Vast agricultural areas aren’t exactly the first landscape that comes to mind when thinking of ideal migrant shorebird habitat. For me the vast coastal marshes of the Delmarva will always be at the top of the list for the country’s best shorebird-watching, but while doing bird surveys in central Illinois recently I was happy to encounter many large flocks of American Golden-Plovers flying … Read More
Headed for Canada, but not without a Tufted Duck
This past weekend, I joined the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) on a four day birding trip through Ontario. This would be the second time I had ever been to Canada, and the first time I had been there for birding! I had been dreaming about this trip for months and it was finally happening – I had a chance … Read More
Leucistic Cackling Goose in PA
On February 8th, Pennsylvania birder and photographer Dustin Welch found a very unusual Cackling Goose mixed in with typical Cackling Geese and Canada Geese near Beltzville State Park, in east-central PA. As you can see from Dustin’s photos below, this Cackling Goose is leucistic with very pale and sandy-colored plumage throughout its body, tail, and primary feathers. The head coloration seems to … Read More