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PA Big Day Details |
| Date | Dec 11, 2005 | ||||||
| Number | 70 | ||||||
| # Seen by All | 69 | ||||||
| Area | State | ||||||
| Time | 0430 to 1700 | ||||||
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| 90 Miles by car, 4 miles by foot. Visiting: Octorara Res., Muddy Run Res., Speedwell Forge Lake, Middle Creek WMA. Species of note: Lincoln’s Sparrow (L), Red-winged Blackbird (M), Common Merganser (M), Field Sparrow (M). Due to the fact that we would not be able to participate in any Christmas Counts in Pennsylvania this season, my co-worker Judy Montgomery and I decided to make a Big Day Run through Lancaster County. We decided to primarily bird in areas that are part of the Southern Lancaster County and Lititz Christmas Count circles, both excellent birding areas that I enjoy exploring during the winter. We began our (early) morning at Octorara Reservoir, where the conditions were ripe for owling—cold, clear, and quiet. Canada Geese honked sporadically from the lake and an Eastern Screech-Owl announced his presence voluntarily, but no other owls could be coaxed into revealing themselves. Reaching the Muddy Run Reservoir at 6:00 am, we were greeted with the booming calls of Great Horned Owls. As dawn revealed itself, we scanned the huge expanse of open water on the reservoir. Tundra Swans, Buffleheads, and dozens of American Black Ducks could be seen along the edges, while a few Wood Ducks rocketed over our heads - always a nice surprise in December. A pair of adult Bald Eagles sitting side-by-side on a nearby power tower was an unexpected bonus. We could not relocate a Common Loon seen on the reservoir earlier in the week. Down on the Susquehanna River, an incredible blanket of fog had reduced visibility to about 50 yards. Despite this limitation, we picked out a few Bonaparte’s Gulls amongst the more common wintering gulls resting on a rocky outcrop. A short drive through the local fields and forests around Muddy Run padded our list nicely with the expected songbirds, as well as some nicer finds like Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush, and Brown Creeper. Heading north through Lancaster County farm country, we found a cut cornfield with dozens of Horned Larks flying about, trying to scrounge up food from underneath a couple inches of snow. A male Rusty Blackbird feeding on kernels of corn was a great find. A quick stop at a small but productive farm stream gave us good looks at Wilson’s Snipe, Killdeer, and Belted Kingfisher. By mid-afternoon, we made it to Speedwell Forge Lake, which typically hosts good concentrations of waterfowl in December. Finding the whole place locked up in ice, we could only move on to Middle Creek Wildlife Area, where we hoped to finally rack up a few more duck species. Upon arriving at the large reservoir and finding it 99-percent frozen, we could easily scan through the birds concentrated in the remaining open water, which was the size of an Olympic swimming pool. A tight knot of twenty-nine Northern Shovelers swam in a counter-clockwise circle trying to stir up food amongst the Tundra Swans and Canada Geese crowding the pool. Although we tried hard, we did not find any new duck species other than the shovelers. The Common Mergansers and other diving ducks had probably departed with the early freeze-up, or been pushed out to the rivers. We decided to try a short walk through the fields behind the Middle Creek Visitor’s Center, where we found the best bird of the day—a Lincoln’s Sparrow. An unexpected find this late in the fall, the well-studied sparrow gave us great looks in the late afternoon sunlight. A Gray Catbird and Fox Sparrow in nearby hedgerows helped us pad our list of songbirds. With dusk falling quickly, we decided to call it a day and look at our checklist. Finding a satisfying total of 70 species, we realized that our day had brought us a good variety of birds and we could be happy with such a total on a cold December day with ice covering most of the major bodies of water. Even a couple big misses like Red-winged Blackbird and Field Sparrow could not taint an excellent day afield-and we knew the Christmas Counters would have plenty of great birds around to count. | |||||||