Common Nighthawks moving through ~ August 26-29, 2021

The last two evenings I birded from the backyard and got to see numbers of Common Nighthawks as they flew south. Thursday evening, I spotted eleven of them, including one group of seven. Friday evening, six birds were seen that included a line of five. Then on Sunday night, another 21 birds were spotted from the yard. I got several mediocre photos of some of them in the fading light.

Photos from August 26th

Photos from August 27th

Photos from August 29th

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Semipalmated Sandpiper at Green Pond ~ August 17-18, 2021

The retention pond along Green Pond Road continued to provide good shorebird habitat. Yesterday, I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper feeding among 36 Least Sandpipers, 23 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Great Blue Heron. Today, I refound the bird, which was much closer and allowed me to get some better photos.

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TWO Wilson's Phalaropes at Green Pond ~ August 13, 2021

After the find of a Wilson's Phalarope on the 8th, I got a text from Adam Miller that he had found TWO of them at the same retention pond along Green Pond Road. I drove over there and got a few photos of both Wilson’s Phalaropes.

I also lucky enough to get some flight shots of one of them as it flew from one side of the pond to the other.

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Wilson's Phalarope at Green Pond ~ August 8, 2021

During a quick stop at the retention pond along Green Pond Road, I found a juvenile Wilson’s Phalarope feeding among 22 Lesser Yellowlegs. Unfortunately, I only had my old binoculars in the car and wasn’t 100% sure of the ID using them, so I went home and got my gear and headed back out there. Luckily, the bird was still there and, after scoping it and getting some photos, I got the word out to some of the "locals". In the early evening, Adam Miller and Mike and Corrine Schall also saw the bird, which by that time had unfortunately flown to one of the other retention ponds that is not accessible by road. I managed to get some fairly good documentation photos of it despite the harsh sunlight.

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Great Egrets spread over Northampton County ~ July 18, 2021

With the finding of Roseate Spoonbills, Tricolored and Little Blue Herons in the state, I decided to check some of the local retention ponds on Sunday afternoon. My first stop was the Hollo Road retention pond. There, a Great Egret stood out like a sore thumb in the mostly-empty pond.

My next stop was at the West Gremar Road retention pond where five Great Egrets were present among Canada Geese and a Spotted Sandpiper. The first photo captures three of them.

The nearby Trio Farms Boulevard retention ponds held another Great Egret and a young Great Blue Heron.

On the way back home, I checked out Green Pond and found another Great Egret in the retention pond along Farmersville Road.

So, it was a pretty productive day for Great Egrets but, unfortunately, there were no big pink birds among them.

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Short-billed Dowitcher at St. Luke's Anderson Campus ~ July 9, 2021

Jon Mularczyk forwarded some photos of a dowitcher that Kurt Zimmerman had found earlier at the retention pond area behind St. Luke's Anderson Campus. I headed down there and checked the pond, but the heavy rain that we had the night before had filled it to where there was no muddy shoreline. Adam Miller arrived and, after looking at the photos, we realized that the bird was photographed along the walking path. As we headed over there, I looked to the right and the bird was there, walking along the grass by the edge of the field. We watched and photographed it as a few more birders showed up. It favored a small rain puddle where it was pulling out earthworms and chowing down.

A couple hours later, people walking the area with their dogs caused the bird to make a few flights around the pond, but it eventually ended up back at its favorite puddle. When I left, the bird was still there.

After getting back home and processing my photos, I agree with others that this was a 'hendersoni' Short-billed Dowitcher.

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Ruddy Duck at Green Pond ~ June 8, 2021

Since I had to drop off some papers in Bethlehem Township, I decided to make a run over to Green Pond to see if the surrounding thunderstorms might have 'grounded' some shorebirds. When I checked the retention pond that's closest to Farmersville Road, I was surprised to find a male Ruddy Duck on it. In past years, Ruddy Ducks have been seen in June on the pond itself, but this bird was at the retention pond instead. I grabbed a couple long-distant photos to document it.

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