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PA Big Day Details |
| Date | Apr 25, 2004 | ||||||
| Number | 107 | ||||||
| # Seen by All | 105 | ||||||
| Area | State | ||||||
| Time | 0345 to 1915 | ||||||
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| 194 Miles by car, 3 miles by foot, 2 miles by canoe. Visiting: Stoney Creek Valley, Wildwood Lake, Front Street in Harrisburg, West Fairview boat launch, Conehohela Flats on the Susquehanna River, Middle Creek WMA. Species of note: Glossy Ibis (R), Black Vulture (M), Least Sandpiper (M). I must admit that it was not much of a challenge to break the Pennsylvania Big Day record. The record stood at only 58, and even with bad weather, the record as broken by 1000. Deprived of sleep due to our personal schedules, Mike Tanis and I decided to skip most of the nocturnal birding. We left my place at 0330 for the two-hour ride to Stoney Creek. On the way to the turnpike, we made a quick stop for Barred owl, which would be our only owl on the day. We started birding at dawn in Dauphin County on the Appalachian Trail listening as the sky slowly lightened, our first birds were Wild Turkey, Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, and a few other forest dwellers. As we came down off the ridge, we made a quick, unexpected stop at some roadside pines that just looked good, and picked up a few more expected species, plus a good warbler, Blackburnian. Our main morning destination was Stoney Creek, which I had scouted three days earlier and found to be quite birdy. When we got to Stoney Creek, it was overcast and chilly. The dark sky was suppressing the dawn chorus. We began to pick up some of our eastern birds: Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, and Eastern Bluebird. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and White-throated Sparrows started making some noise and we slowly built a list, but we had to work very hard. We then picked up a few warblers, including Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Black-and-White, and several Louisiana Waterthrushes. A few Ruby-crowned Kinglets were also around. At Stoney Creek, we had a good run of woodpeckers, quickly adding Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, Northern Flicker, and Pileated. A Winter Wren in some dry brush was a very nice added bonus. We were doing well with residents, but the lack of migrants was disturbing. The sun continued to tease us with a touch of blue sky here and there. I really thought the sky was finally going to break there for a minute. But at 0900, the sun finally gave up on us for good. We were very disappointed with the scarcity of migrants and already thinking of calling it a day with dark skies and rain threatening. Leaving the Stoney Creek Valley, we stopped at a marshy area and picked up our only Pied-billed Grebe of the day, along with a Belted Kingfisher and friendly little Swamp Sparrow that quickly became a little glimmer of hope. Our plan had been to work the Stoney Creek Valley hard and then follow the Susquehanna River southward almost to the Maryland state line. Our next stop was Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg. There we picked up Great Egret, Green Heron, Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, and a couple of Mallards. As it started to rain, we saw our only Palm Warbler of the day. A quick stop at Fort Hunter gave us our first Gray Catbird of the day. We scanned the river from both Front Street in Harrisburg and the West Fairview boat launch, adding a few more waterfowl. In the steady rain, we saw Double-crested Cormorant, Common Loon, a Ring-necked Duck mixed in with some scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, a nasty Mute Swan, and a high-flying Osprey. Our next stop was to be the Conejohela Flats, a 40-minute drive. I was not looking forward to getting there because I knew launching the canoe in this weather was going to be unpleasant. Unless the rain stopped by the time we to the Flats, we would probably be calling it a day. Once we got to the Flats, the rain had miraculously stopped, the wind gone with it. The water was actually flat. What luck! We launched the canoe in hopes of picking up waders, shorebirds, and terns. We paddled out to Gull Point and picked up a Caspian Tern and Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. We were slightly disappointed with only four shorebirds species, which included both Yellowlegs, a Spotted Sandpiper, and one Dunlin in breeding plumage. Much of our discussion while paddling the Flats surrounded the big question: Do we follow our plan and continue south along the Susquehanna? Or do we divert to Middle Creek WMA, where we knew we could pick up eight easy species for sure. We stopped at Speedwell Forge along the way, but only added Red-shouldered Hawk. When we arrived at Middle Creek an hour later, new species began appearing for us. At the visitor center, I had just finished telling Mike how there were not too many report of hummingbirds when one flew up over the visitor center towards the feeders. Bonaparte’s Gull was a nice surprise as we picked up five new species of waterfowl that we specifically came for, including Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, American Coot, Snow Goose, and American Black Duck. Driving the tour route, we picked up two needed species; American Kestrel and Killdeer. I told Mike I knew where to go to get an Eastern Meadowlark (not believing myself that we would actually hear one at 1600 in the afternoon), being overcast, cold, and windy; however, when we got to the spot and started getting out of the car, the meadowlark was singing before either of us slammed the door shut! It was getting late by the time we left Middle Creek with 104 species. We decided to try a new way out of Middle Creek that seemed like it would be a short cut, but we struggled to navigate the Amish countryside and got a little turned around trying to get back to Route 322 (these same county roads cost me some time on my March Big Day). Within ten miles of my house, we detoured towards Struble Lake for Horned Lark (hit) and Wilsons Snipe (miss). Our big miss so far was Great Blue Heron, but Mike pulled one out of the still cloudy sky as we were driving. We had time for one more stop. I had not been to Kurtzs Fish Farm recently, but I heard they were drawing down the main pond to make pipe repairs. That would mean mud, and we did not get as many shorebirds as we had hoped for at the Conejohela Flats. We found just two shorebird species that we already had on the day. But I could not believe what I saw in my scope on the far shore of the pond. A Glossy Ibis! It is an easy species to find on the New Jersey and Delaware coastal areas 50 plus miles away, but it is barely an annual species this far inland. Our last bird of the day was certainly our rarest. Epilogue: At 0900, we were extremely disappointed at the lack of migrants and overall bird activity. The sun was gone for the day, and then it started raininghard. I would have bet my next five paychecks that 100 species was out of the question on this day. The lesson learned for us was: do not give too early. You never know when the weather may break. Do not underestimate the importance of residents, since they will almost make up the bulk of your passerines. Although we were ready to, we did not give up, and we surprised ourselves. With good weather, more migrants, and with lingering waterfowl like we had on this day, 130 species in late April should be a good mark for Pennsylvania birders to shoot for. | |||||||