastern Bluebirds
1 Wood Thrush
X American Robins
X House Sparrows
X House Finches
5 Purple Finches
12 American Goldfinches
5 Chipping Sparrows
66 White-throated Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
28 Red-winged Blackbirds
4 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 Rusty Blackbirds
X Common Grackles
12 Ovenbirds
2 Louisiana Waterthrushes
6 Black-and-white Warblers
5 Common Yellowthroats
1 Hooded Warbler
2 American Redstarts
2 Northern Parulas
2 Blackburnian Warblers
1 Yellow Warbler
2 Chestnut-sided Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
8 Yellow-rumped Warblers
6 Black-throated Green Warblers
1 Scarlet Tanager
4 Northern Cardinals
4 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

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Bushkill Township Trail and Jacobsburg State Park ~ May 2, 2021

I decided to check out the Bushkill Township Trail and found Hairy Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher, Wood Thrush, Field Sparrow, numbers of Gray Catbirds, and lots of White-throated Sparrows.

Hairy Woodpecker

Gray Catbird

At nearby Jacobsburg State Park, I found Cedar Waxwings, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and six species of warblers that included an extremely cooperative Prairie Warbler.

Cedar Waxwing

Prairie Warbler

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First Hummingbird and the Bushkill Township Trail ~ May 1, 2021

I planned on checking out the Bushkill Township Trail today, but before I left the house, I was happy to see my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a male, zip in and use the feeder. When I got to the trail, I found it lined with White-throated Sparrows, and I conservatively estimated 76 of them. Other birds found along the trail included Eastern Phoebe, Gray Catbird, Veery, Wood Thrush, Field and Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Common Yellowthroat

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Eastern Towhee

White-throated Sparrow

Eastern Phoebe

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Jacobsburg and Green Pond ~ April 30, 2021

My route at Jacobsburg State Park provided looks at Broad-winged Hawk, House Wren, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I checked out Green Pond and found 13 Solitary Sandpipers, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Wilson's Snipe, and 4 Killdeer in the flooded field area while 6 Chimney Swifts chittered overhead.

Chimney Swift