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PA Big Day Details |
| Date | Dec 17, 2006 | ||||||
| Number | 80 | ||||||
| # Seen by All | 79 | ||||||
| Area | State | ||||||
| Time | 0500 to 2130 | ||||||
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| 327 Miles by car, 0.5 mile by foot.Visiting: Echo Lake, Martins Creek Quarry, Middle Creek WMA, Peace Valley Park, Trexlertown Pines. Species of note: Cackling Goose (R), Great Cormorant (R), Sandhill Crane (R,S). We thought it would be easy to spotlight the American White Pelican at Green Lane Res to save time. Maybe it would have worked, had the bird not left. Our first birds of the day were two Long-eared Owls that were surprisingly vocal. Peace Valley Park at first light yielded four species of gulls, woodpeckers were cooperative and other common passerines were fairly active including a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. There were plenty of vultures at the Lake Nockamixon roost site, but the lake was void so we headed north to a sparrow retreat in Northampton County. Along the way we nabbed Common Grackle. It was a struggle at the Koch Farm, finding White-crowned and Savannah sparrows and hearing a lone Fish Crow. As with other big days, our route would need an adjustment to get the missed sparrows. It was cool to observe a Mallard-Northern Pintail hybrid at Green Pond, it just wasn’t countable. Bird activity had dropped off when we arrived at theMartins Creek Quarry. There were seven Great Cormorants and a late Double-crested Cormorant standing on a small rocky outcrop. Stone Church was not on our route but might produce Swamp Sparrow. No sparrow but Brown-headed Cowbird and American Kestrel were sweet. At the School Road marsh, a Swamp Sparrow was pished out of the cattails. Stuck in the low 50s, Echo Lake needed to produce and it did with six species of waterfowl; most notable was a Lesser Scaup. Time was wasted to venture into Portland to look for Common Goldeneye on the Delaware River. If only the divers would move over from the Jersey side to get counted. Minsi Lake and East Bangor Dam always hold Pied-billed Grebes except for this Big Day. Despite missing waterfowl at a few stops, our dabbler list was good and a decision was made to change our final stop. By skipping Philadelphia and ending at Middle Creek WMA, we could get back on track in regards to time and still clean up on ducks. Fogelsville Quarry was a boost, holding a flock of Snow Geese that included a Cackling Goose. American Coot was expected and a Pied-billed Grebe was located on that last scan birders always seem to make. Trexlertown Pines was our honey hole on Big Days but time of day was poor for bird activity. Eventually, a little pishing in the pines brought in Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper and Winter Wren. Nearby at Smith Lane, Horned Larks and a fly-by American Pipit had us thinking there was a chance of reaching our goal. It was that time of day when you double check count totals and ask, “Is there a chance at a record?” We also needed to know which birds might be found. There was one more stop before Middle Creek. A resident Red-headed Woodpecker was at a farm along Kunkle’s Mill Road. It seemed certain, but we felt a second bird would have to be found before heading southwest. That bird turned out to be a Belted Kingfisher sitting on a branch over a tiny pond that was only seen because of a very slow motorist in front of us. The woodpecker only took 5 minutes to locate. There was nearly an hour of light left when we reached Middle Creek. The auto drive was closed so our search was limited. It didn’t take long to find Tundra Swan, Northern Shoveler, and Bald Eagle. The total had surpassed Billy’s total from earlier in the month, now could we make 80? The two owl species seemed likely so could we find one more species under fading light? We scanned the distant fields for harrier without success. Maybe a different vantage point might work. While traveling back around the lake I spotted a heron-like bird that wasn’t there before, the reported Sandhill Crane that had been at Middle Creek for several weeks was standing in a flooded pool next to the lake. Needing two species,we drove the 2+ hours to a reliable location near home. It took some effort but we coaxed Barred and Great Horned Owls to respond. | |||||||