This evening I was able to tag along to watch Nate McKelvie, environmental educator at the Milton Hershey School, band four juvenile Barn Owls from one of the Hershey Trust’s old barns on the north side of Hershey. This is one of two known nesting sites in the area this year. The four juveniles were between 41 and 50 days … Read More
Mourning Warbler – PSU Fall Banding
We had another great morning of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum today, with 4 warbler species captured including a stunning juvenile female Mourning Warbler. Other species captured this morning were 1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 2 Blue Jays, 2 Wood Thrushes, 12 Gray Catbirds, 1 Brown Thrasher, 4 Eastern Towhees, and 1 House … Read More
Black-and-white Warbler – PSU Fall Banding
This morning was the PSU Forest Fest in the Botanic Gardens, so to make access for visitors easier, we moved the banding station up from Big Hollow. With two nets around bird feeders and the rest down along the forest edge, we were ready to catch a nice collection of birds to show the public. The highlight today was this … Read More
Yellow-bellied Invasion – PSU Fall Banding
After a week’s worth of warm weather, the cold front moving through also brought an incredible push of migrants across the Northeast. I was very excited to get out this morning and try to catch some birds, hoping Big Hollow would be full of migrants. As I was walking to the banding site I could hear (and sometimes see) warblers … Read More
Calliope Hummingbird – PA’s 2nd State Record!
On October 21st, Joe Flood spotted a hummingbird coming to the feeders in his backyard in Devon, PA. Joe thought it may just be a late moving Ruby-throated Hummingbird but had had a Rufous Hummingbird visit his yard the year before, so he posted photos on the PA Birders Facebook page looking for another opinion. While looking at the PA … Read More