Update from Steve on 4/29:

11 April 2008 Update

I was able to get some birding in after work on April 1st, and focused on Fort Washington State Park. I tried the Pileated Woodpecker’s favorite spots, but still couldn’t find that bird. Then I headed out to the field habitat, hoping for some Palm Warblers or some Chipping Sparrows at the edge of the pines. Instead, I found a singing BROWN THRASHER (#104), which was an unexpected treat for the day.

On April 10, I opted to bird closer to home, maximizing the time spent in the field rather than on the road. I had really wanted to get out to the Perkiomen Trail’s Hollywood Trailhead area, but traffic was a nightmare. That’s certainly another challenge of my particular big year. Even on days when I can get in the field after work, I still have the challenge of trying to optimize the time I have available and still try to hit a diversity of habitats. On that day, though, I still needed to find a variety of species which could be found at any number of my usual haunts: Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Chipping Sparrow, etc. I decided to hit an area of Norristown Farm Park which had attracted migrant Pine Warblers in 2007. In no time, I was watching an interesting mixed flock that included a pair of PINE WARBLERS (#105), Yellow-rumped Warblers, a pair of Tufted Titmice, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Carolina Chickadees and Downy Woodpecker. A third Pine Warbler sang towards the creek while I enjoyed watching the flock. The rest of my time at the park turned up no additional yearbirds, but I did hear my first American Bullfrog of the year.

On April 11, traffic sabotaged my attempt to drive out to Fort Washington after work, but a pair of CHIPPING SPARROWS (#106) were leaping at insects in my backyard, and singing their hearts out. I am hoping these are my local Chipping Sparrows that successfully bred in the backyard last year. Fledgling Chipping Sparrows are incredibly loud, but the cuteness factor usually overwhelms the noisiness. Some new gorgeous White-throated Sparrows had also shown up that day. The day before, Emily and her mom saw a hummingbird fly through the yard, but the newly filled feeders failed to attract anything while I was watching.

As usual, the weather report seemed to bear little resemblance to the observed reality. The predicted strong storms were quite mild with barely any thunder. I had hoped for some bad weather to put things down at Green Lane overnight. I decided to try Green Lane anyways, but to hit Fort Washington State Park first. The park was buzzing with activity and alive with song. Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Field Sparrows sang nonstop. They were accompanied by Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Goldfinches and Eastern Bluebirds. A couple Brown Thrashers added their solo acts. The percussion segment was filled with the drumming of Northern Flicker, Downy, Hairy and Redbellied Woodpeckers. One flicker has apparently discovered the booming acoustic properties of a manhole cover, the resulting drumming has the pattern and tempo of a typical flicker, but with an incredibly deep bass and very high volume. There’s something primordial about that sound – even if it took the cooperation of modern man and Northern Flicker to produce it.

Leaving the Militia Hill area, I walked the Wissahickon Trail to the Flourtown Day Use Area of Fort Washington. While crossing the bridge, I had my first warbler of the day: a vibrant male Pine Warbler that was foraging with chickadees, nuthatches and titmice. Eastern Phoebes were at the Flourtown Area and American Toads were singing from the wetland restoration area. I was able to watch them sing, with their throat sacs bulging. Other toads were in the water, paired up male and female, and some were thrashing around and swimming. The rumble of thunder cut my explorations short, and I started to head back to the Militia Hill Area. At the same area where I’d seen the Pine Warbler, I found three more Pine Warblers and some Yellow-rumped Warblers, and later near where the trail crosses a road, there were even more Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers. I made it back to the car without getting significantly wet, and decided to move to Green Lane while it rained.

Well, it didn’t rain much: the weather was all bark and no bite. Not that I minded. I was soon looking out over the Walt Rd area of Green Lane, where there were Lesser Scaup and Buffleheads. The Bald Eagles were at the nest, and an eaglet (possibly two) poked their heads out of the nest very briefly. On the water near the nest were three HORNED GREBES (#107) decked out in full breeding plumage, but while other waterfowl moved in closer to shore, I had to enjoy these grebes from afar. The Church Rd area also had a Horned Grebe, this one in winter plumage and much more accessible. While I ate lunch there, a BARN SWALLOW (#108) flew over the water, and a Common Loon in full breeding plumage flew past. The Hill Rd area had a group of sleeping waterfowl along with an alert male Bufflehead. When the sleepers awoke they revealed themselves to be 2 Hooded Merganser hens, a hen Bufflehead, a hen Ruddy Duck and 3 Horned Grebes in transitional plumage. The Horned Grebes had molted into breeding plumage on their heads, but the bodies were still pale like the winter plumage. And yes, I looked at each grebe closely to rule out the possibility of an Eared Grebe.

My last stop for the day was in my breeding bird atlas block north of Collegeville. There, I walked the Perkiomen and Skippack Trails looking for new birds and for breeding behavior. I was rewarded with close to a dozen Eastern PALM WARBLERS (#109) working the trees along Perkiomen Creek as they moved upstream. I stayed in the area until dark, hoping for some American Woodcocks for the PA BBA, but had to settle for some Little Brown Myotis aka Little Brown Bats that put on quite a show chasing insects and occasionally each other.

On Apr 18, a quick birding jaunt at Fort Washington revealed that BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS (#110) had returned to the county. The birding was a little slow, possibly due to the fact that a movie was being shot in the park. As a consequence, certain areas had been cordoned off and the noise of the filmmakers and their equipment certainly did not help. The next day, I spent the morning in Scott Fraser’s backyard, where I had my first HOUSE WREN (#111) of the year, but dipped on the Louisiana Waterthrush that had been singing in the backyard. Though I did enjoy listening to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet sing from their pines, I decided to spend some time at nearby Evansburg State Park and try my luck there. I was greeted at Evansburg by a singing BLUE-HEADED VIREO (#112), which I soon located not far from the parking lot. I hiked upstream, gambling on coming across migrants that might be moving in the same direction. This strategy was effective, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. The warblers were everywhere, and had pretty much settled in. They were singing nonstop, but they had no desire to move up or down the creek. Instead, small flocks were feeding on gnats and other insects. Most of the birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers, but each flock had a Palm Warbler or two as well, and both species were happily singing away the entire time I was at the park.

I soon heard what was probably a White-eyed Vireo, but it sang only once and I wasn’t prepared to rule out wishful thinking – though certainly it was not a bird I was anticipating hearing. I scanned the farm field for meadowlarks, Vesper Sparrow and the like, but turned up empty-handed. Returning to the creek, I watched a dozen BROAD-WINGED HAWKS (#113) circling on thermals before they tucked in their wings and sped north. After, I turned my attention back to warblers, I heard a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER (#114) singing from the other side of the creek. Continuing upstream, I got almost all the way to a fancy bridge, when I decided to head back. As I did, a large bird flew into a tree and perched. As it straightened itself up, I knew it was a small heron species, and when I put my binoculars up I knew it was a night-heron. The shock of it being an adult YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (#115), though made the identification follow that very course. The conversation in my head played like this: “Hey, that’s a big bird there. Oh, looks like a heron. Alright, a night-heron. Wait a second, that’s a Yellow-crowned Night-heron!” Strangely enough, that’s a very similar reaction to when I found a Yellow-crowned Night-heron at Norristown’s Riverfront Park last year. It is a little weird to have found Yellow-crowned, which I didn’t expect to see in the county, before finding Black-crowned Night-heron or even Green Heron for that matter.

Soon afterwards, Scott Fraser called. I told him about the night-heron, and we put together a plan to find the Louisiana Waterthrush for the next morning. That day, Scott provided the coffee and the bird. We hiked out the back of his yard, stopping first to examine the Eastern Box Turtle that was crossing the deer trail. Soon we were near the edge of the creek and the habitat looked absolutely perfect for Louisiana Waterthrush. When we reached the area in which Scott had previously heard the waterthrush sing, we heard nothing at first. A couple paces upstream, though, elicited the loud chip note of the LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (#116). Scott saw the bird first, and for a while it looked like I’d have to be satisfied with just hearing it, when the waterthrush flew back and then was joined by a second bird. Energized, we headed upstream and eventually found a mixed flock of Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. A NORTHERN PARULA (#117) sang, and was soon in binocular view, and we were greeted at the Germantown Pike bridge by a probable Bank Swallow, Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallows and CHIMNEY SWIFTS (#118). We hiked back to Scott’s place, and were greeted by the spectacle of an egg that was laid without its shell. One of Scott’s daughters had found it, and their was a great amount of excitement. I can’t thank Scott and his family enough for letting me come by now three times to see their yardbirds.

My next stop was Green Lane Reservoir. The Walt Rd area had little in the way of waterfowl, but a drake Blue-winged Teal and drake NORTHERN SHOVELER (#119) swam into view at the Church Rd area. After checking the Hill Rd area and Knight’s Lake and coming up with nothing new for the year, I decided to celebrate with a little breeding bird atlas work in my block just north of Collegeville. There, the newly arrived Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were collecting tent caterpillar silk for nest building, and I found some gorgeous male YELLOW WARBLERS (#120) back on territories they had occupied the previous year.

On Apr 26, I led my DVOC field trip to the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal Area, which turned out to be an excellent trip, but wiped me out for the rest of the day. Thus, I missed a fateful email about a White-winged Tern at Ted Harvey Wildlife Area that day. On Apr 27, I woke up and had to put in my census at Riverbend Environmental Education Center. The morning was cold and wet, but the birds were about. Highlights for the Montgomery County year from the census included a couple GRAY CATBIRDS (#121), a singing BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (#122) and a male COMMON YELLOWTHROAT (#123). That morning, Riverbend also had Ruby-crowned Kinglet; Hermit Thrush; Blue-headed Vireo; Field Sparrow; Yellow, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I patrolled Riverbend for three hours, then shot over to Green Lane Reservoir to see if the previous night’s storm had forced down any waterfowl.

Once again, the Walt Rd area was pretty dead, though I spent some time trying to find Bank or Cliff Swallows in with the Barn, Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallows that raced across the water. There was one bird that looked quite good for Bank Swallow, but it was so distant that I never got enough field marks to be satisfied with the identification. I went to Church Rd next, where a calling GREATER YELLOWLEGS (#124) greeted me upon opening the car door. I soon had the bird in my scope, and was quite impressed with its fresh breeding plumage. The patch of mud where the yellowlegs was foraging looked like a likely place for Spotted Sandpiper, but repeated scans of the area turned up no additional shorebirds. I switched my focus to waterfowl, but initially noted only Double-crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Common Mergansers, Wood Ducks and Mallards. Then I found a duck sleeping near the Molasses Creek area that looked quite interesting. The body plumage all dark brown to black, and a line of dark feathers ran up the back of the head that contrasted with the lighter cheek areas. The head, what I could see of it, looked sort of blocky. I immediately started thinking about a hen or first winter drake Black Scoter, but prepared myself for it only being an American Black Duck. I watched the bird for a time, mentally willing it to wake up and look around, but, when it finally did so, the view was very brief. The bill was yellowish and seemed to fit the profile for an American Black Duck, and the extensive striping on the head seemed to indicate a Mallard X Black Duck hybrid – at least from a distance. I was a bit disappointed, but soon perked up as I began to hear EASTERN MEADOWLARKS (#125) singing from the fields.

I tracked one of the meadowlarks down just past Molasses Creek, and was totally blown away by the vibrant yellow breeding plumage. I just enjoyed watching that bird sing for a while, then I turned my attention back to the sleeping duck. I was a lot closer now and the head still looked ridiculously blocky for an American Black Duck. I was a lot closer now, and decided I needed to get a definitive look at this bird’s bill from up close. The more I looked at the bird the more it looked wrong for Black Duck: the blocky head, the lighter feathers towards the rump, even the plumage coloration just seemed off somehow. Eventually, the sleeping duck stuck its head up for a few seconds, revealing the head profile and bicolored bill of a first winter BLACK SCOTER (#126). The bird’s plumage was transitioning from that of a first winter bird to that of an adult drake, which explained the lighter feathers and caused some of the earlier identification hurdles. I was quite happy to see that my initial impression of the identification of this bird wound up being the correct one, and I was even happier to see a second scoter added to the year list!

I headed back to the car, where I heard a Killdeer call from the mudflats, and decided to take a look at the bird. My view through the binoculars showed a Spotted Sandpiper was present as well, and I quickly set up my scope. The view through the scope, though presented a breeding plumaged SOLITARY SANDPIPER (#127), and I wondered whether I had gotten enough sleep after the rail trip. Then the SPOTTED SANDPIPER (#128) ran past the Solitary, though where it had hidden between my putting down my binoculars and setting up the scope was a bit of a mystery. I enjoyed watching the yellowlegs and the sandpipers run about on the mud for a while. The Killdeer was more stoic, simply standing in place the entire time. Afterwards, I finished up the circuit around Green Lane, and stopped briefly at the Graterford area of the Perkiomen Trail on my way home. I’d hoped the Warbling Vireos had returned to that area, but they were not to be found that evening.

My final update will be a returning male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD (#129) that showed up at my feeder on Apr 29, putting me fourteen birds past my April goal of 115. I hope to be at 155 by the end of May.