On January 18th Justin Bosler, Chuck Berthoud, Josh Lefever, and I literally went on a wild goose chase. There were reliable reports of a Pink-footed Goose and at least 2 Barnacle Geese just over the border in New Jersey, and that’s not to mention the incredible mini-flock of 3 Northern Lapwings nearby! There were a few other notable birds in … Read More
Pink-footed fiasco turns into a great day of birding!
This morning, Ian Gardner and I joined up and drove from Hershey out to Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, PA to try our luck at finding the Pink-footed Goose that has returned for its second winter in the area. The bird would have been a lifer for the both of us and a species I REALLY want to see, … Read More
Thanksgiving Rarity Round-up Summary
It has taken me a month to finally post about all the rarities and other cool birds that Josh Lefever, Ian Gardner, and I chased through the southern New England states over the weekend before Thanksgiving. Since they are scattered around our archives throughout the last month, I thought I would make it easier and summarize the trip very briefly … Read More
Failed chase, waterfowl, and a dark Rough-legged Hawk
My friends and I were bummed that we had missed out on a very chase-able Eurasian Wigeon during the spring and thought we had lost our chase to get that species for our PA state lists. That was until last week, when a male Eurasian Wigeon was reported at Yellow Creek SP, which is about 1.5 hrs from State College. … Read More
Last minute duck luck on Long Island, New York
Ian Gardner, Josh Lefever, and I camped in my SUV on the night of November 16th. We parked the car near Alley Pond Park, with plans to be able to wake up the next morning and already be right there to try for the Virginia’s Warbler. This was the first night of our 5 day trip through coastal New England. … Read More
Missed the Lesser Goldfinch…..
This morning several of us from State College ran down to Greencastle, PA in search of the Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) that Dale Gearhart reported yesterday. There are no previous records of Lesser Goldfinch in Pennsylvania, and sightings anywhere east of the Mississippi are sparse. Dale had the feeders filled and they were pretty busy during our entire stay. Both White-crowned and White-throated … Read More
Photo Study: Black-headed Gull in Cape May, NJ
One of my target birds for our trip down to Cape May, NJ this past weekend was an adult Black-headed Gull that has been seen off-and-on for the past month and a half along the bayshore. My friends and I tried for this bird back in January and couldn’t find it and so decided to give it another chance yesterday. … Read More
Rarity Round-Up: A Four Day Birding Adventure
Click on links throughout this post to see our full eBird checklists and more photos for the locations mentioned! Last week I was sitting around campus with my friends Mark Mizak and Josh Lefever, thinking about the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. We knew we would have four days free and we knew we wanted to go birding. … Read More
Northern Shrike – Moraine SP
Anna Fasoli, Gretchen Lasser, Delia Guzman, and I spent almost the entire day today searching Moraine State Park for the previously reported Black-headed Gull(s), without any success. Luckily there was a very beautiful adult Northern Shrike that I was able to see multiple times throughout the day in the same parking lot as where the gulls roosted. Below are two … Read More
Pintail parade
Octorara Lake has been a great spot to see Northern Pintails this year. The last time I checked the area off of Mt Eden Rd, there were probably close to one thousand pintails feeding there. I was looking for a previously reported Eurasian Wigeon but struck out on that. Â Eurasian Wigeons have made quite a showing in PA this year, … Read More
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