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PA Big Day Details |
| Date | Aug 31, 2003 | ||||||
| Number | 93 | ||||||
| # Seen by All | 91 | ||||||
| Area | State | ||||||
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| 227 miles by car, 3 by foot. Visiting: Owl Creek Res, Leaser Lake, Landingville Dam, Stony Creek (SGL 110), Middle Creek WMA, Conejohola Flats of the Susquehanna R. Species of note: Common Loon (S), Olive-sided Flycatcher (R), Philadelphia Vireo (R), Black Vulture (M), Brown-headed Cowbird (M). It is just before dawn at Owl Creek near Tamaqua. Some low clouds reflect the rising sun like brilliant coals. Ted and I are discussing whether we have heard a Brown Creeper or a kinglet or simply imagined the high-pitched call. We can’t come to agreement, and the bird, if it is there, never calls again. Our current list stands at four species, two of which are American Crow and Wood Thrush we had on arrival here at our dawn site. Soon we hear Black-capped Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow, goldfinches, Blue Jays, Ovenbird, Northern Flicker, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the distance. We hope that this is a sign that things are going to get lively. The sun is beginning to rise spectacularly over the res; the clouds are enough to enhance the sun’s light but not obscure it. It’s a chilly morning for August, probably the coldest dawn since May or June, hopefully a favorable indication that a front moved through overnight. In any case it should mean what birds are around will remain active a bit longer. We’ve been on the road since our departure from Ted’s house at about 0230. We quickly lucked into a Great Horned Owl at our second night spot not far from his home. The next hour was discouraging. Several quality owl stops produced only silence. Embreeville Marsh also produced nothing—except another Great Horned Owl from the nearby hillside. We had two owls, but still only one species on our list. Finally, at our sixth stop we were rewarded with a screech-owl. After that we began the 2-hour drive north to Owl Creek. We are now standing on the dam at Owl Creek trying to identify some of those fall warblers. It is obvious we have Yellow-rumped Warblers (a few), Black-throated Green Warblers (a couple), and Black-throated Blue Warblers (at least two). There is another odd warbler here that we don’t immediately identify, but we have plenty of good looks to get field marks. Later with our field guides in the car we identify it as a Cape May Warbler. Other than a Black-and-white Warbler and Northern Parula we don’t add anything else, in spite of all the activity from this small flock in front of us. As we return to the car park, however, the roadside becomes very active, and we pick up Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, House Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, an immature Indigo Bunting, robin, Downy Woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker, the best find of all. We drive over to Leaser Lake, picking up Field Sparrow and Turkey Vultures, but not Wild Turkey, which we end up missing on the day. Coming over the mtn we get only more Black-throated Greens and another Parula. On the other side we are fortunate to see a Cooper’s Hawk cruising the edge of the woodland. By a farmhouse we find House Finches and Starlings. At Leaser Lake we pick up Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, and our “staked out” Common Loon. Back in the grasslands of Utt road and surrounding area we pick up plenty of American Kestrels (11 in one field!) and a Grasshopper Sparrow. Maybe all the kestrels explain why we couldn’t find a single Meadowlark? Although Ted and I had intended to do a Big Day from the beginning, we admitted from the start that it would be more of a day for exploring. Owl Creek and Leaser Lake had only been visited once ever by me, and that was an August mid-morning visit. The next two stops of our day will be at places we have never seen and about which we have only sketchy information. So not surprisingly, we drive somewhat aimlessly around the Landingville Dam area. We pick up Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a beautiful mature Bald Eagle. Otherwise, we aren’t too successful in locating new species. Our next destination is nearby Stony Creek. Even though we don’t know too well where to look for birds, we find several flycatchers in the brushy second growth at the end of the paved road: Eastern Kingbird, an Empid species (probably Acadian, but possibly also Willow Flycatcher), Great Crested Flycatcher, and although I have limited looks at it, Ted identifies an Olive-sided Flycatcher. In the forest we find another Yellow-billed Cuckoo, another Downy Woodpecker, more Chipping Sparrows, plenty of Red-eyed Vireos, and more Ovenbirds. Finally reaching Stony Creek itself, we find a lovely flock of migrants: Scarlet Tanager, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Parula, Blackpoll, Nashville, Canada, Chestnut-sided, and Blackburnian Warblers. The highlight is a Philadelphia Vireo in this group. From there we plan to visit a couple of sites with which we are a little more familiar. Middle Creek WMA is well known to both of us and we hope to get a couple of birds there we haven’t found yet. We finally get an Osprey, another Bald Eagle, Kingfisher, Eastern Bluebird, Wood Duck, a flock of Eastern Kingbirds, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the visitor center feeders. We still can’t find a meadowlark or Savannah Sparrow. We also find an immature heron species, either Little Blue Heron or Snowy Egret, that has some characteristics of both. We give up on a full identification from our viewpoint. After a stop at the Lancaster airport that provided no meadowlark or Horned Larks, we move on to the Conejohela Flats of the Susquehanna R south of Lancaster. It is my first visit and only Ted’s second, so we are still exploring a bit here, too. We put Ted’s canoe on the river and paddle to the Flats. There we manage a few shorebirds: Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper. Along the river we also have Caspian Tern and Forster’s Tern, Mute Swan, Tree Swallows, Greater Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls. Besides Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, we have no further wading birds. However, we are pleasantly surprised with a close view of a Northern Harrier. Ted hears a Carolina Chickadee from one of the islands, but it stops calling when he tries to bring it to my attention. As we begin our drive home, we keep our eyes on the skies from the road, hoping to get a couple of birds around dusk. We see a distant flock of Red-winged Blackbirds (whew!), but can’t quickly identify any Cowbirds in the flock. A lone Chimney Swift over the Lancaster outlets is our final bird of the day. | |||||||