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.
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
