I made a last minute decision to play hooky from work yesterday and hit Brig for a little birding.

This American Avocet was the highlight of the trip. I wound up getting lost trying to take a route that went around Phlly instead of thru it and got to Brig about an 1 1/2 later than I should have. Once there someone said, “The Avocet and a Black-necked Stilt were out by the tower about 2 hours ago.” I was devastated when I didn’t see either bird on my first pass. It wasn’t until my third pass, during high tide, that I found the Avocet. Wouldn’t you know that literally one minute after I found the bird the skies opened up with a severe thunderstorm. With lightning hitting around my car I wound up turning around and going the wrong way back up to the parking lot. I waited out the storm (about a half hour) and went back out to find the Avocet even closer to the drive.

Finding a White-rumped Sandpiper amidst all those thousands of Semipalmated Sandpipers can be like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s hard to miss once you do come across because of the size and wing-structure differences. Plus the different streaking.

Of course Clapper Rails were going crazy the whole time I was there. I did enjoy watching a male and female in the marsh together for about 20 minutes.

If only I could get a Blue Grosbeak for my Pennsylvania list.

Location: EB Forsythe NWR — Wildlife Drive
Observation date: 6/2/09
Number of species: 53

Snow Goose 2
Brant 2
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 3
Mallard X
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Northern Bobwhite 4
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Black-crowned Night-Heron 4
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey X
Peregrine Falcon 1
Clapper Rail X
Black-bellied Plover 4
Semipalmated Plover 12
American Oystercatcher 6
American Avocet 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Willet 30
Ruddy Turnstone 50
Semipalmated Sandpiper 750
White-rumped Sandpiper 2
Dunlin 5
Laughing Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Gull-billed Tern X
Caspian Tern 2
Forster’s Tern X
Black Skimmer X
Mourning Dove 3
Eastern Kingbird 2
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow 2
Tufted Titmouse X
House Wren 1
Marsh Wren X
Eastern Bluebird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat X
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 3
Seaside Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 3
Blue Grosbeak 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
Orchard Oriole 1
American Goldfinch X