2009 Archives

6Feb/090

Another state bird for the list- Le Conte’s Sparrow

: Image via Wikipedia

Stopped at the Darlington Tract in Delaware County today to look for the Le Conte's Sparrow that has been seen in the area. I was lucky as I walked out and saw the bird almost immediately, although it was skittish and I only got to see it for a short time before it disappeared. I didn't have my digiscoping equipment with me so I didn't get any pictures but you can find some nice ones of the same bird on flickr and HowardsView.com.

Le Conte's Sparrow belongs to the same group as our Henslow's and Grasshopper Sparrows which can be found in parts of the state.

Le Conte's Sparrow is an excellent find in Pennsylvania any time of the year because it neither breeds nor winters near us. In fact, its migration path is significantly west of us on the central plains. This bird has withstood several good snow/ice storms so far so hopefully it will make it thru the whole winter. If you haven't made it out to see this bird yet, I would recommend trying for it because it seems pretty reliable.

Le Contes Sparrow Range Map from BNA Online

Sparrow Migration at Sandy Hook (dendroica.blogspot.com)
Migrating sparrows bring sweet songs, warm colors to Northeast Ohio (cleveland.com)

Filed under: bird finding, bird sightings, Chase, rarities No Comments

4Feb/092

The Snowstorm

written by Drew Weber

Last night the forecast was calling for a dusting to 2" of snow. Around 9 pm the snow really started falling and was already 4 inches deep when we went to bed at 11pm. We expected that to be it, but it continued on and we ended up with 10"+ of snow, our first good snowfall of the year. Here's what our backyard looked like. Throughout the day there were about 40 Pine Siskins coming in to feed, the most I've seen here.

The Millersville forecaster made this image to show where the snow event took place. Amazingly it was an incredibly narrow area that ranged from 1"-12". The yellow region is what received a 1" snowfall with pockets of 6" and 12" snow.

image from snowball.millersville.edu/~cws/SpecialWeatherDiscussion.html

Filed under: life, non-bird, scenery 2 Comments

3Feb/093

Ferruginous Hawk in PA?

written by Drew Weber

A possible Ferruginous Hawk has been reported in central Pennsylvania, with some distant shots at http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/chadkauffy/Birds/.

Anyone have any opinions from these shots? I think I am leaning more towards a dark Red-tailed Hawk but I'd love to hear other opinions.

Filed under: rarities 3 Comments

11Jan/096

White-winged Crossbilll irruption

written by Drew Weber

We are currently enjoying a large irruption of White-winged Crossbills across much of the northern states. I have gotten to see a flock several times near New Holland and have been returning in hopes of finding a Common Redpoll or Red Crossbill mixed in with the good numbers of Pine Siskins and White-winged Crossbills. Unfortunately, I have not gotten any pictures of the crossbill but you can check out Mike's Birding & Digiscoping blog for some great pictures and a video.

I put a map together a while ago of crossbill sightings, so you can see they are quite widespread across the state. These are not all the sightings but I may have time to update them later.

Leave me a comment of where you have seen crossbills in PA this year and I can add them to the map.

[umap id="17634" size="m" alignment="center"]

Filed under: bird feeding, bird sightings 6 Comments