This afternoon, I was driving home from New Jersey after completing the hawk counting season. It was a pleasant day but I didn’t see much bird-wise for most of the trip. It was pretty ordinary in fact until I turned on to Schantz Rd southwest of Allentown. I spotted a plowed field off to the right that was sporting a large (1/2 acre maybe?) flooded area. Straining my eyes as I slowed down I could see birds moving out in the water and one really seemed to stick out. Slamming on the breaks and swerving to the shoulder in the safest manner possible, I slung by binoculars to my eyes, fully expecting to see the graceful foraging of a Greater Yellowlegs.
Read More
Today was a sad day in some respects. My last day at the hawk watch and last day with all the wonderful people that came up to help me scan the skies for the migrating raptors. I ended the season with 2,966 raptors, just shy of the more impressive looking 3,000 mark that I was hoping for. Still, due to strong flights by several species, it was a respectable and very enjoyable season. I also managed to rack up a total of 124 species seen from the watch, including 20 warbler species, 6 swallow species, 5 thrush spp. and 4 vireo spp. The exciting thing is that in approximately 5 hours from now, my fiance and I are going to do what I am dubbing a “Medium Day”.
Read More
I finally hit the 200 mark for the year, a good start but not necessarily that stellar. There have been quite a few birds mixed in to make it interesting though. A Long-billed Murrelet showed up at Sandy Hook in January to provide me with my first rarity of the season. I was also able to see a Scott’s Oriole and a Lazuli Bunting in Mechanicsburg and Red Hill, PA, respectively, which were both new state birds for me. One notable bird I did not chase (and now regret) was the Yellow-billed Loon that was present on the Susquehanna near Harrisburg, PA for several days in May. Number 200 was a Whip-poor-will that sounded off as I walked around outside of the Weis Ecology Center. Hopefully this summer, fall and winter will bring me many more excellent birds to see and to chase.
Read More
Here are some of my attempts at catching the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher through my scope. Seems that despite my best efforts, this guy was always able to hide behind at least a little bit of tree stuff. The last shot is my favorite, catching it mid-hover as it is going up to snag an insect off of the leaves. The hawk flight has slowed considerably, only 1 Cooper’s Hawk today and nothing this past Saturday. If it weren’t for all the new migrants it would really be boring. Warblers for the day include: Blue-winged, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green, N. Parula, A. Redstart,Yellow-rumped and Common Yellowthroat.
Read More
You might think I had nothing to do today, but in fact I saw quite a lot of birds (if you consider that doing anything). This waterfall is off one of the trails near Weis Ecology Center in northern New Jersey.
Read More
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny little bird, weighing in at only 6.9 g or less than a quarter ounce. Despite its small size, it has to be one of the speediest foragers of all time. I come to this conclusion honestly, after trying with no luck to digiscope one individual that was foraging quite close. Their main targets are spiders, insects and insect eggs. Below is one of the two shots I managed where the bird actually showed up on the picture. I did crop quite a bit, but I left as much bird in as possible. With this second shot, I had more cooperation. Identifiable, yes. Print worthy, not really. Maybe like Britney Spears, this Ruby-crown had a bad haircut to hide.
Read More
As already blogged by Birdchaser, there is a beautifully plumaged Yellow-billed Loon drifting up and down the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. Only a little over an hour from my house, this would be an excellent bird to chase for both a state and life bird for me. But, seeing as I am in New Jersey for another week, that chase would be a 4 hour drive each way. Now, I really like adding birds to my state list but sometimes I just don’t feel its worth the 8 hours of driving and the full tank of gas that it would take just to see one bird. I can only hope that it will still be around in a week when I head past Harrisburg to start training for my summer job working for the PA Breeding Bird Atlas.
Read More
Amy Hooper over at WildBird on the Fly recently blogged on what a border fence could mean for the birds and birders visiting south Texas. Read her entire post here. I think the idea of a big fence stretching hundreds or thousands of miles is a silly proposal, more like what kids playing in a sandbox would suggest. The people crossing our border are already making it through many difficult obstacles and I find it hard to believe that one more obstacle is going to make a difference.
Read More
With spring migration in full swing now, and no nasty weather to stop it sightings have really picked up. I was lucky enough to go home to Pennsylvania for a day and was able to find 7 species of warbler close to Lake Ontelaunee, one of my favorite places to bird in my county. My highlight was getting very close views at 2 different Northern Waterthrushes and realizing how different they look than the Louisiana Waterthrush. Another highlight was the Marsh Wren, a very good bird for the county. At the hawkwatch, new birds have been arriving every day. Recently a Field Sparrow has been hanging out with the flock of Chippies behind the lookout, giving everyone great looks. Yellow-rumped Warblers have been quite common the last few weeks but they are now in their beautiful breeding plumage and are really showing it off.
Read More
Get This Widget!Great Turtle Race So I found this great website where you can follow The Great Turtle Race. It’s a little more fun than Rat Race but maybe not quite as exciting. Eleven Leatherback Sea Turtles are being tracked from the coast of Costa Rica on their journey to the Galapagos Islands. You are encouraged to cheer for one of the turtles and watch as they complete their journey via a snazzy interface that updates every 10 minutes. Widgets, like the one above, have also been created to show your support for the various turtles. Although I do like that fact that one individual has been named Stephanie Colburtle in honor of Stephen Colbert, I am really pulling for a win by Billie who is now 86 miles from the finish zone.
Read More