Well, I went to go find the Western Kingbird again. I figured it was so easy the first time, why not try to get it for this year’s list. It is an attractive bird anyways, so it would be nice to see again. Well, no such luck for me today. I arrived and a Herb from Lancaster County was already … Read More
A quiet January day
Today I met up with a friend to do some birding around Lake Ontelaunee and Blue Marsh Lake. It is the beginning of January so the expectation is that there should be ducks and geese in large flocks. Unfortunately this was not the case. Only 5 species of duck made an appearance and two of those species (Bufflehead, Gadwall) were … Read More
The Hungry Herring
While at Barnegat Light State Park in New Jersey late last year I was lucky enough to photograph a Herring Gull chopping down on a nice looking sea star. I normally associate sea stars with Florida or the West Coast because that is where I have seen the most and so I was surprised at first when I recognized the … Read More
Lucky end to the year
I was particularly lucky these finals days of the year, getting great looks at the Western Kingbird and pretty good looks at the Ash-throated Flycatcher. And even better, both these birds were close to my house so I didn’t have to spend money on gas. This is a great change after missing some key birds earlier in the year (Fork-tailed … Read More
Western Kingbird in my county
Birds can be very interesting when they show up out of place, but they are especially exciting when they show up nearby and no long drive is necessary to see them. So is the case with this Western Kingbird, which I managed to see on the way home from breakfast this morning.
Success at last! Ash-throated Flycatcher
The Ash-throated Flycatcher proved an easy target for my camera. I am heading off to New Jersey early tomorrow with my girlfriend so I need sleep and will post more of my adventures over the weekend.
and I missed the Thayer’s Gull
Missed another good bird yesterday. There was a Thayer’s Gull reported at Memorial Lake State Park along with a first cycle Iceland Gull. Both are good for the area with Thayer’s being especially hard to find this far east. It was a second cycle bird that had been seen at least several nights coming in to roost. Due to the … Read More
Solanco CBC wrapup
The day started at 4am with a couple productive hours of owling around Octorara Lake. Using calls from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s recent release, Voices of North American Owls, we managed to hear (but not see) 5 species of owls; 6 N. Saw-whet Owls, 6 E. Screech Owls, 2 Long-eared Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls and 1 Barn Owl. … Read More
Foggy Birding at Lake Ontelaunee
It was wonderfully foggy yesterday but I decided I wanted to see what the lake held before the fog lifted and everything flew off. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick that I could barely see anything on the lake. There was a good flock of Canada Geese with one young Snow Goose mixed in as well as a Red-breasted Merganser. … Read More