314. Swainson's Warbler

Date         July 11, 2020

Location    West Penn Trail, mile marker 9, Indiana county, PA

It's not supposed to be this easy. This time, I was fortunate.

Walking on the Ghost Town Trail the day before, I ran into a couple with binoculars and a camera with a huge lens. I stopped to talk birds, and they asked if I was interested in a Swainson's Warbler. I said that indeed I was. I thought I had heard one the previous year at Allegheny Portage NHS, but I wasn't sure about it. They gave me directions on how to find it, so I resolved to look the next day.

I woke up early the next morning and drove to the Livermore trail head of the West Penn Trail. It was dark and drizzly, with short periods of showers. As instructed, I went down the hill and turned left onto the trail. I soon came to mile marker 9.5. I had been told that mile 9 was about 3/4 mile from the starting point, so everything was working out so far. The trail was heavily shaded, so the rain/drizzle wasn't an issue.

After crossing over the Conemaugh river on a bridge, I arrived at mile marker 9, where a Swainson's Warbler had been heard just the previous day (the couple belonged to the local birding club, so they were in the know). Not two seconds after arriving at the signpost with 9 on it, I heard the song. He repeated it several times.

The song was coming from some deep woods on private property, so there was no real chance of actually seeing it.

Cornell: Swainson's Warbler

313. White Ibis

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, TX

A few minutes after the duck flyover, next came a single ibis who flew almost in the same flight path and also landed in the pond. I also saw him a second time when I went back to the pond, although he was closer to the road and a bit more timid, flying away soon after I arrived. The black wingtips were an aid along with that long red beak, of course.

Cornell: White Ibis

312. Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, TX

I had turned off the second road where I'd seen the rails onto a mowed grassy trail to the left. There was a pond to my left. As I walked along, one flew over me and landed in the pond. I saw him later when I backtracked to go back to my tent.

There was simply no mistaking this one, with the bright orange beak and, well, everything else that's so unique about this bird!

Cornell: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

311. Clapper Rail

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, TX

I walked along the main road for some time, then turned right on another road. I suddenly saw a bird emerge from the tall grasses lining both sides of the road. I strongly suspected right away that it was a rail -- I had seen only one before, the King Rail at Prairie Oaks metro park -- and the behavior sure looked similar.

I spent a good 20 minutes in the area examining two of these rails as they ventured into the road many times, often crossing to the other side. They were calling almost constantly as well. I needed to make sure they weren't King Rails.

I got many excellent views of a fairly secretive bird, even watching their beaks open and shut as they made their clicking call notes.

I finally decided that they were Clappers for these reasons: 1) I was in a salt marsh (or at the very least, brackish, which I confirmed the next day with a local (my old friend Charlie S.) who assured me that Galveston island has no fresh water), 2) one made the grunt-chip call like a Clapper and unlike the King, and 3) the bird overall was duller than what you would expect to see on a King.

Cornell: Clapper Rail

310. White-tailed Kite

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, TX

I went back to the campsite after my swim and was just sitting in the shade, having some dinner and water before heading out to explore the state park itself. There were plenty of birds flying overhead, but they were usually Laughing Gulls.

Then I saw one that looked somewhat different. The two black spots under the wings were very diagnostic, along with the white underparts.

Cornell: White-tailed Kite

309. Forster's Tern

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Jamaica Beach, Galveston, TX

After checking in at the campsite, I decided to take a swim in the beach. Aside from the Brown Pelicans diving nearby in the water and the ubiquitous Laughing Gulls, while swimming I looked up and identified this tern. The call notes were key to the identification.

Cornell: Forster's Tern

308. Neotropic Cormorant

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Saltgrass Bait & Tackle, Freeport, TX

I went over to the other side of the road and saw this bird perched on a post near the shore. I reckon it was a juvenile because it looked very similar to this picture of a juvenile and didn't have the really sharp triangle orange on the cheek.

Cornell: Neotropic Cormorant

307. Little Blue Heron

Date         June 11, 2020

Location    Saltgrass Bait & Tackle, Freeport, TX

While visiting family in Texas, I took an overnight trip down to Galveston to do some birding and swim in the ocean, something I rarely get the chance to do. My camping reservation was at Galveston Island State Park, but before the trip I scouted the various beaches nearby and decided to come up from the south and maybe stop along the way.

I found just such a place before even reaching Galveston (or the ocean). Along the highway near Freeport were several ponds and lakes on both sides. I pulled off the side of the road near a bait shop, and there were several people fishing. It was just a short walk to the water on the side of the road that I had pulled off on, so I went there first.

After a spectacular view of a Black Skimmer, who flew not 50 feet away from me -- so close I could hear the water swishing around his lower bill as he skimmed the water -- I saw a Little Blue Heron flying from my left to my right over the water a bit further away, just like in the photo above.

Cornell: Little Blue Heron

306. Upland Sandpiper

Date         May 26, 2020

Location    Galitzin State Forest, Cambria county, PA

I went to this location in hopes of finding a Henslow's Sparrow. One had been reported and my Audubon app alerted me. So I was listening especially carefully. I heard a fairly brief wolf whistle call, and I suddenly realized what it could be. I was not convinced on the first repetition, but on the second I was sure.

I continued birding in the area I was in, hearing the call about a dozen more times up-slope, not really thinking I would be able to find it. I decided to drive up the hill and give it a try anyway.

A classic pose of this bird is to perch on a post in a field and vocalize. I did find such a post and thought I saw something on it, but it was too far away to identify for sure if it was an Upland Sandpiper or any bird for that matter.

I found a couple of people further up the road, and they asked me what I was looking for. One lady had a camera with a monster lens on it, and she had a picture of it on a post, probably the one I had looked at. It wasn't a great picture -- it was still quite a distance even for the large telephoto lens.

I hung around there a bit longer then started walking back down to my car. By now it was early dusk. I saw a bird flying ahead of me that I wasn't sure I recognized. I found it in my binoculars. Well, it was perfectly backlit, or perhaps not sufficiently lit, so it was just a dark shape. It paused its normal flight, swooped up in the air, and make the classic wolf whistle.

Cornell: Upland Sandpiper

305. Snow Goose

Date         March 7, 2020

Location    Middle Creek Wildlife Area, Kleinfeltersville, PA

Middle Creek is a major stopover/congregation point for Snow Geese, similar to Sandhill Cranes in central Nebraska. Sometimes there are hundreds of thousands. I don't really know how to estimate huge flocks of birds, but I figure there must have been at least 10,000 on this day.

I had to leave at 3:15 AM to get there at dawn. Some geese were already heading north in their loose V formations.

The facilities are very nice there, with ample parking and an easy paved trail to the observation point.

The geese stayed in their huge raft for the most part, but sometimes the bald eagles would induce them to take flight. I counted about 5 eagles in the area.

The picture above is from the actual site, not a random shot from the internet. Credit to photographer wife.

Cornell: Snow Goose

304. Tundra Swan

Date         March 7, 2020

Location    Middle Creek Wildlife Area, Kleinfeltersville, PA

We stopped on the side of the road when we spotted some waterfowl on the lake to our right. It was about dawn, so many were resting. We would see many more at the viewing area, described in the next entry.

Cornell: Tundra Swan

303. Long-tailed Duck

Date         March 6, 2020

Location    Quemahoning Reservoir, Hollsopple, PA

This was another gift from the Audubon field guide app alerts. I proceeded down Quemahoning road slowly, scanning the reservoir to my left. I didn't see anything as I arrived at the first parking area near the hairpin turn, where that section of the reservoir terminates. That area has been a good spot before, so I parked and walked over to the shore.

At first I saw the usual Hooded Merganser, but then I spotted two white-and-gray-and-black ducks diving. They looked very much like the picture above (except facing the other way). They eventually stopped diving, preened for a bit, then rested.


Cornell: Long-tailed Duck

302. Merlin

Date         March 2, 2020

Location    Mill Creek Hollow, Upper Yoder, PA

There was a time when Merlin was on my life list. We were driving down a residential street in Hilliard and caught a quick look. I still think we were right, but I reflected on it and decided that I wasn't sure enough.

Now it's back on the list.

I was out taking my exercise walk around the neighborhood when I heard a sound I wasn't familiar with. (How many times does that precede a new bird?) It sounded like a killdeer, but it wasn't high-pitched and squeaky enough. It was coming from an area to my left that was an empty lot backed by a line of trees. I walked on, not seeing anything and not having much hope of determining what it was.

Later in the walk, I decided to take a slightly different route, exiting my neighborhood instead of just circling around. I then was able to see a large-ish bird in a tree near the road. My first impression was definitely a falcon. I knew what a Peregrine sounded like because I used to watch a nest cam all the time in Columbus, and it didn't sound like a Peregrine. Trying to not engage wishful thinking, I moved to kestrel, since they are more common. I've seen many kestrels, but it looked a touch too big, and it wasn't moving its tail.

The naked eye view I had was not great, as it was a good 30 feet up with a solid overcast sky. But I felt like I had a good enough view to call it as a Merlin if I could confirm the sound.

I called up my Audubon app on my phone, and the call notes were exactly like the calls I'd been hearing several times during my walk.

This was on March 2nd.

I was confident of my id, but I sure wanted a better look. The next day, at about the same time in the afternoon, I hear the call again. He had flown back to the same exact perch. This time, I grabbed my binoculars and walked up the road to the vacant lot. I got a good initial look, then moved closer, using the neighborhood billboard as sort of a blind. I got several excellent views and at this point there was no doubt.

He returned about the same time on March 5th. Maybe he will nest here?


Cornell: Merlin