%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
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 |
One of the things I love about my job (real estate appraiser) is that it lets me travel all over my area and it lets me make my own schedule, so I can fit in birding in the mornings!  This morning I went to Locust Lake where I found two Wood Ducks up in a tree. From my research, it seems like they might have been looking for a nesting spot! I've only ever seen them in water before, so I was surprised when they took off from a tree next to the path I was on! At the lake, I heard #109, Blue-headed Vireo! They sound pretty similar to Red-eyed Vireo (they look totally different) but the Blue-headed Vireo is common to our area right now. The other will arrive later. I listened to the song before I got to the park because I knew they were there, and I wanted to know what to listen for! I also saw a few other cool species, including two Osprey  . I've seen Osprey here before, but only one at a time. They were probably a mated pair! All the birds are pairing off! Also, Tree Swallows are back! They nest at this lake so they're usually doing their acrobatics all Summer over the lake!I stopped at Tuscarora SP. Nothing new, but this cute Eastern Phoebe on the beach I also did a quick stop at Owl Creek Reservoir and got one I've been hoping for, #110, Red-breasted Nuthatch. Again, I didn't see it, but I knew its song to identify it. They're not found in too many areas in our county, but they're known to be at that location. The last few times I stopped there, I just didn't hear/see any. I was glad to get one today! I have another owl/woodcock event tomorrow. They're doing an evening bird walk before sunset, so maybe I'll get some new ones then! We actually had a lot of rain and some snow today, so I'm looking forward to the upcoming warmer weather! |
| There is a Great-horned Owl nest in Ephrata, PA that gets used every year. The owlet(s) are getting pretty big and will probably leave the nest soon, so I thought it was time to go visit them before that happens. We stopped at a nearby hospital first, though, to check out, #106, Black-crowned Night Herons . The herons have built a "rookery" in the trees at the edge of the hospital parking lot!  Then we saw #107, Great-horned Owl .On our way home, we stopped at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. We did the 1.4 mile hike around the Conservation Trail, then drove around the lake where we spotted, #108, Northern Shovelers There's a chance of rain tomorrow but then sunny skies for a while after! Looks like great weather for birding! |
| Another walk at Landingville today and one new species, #105 Black-and-white Warbler I also got a photo of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher . They can be tough to capture because they hop around a lot between branches. I've always wanted to photograph its eyebrow that makes it look so grumpy!  Later this week I have another Owl/Woodcock walk on Friday evening. I helped with the scouting trip for it a few weeks back when we saw Woodcock and heard a Saw-whet Owl calling from the trees. I hope we get some more this week with the "official" walk! |
| The weather got really amazing for two days, but now we're back to cooler temps and rain. Saturday was really nice, but I had a doctor appointment in the morning, so my sister and I went out birding in the afternoon. Birds are most active and sing the most in the mornings, but they're still around in the afternoons! We went to Landingville, and though I didn't get any new species, my sister got a few and we spotted this really cool snapping turtle ! After Landingville, we drove to a nearby dairy farm where they have #103, a Purple Martin colony! Purple Martins are a type of swallow that depend on humans building homes for them! (According to wikipedia, the Native Americans hollowed out gourds for the birds to nest in!) Yesterday it rained in the morning a bit, but I went out anyway. I went to a state park, but it was a bit too windy for anything. I traveled to another nearby state park and it wasn't quite as windy there (blocked by mountains, I think). There, I saw #104, Caspian Terns . Terns are a really common bird, but usually at big lakes and at the ocean! One website I use for a lot of bird info (www.allaboutbirds.org) has a migration map that shows they don't use my area for migrating at all! My Sibley field guide shows my area as "Rare," so it was a good find! I think they might like rougher waters (maybe it churns the fish up a bit and they can catch them easier?) so the wind may have helped yesterday. They've only been spotted in my county a few times, not even once per year! (You can search by species on www.ebird.org to see where a particular species has been spotted)I believe the Caspian Tern was a lifer for me, too. I see Terns when I go camping in NY at Lake Oneida, but those are Common Terns. On Thursday this week, I had some excitement at my home feeder! My goal since I started birding and moved into my house, was to eventually attract a warbler to my yard. It's not easily done, but this week I had a Pine Warbler visit my feeders! I was sooooo excited! I think my location helps (I'm on the edge of a town, near a forest). I've heard that providing water really helps attract them, and I've been thinking of getting another bird bath (my last one was plastic and cracked when I left it out in the Winter). This Pine Warbler checked out my suet feeder, then proceeded to eat some sunflower seeds. I haven't seen him since, but I'm so glad he stopped by and seemed to enjoy my offerings!Happy Birding! |
| I've had some great birding in the last few days! Yesterday I saw a glimpse of #100, Brown Thrasher. They're quite common in Spring and Summer. In Spring, they sit at the tops of trees and sing and sing and sing. They repeat phrases twice and run through a whole bunch of repeated songs. I also saw my first Common Loon in my county yesterday, too. There were actually two at the lake and I was surprised they weren't skittish at all!Today I went to Landingville again. First thing, I spotted two Immature Bald Eagles , then #101, American Coot and then a few #102, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers . They sound like the bats from Scooby-Doo! They also have a dark eyebrow that can make them look rather funny depending on the angle Also of note: Pied-billed Grebes Green-winged Teals Pine Warblers Rusty Blackbird Carolina Wren Palm Warblers American Coot I also accidentally discovered a Canada Goose nest! I was watching warblers and a noise caught my attention. I looked up and saw a goose a few feet away from me! She stood up and I saw the nest (with eggs) underneath her. I quickly backed up and she sat back down after grumbling a little. I've heard that geese can get quite mean, but I think she was reluctant to leave the eggs unguarded. The nest was right off the path! It seems like we won't be able to walk around the marsh for about a month or so until the eggs hatch and the goslings leave the nest! (I called the trail managers to let them know. Canada Geese aren't a protected species, but I don't think they'd want anyone hurt by getting too close to the nest!)It's going to rain the next few days, so I have a feeling I'm going to be watching my bird feeders in my backyard for a bit. |
| I went on a bird walk to a nearby county, a really nice piece of land called Montour Preserve. It's a big park so we didn't cover all of it, but I got a ton of new water-bird species! #89 - Ruddy Duck #90 - Horned Grebe #91 - Lesser Scaup #92 - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker #93 - Greater Yellowlegs #94 - Northern Rough-winged Swallows #95 - Blue-winged Teals #96 - Common Loon #97 - Bufflehead My sister and I checked out a field that gets flooded in Bloomsburg, PA, and spotted, #98, Lesser Yellowlegs This morning I went back to Landingville and it was the best morning yet! I only had one new species, #99, Bank Swallow, but I also got a lot of great photos: (Most of these have multiple photos, so you can scroll through them if you click on the links) Wood Ducks! I finally got some photos of Wood Ducks! They can be really shy and quiet, so I often flush them without even realizing they were right next to me. Not today, though!Pine Warblers Yellow-rumped Warblers Osprey Northern Rough-winged Swallows Even though the temperatures are still not typical for Spring (mid 40s today! Yikes!), the Spring birds don't seem to mind! |
| I feel like I'm going full-steam with bird species this year! Last year at this time, I was just hitting the 70s, and now I'm nearing the 90s this year! Yesterday I managed two birding trips in one day! In the morning, I went to Landingville again, my current favorite spot! I saw #87, Brown Creeper, which was super exciting for me! They're a pretty common bird, but can be super hard to spot! They blend right in with tree bark and every year I worry I won't see one. I only spot them once or twice a year usually! So I was excited to get it crossed off my list. (I also spotted and identified Rusty Blackbirds on my own which was pretty cool. They're really very similar to a few other species. They are one of the most declining species in our country! They migrate through on their way to Canada, so I was happy to spot them again!) Then in the evening, I met up with a local birding expert who was scouting out for an official state park birding event in two weeks. It's a night-time Owl/Woodcock walk. We got to the parking lot of a trail around dusk and waited for the American Woodcock to start their courtship ritual. We had at least three of them, I think. Then we headed into the woods to try to get a Saw-whet Owl. Normally, we have to play a tape of a male calling for about 20 minutes or so, and if we're lucky we can lure another male in to answer. We totally lucked out because as we were walking toward a known good spot, we heard #88, a Saw-whet Owl calling (or "tooting") on its own! It's a good sign that they're probably breeding/nesting in that park! They're still considered a "rare" sighting for our area, but I think their species is really starting to grow in our area.They are one of the cutest little owls, too! Click here for more about Saw-whet Owls. I've never seen one in the wild, but I've heard them several times now. They have a really distinctive call, "too-too-too" and can be heard up to half a mile away. Loud for such a little thing!Definitely one of my favorite local birds! |
| The forecast said "periods of rain" so I took a chance and went birding at Landingville again this morning. I got caught in the rain about halfway around the dam, so I had to walk for about 1/2 mile in the rain back to the car. It was worth it, though! I saw #86, Pine Warblers and some other good birds today, too! Some photos: Bald Eagle Pine Warbler Ring-necked Duck Downy Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe There were so many Eastern Phoebes there today! They're one of my favorites because they're an early Spring bird and one of the first I've identified on my own. Those are always special. I had seen Ring-necked Ducks before, but they were kind of far off and someone else told me what they were. This was the first time I identified one myself, so that felt cool! At this point, I feel like I want to get out every day if it's not pouring down rain to try to get warblers. Some of them will stay and nest/breed in our area, but some are just passing through. I don't want to miss any! (I'll have another chance in the Fall, but their Spring colors are much easier to identify, so I try to get as many in Spring as I can) |
| Spring is here! I'm seeing more and more Spring birds with each day! I had #78, a Chipping Sparrow show up at my feeders this week! They're a pretty common bird, especially in parking lots at parks for some reason. They're not too shy around people, so you can usually get a good look at them. Yesterday I went to the local gamelands and had one new species: #79, Tree Sparrows. I headed to Landingville this morning because there have been some good sightings there recently. I met up with two other birders who arrived shortly before I did. I had six new species this morning including three lifers! It was a pretty good morning!We had: #80, Pied-billed Grebes (lifer) #81, Ruby-crowned Kinglets #82, Osprey #83, Palm Warbler #84, Double-crested Cormorants (lifer) #85, Rusty Blackbirds (lifer) I'm grateful to have knowledgeable birders in my area! I learn something new almost every time I go out with others and having another set of eyes is always good for spotting elusive birds! |
If you ever get a chance to go see the American Woodcock in Spring, do it!  It's so cool! I actually got to see their "Sky Dance" this year! Here in the North, they start around March, but in the South, it's more like December.It starts at dusk. Technically, they begin their courtship display at 15 lumens of light (so it starts earlier if it's overcast), about when the Robins stop singing and shortly after the Spring peepers begin calling. They start out making this adorable "Peent" noise (You can listen to all their sounds here . Then they take off on a shallow trajectory into the sky. They fly around in circles, going higher and higher. Sometimes they do flips and and circles and then they suddenly drop to the ground. (They do this flittering call while they're flying and their wings whistle, too!) Then it starts over!(They do the same thing at sunrise, too.) One of my favorite birds of the year! This is our second year going to this event and I actually saw the Sky Dance this year! I was so excited! My night vision isn't good at all, so I wasn't sure I'd get to see much. I saw one of the first ones that took off, while there was still some light, and it was overcast, which makes it easier to see them flying against a grey sky. Here are some videos of this adorable bird: |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
