A Touch of Winter, For a Change 2/11/12

Yesterday, we woke up to snow flurries and temperatures well below freezing, and for the first time in weeks it actually felt like winter. Matt and I met our friend Mark Boyd in Wind Gap, and we headed north towards the largely under-birded Pocono's and a few of Mark's old breeding bird blocks from the 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas. During the breeding season, these blocks always had a slightly more northern feel than we were accustomed to down in the Lehigh Valley- species like Alder Flycatcher, Magnolia and Nashville Warblers, Northern Waterthrush, Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow were uncommon local breeders, and over the past few years sightings of raptors like Northern Goshawk and Merlin have kept us coming back. I had also done some Golden-winged Warbler surveys on nearby SGL 180, and have always wanted to explore the area further.

Despite ample habitat and avifauna, the Pocono Plateau doesn't receive that much coverage from birders. covering counties like Lackawanna, Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne (as well as others), this vast area boasts breeders like Merlin, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Swainson's Thrush and a long list of warbler species, including a somewhat healthy population of Golden-winged Warblers (more on these guys another time). So, on this chilly February day, we decided to make the trip up to southern Lackawanna County to see what we could find, and to visit a friend on his farm who we had met several years back while atlassing.

We drove several back roads just north of Gouldsboro State Park, and east of route 435 (I am working on a Google Map to the Pocono's). Almost everywhere we stopped, we could hear the croaking of Common Ravens- a sure sign we weren't in the Lehigh Valley any longer. Many spots were pretty dead, in fact Mark remarked how nice it was to hear silence for a change, compared to the busy streets and noises of Allentown, where he lives. Still, we came across decent flocks of the usual winter birds like Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a few others here and there. Despite there being some open water around, the only waterfowl we managed to find were a few groups of Mallards and four (3 drake and one hen) Hooded Mergansers. There is a lot of marshy habitat in the area, and Mark confirmed these pretty ducks breeding during the atlas.

The surprise(s) of the day came on a back road when Matt heard/found a small group of COMMON REDPOLLS. We had hoped for such a sighting, and watched as the initial group of six soon joined eight more in a stand of Tamarack Larches (eastern Larch). Then, as we walked up the snow covered road towards the flock, we flushed four RUFFED GROUSE from the brush. The sound of flushing birds always gets my heart pumping, and reminds me of days spent Pheasant hunting with my cousin when I was younger. Both the Grouse and the Redpolls are species we don't usually see on anything close to a regular basis. In fact, Mark mentioned that he had only seen a Ruffed Grouse a few times prior to this, and had heard them several times drumming in the spring as well. As we followed the initial flock of Redpolls it soon became apparent that there were many more feeding high in the Larches. A conservative estimate of 50 birds was reached before they continued on down the road toward another stand of these productive trees. We also noted the abundance of Birches in the area though there were few catkins on most of them. Due to the lighting and behavior of the flock, we weren't able to really scan them for any Hoary, but were still elated at having found one of the species we had sought after on the trip.

After dropping us off at our car in Wind Gap, we parted ways with Mark and decided to make a trip out to Lake Minsi to check the gull flock, where the day before we had seen over 1500 gulls- mostly Ring-billed but also a few hundred Herring and several young Lesser Black-backeds. Today, Matt found yet another 2nd winter ICELAND GULL, his 5th of this species at Lake Minsi this winter. It has been an excellent year for this species in northeastern PA, perhaps due to the healthy and growing Lesser-black Backed numbers. Spring is right around the corner, and soon we'll be out at Middle Creek watching the thousands of Snow Geese. Matt will be long gone by then, since he has taken a job out at Lake Havasu for the spring. Between Golden-winged banding and surveys I hope to cover much more of the Pocono's this year, if I can. The only problem is, there's just so much to cover, so little time, and so few birders willing to leave the comfort zone of their home patches and see what's out there. The 2nd PA BBA is currently being published as well, and I'm hoping/expecting it to reveal more of the historical data and breeding records for this corner of the state.

Bird On

Part 2

Some more MainePhotos.

Vegetation sampling done, August rolled around and the summer doldrums started to fade as migration picked up. On the 18th, my brother Matt and I took a Pelagic out of Lewes, Deleware with Paul Guris. Several other NJ birders were on the trip like Tom Johnson, Doug Gochfeld and a few others. While nothing incredibly rare showed up (like the sought after White-faced Storm Petrel), I did manage to see two of my nemesis Pomarine Jaegers, my only lifer of the year. Matt picked up several lifers, as we saw decent numbers of Cory's, Audubon's and Greater Shearwaters, Wilson's and CORRECTION: there was only 1 Band-rumped Storm Petrels and NO BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS on this trip. I has mistakenly confused my notes while posting this in the wee hours of the morning. The actual, complete trip list from this Paulagic can be found here: http://www.paulagics.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=111 SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION, And thanks to whomever pointed this out.

We ended the summer with a trip to Brigantine (Edwin B. Forsythe NWR), where migration was just beginning to pick up. Shorebirds were plentiful, mostly Lesser and Greater Ye

llowlegs, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers and a few White-rumped Sandpipers mixed in. Other species included Forster's Terns, Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers and Seaside Sparrows. It was hot and muggy, but an enjoyable trip none-the-less. Mark Boyd and Chris Hougelsson (sp?) joined Matt and I on the trip. We totaled 50+ species in two trips around the wildlife drive. Fall migration was just around the corner, and soon we'd be hawkwatching along the Kittatinny Ridge. Summer was fading fast, and we could tell that soon the colorful and sweet-sounding summer species would soon be passing through on their way south. Right now, surrounded by White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, I have a greater appreciation for those Scarlet Tanagres, Grey Catbirds and B

altimore Orioles that were here just a few months ago.

Still, I can feel the seasons changing. Soon the skunk cabbage will appear, the wo

odcock will be displaying, the Spring Peepers will be calling and the spotted salamanders will emerge on the spring equinox to breed in the vernal pools at Bear Swamp. The blackbird flocks will be arriving, as the Snow Geese leave the valley and congregate at Middle Creek by the hundreds of thousands with several other waterfowl species before heading north to the tundra. Just the other day at the swamp, I heard the resident Barred Owl pair getting fired up, and they too will soon be breeding and laying eggs so that I may

find their fluffy nestlings this May. If it weren't for these summer thoughts, the winter would pass by much slower. Spring is right around the corner...

A Look Back to Summer, on a Chilly February Friday Part 1

Its the middle of February here in eastern PA, and while this winter has been exceptionally mild and snow-free, its still winter none the less. So, on this chilly Friday morning my thoughts are of last summer, on my trip to Maine with Brandon, Golden-winged Warbler work and banding and a Deleware Pelagic that finally netted me my long-awaited Pomarine Jaeger.

In June, Brandon and I took a few days off from

banding Gold

en-winged Warble

rs before our vegetation sampling start

ed to visit my family near Brooklyn,

Maine and try and track down a few lifers, as well as some species we hadn't seen in a while.

After a 10 hour

drive we found ourselves at my Aunt June and Uncle Jim's house in Brooklyn, right on a beautiful peninsula jutting out on the Maine coast. This was Brandon's first trip to Maine, and though I had fallen in love with this place as a child, it had been almost 14 years since I had last visited. Despite this fact, it felt right at

home, and it was great to see my family again.

We were only about 20 miles from Mount Desert Island a

s the crow flies, but soon learned that no destination on the Maine

coast was ever closer than an hour or two's drive. We bade farewell for the time being to Aunt June and Uncle Jim, and set out to bird MDI for a few days before heading further up the coast, then to Baxter State Park before returning to Brooklyn for a day or two, then heading back

to Deleware State Forest in PA and our dreaded vegetatio

n sa

mpling.

Birding on MDI was fabulous, and though we had a few target species in mind we birded quite leisurely, and the only lifer we managed to stumble upon was Brandon's first Black Guillemot. I had only seen one of these before, a winter plumaged bird at Barnegat Light in 200

6, so it was a delight to see them in the

ir breeding garb, quite common among the inlets and bays here.

Cadillac Mountain was beautiful, and though we missed targets like Boreal Chick

adee and Gray Jay it was still nice to see and hear species like Nashville Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet that we usually only see during migration. The many Common Eiders and Common Goldeneye out on the bay also gave things a northern feel.

We left MDI and headed upthe coast, towards Cutler and

Machias Seal Island, then Baxter State Park. At Cutler, the boat ride to Machias Seal Island was pleasant, and upon arriving at the island we were treated to close views of Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, C

ommon Murre, Roseate and Arctic Terns and many Gulls. The small boat to the island could only hold a certain number of people, so I let B

randon go onto the island and volunteered to stay back on the larger boat. It wasn't that bad though, as we took a small row boat around the island while the rest of the group got to check out the breeding colonies up close, and we got to see all of the same species up close out on the water. There were also several "Bridled" Common Murres, a special variation found mostly on the Atlantic coast, where the Common Murres have a

white circle around the eye and a white stripe behind the eye. It was a gorgeous day, the water as smooth as glass, sun shining and cool but comfortable temperatures.

After Cutler, we headed deep into Baxter

State Park, where we camped for a few days and e

njoyed the boreal north woods. We found Brandon's lifer Boreal Chickadees, and though we failed to find targets like Bicknell's Thrush and Spruce Grouse, we were happy enjoying the boreal breeders like Grey-cheeked and Swainson's Thrushes, Ruffed Grouse,

and Blackpoll and Bay-breasted Warblers. We then returned to Brooklyn, and on our last night at Aunt June and Uncle Jim's, had a Northern Saw-whet Owl calling in their backyard. On our last day before departing for home, we took a whale watching boat out of Bar Harbor, where we saw a pair of Humpback Whales up close, as well as a few trip ticks like Greater Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-petrel. A dist

ant storm-petrel was most likely a Leach's, though it was too far to ID for certain. A great way to end our Maine excursion before driving through some pretty wild thunderstorms on the way home. It was tough leaving, especia

lly knowing what lay ahead of us: weeks of hot and sweaty vegetation sampling znd very little bird watching. We left knowing there was still much to explore in the boreal forests and miles of coastline in Maine, and vowed to return as soon as possible.

To Be Continued...