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a place to express my love for birds |
A fellow birder let me know of a really great birding spot less than two miles from my house! I visited this morning and heard, #161, Prairie Warbler and #162, Grasshopper Sparrow. Later at home, I was walking around our small lot and I spotted an American Robin on her nest ![]() ![]() I'm trying to leave her alone to incubate her eggs, but I hope to see a glimpse of baby Robins before the fledge (leave the nest)! She's in a pretty high-trafficked area, mostly cars driving by but often people walk right by. She's up pretty high, at least ten feet, though, so she's out of reach. I hope she has a successful nest, and I'm thrilled she picked my garage for her nest! ![]() |
I had a few new species this week. Monday I saw, #157, Indigo Bunting in the parking lot at Locust Lake. Oddly, I didn't get any at my feeders this year! I had two last year, and I expected them to return, but I haven't seen them. Of course, I don't watch the feeders all day,so I could have missed them. On Friday, I saw #158, Chimney Swift at a shopping plaza in the early morning, and then I heard a #159, Hooded Warbler at State Gamelands (while searching for a Cerulean Warbler, which I didn't find). I'd loooove to see a Hooded Warbler someday! They're quite distinct-looking! Today I heard, #160, Blackpoll Warblers at Locust Lake. I learned today that Blackpoll Warblers pretty much signal the end of the Spring migration, so they're kind of a bittersweet bird for birders. The funny thing is, I had 160 birds within 5 months, and now it will probably slow way down for the rest of the year. I still look forward to hiking and birdwatching for the rest of 2018, though. ![]() |
Another big weekend in birding! I can't believe how many more species I'm identifying compared to last year! ![]() Thursday I took a long hike in the woods near my house and got a few good birds: #149, Magnolia Warbler ![]() Spotted Sandpiper ![]() and I also heard #150, Worm-eating Warbler and #151, Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I hope I get to see the Y-b Cuckoo this year! I had one in the woods by my house two years ago, and I got to see it almost every time I went for a walk! I didn't see it at all last year, though. I'm hoping it's back for the season again! Friday morning I took a short walk near home and at the end of my walk, I spotted two Common Ravens ![]() Saturday I walked around my sister's town to help her with her migratory bird count. We didn't see many warblers, but we did witness two American Crows dive-bombing a juvenile Bald Eagle over the creek! I've seen smaller birds harass raptors, but this was really close to us so we got a good look! This morning I went to Locust Lake with two other birders to take part in the migratory bird count going on this weekend. We didn't see quite as many species as we had hoped for, but I got a few new ones. #152, Canada Warbler #153. Tennessee Warbler #154. Louisiana Waterthrush ![]() #155, Lincoln's Sparrow #156. Cliff Swallow ![]() Unknown Flycatcher ![]() |
It's been an exciting week! On Sunday afternoon, I thought I saw a flash of bright orange in a neighbor's tree. There's really only one bird we have that color, so I kept an eye on my yard. I put orange halves out and something had been eating them. I thought it was the Gray Catbird, as I had a few of those last year eating oranges. Then I spotted a Baltimore Oriole ![]() ![]() I went for a walk at Locust Lake on Tuesday and I heard #146, Wood Pewee, and spotted #147, a Bank Swallow. They're very similar to a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, but I got a good look at it through my binoculars. Thankfully, it landed on the ground and sat still for a little bit! Swallows don't typically do that! ![]() This morning I took a long walk at Tuscarora State Park, one of my favorite parks. I saw a bunch of good birds (still no Louisiana Waterthrush): Blue-headed Vireo ![]() Veery ![]() Pileated Woodpecker ![]() I almost went home, but I thought I'd check out another quick trail first. That's where I spotted #148, Scarlet Tanager ![]() ![]() I can't believe I'm almost at 150 birds! Last year I saw 137 for the entire year! I'm having a good year! ![]() |
The first week of May should be known as Warbler Week! ![]() 126. Northern Waterthrush ![]() 127. Northern Parula ![]() 128. Cape May Warbler (lifer) 129. Chestnut-sided Warbler ![]() 130. Least Flycatcher 131. Red-eyed Vireo 132. Common Yellowthroat 133. Yellow-throated Vireo Friday evening I parked along a road where there is a reclaimed mining area and heard #134, Eastern Whip-poor-will. This morning I went on a guided bird walk at Nescopeck State Park again. I was there last weekend and there wasn't much activity. One week later, and it was bursting with migratory birds! It drizzled a bit while we were there, but the major rain held off, thankfully! 135. Solitary Sandpiper 136. Barred Owl (heard calling off in the distance) 137. Eastern Kingbird 138. Warbling Vireo (lifer) 139. House Wren 140. Swainson's Thrush 141. Blackburnian Warbler (one of my favorite warblers) 142. Yellow Warbler 143. Wilson's Warbler (a more rare one for our area and a lifer) 144. Orchard Oriole (lifer) 145. Purple Finch Now I just need to see these last ten birds in my county! ![]() Happy Birding! ![]() |
The Spring migratory birds are arriving! Well, the early birds ![]() Today I got: #123, Baltimore Oriole ![]() #124, Veery ![]() #125, American Redstart ![]() Good stuff! Now I'll want to go out every morning to see what's new! ![]() The female Rose-breasted Grosbeak has arrived at my feeder now, too! I'll have to try to get a photo! This morning I also saw one Blue Jay feeding seeds to another! I don't often see "courting" among Blue Jays. ![]() |
Saturday I headed to Landingville and I almost didn't get out of the car because it was so foggy! (I thought if I traveled farther South, maybe it wouldn't be so foggy but it was worse than at home!) Once I got out, though, I heard #117, Wood Thrush (my favorite song!) and #118, Ovenbird. I made my way around and I didn't get many photos because of the fog (well, not photos of birds. There were lots of spiderwebs to photograph!) and I heard, #119, Black-throated Green Warbler and spotted #119, Grey Catbird sitting on a branch singing. Oh, and I also heard #120, American Bittern while I was there, though it took me a while to realize what I was hearing! They have a really strange sound. At Locust Lake, I met up with a group of birders in the middle of a guided walk and we saw #121, Black-throated Blue Warbler! (One lucky birder also spotted a Northern Waterthrush, but most of us didn't see it. Those waterthrushes are really eluding me this year!) On Sunday, I went on a guided bird walk at Nescopeck State Park, one of my favorite places. I didn't get any new species, but I think my sister got quite a few and we got a really good look at a Black-throated Green Warbler! Today I had my first #122, Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my feeder! The warblers are a little later than usual this year, but within one week, I expect to see lots of them! Meanwhile, I have lots of other birds and critters to see and photograph! ![]() Western Conifer Seed Bug ![]() Tree Swallow taking flight ![]() Green Heron ![]() Eastern Hognose Snake ![]() ![]() ![]() No Indigo Buntings yet, but the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (there are two males now!) are stopping by my feeder multiple times per day now! ![]() |
This morning I had #116, Rose-breasted Grosbeak ![]() I also finally got to apply a car decal that my sister got me for Xmas (I had to wait until it was warm outside): I Stop for Birds ![]() ![]() ![]() The warblers are going to be here really, really soon! I can tell the local birders are getting anxious waiting for them! ![]() |
I feel like we're in between waves of migratory warblers... The first wave has been through (Palm Warblers, Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers) and I'm waiting for the rest to show up! This week I saw #113, Green Heron ![]() ![]() I have a bird walk this weekend that should bring me some good warblers! Some new photos: Red-winged Blackbird ![]() Yellow-rumped Warbler ![]() Bald Eagle ![]() Greater Yellowlegs ![]() Great Blue Heron ![]() Field Sparrow ![]() Eastern Towhee and Brown Thrasher ![]() |
Well, the owl/woodock walk wasn't quite as successful as we had hoped. We didn't get an owl to call (we play tapes of the owl's call to try to lure it in and call back), but we had a nice time otherwise. We did see American Woodcock, which is always cool! We're entering prime birding time, so I'm pretty much going to go out birding every day unless it's a downpour or I'm exhausted! ![]() Friday morning, I went to a new birding spot, a local reservoir. I didn't see a whole lot of activity, but I did hear #111, a Ruffed Grouse drumming! ![]() The thing that doesn't come across in video (unless you listen with headphones and have a good stereo system) is how eerie it can be. It's such a low frequency that you can almost feel it! It's so cool! There's no mistaking it if one starts drumming near you in the woods! After the reservoir, I went to Landingville Marsh again for a quick walk. At home, I went for a third walk near my house and heard #112, a Broad-winged Hawk! I also saw it fly away from me. Shortly after, I heard the call again, but this time it was a Blue Jay mimicking the hawk! I had heard Blue Jays imitate a Red-tailed Hawk before, but never a Broad-winged Hawk! They can imitate a variety of other birds and odd noises. Yesterday morning I went with my sister to Montour Preserve. We didn't see anything new, but I got some good photos. There was a nice flat trail (we were both tired and a bit sore from too much activity earlier in the week) that went around a pond. Lots of warbler activity there! Warblers seem to like water and bushes to hide in nearby. Palm Warbler ![]() Eastern Phoebe ![]() Greater Yellowlegs ![]() This morning I went to Locust Lake because I'm on a mission to see a Waterthrush. We have two in our area, Louisiana and Northern, and I've never seen either! I almost didn't stay because the lake seemed pretty busy with people on a Sunny Sunday morning, but I thought I'd at least walk around a little. I'm so glad I stayed! There was a Horned Grebe ![]() ![]() As I was going to leave (I thought about maybe visiting another birding spot since it was early-ish), I saw a table set up near the parking lot. It was a local conservancy group, and they invited me to stay for their bird walk! It was hosted by the same birder that guided the owl/woodcock event! It wasn't a public event, meant mostly for members of their group, but they invited me along (and I think I'm going to join their group now)! In addition to the birds I saw on my first loop around the lake, we spotted a Blue-headed Vireo ![]() ![]() ![]() It was a great birding weekend, beautiful weather and lots of birds! I hope it continues through May and the rest of the year! ![]() |