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28Aug/115

Storm Birding 8/28/11

With 'Hurricane Irene' moving up the east coast, and coming in it's closest contact yet with Pennsylvania today all of us Centre County birders were excited to see if it would cause any interesting birds to stop at Bald Eagle State Park or any of the other water bodies in the county. Anna and I got to Bald Eagle early this morning and although there weren't any crazy pelagic birds flying over the lake, we did find two Sanderlings and one Semipalmated Sandpiper at the swimming beach. The Sanderlings were Centre County year bird #224 for Joe Verica, which means Joe is currently tied with the all-time Centre County Big Year record! The juvenile Bonaparte's Gull that was found yesterday was still present and we also saw another Bonaparte's (a 1st winter bird) fly past. Soaring very high and very far away, we saw two larger gulls that had very white undersides and light-gray upperparts. I assumed they were probably Herring Gulls, but they were a little too distant to tell for sure. Anna and I checked other spots around BESP and didn't find anything interesting, except for a female Ring-necked Duck near the dam. Later in the morning, Drew was able to find a Caspian Tern at Lower Green's Run.

One of two Sanderlings at the BESP swimming beach

Sanderling and Semipalmated Sandpiper - BESP swimming beach

Bonaparte's Gull (juvenile) landing at the swimming beach

Bald Eagle (juvenile) flying over the swimming beach; we also saw two adults and one other young eagle.

After BESP, Anna and I checked out Coyler Lake. There was the continuing Great Egret as well as a Solitary Sandpiper and three Semipalmated Sandpipers.

One of three Semipalmated Sandpipers that was at Coyler Lake

Great Egret flying over Coyler Lake

Filed under: Bald Eagle State Park, bird finding, bird sightings, birding, Colyer Lake, General Info, gulls, migration, Photography, raptors, shorebirds, weather 5 Comments

26Aug/111

Scotia Barrens – 8/26/11

written by Alex Lamoreaux

This morning five of us birded the Scotia Barrens, hoping to see some nice migrant flocks of warblers. We started off the morning at Scotia Pond, and as it warmed up made our way farther down the road towards the guard station, where we finally ran in to some numbers of warblers. There weren't many individuals, but it was still the best I have seen it so far this year. The highlight was an adult male Cape May Warbler. Everyone had to get back to campus, except Drew and I, who continued birding farther down the road. We noticed a large flock of Cedar Waxwings foraging and mixed in with them were a good number of warbler, including the highlight of the day an adult male Golden-winged Warbler (my ABA #400 for 2011). We ended up seeing 11 warbler species and I added quite a few species to my Centre County year list. Click these links for the complete list of species seen a the Scotia Pond and at Scotia Barrens.

Cape May Warbler - adult male

Golden-winged Warbler - adult male

A disgusting Blue Jay

Filed under: bird finding, bird sightings, birding, General Info, migration, Scotia Barrens IBA, warblers 1 Comment

25Aug/110

BESP 8/25/11 – Forster’s Terns, Common Loon, etc

written by Alex Lamoreaux

I made a quick run over to Bald Eagle State Park this morning and was rewarded with a few interesting species; two Forster's Terns (a juvenile and an adult at the swimming beach), a very early Common Loon, two juvenile Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Least Sandpiper. The Common Loon, which was a 1st summer bird, this is the third record for the month of August here in Centre County with the other two being 27 Aug 2006 by Robert Snyder and 16 Aug 2001 also by Robert Snyder. Drew Weber also had a loon at BESP on two occasions during this past July, so I think that the bird I saw today may have been the July bird and he has over-summered at the park. Most loons don't start arriving in the county till October, although some have been seen during September. The Forster's Terns (which were hanging out at the swimming beach with some Ring-billed Gulls) are an uncommon migrant through Centre County, with most fall records during early August and late September. Below are some photos from this morning, and here is a link to the full checklist with some more details.

Semipalmated Sandpiper (juvenile) on left and Least Sandpiper (juvenile) on right - BESP swimming beach

Forster's Tern - juvenile at BESP swimming beach

Ring-billed Gull - juvenile showing off its beautifully-patterned feathers

Filed under: Bald Eagle State Park, bird finding, bird sightings, birding, distribution, General Info, gulls, identification, migration, Photography, shorebirds, trip reports No Comments

22Aug/110

Scotia Barrens – 8/22/11

written by Alex Lamoreaux

This morning was my first trip to Scotia Barrens this fall to search for migrants, particularly warblers. It was a slow morning as should be expected this early in the fall, but it was still great to be back in central PA! Tim Schreckengost and Nate Fronk were birding with me this morning, and we were able to find a nice assortment of birds, but only found five warbler species. Check out the full checklist here. This should be the first of MANY posts about Scotia this fall!