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a place to express my love for birds |
This is a blog/journal about birds and birding. I grew up watching birds, as I lived in a rural area with farms, fields and forests. As an adult, I got into "serious" birding around the year 2015 when I went on my first "guided" bird walk at a local state park in Pennsylvania. In 2017, I kept track of how many different species I could spot in one year, which was 137. In 2017, I saw 201 species! So I have some goals for 2019: Five "lifers" (A "lifer" is a bird I have never seen/identified before) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Enter a checklist every day on www.ebird.org Visit 10 new "hotspots" (popular birding sites like parks, gamelands and sanctuaries) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.  Sharp-shinned Hawk in my backyard, December 2017  Snowy Owl in Fleetwood, PA, January 2018 |
| 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 get Robins in my yard sometimes, but they usually just look around and hop over to my neighbor's yard. See, my yard has no grass, so Robins lose interest quickly. Lately, though, I've noticed some Robins spending a lot of time in my yard. They've started getting aggressive/territorial toward other birds (especially the Blue Jays), so I figured they had a nest somewhere close by. I had no idea it was on my garage!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'm also grateful she's not blocking that gutter!) |
| 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 in a tree very close to my house! I had been hearing a Raven for the last two weeks, and seeing two of them like this makes me hope they're building a nest nearby! There's a rock quarry nearby and they apparently like to build nests near those. If they do have young ones, I'll hear them in June!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 - I finally got one!#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 in my yard eating oranges! 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 usually see one every year, but this was by far my best photo! They're usually high up in the trees but this one flew a bit closer. Actually there were two males and a little later, I also saw female!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! I had SO many new species this week! I went out nearly every morning and got a lot of new species at Locust Lake: 126. Northern Waterthrush Yay! A Waterthrush! Now I just need the Louisiana!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! I love to go on the guided hikes in the Spring because I don't know warblers as well as I know most of the birds that stick around our area year-round (or most of the year). It's a great way for me to learn tips and tricks for spotting and remembering them!Happy Birding! |
| The Spring migratory birds are arriving! Well, the early birds were here for a couple weeks, but now the rest are catching up! 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!  Soon the leaves will start growing on the trees, and the birds will be tough to see! I'm still working on learning warbler songs, so I'll have to see how many I can identify by their songs!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 (It crawled onto my camera today when I had it set up on a tripod to try to get a photo of the hummingbird)Tree Swallow taking flight It can be tough to take "interesting" photos of birds that you see all the time. I like this one!Green Heron I learned my lesson from the last time I spotted this guy! Last time, I stopped suddenly and he flew off! This time, I kept moving a little past him and tried to sort of hide behind some trees and bushes while I took the photo.Eastern Hognose Snake My first snake! Well, my first when I was out on my own. I saw the same kind of snake on a guided walk once. They're kind of adorable once you realize they're harmless! They puff themselves up and hiss like a cobra! But they'll also play dead as a defense tactic. 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 at my feeder! Last year a female showed up first on May 3rd, followed by the male and they were regular visitors for at least a week! 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 (I thought it was hilarious when I realized I put the decal under the dent on my rear door! Someone might see it and think, "Oh, she's serious!" The dent didn't come from someone hitting me. Actually, I don't know when it happened. I just saw a small dent and scratch one day. I assumed it was from a grocery cart.  The warblers are going to be here really, really soon! I can tell the local birders are getting anxious waiting for them! I also put up my hummingbird feeder last week, so I'm waiting for them! And last year I had Indigo Buntings by the end of April, so I'm keeping an eye out for them at my backyard feeders, too! |
| 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 at Landingville (Monday) and #114, Spotted Sandpiper at Locust Lake (today).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 (They're back in the woods near where I live! I love hearing both of them singing!) |
| 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! If you've never heard it, it's like this: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 (Probably my best ever Palm Warbler photo!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 on the lake, my first sighting in my county this year of that species, and three Common Loons. I got some nice views of a Hermit Thrush and a Bald Eagle was hanging out at the lake, too.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 and another rare (for our area) Caspian Tern ! Another local birder joined us by the end, and all three of us were super excited to see the tern! I had spotted four last week during a storm that blew through our area but they hadn't seen it. It's hard explaining to non-birders why it's so exciting to see a bird like this in our area. The guide for our walk has been birding for over 20 years in our county and this was the second time he's seen one of these in our county! It was a great birding weekend, beautiful weather and lots of birds! I hope it continues through May and the rest of the year! |
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