blue phase Snow Goose

The most spectacular sight at Middle Creek is early in the morning when a large percentage of the geese take off from the lake and head to nearby fields to forage. The sky can be filled from horizon to horizon by the noisy birds as they fly overhead. This happens again in the evening as they flow back into the lake from the surrounding farm fields.

Snow Geese are a beautiful bird with their all-white bodies and black wingtips which makes them particularly stunning to see against a blue sky. They also come in a ‘blue phase’ and several intermediate phases as well. I personally think that the ‘blue phase’ is more striking than the white phase. This may be due to their relative rarity in a flock of Snow Geese.

Snow Geese can be quite long-lived (some over 26 years old), and combined with the fact that they are protected, their population has exploded in recent years. An older estimate from 1997 put their numbers at around 6.7 million birds, based on surveys done on the breeding ground. Numbers now are even higher. Unfortunately, this population explosion has lead to habitat degradation along the Atlantic Coast where they winter.

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• Snow Geese in Flight at Jamaica Bay (10000birds.com)

A Winter Wren was hopping around the nearby stream so I decided I would try to digiscope it. It’s been quite a while since I tried digiscoping little birds, but with warblers coming back in just two months I need to get back into it.

Winter Wren

Like a typical Winter Wren, this one would perch in view for a couple seconds, do its double chirp, and then change perches. I was lucky if I could find the wren in my scope and fire off a shot or two before it would move. It was also uncooperative when it came to perching in the open so the best shots I got were had a few branches in front of it. Still, I am pretty happy with the result. Anyone have tricks for getting good digiscope shots of quick, little birds?

I am used to seeing flocks of Sanderlings on the shore, chasing waves back and forth as they feed. It is quite another thing to watch one loafing around in the middle of PA on a muddy island, with no waves. The Sanderling seemed pretty content to stick around, lounging around all day in pretty much the same location.

The Sanderling was actually a bit difficult to digiscope. Most of my photos ended up nicely focused except for the head, which was always moving. It was in constant motion, foraging in the drier mud and pulling out worms. Its very sturdy bill enables it to probe in harder mud for prey. In a study of foraging flocks of Sanderlings in New Jersey, the Sanderlings spent 65% of their time actively searching for food and 35% probing, gleaning and pecking (Morton 1996).

Sanderlings have been known to live up to 13 years (Boates and McNeil 1984). Based on broad-scale surveys, the N.A. population of Sanderlings is roughly 300,000 individuals (Morrison et al. 2000). The number of Sanderlings along the Atlantic flyway is estimated to have decreased by 80% in the last 30 years. The biggest threats to Sanderlings are human disturbance, habitat loss and the associated loss of food. 

Sources:

Boates, J. S. and R. McNeil. 1984. Longevity record for the Sanderling. J. Field Ornithol. 55: 485.

Morrison, R. I. B., J. R. E. Gill, B. A. Harrington, S. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor and S. M. Haig. 2000. Population estimates of Nearctic shorebirds. Waterbirds 23: 337–352.

Morton, J. M. 1996. Effects of human disturbance on the behavior and energetics of nonbreeding Sanderlings. Ph.D. diss., Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg.

The Nature Conservancy. Sanderling. http://www.nature.org/initiatives/programs/birds/sibley/animals/art5632.html. Accessed 9/7/08.

A rare and irregular migrant in most of Pennsylvania, Buff-breasted Sandpipers are generally seen in fall, between the 3rd week in August and the 3rd week in September. These are mostly juveniles. Adults are much less common and pass through a few weeks earlier.

Occasionally the Buff-breasted Sandpiper would stretch up and look around, presumably alerted by something. Its normal behavior though was very active foraging, running around and probing for prey. At one point it pulled up a two inch worm and chowed down on that.

For a higher quality video, go to Youtube.

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Occasionally, Chester County Water Authority does some work on the dam and lowers the water level which expands the mud flats off of Bluegill Rd.  When this happens, or if it has been exceptionally dry recently, conditions are optimal to see lots of shorebirds.

During spring shorebird migration, the area along Mt. Eden Rd can be productive if the water level is low and the vegetation is still thin. Fall shorebird migration is best observed at Bluegill Rd. At times there can be several hundred birds foraging in the shallow water and along the shore. Often birds will fly in and out from unviewable areas so if no birds are visible when you first arrive, it is worth waiting around.

Bluegill Rd is also probably the best place to check for late summer dispersing herons and egrets. While Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets are the most common, Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets can both be almost expected if you can make several visits. Perhaps the most exciting heron seen here has been a small white egret with dark lores- resembling a Little Egret.

Spring passerine migration is probably best along Mt. Eden Rd and Tick Hill Rd but I have not spent much time at Octorara Lake at this time of the year.

Late fall and winter are the times to check for ducks and geese. I have seen Long-tailed Duck, Cackling Geese and a Ross’ Goose at Octorara. In the surrounding fields there are often huge flocks of blackbirds that can include Brewer’s and Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

The Octorara Lake area is definitely a place to check out year round. There is even a boat launch (for a small fee) and boat rentals along Spruce Grove Rd.

The most interesting thing about this bird was that it was not only banded on one leg with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife band, but the left leg also had a band. Since the left band had only three numbers, it was much easier to read. 011.

This Glossy Ibis was banded by New York Audubon, which is trying to study the behaviour of herons that roost near Staten Island. They have banded several ibises, as well as Great Egrets and Double-crested Cormorants to see where they are dispersing. Check the Meadowlands blog for more info on this.

I’ll post more details on the origin of the bird when I get them.

left: @ Middle Creek by Geoff Malosh- right: @ Conejohela Flats by Drew Weber

Above is a comparison of a photo Geoff Malosh took of the Middle Creek White Ibis with a photo of the ibis I took at Conejohela Flats.

Although these pictures show different sides of the bill, Geoff has another picture that shows both sides of the bill are similar in the Middle Creek bird. The dark/light pattern on the bills is quite different, confirming that these are different birds.

Any comments?