RBA
* Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia
* April 25, 2006
* PAPH0604.25
* Birds mentioned:
Common Loon
Red-throated Loon (pa)
Horned Grebe
ANHINGA (md)
Cattle Egret
Northern Pintail
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (pa)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
WHITE-TAILED HAWK (extralimital, Massachusetts)
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern
Chimney Swift
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Bank Swallow
American Pipit
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
PAINTED BUNTING (pa)
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
pelagic trip announcement
birds in Iraq (in a feature):
Squacco Heron
Red-wattled Plover
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Black-headed Gull
Whiskered Tern
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
Rock Pigeon
Woodpigeon
White-breasted Kingfisher
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Crested Lark
Desert Wheatear
Hooded Crow
Rook
Barn Swallow
White-cheeked Bulbul
Moustached Warbler
House Sparrow
Philadelphia Birdline
Date: April 25, 2006
Number: 215/567-BIRD
To Report: Armas Hill, 302/529-1876 (VOICE)
302/529-1085 (FAX)
Compiler: Armas Hill
Coverage: Delaware Valley, and southern New Jersey
Transcriber: Risė Hill
For Tuesday, April 25th, this is the Philadelphia
Birdline, from the Academy of Natural Sciences in
Philadelphia, and supported by a number of bird
clubs and individuals. I'm Armas Hill, again, glad to be with you.
On the last Philadelphia Birdline, mention was
made of a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE seen in the sky
above the Rose Tree Hawk Watch in Delaware County PA on April 20th.
This week, on Monday, April 24th, there was
another SWALLOW-TAILED KITE sighting in eastern
Pennsylvania, in Northampton County. At 2:15 in
the afternoon, it was in the sky in a small
kettle of raptors. Other hawks seen at that
location, that day, included: BROAD-WINGED,
SHARP-SHINNED, COOPER'S, RED-TAILED, and OSPREY.
The KITE was an immature as its tail was not forked enough to be an adult.
An exceptional hawk has been present to the north
of us in Massachusetts: a WHITE-TAILED HAWK has
been in Hadley, Mass by a field along North Maple
Street across from the University of
Massachusetts Hadley Farm, about a mile and half
north of Route 9. It was seen there both days
this past weekend, April 22-23. On Monday
morning, April 24th, it was seen at about 10
o'clock, but not later. After an encounter, at
that time, with a RED-TAILED HAWK, the WHITE
TAILED flew away, out of sight to the southwest.
The WHITE-TAILED HAWK does not normally occur in
the Northeast US. That Central & South American
species does occur normally in Texas, and has
occurred in Arizona and Louisiana.
Last time on the Birdline, there was mention of
an ANHINGA in Maryland, in Frederick, at a place
called Lily Pons. That ANHINGA continued to be
seen, until Sunday morning, April 23rd, between 10:30 & 11.
Also in Maryland, the previous day, Saturday,
April 22nd, at 4:20 in the afternoon, 5 ANHINGAS
were seen in flight over the mall in Columbia, in
Howard County. The birds, either females or
juveniles, were heading northeast. They were
observed for about a minute and a half. Seen well
were their features: the long neck, pale throat,
and fan-shaped tail. That nice sighting that day,
of 5 ANHINGAS, was at a time when rain showers let up.
In Chester County, Pennsylvania, on Monday, April
24th, there was, with the unsettled weather, a
large fallout of LOONS. At the Marsh Creek State
Park, 55 COMMON LOONS were on the lake, rather
huddled together in the middle of the lake. 52 of
them were in breeding plumage; 3 were not.
A RED-THROATED LOON was also there. It was still
seen yesterday, April 24th, late in the day, when
about a dozen of the breeding-plumaged COMMON
LOONS remained. A single female RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER was also there. Earlier in the day, there was a BONAPARTE'S GULL.
Late in the morning at Marsh Creek, with about 40
LOONS, 4 HORNED GREBES, in non-breeding attire,
were seen. Also on the water were RUDDY DUCK and
COOT. WARBLERS around the lake were: YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED, and PALM.
This morning, Tuesday, April 25th, there were no
LOONS at Marsh Creek. Only 1 COMMON LOON was at
Chambers Lake, another Chester County body of
water. At Marsh Creek, there was only 1 RUDDY DUCK.
At the nearby Hibernia Park, a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER was heard.
In northern Montgomery County PA, on Monday,
April 24th, at the Green Lane Reservoir, there
were 28 COMMON LOONS and 8 BONAPARTE'S GULLS. The
LOONS were said to be noisy. BANK SWALLOWS and CHIMNEY SWIFTS were also there.
There was quite a fallout of LANDBIRDS in Bucks
County PA on Sunday, April 23rd in the morning.
In the area of Rushland, there were many SPARROWS
in & around a field: CHIPPING, WHITE-THROATED,
and SAVANNAHS. Also with them, on the ground, there were over 20 PALM WARBLERS.
In the nearby woods, there were many WARBLERS: an
estimated 400-plus YELLOW-RUMPED, 75 additional
PALM, 5 BLACK-THROATED GREEN, and 2 PARULAS along
with: 2 BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS, and nearly 10 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS.
Not far away, a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH was singing along the Neshaminy Creek.
The next day, Monday, April 24th, in Northeast
Philadelphia, in the Pennypack Woods near Verree
Road, there a number of the species just
mentioned: GNATCATCHERS were plentiful. On
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, the ruby crown patches
were seen. There were BLUE-HEADED VIREOS and
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Also BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER.
Later that day, at the Morris Arboretum in
Montgomery County, near Northwest Philadelphia,
WARBLING VIREO and SPOTTED SANDPIPER were seen.
In Berks County, Pennsylvania, an immature male
PAINTED BUNTING has recently been coming to a
feeder, from Friday, April 21st until at least
Sunday, April 23rd. It's been seen Unfortunately,
the location can not be given. But still it's
worth noting here for two reasons. Firstly, it's
good to know when something that good is about,
and secondly, a commentary regarding the plumage
would be informative. It's an interesting and
confusing plumage, not illustrated in Sibley, the
National Geo 3rd edition, Peterson, or
Robbins, although it is mentioned in the National Geo.
The bird has some blue mottling on the back of
its otherwise greenish head, with the brightest
blue patches at the base of the neck. Its orbital
ring is yellow. The back and rump are a bright
yellow-green. The throat is a bright, clear
yellow. The breast, flanks, and belly are a
duller yellow-green, with broad, blurry dark
streaks. There's no red in the plumage.
Previous Berks County records of PAINTED BUNTINGS
were in 1961 (May 31) and 1999 (Jan to Apr & Dec).
Also in Berks County this week, in April 2006, 1
maybe 2 PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS are present along
the Maiden Creek, near the village of Moselem, south of Route 662.
Along the Delaware River, on Bull's Island, New
Jersey, opposite Lumberville, Bucks County PA, 2
singing YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS are again, this
year, back on territory. They were there on Tuesday, April 18th.
Along the Susquehanna River, in south-central
Pennsylvania, at the Conejohela Flats, in
Washington Boro, Lancaster County, on Sunday
morning, April 23rd, birds included:
9 species of SHOREBIRDS: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER,
SPOTTED and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, LEAST SANDPIPERS
(over 20), both YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN (5), SNIPE (1), and KILLDEER,
a flock of just over a dozen CASPIAN TERNS,
and these WARBLERS: YELLOW, YELLOW-THROATED, YELLOW-RUMPED, and OVENBIRD.
Also: about 10 PIPITS, 4 COMMON LOONS, a drake
PINTAIL, a drake BUFFLEHEAD, 9 BALD EAGLES (3
adults and 6 immatures), OSPREY, 5 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, and 1 LAUGHING GULL.
CATTLE EGRETS used to be along the lower
Susquehanna River in Lancaster County. They bred
in large numbers on Rookery Island. No more. Now,
according to the 2nd edition of the "Annotated
List of the Birds of Pennsylvania" by Frank &
Barbara Haas, the species is said to be "decreasing & rare" in Pennsylvania.
So, 10 CATTLE EGRETS in Indiana County PA, still
present as of Monday, April 24th, is a nice occurrence.
CHIMNEY SWIFTS are now "in" at a number of
places, having returned from the Amazon, yes the
Amazon, of South America. In the Lehigh Valley,
in Easton, they're back. In Lehigh County, their
chatter is now adding a bit of cheer at St. Luke's Hospital.
Here, now, is our Birdline Feature of the week. A
portion of it will be on the radio next week (on
Wednesday, May 3rd) on AM station AM 1450, WILM
in Wilmington, Delaware. And on the internet,
everywhere, at www.wilm.com, about 5 minutes
before the hours of 6am, 9am, & 7pm, Eastern Daylight Time.
This is the Birdline (on the radio):
This time, referring to some BIRDS far away. And
at a place, so very different than here.
There's a new BOOK I noticed in the store other
day, "Birding Babylon, A Soldier's Journal from
Iraq". I stood there, in the store, and read the
whole book, in about 15 minutes. But I bought it
anyway - to have, and to share some parts of it here with you.
It's written by Jonathan Trouern-Trend, from
Connecticut. He's back there, now, with his wife
and 5 children. He started watching birds,
himself, when he was a child, at 12 years of age.
He's been doing so for 24 years, and so he
watched birds, and observed other nature, as best
he could when he was in Iraq. The following is
from the journal he kept, now in his book (edited a bit for space):
On February 15, 2004, he wrote: "I arrived in
Kuwait, where birding was limited due to my
location in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by
thousands of coalition troops going to or coming from Iraq.
During my 2-weeks in Kuwait, I saw only 5 species
of birds: HOUSE SPARROW, BARN SWALLOW, ROCK
PIGEON, DESERT WHEATEAR, and CRESTED LARK.
The CRESTED LARK turned out to be one of the most
common birds, in both Kuwait and Iraq. Always on
the ground, they run a few feet, and stop and
look around. They repeat that behavior - all day.
Our convoy from Kuwait had to stop because one of
the humvees had a flat. We all piled out of the
vehicles and set up a defensive perimeter with
our weapons pointing out. It was a bit surreal.
As I was lying on the ground with my eye on some
guy racing around in a pick-up truck, wondering
if he's going to take a potshot at us, a pair of
CRESTED LARKS were less than 10 feet from me, the
male displaying and dancing around."
On February 23, he wrote: "We drove through the
southern marshes (in Iraq), which were decimated
by Saddam's draining program to destroy the
traditional home of the Marsh Arabs. All along
the road were ditches and dug-up ground. On the
pools of water there were many SHOREBIRDS, but I
could only identify the large and distinctive
ones as we whizzed by. There were lots of
BLACK-WINGED STILTS, AVOCETS, RED-WATTLED PLOVER,
and BLACK-HEADED GULLS. Lots of HOODED CROWS and ROOKS."
On March 27, he wrote: "After dropping off a
doctor at a clinic, I drove to a vantage point
where I saw a summer-plumaged WHISKERED TERN
cruising over the water. This was a "new bird",
and a very significant one, for me. The bird
looks like a COMMON TERN with a dark breast. It's
a "marsh tern", like a BLACK TERN. Back in the
summer of 1993, I drove to Delaware twice to look
for the first North American record of this
species, but was skunked both times. (The trip
did produce a SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER, from Asia,
and some great BUTTERFLIES.) On the last trip I
missed the bird by 30 minutes. Well, it took 11
years and 6,300 miles but I finally saw my TERN."
On April 1, he wrote: "I had an absolutely
fantastic day. While on a civil affairs mission,
delivering school supplies to children, I saw a
group of BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS hawking for
insects and perching on power lines."
On April 13, he wrote: "After a lot of rocket and
mortar attacks in recent days, we had to go
everywhere in body armor and helmet. Meanwhile,
at the laundry pond, a SQUACCO HERON was
clambering around in a patch of reeds." A few
days later, on April 25, he wrote: "A spectacular
WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER, with a big red
stork-like bill, reddish brown head, and blue
wings, back, and tail, was a new bird for me, as
it perched, obligingly, closeby on reeds."
On May 13, he wrote: "We had a sandstorm. The
trees were whipping around and clouds of sand
were rolling through. I found a broken WOODPIGEON
EGG at the base of a tamarisk tree, the wind having blown it out of a nest."
On May 14, he wrote: "We had to fly back by
helicopter, our preferred mode of travel. It's
much safer than driving these days. To avoid
being a target from ground fire they fly less
than 100 feet off the ground. You are closer, but
you are a target for only a split second as you zip overhead.
On the way, the helicopter hit a bird. It
traveled through one of the windows near the
pilot's feet and into the helicopter. Everyone
took pictures. The bird was a male PIN-TAILED SANDGROUSE."
On June 11, he wrote: "The summer heat has come.
High temperature is between 105 and 122 during
the day. The WHITE-CHEEKED BULBULS don't seem to
be bothered in the least by the heat. They sing,
chase each other around, and hop from branch to branch in the tamarisk trees."
His journal continued for another half a year
until January 2005. His last new bird was a
MOUSTACHED WARBLER on January 26. At the end of
his book, "Birding Babylon", Jonathan lists the
122 species of BIRDS he saw there in Iraq that year or so.
You've heard (or read) many reports in the news
regarding Iraq. But none, I'd assume. like this.
It reminds me, in a way, of when a friend from
NBC in New York called me on the phone a few
years ago from Afghanistan, as the fighting was
going on soon after the American troops arrived.
He told me of birds: "numbers of HAWKS", he said,
"flying overhead in migration". He then said
"thought you might like to know; I wanted to call and tell somebody".
I'm Armas Hill.
(For those on the radio: There's more of this
feature, on the internet, under the "Birdline" on
the left side of the home page, in the web-site: www.focusonnature.com)
Lastly, here, now, on the internet, an
announcement regarding an upcoming pelagic birding trip:
From Barnegat Light, New Jersey, next month, a
PELAGIC TRIP is scheduled for SEABIRDS and other MARINE-LIFE:
It's the annual pelagic trip to the Hudson
Canyon, to be, this year, Saturday/Sunday May
20/21. Again, it'll be an overnight pelagic trip
to be at the canyon at dawn, with chum on the
water, and seabirds in close to the boat, which
will be again the 100-foot "Doris Mae", a nice
fast boat that's good for birding. Birds during
this trip in the past have included a number of
SHEARWATERS, STORM-PETRELS, JAEGERS, SKUA, FULMAR, TERNS, GULLS, and ALCIDS.
This trip is now about half-filled. If you'd like
to join, please contact FONT (Focus On Nature
Tours) either by phone at 1-800-721-9986, or
e-mail at: font@focusonnature.com
Info is in the website: www.focusonnature.com
That's it for now. Thank you for tuning in to the
Birdline, wherever you may be.
- end transcript
* Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia
* April 25, 2006
* PAPH0604.25
* Birds mentioned:
Common Loon
Red-throated Loon (pa)
Horned Grebe
ANHINGA (md)
Cattle Egret
Northern Pintail
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Osprey
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (pa)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
WHITE-TAILED HAWK (extralimital, Massachusetts)
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern
Chimney Swift
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Bank Swallow
American Pipit
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
PAINTED BUNTING (pa)
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
pelagic trip announcement
birds in Iraq (in a feature):
Squacco Heron
Red-wattled Plover
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Black-headed Gull
Whiskered Tern
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
Rock Pigeon
Woodpigeon
White-breasted Kingfisher
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Crested Lark
Desert Wheatear
Hooded Crow
Rook
Barn Swallow
White-cheeked Bulbul
Moustached Warbler
House Sparrow
Philadelphia Birdline
Date: April 25, 2006
Number: 215/567-BIRD
To Report: Armas Hill, 302/529-1876 (VOICE)
302/529-1085 (FAX)
Compiler: Armas Hill
Coverage: Delaware Valley, and southern New Jersey
Transcriber: Risė Hill
For Tuesday, April 25th, this is the Philadelphia
Birdline, from the Academy of Natural Sciences in
Philadelphia, and supported by a number of bird
clubs and individuals. I'm Armas Hill, again, glad to be with you.
On the last Philadelphia Birdline, mention was
made of a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE seen in the sky
above the Rose Tree Hawk Watch in Delaware County PA on April 20th.
This week, on Monday, April 24th, there was
another SWALLOW-TAILED KITE sighting in eastern
Pennsylvania, in Northampton County. At 2:15 in
the afternoon, it was in the sky in a small
kettle of raptors. Other hawks seen at that
location, that day, included: BROAD-WINGED,
SHARP-SHINNED, COOPER'S, RED-TAILED, and OSPREY.
The KITE was an immature as its tail was not forked enough to be an adult.
An exceptional hawk has been present to the north
of us in Massachusetts: a WHITE-TAILED HAWK has
been in Hadley, Mass by a field along North Maple
Street across from the University of
Massachusetts Hadley Farm, about a mile and half
north of Route 9. It was seen there both days
this past weekend, April 22-23. On Monday
morning, April 24th, it was seen at about 10
o'clock, but not later. After an encounter, at
that time, with a RED-TAILED HAWK, the WHITE
TAILED flew away, out of sight to the southwest.
The WHITE-TAILED HAWK does not normally occur in
the Northeast US. That Central & South American
species does occur normally in Texas, and has
occurred in Arizona and Louisiana.
Last time on the Birdline, there was mention of
an ANHINGA in Maryland, in Frederick, at a place
called Lily Pons. That ANHINGA continued to be
seen, until Sunday morning, April 23rd, between 10:30 & 11.
Also in Maryland, the previous day, Saturday,
April 22nd, at 4:20 in the afternoon, 5 ANHINGAS
were seen in flight over the mall in Columbia, in
Howard County. The birds, either females or
juveniles, were heading northeast. They were
observed for about a minute and a half. Seen well
were their features: the long neck, pale throat,
and fan-shaped tail. That nice sighting that day,
of 5 ANHINGAS, was at a time when rain showers let up.
In Chester County, Pennsylvania, on Monday, April
24th, there was, with the unsettled weather, a
large fallout of LOONS. At the Marsh Creek State
Park, 55 COMMON LOONS were on the lake, rather
huddled together in the middle of the lake. 52 of
them were in breeding plumage; 3 were not.
A RED-THROATED LOON was also there. It was still
seen yesterday, April 24th, late in the day, when
about a dozen of the breeding-plumaged COMMON
LOONS remained. A single female RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER was also there. Earlier in the day, there was a BONAPARTE'S GULL.
Late in the morning at Marsh Creek, with about 40
LOONS, 4 HORNED GREBES, in non-breeding attire,
were seen. Also on the water were RUDDY DUCK and
COOT. WARBLERS around the lake were: YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED, and PALM.
This morning, Tuesday, April 25th, there were no
LOONS at Marsh Creek. Only 1 COMMON LOON was at
Chambers Lake, another Chester County body of
water. At Marsh Creek, there was only 1 RUDDY DUCK.
At the nearby Hibernia Park, a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER was heard.
In northern Montgomery County PA, on Monday,
April 24th, at the Green Lane Reservoir, there
were 28 COMMON LOONS and 8 BONAPARTE'S GULLS. The
LOONS were said to be noisy. BANK SWALLOWS and CHIMNEY SWIFTS were also there.
There was quite a fallout of LANDBIRDS in Bucks
County PA on Sunday, April 23rd in the morning.
In the area of Rushland, there were many SPARROWS
in & around a field: CHIPPING, WHITE-THROATED,
and SAVANNAHS. Also with them, on the ground, there were over 20 PALM WARBLERS.
In the nearby woods, there were many WARBLERS: an
estimated 400-plus YELLOW-RUMPED, 75 additional
PALM, 5 BLACK-THROATED GREEN, and 2 PARULAS along
with: 2 BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS, and nearly 10 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS.
Not far away, a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH was singing along the Neshaminy Creek.
The next day, Monday, April 24th, in Northeast
Philadelphia, in the Pennypack Woods near Verree
Road, there a number of the species just
mentioned: GNATCATCHERS were plentiful. On
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, the ruby crown patches
were seen. There were BLUE-HEADED VIREOS and
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Also BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER.
Later that day, at the Morris Arboretum in
Montgomery County, near Northwest Philadelphia,
WARBLING VIREO and SPOTTED SANDPIPER were seen.
In Berks County, Pennsylvania, an immature male
PAINTED BUNTING has recently been coming to a
feeder, from Friday, April 21st until at least
Sunday, April 23rd. It's been seen Unfortunately,
the location can not be given. But still it's
worth noting here for two reasons. Firstly, it's
good to know when something that good is about,
and secondly, a commentary regarding the plumage
would be informative. It's an interesting and
confusing plumage, not illustrated in Sibley, the
National Geo 3rd edition, Peterson, or
Robbins, although it is mentioned in the National Geo.
The bird has some blue mottling on the back of
its otherwise greenish head, with the brightest
blue patches at the base of the neck. Its orbital
ring is yellow. The back and rump are a bright
yellow-green. The throat is a bright, clear
yellow. The breast, flanks, and belly are a
duller yellow-green, with broad, blurry dark
streaks. There's no red in the plumage.
Previous Berks County records of PAINTED BUNTINGS
were in 1961 (May 31) and 1999 (Jan to Apr & Dec).
Also in Berks County this week, in April 2006, 1
maybe 2 PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS are present along
the Maiden Creek, near the village of Moselem, south of Route 662.
Along the Delaware River, on Bull's Island, New
Jersey, opposite Lumberville, Bucks County PA, 2
singing YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS are again, this
year, back on territory. They were there on Tuesday, April 18th.
Along the Susquehanna River, in south-central
Pennsylvania, at the Conejohela Flats, in
Washington Boro, Lancaster County, on Sunday
morning, April 23rd, birds included:
9 species of SHOREBIRDS: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER,
SPOTTED and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, LEAST SANDPIPERS
(over 20), both YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN (5), SNIPE (1), and KILLDEER,
a flock of just over a dozen CASPIAN TERNS,
and these WARBLERS: YELLOW, YELLOW-THROATED, YELLOW-RUMPED, and OVENBIRD.
Also: about 10 PIPITS, 4 COMMON LOONS, a drake
PINTAIL, a drake BUFFLEHEAD, 9 BALD EAGLES (3
adults and 6 immatures), OSPREY, 5 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, and 1 LAUGHING GULL.
CATTLE EGRETS used to be along the lower
Susquehanna River in Lancaster County. They bred
in large numbers on Rookery Island. No more. Now,
according to the 2nd edition of the "Annotated
List of the Birds of Pennsylvania" by Frank &
Barbara Haas, the species is said to be "decreasing & rare" in Pennsylvania.
So, 10 CATTLE EGRETS in Indiana County PA, still
present as of Monday, April 24th, is a nice occurrence.
CHIMNEY SWIFTS are now "in" at a number of
places, having returned from the Amazon, yes the
Amazon, of South America. In the Lehigh Valley,
in Easton, they're back. In Lehigh County, their
chatter is now adding a bit of cheer at St. Luke's Hospital.
Here, now, is our Birdline Feature of the week. A
portion of it will be on the radio next week (on
Wednesday, May 3rd) on AM station AM 1450, WILM
in Wilmington, Delaware. And on the internet,
everywhere, at www.wilm.com, about 5 minutes
before the hours of 6am, 9am, & 7pm, Eastern Daylight Time.
This is the Birdline (on the radio):
This time, referring to some BIRDS far away. And
at a place, so very different than here.
There's a new BOOK I noticed in the store other
day, "Birding Babylon, A Soldier's Journal from
Iraq". I stood there, in the store, and read the
whole book, in about 15 minutes. But I bought it
anyway - to have, and to share some parts of it here with you.
It's written by Jonathan Trouern-Trend, from
Connecticut. He's back there, now, with his wife
and 5 children. He started watching birds,
himself, when he was a child, at 12 years of age.
He's been doing so for 24 years, and so he
watched birds, and observed other nature, as best
he could when he was in Iraq. The following is
from the journal he kept, now in his book (edited a bit for space):
On February 15, 2004, he wrote: "I arrived in
Kuwait, where birding was limited due to my
location in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by
thousands of coalition troops going to or coming from Iraq.
During my 2-weeks in Kuwait, I saw only 5 species
of birds: HOUSE SPARROW, BARN SWALLOW, ROCK
PIGEON, DESERT WHEATEAR, and CRESTED LARK.
The CRESTED LARK turned out to be one of the most
common birds, in both Kuwait and Iraq. Always on
the ground, they run a few feet, and stop and
look around. They repeat that behavior - all day.
Our convoy from Kuwait had to stop because one of
the humvees had a flat. We all piled out of the
vehicles and set up a defensive perimeter with
our weapons pointing out. It was a bit surreal.
As I was lying on the ground with my eye on some
guy racing around in a pick-up truck, wondering
if he's going to take a potshot at us, a pair of
CRESTED LARKS were less than 10 feet from me, the
male displaying and dancing around."
On February 23, he wrote: "We drove through the
southern marshes (in Iraq), which were decimated
by Saddam's draining program to destroy the
traditional home of the Marsh Arabs. All along
the road were ditches and dug-up ground. On the
pools of water there were many SHOREBIRDS, but I
could only identify the large and distinctive
ones as we whizzed by. There were lots of
BLACK-WINGED STILTS, AVOCETS, RED-WATTLED PLOVER,
and BLACK-HEADED GULLS. Lots of HOODED CROWS and ROOKS."
On March 27, he wrote: "After dropping off a
doctor at a clinic, I drove to a vantage point
where I saw a summer-plumaged WHISKERED TERN
cruising over the water. This was a "new bird",
and a very significant one, for me. The bird
looks like a COMMON TERN with a dark breast. It's
a "marsh tern", like a BLACK TERN. Back in the
summer of 1993, I drove to Delaware twice to look
for the first North American record of this
species, but was skunked both times. (The trip
did produce a SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER, from Asia,
and some great BUTTERFLIES.) On the last trip I
missed the bird by 30 minutes. Well, it took 11
years and 6,300 miles but I finally saw my TERN."
On April 1, he wrote: "I had an absolutely
fantastic day. While on a civil affairs mission,
delivering school supplies to children, I saw a
group of BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS hawking for
insects and perching on power lines."
On April 13, he wrote: "After a lot of rocket and
mortar attacks in recent days, we had to go
everywhere in body armor and helmet. Meanwhile,
at the laundry pond, a SQUACCO HERON was
clambering around in a patch of reeds." A few
days later, on April 25, he wrote: "A spectacular
WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER, with a big red
stork-like bill, reddish brown head, and blue
wings, back, and tail, was a new bird for me, as
it perched, obligingly, closeby on reeds."
On May 13, he wrote: "We had a sandstorm. The
trees were whipping around and clouds of sand
were rolling through. I found a broken WOODPIGEON
EGG at the base of a tamarisk tree, the wind having blown it out of a nest."
On May 14, he wrote: "We had to fly back by
helicopter, our preferred mode of travel. It's
much safer than driving these days. To avoid
being a target from ground fire they fly less
than 100 feet off the ground. You are closer, but
you are a target for only a split second as you zip overhead.
On the way, the helicopter hit a bird. It
traveled through one of the windows near the
pilot's feet and into the helicopter. Everyone
took pictures. The bird was a male PIN-TAILED SANDGROUSE."
On June 11, he wrote: "The summer heat has come.
High temperature is between 105 and 122 during
the day. The WHITE-CHEEKED BULBULS don't seem to
be bothered in the least by the heat. They sing,
chase each other around, and hop from branch to branch in the tamarisk trees."
His journal continued for another half a year
until January 2005. His last new bird was a
MOUSTACHED WARBLER on January 26. At the end of
his book, "Birding Babylon", Jonathan lists the
122 species of BIRDS he saw there in Iraq that year or so.
You've heard (or read) many reports in the news
regarding Iraq. But none, I'd assume. like this.
It reminds me, in a way, of when a friend from
NBC in New York called me on the phone a few
years ago from Afghanistan, as the fighting was
going on soon after the American troops arrived.
He told me of birds: "numbers of HAWKS", he said,
"flying overhead in migration". He then said
"thought you might like to know; I wanted to call and tell somebody".
I'm Armas Hill.
(For those on the radio: There's more of this
feature, on the internet, under the "Birdline" on
the left side of the home page, in the web-site: www.focusonnature.com)
Lastly, here, now, on the internet, an
announcement regarding an upcoming pelagic birding trip:
From Barnegat Light, New Jersey, next month, a
PELAGIC TRIP is scheduled for SEABIRDS and other MARINE-LIFE:
It's the annual pelagic trip to the Hudson
Canyon, to be, this year, Saturday/Sunday May
20/21. Again, it'll be an overnight pelagic trip
to be at the canyon at dawn, with chum on the
water, and seabirds in close to the boat, which
will be again the 100-foot "Doris Mae", a nice
fast boat that's good for birding. Birds during
this trip in the past have included a number of
SHEARWATERS, STORM-PETRELS, JAEGERS, SKUA, FULMAR, TERNS, GULLS, and ALCIDS.
This trip is now about half-filled. If you'd like
to join, please contact FONT (Focus On Nature
Tours) either by phone at 1-800-721-9986, or
e-mail at: font@focusonnature.com
Info is in the website: www.focusonnature.com
That's it for now. Thank you for tuning in to the
Birdline, wherever you may be.
- end transcript