Nemesis Bird

Back in Florida!

Alex Lamoreaux — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:17:11 +0000

Classes are over, the Birding Cup is over, the Biggest Week is over and now I am back down in Florida. Anna has been down here since January working with the 'Southeastern' American Kestrels around the Gainesville area, and now I am also working with her. Our primary tasks are monitoring the kestrel nest boxes, banding chicks, and finding natural cavities. I have been down here for over a week now and everything is coming along very nicely - many nest boxes have chicks that need to be banded and we are also having some great luck finding kestrel pairs feeding young in natural cavities throughout the Ocala National Forest. I have also been able to pick up a few year birds such as Common Nighthawk, Chuck-wills-widow, Swallow-tailed Kite, and Mississippi Kite. On the downside, the house we live in has very poor internet and is very far from the nearest library, so Anna and I may be posting less often than we normally do....anyhow, here are some photos that I have taken the past few days to give you an idea of all the cool animals around this area!

'Southeastern' American Kestrel - male (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Florida Scrub-Jays, like this one, escort us around whenever we are out searching for natural kestrel nests. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

While out driving around, it is pretty common for us to come across large groups of immature Swallow-tailed Kites hunting over pasture land. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Cattle Egrets are a very common species throughout the pasture areas where a lot of our kestrel nest boxes are. This group of birds was part of a large number that I watched flying to roost for the evening. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

This Northern Raccoon watched me from the safety of a tree the other day, while I was admiring a stunning male Summer Tanager. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Back in Florida! by Alex Lamoreaux. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Eastern Screech-Owl Chicks

Anna Fasoli — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:57:27 +0000

Between the American Kestrel nest boxes that I monitor in Marion and Levy Counties, three boxes are occupied by nesting Eastern Screech-Owls! Two families have hatched 2 eggs, and one has hatched three. I don't have any photos of when these owls were recently hatched, but check out this post, "Whats in the Box? Part Two" to take a look at the adults on their eggs.

From earlier box checks, I knew that the owl family I wanted to check on should have 2 babies at about 19 to 20 days old. This was just my best guess from observing chicks that I thought were about 2-3 days old a few weeks ago (if anyone thinks they are a different age, let me know!). As soon as I pulled up to the box, which is mounted on a huge pine tree, an adult had it's head sticking out. From every angle, you could tell that this owl was not happy about my visit.

Eastern Screech-Owl adult at nest box

This owl is a brown type adult, but not a very vivid brown. I believe its mate has been in the box on occasion, and is more of a gray type adult. As I opened the box, I was happy to see the 2 chicks had survived and were now almost adult-sized! Both were sleeping face down in the box.

Eastern Screech-Owl chicks in nest box

To get a better idea of their age, I sat them up, while the adult sat patiently (or not-so patiently) nearby, with a few bill claps. These are the first baby screech-owls I have seen up close; their eyes were lined with pink skin that made them look more like hung-over people than owls, and they had lost the chick fluff around their eyes, giving them a masked appearance.

Eastern Screech-Owl chicks- about 19 to 20 days old (Rough night?)

Their feathers were mostly all developed, especially their primaries, and like baby kestrels at this age, they were still covered with a fair amount of fluffy chick feathers. And of course, feather tufts were visible on their heads, which will later help them blend in more with their surroundings. Over the next week, I will check on the two other boxes of owls, and hopefully find at least one red type chick in one of the boxes!

Eastern Screech-Owl chick - about 19 to 20 days old

Left wing of young screech owl; it looks like both of these chicks will be the same color as the adult present in the box.

Eastern Screech-Owl Chicks by Anna Fasoli. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

More migration with complicating precipitation

Drew Weber — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:07:32 +0000

Regional Overview

Last night saw moderate migration over the region as rain storms moved through Pennsylvania and southern New York.

Pennsylvania

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Despite the rainy conditions, there was a fair movement of birds. The rain may have put down birds, and at this point in the season we have to start thinking about terms and shorebirds as well. In addition to warbler spots, check flooded fields and lake edges.

As always, please leave me comments on what you find out in the field.

Maryland

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Maryland prediction coming soon...

New York

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

New York prediction coming soon...

Ohio

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Ohio prediction coming soon...

Check Kenn Kaufman's blog for more specifics on what to expect this time of year.

For migration updates or other regions check-
New England - Tom Auer's blog
New Jersey - Woodcreeper by David La Puma
Florida/SE - Badbirdz Reloaded by Angel and Mariel Abreu
NW Ohio - Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Wisconsin - Woodcreeper by David La Puma
Arizona - Words About Birds by Tim Schreckengost
Pac NW - Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth

I need your help! These reports will only be as good as the feedback I get on these updates. Please leave comments on interesting patterns of migration you are seeing in the field so I can incorporate some ground truthing to my forecasts and predictions. Thanks!

More migration with complicating precipitation by Drew Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Heavy migration especially along the coast

Drew Weber — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:03:35 +0000

Regional Overview

Last night saw strong migration across the region as winds were light and mostly from the south. The coast saw the heaviest movement of birds, but migration was still strong further inland. Small patches of precipitation were moving across some areas, but they were likely not big enough to influence migration and cause any fallout. The later migrants such as Alder Flycatcher and Mourning Warbler should now be showing up on territory and as they migrate through. Lots of other species are already establishing territories and some even are already tending young in the nest.

Pennsylvania

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Central and eastern PA radars showed a strong migration last night with NNE according to the velocity radar. Western PA showed good migration as well but lighter than the rest of the state. Expect new birds to be around in most areas. With no real precipitation to set birds down, expect them to be broadly distributed across the landscape.

As always, please leave me comments on what you find out in the field.

Maryland

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Maryland prediction coming soon...

New York

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

New York prediction coming soon...

Ohio

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Migration appeared strong across the entire state with precipitation only in the most southern counties. This may have produced a blocking effect resulting in a net loss of birds in the southern half of the state, but the northern parts of Ohio should definitely see some new birds around this morning.

Check Kenn Kaufman's blog for more specifics on what to expect this time of year.

Heavy migration especially along the coast by Drew Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Birding Cup Results!

Drew Weber — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:23:39 +0000

We are excited to announce that the Nemesis Birders won the Birding Cup with 151 species! Read below for a summary of our 24 hours of birding.

The Nemesis Birders with the Birding Cup

We started the evening of the the Cup by scouting out areas around Bald Eagle State Park. After some lucky finds, we headed to our starting place and waited until 7pm to twitch the Peregrine Falcon that so nicely perched on the bridge in McElhatten. Next we swung by a wetlands in Mill Hall and saw the American Bittern we had scouted half an hour previous.

Peregrine Falcon at McElhatten

Next we headed back to Bald Eagle SP and managed to dip on a bunch of the species that were present just a few hours before such as Common Merganser, Common Tern and Caspian Tern. We did pick up Common and Red-throated Loon as well as Horned Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser to start off a nice list of waterfowl. We then headed on to Julian but it was raining too hard and we made a game time decision to head to some strip mines for grassland birds. It took forever to hear a Henslow's Sparrow for #50 but in the meantime we did hear a Long-eared Owl, several Grasshopper Sparrows and the unique nocturnal song of Ovenbirds. A Sora at Julian just before midnight put us at 53 before heading off for a couple hours of sleep. Yeah, we slept....

In the early morning hours we rushed around to pick up owls and failed. We did hear a couple birds flying overhead and added Black-billed Cuckoo and Swainson's Thrush to our list this way.

A drive through Scotia Barrens which we expected to be very productive produced very few birds. We got the whole way through the barrens and only added 8 species of warblers - Chestnut-sided, Hooded, Golden-winged, Black-and-white, Pine, Wilson's Warbler, and American Redstart.

Lower Trail

We got frustrated with the lack of migrants and by 6:45am we decided to head to the Lower Trail and see if it was birdier there. We ended up picking some great birds up on the drive down including Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Vireo and Orchard Oriole.

The Lower Trail ended up being productive, despite taking much longer than expected to find our target species of Worm-eating, Cerulean and Yellow-throated Warblers. Worm-eating Warbler came easily but we run over a mile down the trail until some of us finally heard a Yellow-throated Warbler. We all heard the Cerulean nearby but we did not meet the threshold of enough people hearing the Yellow-throated Warbler to count it so we ran back slightly dejected to the car. We decided to quickly run down the other direction a short distance and lo and behold, both Yellow-throated and Cerulean Warblers were singing much closer to our car than the ones we originally found. We did pick up Blackpoll Warbler and Great Blue Heron along the trail so not all was lost.

Moving on, we headed to Old Crow by 9:30m and picked up Bobolink but couldn't find Marsh Wren or Virginia Rail. We next headed through Huntingdon where we picked up Eastern Screech-Owl and Prairie Warbler at some spots that Ian knew about.

Our next locations were in Rothrock with stops in Alan Seeger and Bear Meadows. On the drive up we picked up Red-tailed Hawk and a lucky spot of an immature Red-shouldered Hawk. In Alan Seeger we were finally able to find Blackburnian Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, and Dark-eyed Junco among others. The high pitched calls of Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird also added to our list.

Next was a quick stop at Colyer and on to the Red-headed Woodpecker stop where we dipped on them. I was a tad bitter that we missed the Red-headed Woodpecker I had staked out earlier in the week, especially once we heard that Justine's team had found it. We (almost) made up for it by seeing this one on the drive up to Black Moshannon SP later in the day.

Missed the Red-headed Woodpecker - this will have to do

Sprinting out of the Duck Pond after some easy ticks

The Duck Pond held several easy ticks for us including Ring-necked Duck, Redhead and Canvasback to get us up to 139 species. The American Coots that had held on for some long were gone, and there were very few songbirds around, not surprising as it was in the middle of the day.

At this point it was 1:30pm and we decided we needed to run up to Black Moshannon SP to pick up a couple breeding birds we had not seen yet. On our drive there we stopped at Julian again (now with the benefit of daylight) and still could not find Virginia Rail but did get a family of Hooded Mergansers and a single Bufflehead.

Black Moshannon was productive and we quickly found Canada Warbler, Purple Finch and Hermit Thrush. A distantly calling Barred Owl was a nice surprise after missing it at several spots the previous night.

We then headed back to Bald Eagle SP in hopes of finding the terns and Common Mergansers that had avoided us yesterday. We were unable to find them but did pick up a Tennessee Warbler at Upper Greens Run and a Greater Yellowlegs at the dam.

Our next stop was Toftrees Pond in the hopes of finding a Great Egret. No such luck but we did finally score a Nashville Warbler for #150! An embarrassing miss at this spot was when Ian flushed a Wilson's Snipe from behind us and none of the rest of us were able to get on it, or refind it.

Looking for Virginia Rails

After failing to get Virginia Rail at multiple locations, we decided to also try Millbrook Marsh, but no luck. We were hoping for some other passerines or maybe a teal, but walked away empty handed. At this point we were running out of time and decided to spend the last hour at the south entrance to Scotia. With just 12 minutes remaining we finally found a Blue-winged Warbler which I initially saw fly across the trail behind us flashing its white outer tail feathers. Finally after some coaxing it came into view for everyone else to see.

At 7:00pm, we headed over to Shaver's Creek where all the other teams were gathering. We tallied up our species list and had been able to find 151 species! This was a high enough total for us to win the competition! Also, 151 was the second highest total ever for the Birding Cup! If migration had been better the nights before and we hadn't missed some of the easier targets like Great Egret and Caspian Tern, it is quite possible that we could have easily ended up with closer to 160 or 165 - good thing there is always next year!

Birding Cup Results! by Drew Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

How we missed the Kirtland’s Warbler

Justine Weber — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:30:57 +0000

When we registered for The Biggest Week, Drew and I excitedly looked through the workshop and field trip offerings to pick something special to add to our week of birding. There was a long list of great field trips to area hotspots, expert keynote speakers, and birding workshops on the docket, but we found one thing that we knew we couldn’t miss: birding by canoe. We love to canoe, and have found that it’s a great way to observe a variety of birds and other wildlife while being relatively unobtrusive. At any rate, we quickly signed up for a mid-week trip.

The trip took place on the last stretch of Green Creek before it reaches Muddy Creek Bay. The surrounding land is owned by private hunt clubs and permanent conservation easements with Black Swamp Conservancy. Canoe trips on this creek have previously been offered to the local community on evenings for the purpose of viewing the large concentrations of Bald Eagles which roost there. This year was the first year that the trips were offered in conjunction with The Biggest Week. We were accompanied by representatives from Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), Black Swamp Conservancy, and the Sandusky County Parks District.

Our group was small and the morning was unexpectedly sunny (but still chilly!) so we were extremely excited as we put in on some private hunting grounds just before 7am. As we canoed down Green Creek, Drew and I were excited to hear a variety of songbirds as well as catching excellent looks at close to 10 eagles before reaching the Bay.

floating down the creek (photo credit BSBO)

After about 2 miles, Green Creek opened up into Muddy Bay, and we had great looks at basking Double-crested Cormorants, even more eagles flapping over the Bay’s waters, and a few hundred Dunlin foraging on some muddy flats nearby. Here one of our guides, Tom Kashmer (research coordinator for the parks district), provided us with some background history and geography of the area, emphasizing the role of various duck hunt clubs in the watershed’s conservation and management.

Drew and Justine (photo credit BSBO)

the wheeling Dunlin flock (photo credit BSBO)

As we prepared to paddle back the way we came, the Dunlin flocks suddenly took to the air and gave us a spectacular show of coordinated swooping directly over our canoes. It was rather amazing, especially the sound made by their wings as the changed direction.

The paddle upstream was easy, as Green Creek is extremely slow-moving despite a lot of recent rain. We again enjoyed the diversity of bird song, and I was happy to be challenged to identify many of the birds by ear alone. Around 3 hours after putting-in, we arrived back at our starting point. After a great chat with Ken Keffer, the Education Director for BSBO, we departed.

The only unfortunate thing about the trip was the tweet that Drew received on our paddle downstream. A cooperative Kirtland's Warbler had showed up at Magee Marsh, but there was no way for us to bustle back and see it. Alex and Anna got some great looks, though, and Drew and I got to hear one singing later that evening thanks to a shout across the marsh from Jeremy Ross.

Overall, the trip was well worth the $30 spent. We found out more information about the Lake Erie watershed and the conservation challenges present there, and we got a great list of birds in a relatively short period of time. The Biggest Week planners are hoping to offer similar trips in the future, especially because these trips filled up almost immediately. We understand why, after all, because birding by canoe is a blast.

Thanks to Ken Keffer (education director, BSBO) for taking some of the photos in this post and letting us use them!

How we missed the Kirtland’s Warbler by Justine Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Tips for eBirding the PA Migration Count

Drew Weber — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:05:57 +0000

Forster's Tern - Toftrees, Centre Co (photo by Alex)

Each year on the second Saturday of May, Pennsylvania birders hit the forests, lakes and fields to find as many species as they can in each county. This is a great opportunity to get out and bird at the peak of spring warbler migration. The goal of the project is to gain a better understanding of the populations of birds as they migrate through the state. However, since the sightings are lumped together at the county level, only very broad questions can be answered with the data. To take it to the next level, consider entering your sightings into eBird.

Since eBird uses precise locations for all checklists, as well as effort information (distance walked, time of day, hours birding) researchers using the data can look at effects of habitat, time of day and weather on bird activity. I encourage everyone to use the tips below to enter their PAMC count observations to eBird and help us learn more! As a bonus, you can then use eBird to tally up the species from all the locations and easily submit those numbers to your county compiler. Instructions at the bottom.

Your sighting of common birds are valuable when you use eBird.

Checklists with feeder birds or birds seen during a walk down the block provide great information on the abundance of those species in areas that are not typically surveyed. example checklist

Select the correct type of effort

Traveling- You traveled a specific distance — walking a trail, driving a refuge loop, field birding.
Observations made while birding over a specified distance (preferably <;5 mi) and duration. Examples include most general field birding, walking a trail or driving a refuge loop. If you walked somewhere and then backtracked, only report the distance for one direction, and only record birds that you think are new on the way back.
Stationary - You stayed at a fixed location — watching from a window, hawkwatching, seawatching.
Incidental - select this type of effort when you are not actively birding, or to just report a single interesting species. Also used when you do not have effort information such as mileage, time, and hours birding.
Reporting all species? This is perhaps the most important part so make sure to answer this correctly. If you are out birding and recording everything to the best of your ability, answer YES. If you are just reporting some of the species, answer NO, for example, reporting a single flyover Bald Eagle, or if you didn't keep track of House Sparrows, Europeans Starlings, etc.

Select a precise location to make your data more valuable. eBird uses the location to look at habitat and how birds are using it. Use the hotspot for the area you birded or zoom ALL the way in on that map if you are creating a new location. Read more about this topic.

Entering the state or county as the location of the checklist is of little or no value.
While using a town, city, or natural area designation such as a State Park or Gamelands is valid, try to be as specific as possible. See the following examples:

Bald Eagle SP has several hotspots that can be used depending on where you are birding. These are all different vantage points to view the lake, and entering separate checklists for each vantage point provides more data for eBird to use.

Numbers are more valuable than X's. You can enter 'X' for a species if you did not count how many you saw, but even a rough estimate gives eBird more data to work with that 'X'. When there are many birds of a species, try to estimate in groups of tens, hundreds or thousands. If it is an estimate add comments next to the species to indicate the number you entered for that species is an estimate.
Tree Swallow (photo by Alex)

Be conservative when counting small, active, and vocal songbirds.
Rough estimates are perfectly acceptable for flocks or large numbers of birds. example checklist

Add details! When a species is flagged for any reason, please include comments and/or photos for the reviewer to best evaluate the record. Read more about comments.

When you report a rare or unusual species, please include how you arrived at the identification, field marks you used, pertinent age/ sex information, length of study, notes on circumstance of the sighting, its behavior, associated species, etc. ANYTHING is better than nothing. example checklist
If the species was flagged because of a high count, please mention how the species was counted, i.e. "rough estimate", "conservative estimate", "careful count", "10 x 10 count", etc.
Add additional details as you can regarding age and sex of the species. You can also enter breeding evidence for each species much like the Breeding Bird Atlas.

If you have questions on how to enter data, contact the eBird Reviewer for your home county or the county for which you are entering the checklist.

Instructions to tally up your PAMC totals in eBird.

Once you have entered all your checklists into eBird

Click on Explore Data in the menubar.
On the bottom right under Summary Tables select My Observations. quick link
Create a Week Report starting with May 12.
On the next page all of the locations you birded during the PAMC should show up.
Select them all and press Continue.
From this page (example below) you can view the species totals from the day of birding, as well as download the report into an Excel file where you can copy out the species counts to send to your county compiler.

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Thanks to all the PA eBird reviewers for their input on the tips above.

Tips for eBirding the PA Migration Count by Drew Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Somerset County Big Day, Spring 2012

Mike Lanzone — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:26:11 +0000

Somerset County Spring '12 Big Day

On Sunday May 6, Jeff Payne, his son, Chris and I decided to do a big day in Somerset County PA. We were shooting for 150, a total Jeff thought would be very hard to hit in this county. We loosly planned a route in the days leading up to our big day, but did not put too much effort into really laying out a schedule. We met at 3am and headed out for owls, rails, and whatever else we could get before light.

3:30 am- We started the day at the Buffalo, a private wetland where we hoped to get Sora or Virgina Rail, Bittern and others. It was bright out, in fact the moon was full and at perigee, and the closest it will be to earth in 2012. It was so bright many birds were singing like it was dawn chorus! American Robin was our first bird, many sang loudly as we got out of the car. Solitary Sandpiper and Swamp Sparrow quickly became #2 and #3. We spent a long time trying to get rails and bitterns, but after a lot of calling, only Virginia Rail obliged us with a call back! Black-billed Cuckoo and Dickcissel were heard migrating overhead, and a calling Killdeer brought us to 7 species.

Mt Davis, you can see how bright the moon is!

4:30am- We arrived at the Mount Davis area, beginning in an area hit by a series tornadoes many years ago. It is a great spot for Whip-poor-wills, which we quickly ticked. The extremely bright moon made for an interesting early morning, with so many species calling as if it were day. We added 34 more species by 6:30am making many stops in this area. Highlights were Canada, Black-and-white, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue Warbler. We also nearly struck out on Owls, until on one of our last night stops we finally got one to call back to us, a Northern Saw-whet Owl! Total Species tally: 41

6:30am- We moved down in elevation a bit to Deer Creek Lake area scoring a slew of woodpeckers, including Hairy which can easily be missed on big days. We also picked up 9 species of warblers and 4 species of Flycatchers, including Louisiana Waterthrush, Blackburnian Warbler, Great Crested and Acadian Flycatchers. These series of stops landed us 36 more species. Total Species tally: 77

Jeff an Chris Payne scan High Point Lake

7:45am - We arrived at High Point Lake to a Green Heron still doing its night flight notes as it flew around. Pretty neat! Even though the lake was fairly baren, we still picked up several key birds. Pied-billed Grebe, Common Loon and Bald Eagle were amongst the birds we saw. But the highlight hands down was an American Bittern which flushed when a boat with two fisherman got too close to it. It flew around the bend from them and perched on the bank allowing me to get it in the scope for everyone else! Awesome bird and a great quick look. The High Point area was good for 19 species. Total Species Tally: 96

Black Vultures can be difficult in Somerset County

9:30am- After spending a bit more time than we wanted to in some spots we finally arrived in Confluence/Ursina area. We quickly picked up many more warbler species including Kentucky, Worm-eating, several Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers and a Yellow-throated and Pine, both of which made us work a little too hard to get them. We also picked up 2 key vireos- Yellow-throated and White-eyed, as well as Common Merganser and one key vulture- Black, which can be hard in this county. These stops added 24 species.
Total Species Tally: 120

Blue-winged Warbler singing

Golden-winged Warbler gleaning little caterpillars

1:30pm We started working our way north to Somerset Lake. One important stop early on was in a spot with a nice overlook of several ridges. We spotted many soaring raptors moving along the ridges, which were most likely resident species just up soaring around. Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged and Raven were all new. A Prairie warbler was also added nearby. A little furthur north we stopped by a known Kestrel nest and added it to the tally. Now almost to Somerset, we decided to hit an Upland Sandpiper location I had found many years ago. The car was not even stopped when we heard the distictive loud song from the field in front of us! We also noticed in the adjacent field there was a good number of shorebirds. Here we added Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, American Pipit, and Semipalmated Plover. Before we left we saw 3 more Upland Sandpipers standing out in the field, making a total of 4!! One last detour before Somerset for a scouted Red-headed Woodpecker, and several minutes later 2 flew by chasing each other. This can be a tough bird, usually only on big days though These stops added only 13 species, but some tough ones though. Total Species Tally: 133

2 Upland Sandpipers in front of us, total of 4 we saw at this site!

3:30pm We arrive at Somerset Lake. Like High Point, Somerset Lake was pretty devoid of birds too. However, there were a few species of waterfowl and gulls. We found Bonaparte's and Ring-billed Gull, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, a single Ring-necked Duck, Coot, and Double-crested Cormorant. We also made one error here, forgetting to stop at the place I had scouted for White-throated Sparrow... It will come back to haunt us later. We added 11 species. Total Species Tally: 144

5:30pm We made a quick stop for Mute Swans before arriving at Quemahoning Reservoir. The Que was a bit disappointing. Nothing much there and we only added one species, Red-breasted Merganser. Both stops only garnered 2 species. Total Species Tally: 146

6:15pm We decided to go out of our way for a few grassland species we had yet to get. It was a reliable spot, so it was worth the chance this late in the day. We arrived in the vicinity of Flight 93 and quickly got the three we needed- Horned Lark, Vesper and Henslow's Sparrow. Added 3 species. Total Species Tally: 149

One of the grassland bird spots near Flight 93

Horned Lark

7:30pm A quick stop at a scouted micro-habitat hoping for breeding Northern Waterthrush since we did not find a migrant. It was there! Running back to car... and Wooooaaahh BARRED OWL calling, nice!! Two more down! Total Species Tally: 151

7:50pm We arrive at a local wetland complex. It was late and we were not coming up with anything new. But half way in we saw 2 Rusty Blackbirds. We stopped at many spots to call for Sora Rail, but nothing. The sound of the peepers was a bit deafening to hear much over them, but we tried and could not get one. Then out of the north, about 1/2 hour after sunset, 2 Sandhill Cranes appeared, flying low over us and landed in the marsh behind us! Very Cool!! Total Species Tally: 153

2 Greater Sandhill Cranes coming into roost

9:30pm We made several stops calling for owls. At one, we had barely stopped the car and could hear a Screech Owl calling!! Total Species Tally: 154

10:30pm After stopping at half dozen more places calling for owls and listening, we spotted a Great-Horned Owl sitting along side of the road. It flushed up into a small grove of trees, and when the car got a few feet closer to where it had been 2 bunnies darted out. They got lucky this time! Total Species Tally: 155

11:30pm We made several more stops hoping for something to add, but nothing. All in all it was an awesome day, breaking the old Somerset County record and exceeding our target by 5 birds. Even-though we were just before the peak of spring migration, 28 of our species total was warblers! We had some huge misses, and a couple species we did not count because we all could not all get on them, but that always happens on big days. Better planning and route coordination next time may make the difference in breaking this record too. Midnight always comes too early, we wondered what we might have got if we planned better or did not miss some key birds, well it will have to wait until next time to find out!
GRAND BIG DAY TOTAL: 155 SPECIES!

Complete Big Day List

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Ring-necked Duck

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant

Ruffed Grouse

Wild Turkey

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

American Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Virginia Rail

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

Spotted Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Upland Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Wilson's Snipe

American Woodcock

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Black-billed Cuckoo

Eastern Screech-Owl

Great Horned Owl

Barred Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Acadian Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

White-eyed Vireo

Yellow-throated Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Carolina Wren

House Wren

Winter Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

Veery

Hermit Thrush

Wood Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Brown Thrasher

European Starling

American Pipit

Cedar Waxwing

Ovenbird

Worm-eating Warbler

Louisiana Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

Blue-winged Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Kentucky Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Hooded Warbler

American Redstart

Cerulean Warbler

Northern Parula

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Canada Warbler

Yellow-breasted Chat

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Henslow's Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Scarlet Tanager

Northern Cardinal

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Dickcissel

Bobolink

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Rusty Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Orchard Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Purple Finch

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Somerset County Big Day, Spring 2012 by Mike Lanzone. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

White-faced Ibis – Second State Record for PA

Alex Lamoreaux — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:08:35 +0000

On May 3, Greg Grove reported that the Kyler's had found a White-faced Ibis at Old Crow Wetlands in Huntingdon Cointy. This is just the second documented record of White-faced Ibis in Pennsylvania, and like the first record from Cumberland County, did not stick around very long. By the time that Greg was able to get out and look for it, the bird was gone.

The Kyler's were fortunate enough to get some diagnostic photos that they are submitting to the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee and were generous enough to share them with Nemesis Bird so everyone else could see the photos.

Old Crow Wetlands has been very productive for interesting birds in the past. Two years ago, the first record of an ibis at the wetlands was found in August when a Glossy Ibis spent several days there. Last spring, a Least Bittern was present for several days, as well as an Orange-crowned Warbler. In addition to the White-faced Ibis this year, Old Crow had also hosted interesting birds such as Clay-colored Sparrow and Marsh Wren. This is definitely a great place for local birders and should be a frequent stop for county listers in the area.

White-faced Ibis – Second State Record for PA by Alex Lamoreaux. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Slow night on the Eastern and Atlantic flyways

Drew Weber — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:47:07 +0000

Regional Overview

North winds and precipitation last night really limited the amount of movement across the entire eastern part of the US. You can see in the composite reflectivity above that there is very little migration evident on the radar east of the Mississippi. This could be good if you had a variety of migrants around yesterday as they should still be around, foraging in insect rich areas or back on breeding grounds establishing territories and breeding.

Pennsylvania

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Little migration across Pennsylvania last night with the less than ideal conditions. Best chance to see warblers is to hit up good habitat and breeding grounds. Remember to enter any breeding evidence you see into eBird!

As always, please leave me comments on what you find out in the field.

Maryland

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Maryland prediction coming soon...

New York

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

New York prediction coming soon...

Ohio

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

With the north winds last night, expect the good variety at Crane Creek to continue. Little to no migration was evident on the radar with all movement on the velocity radar in a southward direction. Most birds that were there yesterday will likely stick around for toady but there will be few new arrivals. A Kirtland's Warbler (or two or three) was seen yesterday so it/they may have stuck around the boardwalk/beach area for today.

Check Kenn Kaufman's blog for more specifics on what to expect this time of year.

Slow night on the Eastern and Atlantic flyways by Drew Weber. Originally posted on Nemesis Bird - birding and ornithology in Pennsylvania and beyond.