RBA
* Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia
* December 20, 2006
* PAPH0612.20
* Birds mentioned:
Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, EARED GREBE (nj)
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN (1 bird, 3 states)
American Bittern
Cackling Goose, Brant Goose, Snow Goose
American Black Duck, EURASIAN WIGEON (nj), Redhead
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE (nj), Common Goldeneye
Harlequin Duck, Common Eider
Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle (over 100 together)
Sora, Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail
SANDHILL CRANE (pa)
American Oystercatcher, Black-bellied Plover, Willet,
Marbled Godwit, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot
Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe
Laughing Gull, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Thayer's Gull (probable)
Ring-billed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull,
Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull
Eastern Screech-Owl, Short-eared Owl
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD (wv & possibly in nj)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe, empidonax flycatcher (not identified)
WESTERN KINGBIRD (nj)
NORTHERN SHRIKE (pa)
American Robin, Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher
Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing
Palm Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat
Dickcissel, Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow, "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow
Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting
WESTERN TANAGER (nj)
Baltimore Orioles (at various places)
Rusty Blackbird, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD (nj), Eastern Meadowlark
Purple Finch
Southern Flying Squirrel
Aurora Borealis ("Northern Lights")
a feature about hummingbirds
Philadelphia Birdline
Date: December 20, 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 Wednesday, December 20th, 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, glad to be with you, with some recent
bird reports, including some from Christmas Bird
Counts conducted this past weekend.
"PA Birds" was "down" with some technical
difficulties, but now it's back on line. Some
items that would normally have been there are
given here. Reports for the Birdline can be sent to: armas@focusonnature.com
In the northern Philadelphia suburbs, during the
Wyncote Audubon Christmas Count on Saturday,
December 16th, a "beautiful" immature BALTIMORE
ORIOLE was observed feeding on berries at the
Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve, where some other nice
sights included: GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS along
the Green Ribbon Trail, and a NORTHERN HARRIER hunting over the fields.
West of Philadelphia, that same day, December
16th, during the West Chester Christmas Count, 2
BALTIMORE ORIOLES were found, a first-year male
and a first-year female, at the Radley Run
Country Club, south of West Chester. The ORIOLES
were seen that morning, but not again.
A male BALTIMORE ORIOLE, also in Chester County
PA, continued in Marshallton, until at least
December 13th. It was first seen there on
December 3rd (and on a few days between the 3rd & the 13th).
In southern Lancaster County, recently, there
were 3 BALTIMORE ORIOLES: an adult male on
December 9th, and two first-year birds, then &
until at least December 12th. When there, the
orioles were feeding on poke berries.
There was an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN at the Green
Lane Reservoir. The bird was found there during
the afternoon on Thursday, December 14th by
Church Road. Two days later, on Saturday,
December 16th, at just before 9:30am, it was seen flying away, heading south.
As info, on December 13th, an AMERICAN WHITE
PELICAN was at the Van Cortland Lake in New York.
The next day, December 14th, for a while, one was
seen in northern New Jersey at the Round Valley
Reservoir. Then, later that day, December 14th,
the bird appeared at Green Lane (after the last
sighting at Round Valley).
In the area of Peace Valley, in central Bucks
County PA north of Doylestown, on December 14th,
there were over 200 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at
Lake Galena. An ICELAND GULL was also there that day, as were 4 BALD EAGLES.
From New Jersey, here now, some items for
various Christmas Counts this past weekend:
BALTIMORE ORIOLES have been mentioned already as
being in Pennsylvania. During the Oceanville NJ
Christmas Count on December 16th, a BALTIMORE
ORIOLE was at the Stockton State College. Other
landbirds included: 4 YELLOWTHROATS, and 1 (only 1) RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
Other species included:
2 EARED GREBES (that continue) at Lakes Bay
a SHORT-EARED OWL at Motts Creek
1 CLAPPER and 7 VIRGINIA RAILS at the Forsythe (Brigantine) Refuge,
and 33 WILLETS, 21 MARBLED GODWITS, and 272
OYSTERCATCHERS, all at Absecon Inlet.
By the way, during the Oceanville Christmas
Count, only 4 SPECIES made up two-thirds of the
BIRDS. Those 4: BRANT, DUNLIN, SNOW GOOSE, BLACK DUCK.
Further inland in New Jersey, birds during the
Assunpink Christmas Count on December 17th included:
a WESTERN KINGBIRD at the Stone Tavern Lake in
the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area,
and DICKCISSEL, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, PALM
WARBLER, a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS, EASTERN PHOEBE, and 3 BALD EAGLES.
Also in central New Jersey, that same day,
December 17th, during the Princeton Christmas
Count, nice birds included BROWN CREEPERS and
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. But especially nice was the
large number of SCREECH-OWLS heard between 1:30
and 6 or so in the morning - as many as 54 of
them in one Christmas Count territory. It's
interesting that the previous record (back when)
for that count was 73 SCREECH-OWLS.
A large number of SNIPE were seen in one
particular area during the Sandy Hook Christmas
Count in New Jersey on December 16th. As many as
40 were along the Waackaack Creek, south of Route
36 by the border of Keansburg and Hazlet.
There was a BALTIMORE ORIOLE during the Sandy
Hook count, a first-fall male at a place called Huber Woods.
Other birds during the count included:
a female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE in the Sandy Hook
Bay, in a flock of about 10 COMMON GOLDENEYES,
a male EURASIAN WIGEON in Rumson, at a pond along
Navesink Ave. north of Hartshorne Road,
and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in a flock of SNOW
BUNTINGS at the north end of Sandy Hook.
Also found were: AMERICAN BITTERN, REDHEAD, AMERICAN PIPIT, and PURPLE FINCH.
During the Lakehurst NJ Christmas Count on
December 16th, among nearly a hundred species, there were these:
a hummingbird in Tom's River thought by some to
be a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD (others have said
it could be a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD; we're
waiting for a more definitive word on this),
a CACKLING GOOSE also in Tom's River,
HARLEQUIN DUCK on a jetty in Seaside,
COMMON EIDER at Manasquan Inlet,
and a SORA, 4 VIRGINIA RAILS, and 2 BALD EAGLES along the Manasquan River.
Note: There's been a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD
coming to a feeder near Harper's Ferry, in West
Virginia. It's an adult female, that was banded
in early November, and has continued since then
to visit the feeder. As info, there are 3
excellent photographs of the bird now in the
Birdline Photo Gallery, in the web-site: www.focusonnature.com
Scroll down the left side of the home-page to the
"Birdline Photo Gallery 2006 Part 2".
Along the Delaware River, in Florence, New
Jersey, GULLS seen on December 14th included:
1 first-winter GLAUCOUS, 1 third-winter ICELAND,
16 LESSER BLACK-BACKED, and 2 LAUGHING.
The predominant GULL was HERRING, with many
RING-BILLED and some GREAT BLACK-BACKED there as well.
The few thousand GULLS that day, between 1:30 &
2:30pm, were just north of the Turnpike bridge.
Park at the bridge, and walk north along the river a half-mile or so.
In Mercer County, New Jersey, at the Pole Farm in
the Mercer County Park Northwest, on December
13th, a flock of a dozen RUSTY BLACKBIRDS was found.
Other birds there included: 8 BLACK VULTURES, 4
NORTHERN HARRIERS, 10 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 10 AMERICAN
TREE SPARROWS, and 30 MEADOWLARKS.
Further south in New Jersey, in Salem County, 3
BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were seen on December 16th at
the Supawna Road pasture area, off Route 49.
Along the South Jersey Shore, in the area of
Stone Harbor, including Stone Harbor Point at the
south end of Stone Harbor, birds seen lately have
included about 15 SNOW BUNTINGS and an "IPSWICH"
SAVANNA SPARROW (at the point), WILLETS and 1
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (by 119th St.), and
"hundreds" of RED KNOTS and a MARBLED GODWIT (in the Stone Harbor area).
Just south of Stone Harbor, looking toward it
from North Wildwood, on Sunday, December 17th,
about 450 OYSTERCATCHERS were seen roosting in a large flock.
In the Cape May area, there's been a WESTERN
TANAGER, an immature male (a yellow bird with red
on the head). On December 14th, in the morning,
it was about half way down the third field at
Higbee's Beach. Other birds at Higbee's have
included: numbers of ROBINS and WAXWINGS, FOX
SPARROW, HERMIT THRUSH, TOWHEE, CATBIRD, BROWN
THRASHER, and a young RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.
Earlier it was mentioned that a place called
Mott's Creek can be good in the afternoon for
SHORT-EARED OWLS. To get there, from Route 9,
just north of Smithville, go east on Mott's Creek Road until the end.
Slightly belated, these birds were seen in the
Tuckerton NJ area on December 6th, at the end of
the Great Bay Boulevard: 8 MARBLED GODWITS,
OYSTERCATCHERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, DUNLIN,
RUDDY TURNSTONE, both LOONS, and many BRANT.
Back in Pennsylvania:
The previously-reported SANDHILL CRANE has
continued to be seen at the Middle Creek Wildlife
Management Area in northern Lancaster County, as
of at least December 13th. There are now two
photographs of this bird in the Birdline Photo
Gallery referred to earlier, in www.focusonnature.com
where also there are some photos of BALD EAGLES
recently at the Conowingo Dam, along the
Susquehanna River, in Maryland, just south of Lancaster County PA.
Lately, there have been many BALD EAGLES, in
various plumages, at that location. On Tuesday,
December 12th, someone tallied over a hundred.
Others, recently, have counted up to 150.
Apparently, this past month, there have been more
BALD EAGLES at Conowingo than at any other single location in the Eastern US.
Back in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an
unidentified EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER was found on
Sunday, December 17th, at Muddy Run, Holtwood. It
was seen off and on for about 20 minutes that
morning, and again the next morning but then only
very quickly. Not seen again, as far as we know,
and so far, as noted, not identified as to which
species. Some said maybe LEAST; others said maybe
DUSKY or HAMMOND'S. A hard call to make.
Another call that can be hard to make is that of
the THAYER'S GULL. One was said to be seen on
December 14th, at Memorial Lake, where also there
was an ICELAND GULL and 5 LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS. The Memorial Lake State Park is in Lebanon
County, near Fort Indiantown Gap.
GULLS in southern Bucks County on December 13th
included 2 ICELAND GULLS at Franklin Cove in
Tullytown, among thousands of GULLS. Also among
them that day were about 20 LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS and a single LAUGHING GULL.
There was another notable bird seen on December
17 in the Muddy Run area of Lancaster County
(just noted as where an EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER
occurred). A NORTHERN SHRIKE was found that
afternoon. Going east on River Road, turn right
onto Silver Springs Road. Go to the crest of a
hill. The bird was in trees on the left side of
the road, within a white fence.
In Oreland, Montgomery County, PA, recently, at
least one, maybe two, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS have been visiting a yard.
In that same yard, late last Sunday night,
December 17th, as someone was taking in his
Christmas light display, he saw what he first
thought to be a MOUSE scurrying up a tree.
However, the animal then glided from that tree to
another. It was a FLYING SQUIRREL!
Another non-bird report:
A couple nights earlier, where skies were clear,
there was a display of NORTHERN LIGHTS, the
AURORA BOREALIS. A day or so earlier there was a
powerful SOLAR FLARE, which can (and in this
case, did) for a couple nights, produce the
colorful display in the night-time sky. A
particularly strong AURORA was noted, for
example, in upstate New York, in the sky over Saranac Lake.
Now, our Birdline Feature of the Week, relating
this time to HUMMINGBIRDS, as given on the radio,
where the Birdline is heard every Wednesday,
before 6am, 9am, and 7pm, on station AM 1450 in
Wilmington, Delaware, and everywhere on www.wilm.com
This is the Birdline (on the radio):
Most people see HUMMINGBIRDS, in these parts, in
the late spring, the summer, and the early fall.
That's because that's when most HUMMINGBIRDS are here.
However, some occur in our region later in the
fall, when the weather is more like winter.
There's been a HUMMINGBIRD in a yard north of
Wilmington, Delaware, during much of November,
and into December. It's been coming, even when
the weather's been cold, to a HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER,
that's been left up for it with sugar and water,
and it's been feeding, on occasion, on plants
still in bloom such as PINEAPPLE SAGE. That
plant, around here, is a late-bloomer, and
there's recently been some mild, as well as some cold, weather.
If one sees a HUMMINGBIRD in our region from
mid-spring to mid-fall, it's a RUBY-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRD, the only SPECIES during that time in
the East. Now, many of them are in warmer climes, in places such as Costa Rica.
In Western North America, there are more species
of HUMMINGBIRDS. In Arizona, for example, in the
summer, there can be as many as 14.
In all, throughout the Americas, from Alaska to
Tierra del Fuego, there are about 320 species of
HUMMINGBIRDS, most of which are in the Tropics.
But, yes, I said Alaska. In the southern part of
that state, some RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, in the
northern part of their range, breed in the
summer. Most of them spend the winter months in
woods of pines and oaks in the Mexican mountains.
But the HUMMINGBIRD that's been at the yard north
of Wilmington, in November and into December, has
been a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, an immature female, from the West (maybe Alaska).
It's been found, during recent years, that it's
not abnormal for HUMMINGBIRDS from the West to
be, in the late fall, in the East. And it seems,
that during recent years, there have been more of them.
It may just be that more people are noticing the
HUMMINGBIRDS, or it may be that are now more
birds. Certainly, the phenomenon is now more known.
During recent days, there have also been RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRDS, from the West, in both eastern and
western Pennsylvania, and in New York. It's most
interesting that the bird in western PA, an adult
female, was banded earlier this year, actually
last winter, on January 25th in Mississippi.
Recently, south of us, there have been RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRDS (including both adult male & female)
in North Carolina, including one at the Governor's home in Raleigh.
And, there's been another hummer from the West in
North Carolina lately, a CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD, an
immature male, near Charlotte.
All North American HUMMINGBIRDS are small. The
RUFOUS, head to tail, is 3.75 inches, the same as
the RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. The CALLIOPE is even smaller, 3.25 inches.
North of us, as of December 3rd, as many as 5
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were banded in recent weeks in Connecticut.
And one little CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD was found
there, all 3.25 inches of it near New Haven,
having travelled across the continent.
And yet another Western HUMMINGBIRD SPECIES has
been in the East recently. In Harper's Ferry,
West Virginia, there's been, and still is, a
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, a bird normally in the desert.
There's no desert in West Virginia of course. The
HUMMINGBIRD there, an adult female, has been visiting a feeder.
(Note: As indicated above there are photos of
this bird in www.focusonnature.com
Scroll down the left side of the home-page to the
"Birdline Photo Gallery 2006 Part 2". Another
hummingbird, that may be a BLACK-CHINNED
HUMMINGBIRD has also been, lately, in New Jersey.)
HUMMINGBIRDS have to feed - alot. It's said they
need about half their body weight in food a day.
That's why it just didn't seem right that
HUMMINGBIRDS would be in this part of the world,
during November and December days, when, overall,
their food supply isn't as much as it would seem
it should be. For the HUMMINGBIRDS, however, it's apparently been all right.
I'm Armas Hill.
And with that, we'll close for now. More, next
time. Until then, good birding, wherever you may
be, and thank you for tuning in to the Birdline.
Merry Christmas to you & yours!
- end transcript
* Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia
* December 20, 2006
* PAPH0612.20
* Birds mentioned:
Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, EARED GREBE (nj)
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN (1 bird, 3 states)
American Bittern
Cackling Goose, Brant Goose, Snow Goose
American Black Duck, EURASIAN WIGEON (nj), Redhead
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE (nj), Common Goldeneye
Harlequin Duck, Common Eider
Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle (over 100 together)
Sora, Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail
SANDHILL CRANE (pa)
American Oystercatcher, Black-bellied Plover, Willet,
Marbled Godwit, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot
Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe
Laughing Gull, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Thayer's Gull (probable)
Ring-billed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull,
Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull
Eastern Screech-Owl, Short-eared Owl
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD (wv & possibly in nj)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe, empidonax flycatcher (not identified)
WESTERN KINGBIRD (nj)
NORTHERN SHRIKE (pa)
American Robin, Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher
Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing
Palm Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat
Dickcissel, Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow, "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow
Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting
WESTERN TANAGER (nj)
Baltimore Orioles (at various places)
Rusty Blackbird, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD (nj), Eastern Meadowlark
Purple Finch
Southern Flying Squirrel
Aurora Borealis ("Northern Lights")
a feature about hummingbirds
Philadelphia Birdline
Date: December 20, 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 Wednesday, December 20th, 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, glad to be with you, with some recent
bird reports, including some from Christmas Bird
Counts conducted this past weekend.
"PA Birds" was "down" with some technical
difficulties, but now it's back on line. Some
items that would normally have been there are
given here. Reports for the Birdline can be sent to: armas@focusonnature.com
In the northern Philadelphia suburbs, during the
Wyncote Audubon Christmas Count on Saturday,
December 16th, a "beautiful" immature BALTIMORE
ORIOLE was observed feeding on berries at the
Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve, where some other nice
sights included: GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS along
the Green Ribbon Trail, and a NORTHERN HARRIER hunting over the fields.
West of Philadelphia, that same day, December
16th, during the West Chester Christmas Count, 2
BALTIMORE ORIOLES were found, a first-year male
and a first-year female, at the Radley Run
Country Club, south of West Chester. The ORIOLES
were seen that morning, but not again.
A male BALTIMORE ORIOLE, also in Chester County
PA, continued in Marshallton, until at least
December 13th. It was first seen there on
December 3rd (and on a few days between the 3rd & the 13th).
In southern Lancaster County, recently, there
were 3 BALTIMORE ORIOLES: an adult male on
December 9th, and two first-year birds, then &
until at least December 12th. When there, the
orioles were feeding on poke berries.
There was an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN at the Green
Lane Reservoir. The bird was found there during
the afternoon on Thursday, December 14th by
Church Road. Two days later, on Saturday,
December 16th, at just before 9:30am, it was seen flying away, heading south.
As info, on December 13th, an AMERICAN WHITE
PELICAN was at the Van Cortland Lake in New York.
The next day, December 14th, for a while, one was
seen in northern New Jersey at the Round Valley
Reservoir. Then, later that day, December 14th,
the bird appeared at Green Lane (after the last
sighting at Round Valley).
In the area of Peace Valley, in central Bucks
County PA north of Doylestown, on December 14th,
there were over 200 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at
Lake Galena. An ICELAND GULL was also there that day, as were 4 BALD EAGLES.
From New Jersey, here now, some items for
various Christmas Counts this past weekend:
BALTIMORE ORIOLES have been mentioned already as
being in Pennsylvania. During the Oceanville NJ
Christmas Count on December 16th, a BALTIMORE
ORIOLE was at the Stockton State College. Other
landbirds included: 4 YELLOWTHROATS, and 1 (only 1) RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.
Other species included:
2 EARED GREBES (that continue) at Lakes Bay
a SHORT-EARED OWL at Motts Creek
1 CLAPPER and 7 VIRGINIA RAILS at the Forsythe (Brigantine) Refuge,
and 33 WILLETS, 21 MARBLED GODWITS, and 272
OYSTERCATCHERS, all at Absecon Inlet.
By the way, during the Oceanville Christmas
Count, only 4 SPECIES made up two-thirds of the
BIRDS. Those 4: BRANT, DUNLIN, SNOW GOOSE, BLACK DUCK.
Further inland in New Jersey, birds during the
Assunpink Christmas Count on December 17th included:
a WESTERN KINGBIRD at the Stone Tavern Lake in
the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area,
and DICKCISSEL, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, PALM
WARBLER, a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS, EASTERN PHOEBE, and 3 BALD EAGLES.
Also in central New Jersey, that same day,
December 17th, during the Princeton Christmas
Count, nice birds included BROWN CREEPERS and
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. But especially nice was the
large number of SCREECH-OWLS heard between 1:30
and 6 or so in the morning - as many as 54 of
them in one Christmas Count territory. It's
interesting that the previous record (back when)
for that count was 73 SCREECH-OWLS.
A large number of SNIPE were seen in one
particular area during the Sandy Hook Christmas
Count in New Jersey on December 16th. As many as
40 were along the Waackaack Creek, south of Route
36 by the border of Keansburg and Hazlet.
There was a BALTIMORE ORIOLE during the Sandy
Hook count, a first-fall male at a place called Huber Woods.
Other birds during the count included:
a female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE in the Sandy Hook
Bay, in a flock of about 10 COMMON GOLDENEYES,
a male EURASIAN WIGEON in Rumson, at a pond along
Navesink Ave. north of Hartshorne Road,
and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in a flock of SNOW
BUNTINGS at the north end of Sandy Hook.
Also found were: AMERICAN BITTERN, REDHEAD, AMERICAN PIPIT, and PURPLE FINCH.
During the Lakehurst NJ Christmas Count on
December 16th, among nearly a hundred species, there were these:
a hummingbird in Tom's River thought by some to
be a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD (others have said
it could be a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD; we're
waiting for a more definitive word on this),
a CACKLING GOOSE also in Tom's River,
HARLEQUIN DUCK on a jetty in Seaside,
COMMON EIDER at Manasquan Inlet,
and a SORA, 4 VIRGINIA RAILS, and 2 BALD EAGLES along the Manasquan River.
Note: There's been a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD
coming to a feeder near Harper's Ferry, in West
Virginia. It's an adult female, that was banded
in early November, and has continued since then
to visit the feeder. As info, there are 3
excellent photographs of the bird now in the
Birdline Photo Gallery, in the web-site: www.focusonnature.com
Scroll down the left side of the home-page to the
"Birdline Photo Gallery 2006 Part 2".
Along the Delaware River, in Florence, New
Jersey, GULLS seen on December 14th included:
1 first-winter GLAUCOUS, 1 third-winter ICELAND,
16 LESSER BLACK-BACKED, and 2 LAUGHING.
The predominant GULL was HERRING, with many
RING-BILLED and some GREAT BLACK-BACKED there as well.
The few thousand GULLS that day, between 1:30 &
2:30pm, were just north of the Turnpike bridge.
Park at the bridge, and walk north along the river a half-mile or so.
In Mercer County, New Jersey, at the Pole Farm in
the Mercer County Park Northwest, on December
13th, a flock of a dozen RUSTY BLACKBIRDS was found.
Other birds there included: 8 BLACK VULTURES, 4
NORTHERN HARRIERS, 10 CEDAR WAXWINGS, 10 AMERICAN
TREE SPARROWS, and 30 MEADOWLARKS.
Further south in New Jersey, in Salem County, 3
BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were seen on December 16th at
the Supawna Road pasture area, off Route 49.
Along the South Jersey Shore, in the area of
Stone Harbor, including Stone Harbor Point at the
south end of Stone Harbor, birds seen lately have
included about 15 SNOW BUNTINGS and an "IPSWICH"
SAVANNA SPARROW (at the point), WILLETS and 1
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (by 119th St.), and
"hundreds" of RED KNOTS and a MARBLED GODWIT (in the Stone Harbor area).
Just south of Stone Harbor, looking toward it
from North Wildwood, on Sunday, December 17th,
about 450 OYSTERCATCHERS were seen roosting in a large flock.
In the Cape May area, there's been a WESTERN
TANAGER, an immature male (a yellow bird with red
on the head). On December 14th, in the morning,
it was about half way down the third field at
Higbee's Beach. Other birds at Higbee's have
included: numbers of ROBINS and WAXWINGS, FOX
SPARROW, HERMIT THRUSH, TOWHEE, CATBIRD, BROWN
THRASHER, and a young RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.
Earlier it was mentioned that a place called
Mott's Creek can be good in the afternoon for
SHORT-EARED OWLS. To get there, from Route 9,
just north of Smithville, go east on Mott's Creek Road until the end.
Slightly belated, these birds were seen in the
Tuckerton NJ area on December 6th, at the end of
the Great Bay Boulevard: 8 MARBLED GODWITS,
OYSTERCATCHERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, DUNLIN,
RUDDY TURNSTONE, both LOONS, and many BRANT.
Back in Pennsylvania:
The previously-reported SANDHILL CRANE has
continued to be seen at the Middle Creek Wildlife
Management Area in northern Lancaster County, as
of at least December 13th. There are now two
photographs of this bird in the Birdline Photo
Gallery referred to earlier, in www.focusonnature.com
where also there are some photos of BALD EAGLES
recently at the Conowingo Dam, along the
Susquehanna River, in Maryland, just south of Lancaster County PA.
Lately, there have been many BALD EAGLES, in
various plumages, at that location. On Tuesday,
December 12th, someone tallied over a hundred.
Others, recently, have counted up to 150.
Apparently, this past month, there have been more
BALD EAGLES at Conowingo than at any other single location in the Eastern US.
Back in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an
unidentified EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER was found on
Sunday, December 17th, at Muddy Run, Holtwood. It
was seen off and on for about 20 minutes that
morning, and again the next morning but then only
very quickly. Not seen again, as far as we know,
and so far, as noted, not identified as to which
species. Some said maybe LEAST; others said maybe
DUSKY or HAMMOND'S. A hard call to make.
Another call that can be hard to make is that of
the THAYER'S GULL. One was said to be seen on
December 14th, at Memorial Lake, where also there
was an ICELAND GULL and 5 LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS. The Memorial Lake State Park is in Lebanon
County, near Fort Indiantown Gap.
GULLS in southern Bucks County on December 13th
included 2 ICELAND GULLS at Franklin Cove in
Tullytown, among thousands of GULLS. Also among
them that day were about 20 LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS and a single LAUGHING GULL.
There was another notable bird seen on December
17 in the Muddy Run area of Lancaster County
(just noted as where an EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER
occurred). A NORTHERN SHRIKE was found that
afternoon. Going east on River Road, turn right
onto Silver Springs Road. Go to the crest of a
hill. The bird was in trees on the left side of
the road, within a white fence.
In Oreland, Montgomery County, PA, recently, at
least one, maybe two, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS have been visiting a yard.
In that same yard, late last Sunday night,
December 17th, as someone was taking in his
Christmas light display, he saw what he first
thought to be a MOUSE scurrying up a tree.
However, the animal then glided from that tree to
another. It was a FLYING SQUIRREL!
Another non-bird report:
A couple nights earlier, where skies were clear,
there was a display of NORTHERN LIGHTS, the
AURORA BOREALIS. A day or so earlier there was a
powerful SOLAR FLARE, which can (and in this
case, did) for a couple nights, produce the
colorful display in the night-time sky. A
particularly strong AURORA was noted, for
example, in upstate New York, in the sky over Saranac Lake.
Now, our Birdline Feature of the Week, relating
this time to HUMMINGBIRDS, as given on the radio,
where the Birdline is heard every Wednesday,
before 6am, 9am, and 7pm, on station AM 1450 in
Wilmington, Delaware, and everywhere on www.wilm.com
This is the Birdline (on the radio):
Most people see HUMMINGBIRDS, in these parts, in
the late spring, the summer, and the early fall.
That's because that's when most HUMMINGBIRDS are here.
However, some occur in our region later in the
fall, when the weather is more like winter.
There's been a HUMMINGBIRD in a yard north of
Wilmington, Delaware, during much of November,
and into December. It's been coming, even when
the weather's been cold, to a HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER,
that's been left up for it with sugar and water,
and it's been feeding, on occasion, on plants
still in bloom such as PINEAPPLE SAGE. That
plant, around here, is a late-bloomer, and
there's recently been some mild, as well as some cold, weather.
If one sees a HUMMINGBIRD in our region from
mid-spring to mid-fall, it's a RUBY-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRD, the only SPECIES during that time in
the East. Now, many of them are in warmer climes, in places such as Costa Rica.
In Western North America, there are more species
of HUMMINGBIRDS. In Arizona, for example, in the
summer, there can be as many as 14.
In all, throughout the Americas, from Alaska to
Tierra del Fuego, there are about 320 species of
HUMMINGBIRDS, most of which are in the Tropics.
But, yes, I said Alaska. In the southern part of
that state, some RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, in the
northern part of their range, breed in the
summer. Most of them spend the winter months in
woods of pines and oaks in the Mexican mountains.
But the HUMMINGBIRD that's been at the yard north
of Wilmington, in November and into December, has
been a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, an immature female, from the West (maybe Alaska).
It's been found, during recent years, that it's
not abnormal for HUMMINGBIRDS from the West to
be, in the late fall, in the East. And it seems,
that during recent years, there have been more of them.
It may just be that more people are noticing the
HUMMINGBIRDS, or it may be that are now more
birds. Certainly, the phenomenon is now more known.
During recent days, there have also been RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRDS, from the West, in both eastern and
western Pennsylvania, and in New York. It's most
interesting that the bird in western PA, an adult
female, was banded earlier this year, actually
last winter, on January 25th in Mississippi.
Recently, south of us, there have been RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRDS (including both adult male & female)
in North Carolina, including one at the Governor's home in Raleigh.
And, there's been another hummer from the West in
North Carolina lately, a CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD, an
immature male, near Charlotte.
All North American HUMMINGBIRDS are small. The
RUFOUS, head to tail, is 3.75 inches, the same as
the RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. The CALLIOPE is even smaller, 3.25 inches.
North of us, as of December 3rd, as many as 5
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were banded in recent weeks in Connecticut.
And one little CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD was found
there, all 3.25 inches of it near New Haven,
having travelled across the continent.
And yet another Western HUMMINGBIRD SPECIES has
been in the East recently. In Harper's Ferry,
West Virginia, there's been, and still is, a
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, a bird normally in the desert.
There's no desert in West Virginia of course. The
HUMMINGBIRD there, an adult female, has been visiting a feeder.
(Note: As indicated above there are photos of
this bird in www.focusonnature.com
Scroll down the left side of the home-page to the
"Birdline Photo Gallery 2006 Part 2". Another
hummingbird, that may be a BLACK-CHINNED
HUMMINGBIRD has also been, lately, in New Jersey.)
HUMMINGBIRDS have to feed - alot. It's said they
need about half their body weight in food a day.
That's why it just didn't seem right that
HUMMINGBIRDS would be in this part of the world,
during November and December days, when, overall,
their food supply isn't as much as it would seem
it should be. For the HUMMINGBIRDS, however, it's apparently been all right.
I'm Armas Hill.
And with that, we'll close for now. More, next
time. Until then, good birding, wherever you may
be, and thank you for tuning in to the Birdline.
Merry Christmas to you & yours!
- end transcript