One of the birding gems in Tioga County is the State Gamelands 313, better known to birders as “The Muck.” Formerly drained and farmed, it has now been allowed to return to its original state as a highly productive wetland. Specialties that can be found in ‘the muck’ include Marsh Wrens, American Bittern, Sora, Virginia Rail and possibly even a King Rail. One great thing about birding ‘the muck’Â is that there is a bird blind set up in the middle of some open water, giving you great views of Marsh Wrens chattering about in the cattails and rails working the edges of the vegetation. We spent an evening canoeing around ‘the muck’ last week, putting in as the sun was setting. One thing I noticed immediately was that Purple Loosestrife was everywhere.
Read More
While spending a weekend at a cabin in northern Tioga County I was able to slip down to Cowanesque Lake to see what was around. Not much. But I did happen to get good looks at a very pale, possibly leucistic flycatcher which I believe is a Willow Flycatcher. It was hanging out near the lake in decent looking WIFL habitat but did not vocalize at all in the 30 minutes I observed it.
Read More
Here are some closer crops of the photos I took of the possible Little Egret. Click on photos to zoom in.
Read More
The egret found by Chuck Chalfant. Noticing the dark lores he began contacting others. Here are the pictures I took through my scope and Frank Haas’ scope which had a higher zoom. Click on the images to zoom in or go to the Picasa gallery where I also have two videos. I have also posted closer crops of several of the images here.
Read More
Octorara Lake in southern Lancaster County is an excellent spot for birding any time of the year, but the really great birding is the spring and fall migration of shorebirds and passerines, late summer for dispersing egrets and herons as well as the winter for ducks and loons. [umap id=”5076″ size=”m” alignment=”center”] 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.
Read More
Hearing a report that there was a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Alcoa Marsh in Lancaster, I headed off to check it out early this morning. Arriving at the marsh, the first birds I heard were Yellow Warblers and a Willow Flycatcher. Scanning the edges of the marsh there are several dead trees, perfect for perching waders. The only bird making use of this perch was an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron (click on image to zoom in). There were also four Green Herons perched on logs that were scattered thoughout the marsh. Most of the birds were spending their time preening as well as spreading their wings to warm up in the morning sun. Finally, scanning back into the western corner of the marsh I saw a young night-heron sunning in a tree. Setting up my scope I saw that it was the immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.
Read More
Image via Wikipedia Check out the Dig Deep blog for a great primer on shorebird feather wear and molt. There are some great animated images that show the effects of wear on feathers and the overall appearance of the birds. With southbound migration just beginning, its a good time to brush up on this. The internet is an incredible resource, whether you’re reading up on ornithological news or the latest from the PartyPoker site, and you’ll find that blogs like Dig Deep are invaluable as sources of veteran-level information. Learning about shorebird molt allows you to make one of the easiest observations about the migration phenomenon; adults and immatures often migrate at different times, or use slightly different paths on their southbound flights So, this fall when you are scanning through flocks of shorebirds, try to record numbers of adults and juveniles.
Read More
Here are some clips showing how Golden Eagles hunt. The most fascinating part is seeing how they manage to take down prey that weigh much larger than themselves.
Read More
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.
Read More