301. Common Merganser

Date         November 21, 2019

Location    Quemahoning Reservoir, Hollsopple, PA

Like the Golden Eagle, this was another "target bird" that I hoped to get while living in Pennsylvania. It was actually pretty annoying that many years ago in 2003 I got both Hooded and Red-breasted (and had seen Hoodies almost every year since, *in abundance*) but still didn't have the "common" version of the merganser.

In this case, I used the Audubon field guide app. You can tell it to alert you when certain species are spotted and recorded by someone within a certain radius of your location. So I get the alert from the app, and coupled with other sightings reported on the PA Birders Facebook page, decided to try for it again.

My first try was on Nov. 19, two days before, and I may have seen them, but they were too far away. I did get to hear a loon yodeling for the first time, so it was worth the trip.

Anyway, on the 21st I went back to try again. While I was out, I realized that it was hunting season and that I might be in danger of getting shot. There were even signs in the parking areas that said everyone should be wearing hunter orange. Well, I didn't have any such clothing on me, but my emergency blanket was orange, so I draped it over me like a shawl. It wasn't the proper fluorescent orange, but I figured it was better than nothing.

I spotted a large number of ducks and geese about an hour into the trip as I circled around the reservoir. There were Canada Geese and Hooded Mergansers (naturally), and a group of birds that all looked the same was off to my right, closer to the shore. They looked like a good possibility, but they were too far away still. So I stalked up the shoreline, bit by bit, taking looks at them and carefully reading my guidebook. There were no males in the group, so I had to be sure they weren't female red-breasted.

I eventually got close enough and was able to get all the necessary field marks. There were eight of them, swimming about but staying together. I was very grateful that they didn't just up and fly away as a few Gadwalls had earlier.


Cornell: Common Merganser

300. Golden Eagle

Date         November 2, 2019

Location    Allegheny Front Hawk Watch, near Central City, PA

Along the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania, there are a series of sites that make up the Hawk Watch. At these lookout points it's possible to see dozens or even hundreds of raptors in a given day. Volunteers go to these sites every day during spring and fall migration and make official counts of migrant raptors, with a detailed report appearing on their web site. I looked over the statistics from prior years and tried to pick a day in which I could get a Golden Eagle. They are fairly common in late fall; a good day can produce 10-20 of them.

So I came on November 2. The weather was sunny and calm, but still pretty chilly -- about 40 degrees. I arrived at about 10:00 AM. By 2:00 PM, no eagles had appeared.

Trying to stay warm, I walked over to the north edge of the outlook away from the scopes and people. When I wandered back, they were all looking at a Golden Eagle. The problem was, it was quite a ways in the distance and it was right by the sun. In order to see anything, you had to cover the sun with your hand and look with the naked eye. So yes, that was the first one, but it wasn't much more than a black line in the sky.

I pondered whether I should count it, and I think I decided I would, but it was quite unsatisfying. I wouldn't have known it was a Golden Eagle on my own, not by a long shot. But the experts there were sure it was, and I saw it. Sigh.

I was about to give up and go home a few minutes later when another was spotted. This time it was still north of us and fairly close, so I was able to observe it for a couple of minutes as it soared southward. It was a juvenile, like the picture above, so the white patches were a good field mark.


Cornell: Golden Eagle