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

299. Glossy Ibis

Date         April 12, 2019

Location    Big Cypress National Preserver, Carnestown, FL

Long curved beak and somewhat hunched appearance were diagnostic.

Cornell: Glossy Ibis

298. Reddish Egret

Date         April 12, 2019

Location    Big Cypress National Preserver, Carnestown, FL

I didn't have much luck at the visitor center or the trail nearby (except for some great views of alligators!), so I simply stopped at various spots along the road.

I was wondering what these grayish egret birds were until it finally dawned on me what they were.


Cornell: Reddish Egret

297. Burrowing Owl

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    empty lot in neighborhood, Marco Island, FL

We were driving through a neighborhood on the way to dinner when we noticed a mailbox that had a manatee with pup statue as the post on a side street to our right. So we turned around to take a picture. As I drove back towards the road we were on, I spied an owl on a T-perch on a vacant lot. I could hardly believe my luck. This was the first owl I had ever seen in the wild without help (like a nest report or someone with a spotting scope set up).

The next evening we drove through the same neighborhood and saw several of these T-perches with owls on them (often another owl was perched nearby on the ground). They are actually pretty common. There is even a conservation program in place.

Marco Island Growth Management: Burrowing Owls


Cornell: Burrowing Owl

296. Least Tern

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    Sand Dollar Island, Marco Island, FL

I had heard from both boat guides that the Least Terns were just coming back and that there were reports of them being sighted in recent days. We stopped at the very place where there was a spot reserved for their nesting, so I was hopeful.

I saw and heard some terns right away, flying all about and diving in the shallow part of the surf. I eventually saw them enough to make a positive id. It was kind of like trying to identify swallows. Their calls were also diagnostic; I went to my phone and loaded up the correct track on Birding by Ear to confirm. It was actually kind of fun to listen to the real live birds and the calls on my phone at the same time; there was no difference. The repeated "Ki-deeeeeee ki-dic" was the clincher.

I was somewhat inland, watching some near the beach dive into the water. They were apparently very near some people because they were obviously expressing surprise and laughing as the birds swooped down very close to them.

Before we left for the trip, I was somewhat regretful that we weren't going in the dead of winter, when people usually go to escape the awful eastern winter weather. My tax guy even chided me for it a little! But now I'm very glad I went when I did. This bird and the kite would not have been there.


Cornell: Least Tern

295. Wilson's Plover

Date         April 11, 2019

Location    Sand Dollar Island, Marco Island, FL

Like with our private tour, our boat stopped at a beach for some shelling time. I spent most of it birding. I'm not sure if I have the right location for this, but it's pretty close.

The island we stopped at had a roped off area. There were signs designating it  as a sensitive wildlife area or some such language; Kent told us it was for the Least Terns, which were just now arriving from South America (he had heard reports of them being spotted). More on them in the next entry.

As I trudged toward a green area inland, where I thought I heard a Prairie Warbler of all things, I heard some cheeping behind me, and I saw this bird very near; I almost walked into it.


Cornell: Wilson's Plover