Hiking, Biking, and Birding

I was considering the options of going to Brig with my Jersey buddy Rob F. to possibly see a Roseate Spoonbill or going up to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge where I’d be pretty certain to see Black Terns. Ultimately I decided to stay local but with a twist. I took out my mountain bike and started at Wyoming Dike with intentions of getting to Plymouth.

Three hours into it and I was only at the end of the Kirby Park sandbar. I had wiped out on the early morning wet grass of the dike, had to carry my bike multiple places along the river bank (I wanted see the river as much as possible to find sandpipers or terns), and had been bitten by every mosquito in a hundred mile radius because I forgot my bug spray. So that marked the end of the trip and I headed back.

While I never got a tern and Forty Fort was still the only place with sandpipers, I did get some good birds. The highlight for me was a White-eyed Vireo somewhere between Kingston Flats and Nesbitt Park. It was a state and, obviously, county bird for me.

The list of birds is as follows (55 species total):

Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Merganser
Great Blue Heron- 21
Great Egret- 5
Green Heron- 2
Osprey- my first for fall
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull- 1 juvenile
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo- state bird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush-2
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch

No Cardinals or House Sparrows???!!!

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Countdown to 300

After re-entering birding in June 2007 and subsequently throwing away my life list, I am finally approaching 300 species on my new life list. So I’m going to countdown the last ten.

#290 Arctic Tern
Lake Wallenpaupack, PA Oct. 24, 2009
After a crazy storm pushed down lots of seabirds. Not accepted by PORC but I didn’t get a photo. But I’m positive of ID.

#291 Common Eider
Sandy Hook, NJ Nov. 8, 2009

#292 Lapland Longspur
Sandy Hook, NJ Nov. 8, 2009

#293 King Eider
Sandy Hook, NJ Nov. 8, 2009

#294 Ivory Gull
Cape May, NJ Dec. 6, 2009
Seen on my first true “chase” of a single bird.

#295 Cackling Goose
Harvey’s Lake, PA Dec. 9, 2009
Weird to see this on my list after a mega like Ivory Gull, but I wasn’t very aware of this species since it wasn’t it’s own species when I originally birded. Then I haven’t crossed paths with it since studying up on the ID until now.

#296 Brown-headed Nuthatch
Lewes, DE Apr. 2, 2010

#297 Little Gull
Lake Wallenpaupack, PA Apr. 10, 2010
This was on my most wanted list for a while. Now on to Black-headed Gull.

#298 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
PPL Riverlands, PA June 14, 2010
In county lifer. Nice.

#299 Black-headed Gull
Bombay Hook, DE August, 21 2010
One of my most wanted birds. Check.

#300 Clay-colored Sparrow
Forty Fort, PA September, 16 2010
The fight is over! And it ends in what is my most birded locales!!