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PA Big Day Details |
| Date | Apr 29, 2006 | ||||||
| Number | 122 | ||||||
| # Seen by All | 122 | ||||||
| Area | State | ||||||
| Time | 0015 to 2100 | ||||||
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| 280 Miles by car, 1.5 miles by car. Visiting: Susquehanna River, Stony Creek Valley, Memorial Lake, Trexlertown Pines, Green Pond, Quakertown Swamp. Species of note: Red-throated Loon(R), American Bittern (R)(S), Indigo Bunting(E). This Big Day route contained a huge risk. It would cover some unknown territory during the all-important morning hours in search of early spring songbirds. Stony Creek Valley in Dauphin County would make or break our day. Internet reports and its vicinity to the Susquehanna River, our starting locale, made this an ideal stop. Sure, there was uncertainty, but after our success in March, Billy and I felt confident in the route. Cooperative Whip-poor-will and Barred Owl just after midnight and the race had begun. After adding Eastern Screech-Owl near home, we headed west across the state to our starting area on the Susquehanna River. Expected common birds slowly became active along Front Street in Harrisburg as the sun came up. Chimney Swift was a great find but waterfowl were sparse. The targeted Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was located and we were astounded to add Carolina Chickadee, a common little bird that never makes our Big Day lists. Our next stop was the West Fairview boat launch across the river. We expected to get waterfowl and felt qualms at the early results. Common Loon and Red-breasted Merganser were a good start but that was it. A Palm Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet were in the trees bordering Conodoquinet Creek. This stop had not produced as it had in March. Several miles upriver at Wade Island, Black-crowned Night-Heron was tallied and a Bald Eagle spotted. Staying with the river, our route crossed Interstate 81 to Fort Hunter. A Red-throated Loon was our unexpected find of the day. At fifty species, everything was going well as we headed to Stony Creek. Neither birder had been here before but the regulars tout the area. A large part of the valley is state game lands and turkey hunters were out in force. It was amusing that we happened to spot a strutting male at a powerline cut. A Purple Finch near some homes gave us hope as we continued east into the valley. We pulled over by some other cars in a birdy looking area next to the creek and within minutes started seeing spring warblers. American Redstart, Yellow-rumped and Hooded warblers, and Louisiana Waterthrush made the list. From the woods, a Wood Thrush was singing and a Ruffed Grouse drummed. Our decision to bird Stony Creek was paying off. Sightings continued with Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Parula, and Black-throated Green Warbler. We left Stony Creek for Peters Mountain to try for more targets. Black-and-white Warbler on the Appalachian Trail was easy and a reported Cerulean Warbler near a tower sang. The grasslands on the north side of the ridge only produced one new species so we wasted little time in getting back to the river. While scanning for Cliff Swallows by the Route 322 Bridge, a Worm-eating Warbler sang from the steep hill next to our parked car. This was the kind of luck needed on a Big Day. Back on Interstate 81, Billy and I headed east with the next stop at Memorial Lake. Despite only a few ducks present, variety was good and Pied-billed Grebe, Bufflehead, and Ring-necked Duck were new additions. The scouted Shartlesville ponds held the next key to this Big Day as our list neared the century mark. Killdeer and Solitary Sandpiper fed along the shoreline and a few Green-winged Teal hugged the far side. Two American Pipits were much closer and feeding Snow Geese on the grass were a bonus. Raptors can be a problem. The plan is to stumble upon them while driving. It worked on this day as Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned hawks were spotted within a mile stretch. After leaving the Interstate in Lehigh County, our next target, an adult Red-headed Woodpecker was located at Kunkle’s Mill Road. Trexlertown Pines produced as it did in March. The Great Horned Owls had young sitting in a pine staring down at us. Both nuthatch species and Pine Warbler were easy finds, while an Indigo Bunting was totally unexpected. A scouted Greater Yellowlegs at Dorney Road landfill was still in attendance while the Scaup and Pintail seen days earlier had vanished. Open farmland at Smith Lane yielded Horned Larks while a Savannah Sparrow gave us trouble getting a decent look. A summer resident found here was an Eastern Kingbird. Late April was proving bountiful with early migrants and resident songbirds. We had now tied the record and expected to add many more to our total. Monacacy Nature Center in Northampton County was the next stop. There were two targets but only a Northern Pintail was around. The flooded field by Green Pond is a favorite spot for shorebirds and it was expected to produce. Shorebirds found included Dunlin, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers. A Northern Waterthrush was laboring the small marshy segment and we managed to pish out a Rusty Blackbird. The next few locations did not turn up any new species. The day was beginning to wind down as we reached Stone Church. There was optimism that our count might reach 120. White-crowned and Swamp sparrow got us closer. The gulls at Lake Nockamixon would surely get us closer. It was getting late when we arrived at the marina. Where were the gulls? We couldn’t believe it; maybe they were on the water at the Fishing Pier. A few Bonaparte’s Gulls could be seen but no new species. Not wasting valuable time, we moved on to Quakertown Swamp and the final stop. The sun was already down as we walked the tracks along the swamp. A singing Common Yellowthroat was our 15th species of warbler. The targeted American Bitterns were standing in a viewable spot but could barely be seen in the fading light. Darkness had taken control when a Virginia Rail called to give us our final bird and 122nd species. This was a remarkable birding day that had few misses. Best of all, Billy and I had a lot of fun and got to bird new territory. Perhaps in August we will try again. | |||||||