Adventures in Birding

#196 to #199

As we approach the end of the year, my new species really begins to slow (and I start to get excited about starting a new year over)!

A few weeks back, I saw #196, Dunlin  , a really great bird for our area. It's not necessarily "rare," though rarely seen. It passes through during migration. It has only been report on Ebird three times in our county and my sighting is the first photograph of one!

The same day as the Dunlin, I saw #197, a Vesper Sparrow, briefly at Tuscarora State Park, which was also a lifer for me!

Last week, I went on a trip to see #198, Cattle Egret, that has taken up residence at a sheep farm outside of Bloomsburg, PA. They're not typically found in our area at all!

Yesterday, I saw another not often seen bird in our area, #199, Greater Scaup, a type of duck. I got a better look at it today  .

I'm excited to see if I can reach 200 by the end of the year! My hope is that an Evening Grosbeak will stop by my feeder! They've been seen in the county (and all over Pennsylvania) recently! A lot of the Winter birds like this one are having an "Irruption" year, which means they're traveling farther South than typical due to lack of food. It's a good year to see Pine Siskins, Grosbeaks and Purple Finches farther South than usual!

Some cool photos I had recently:

Common Raven and American Crow in the same shot!  

Fox Sparrow  

Red-tailed Hawk  

Hermit Thrush  

Lincoln's Sparrow