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Last updated Thursday, July 19, 2007 5:16 PM
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Rare Bird Alert > Archive
Last updated
Thursday, July 19, 2007 5:16 PM
Delaware Valley Rare Bird Alert Archives
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Valley Ornithological Club and the Academy of Natural Sciences
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| July 12, 2007 * PA, NJ, DE - Birds Mentioned Western Reef-heron (NY) + (Details requested by NJBRC) Common Loon - Transcript Hotline: Delaware Valley Rare Bird Alert This is the Delaware Valley Rare Bird Alert, a service provided by the joint efforts of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC), and covering the Delaware Valley Regions of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I'm Steve Kacir, your oracle for all things birding. For Thursday July 12, 2007 we highlight reports of WESTERN REEF-HERON, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, LARK SPARROW and GREATER SHEARWATER as well as seasonal and local reports of interest. A WESTERN REEF-HERON made an appearance just outside the Delaware Valley in Brooklyn, NY. The bird was at Calvert Vaux Park, formerly Drier-Offerman Park at the tidal edges of the flats on the east side of the Park. The bird was seen July 8-9. After a day’s absence, the REEF-HERON reappeared on July 11 in the same area, sometimes seen best from a nearby Home Depot. This is likely the same bird that had previously been seen at South Amboy, NJ. If you try for the reef-heron, low tide may be the better time to look for it, though it has been observed at both high and low tides. Directions and additional details can be found on the Metro Birding Briefs: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/btblue/ For New Jersey: A ROSEATE SPOONBILL was discovered at Brigantine (Edwin B Forsythe NWR) Brigantine NWR on July 12. The bird was seen from the Gull Tower looking northward toward the north dike where it was roosting in some small trees. Later the bird flew east of the Gull Pond Tower, landing in the marsh. Potential vantage points for scoping the SPOONBILL include the Gull Pond Tower; the very end of the north dike where the road returns to the mainland and the last bridge between the lily ponds before the tour road ends. Unless the bird decides to feed out in the main impoundments, you will need patience and persistence to spot it. The best viewing of this area is from dike roads that are posted "Area Closed." At the time of this printing, Forsythe NWR staff are allowing access to the Gull Pond dike road only, for birders searching for the ROSEATE SPOONBILL. Our thanks go out to the refuge staff for this access. Click Here to see pictures of this bird on Karl and Judy Lukens's website. A LARK SPARROW was seen and photographed on July 6 at Brigantine at the southern loop of the drive, about 200 yards beyond the observation tower. Click Here to see a picture of this bird.Brigantine also hosted WHIMBREL on July 7, and SPOTTED SANDPIPER, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 11 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and a flyby GREAT HORNED OWL on July 8. An adult male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD loosely associated with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds was discovered at the Morgan area of South Amboy on July 11. WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, a GREATER SHEARWATER, NORTHERN GANNETS and BROWN PELICANS provided good sailing companions off Barnegat Light on July 7. The next day, at Island Beach State Park a DVOC'er found a basic-plumaged COMMON LOON, LITTLE BLUE HERONS, a male BLUE-WINGED TEAL and a juvenile YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON at the Spizzle Creek Bird Blind. A nice bird for the South Cape May Meadows was a GREATER SHEARWATER seen about 20 yards off the beach on 8 July. Birders have enjoyed families of PIPING PLOVER at the meadows all week. Additional highlights included 20 LEAST SANDPIPERS on July 6, PECTORAL and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS July 6 & 8, with NORTHERN BOBWHITE July 5-6 and 8 GADWALL and a BROWN PELICAN on July 6. At Champagne Island near Stone Harbor Point, ROYAL TERNS numbered 200 birds, with 2 adult SANDWICH TERNS present on July 8. BROWN PELICANS graced the area July 5-6. A MARBLED GODWIT has frequented Stone Harbor on July 6 and 8. Other shorebird highlights for Stone Harbor this week include; PECTORAL SANDPIPERS on the 8th; close to 300 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 11 WESTERN WILLETS, 4 RED KNOTS, 5 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and PIPING PLOVERS on the 6th; with 5 WESTERN WILLETS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, RED KNOTS, PIPING PLOVERS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS and close to 100 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS on the 5th. A TRICOLORED HERON prowled Nummy's Island 5-6 July, accompanied by LITTLE BLUE HERONS on the fifth. A drake SURF SCOTER preened at the north end of the free bridge 6 July. An adult male PEREGRINE FALCON perched near the water tower on 96th St. in Stone Harbor. Some nice passerines in Cape May included flyovers of BOBOLINKS and ORCHARD ORIOLES at the Meadows on July 6. A pair of BLUE GROSBEAKS hunted at Higbee's Beach on the fifth. GREAT HORNED OWLS called from the Cherry Hill area on July 11, while COMMON NIGHTHAWKS continued their booming displays and WHIP-POOR-WILLS called from the area of Carranza Rd in Wharton State Forest July 10. Black River WMA in Morris County provided some cooler birding with VEERY and SCARLET TANAGER as the highlights. Nesting CLIFF SWALLOWS flew between New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ on July 5.
A Delmarva Ornithological Society field trip to Bombay Hook on 7 July enjoyed YELLOW-CROWNED and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, a female ORCHARD ORIOLE feeding fledglings at Shearness pool, LITTLE BLUE HERON, GADWALL, GREEN-WINGED and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN AVOCET, BLACK-NECKED STILT, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER, BARRED OWL, BANK SWALLOW, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, and BLUE GROSBEAK. The field trip also found singing SEDGE WRENS at Ted Harvey WMA. However, a FRANKLIN'S GULL that had previously been reported from Pickering Beach was not found that day. On July 10 over 75 BLACK-NECKED STILTS were reported from Bombay Hook NWR along with a NORTHERN HARRIER, OYSTERCATCHER at Port Mahon and SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW at the DuPont Nature Center on Lighthouse Rd near Mispillion. The impoundments at Broadkill Beach Rd near Prime Hook NWR were bone dry on July 10, making shorebirding difficult. NORTHERN BOBWHITE were heard in the vicinity, though. In New Castle County on 6 July, a female AMERICAN KESTREL was discovered on Hay Rd. Three BLUE GROSBEAKS sang nearby: one at the entrance to the Sewage Works, one at the Fox Point State Park flagpole and one at Dupont's aging Holland Mulch Tioxide plant. In the area of this urban matrix, there is also a HOUSE WREN that has built its nest in the carcass of a dead GREAT BLUE HERON. Click Here to see a two pictures of this situation. From the main beach at Cape Henlopen, four BROWN PELICANS were observed flying north well offshore. Then they flew south again, followed by a single PELICAN flying south an hour later on July 10. A ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK came to a feeder in Covered Bridge Farms near the DE/MD/PA border on July 8. A juvenile RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH first discovered on July 4, continued to visit a birdfeeder in Hockessin, DE at least through July 11. Click Here to see a picture of this bird. For Pennsylvania: A EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE was sighted flying toward the Susquehanna River from Peach Bottom, Lancaster County on 10 July. While the East Petersburg area is experiencing an unusual influx of NORTHERN BOBWHITE this summer. A WESTERN WILLET was seen on the Conejohela Flats in Washington Boro, Lancaster County on July 9. The bird was on Gull Island which is blocked by Rookery Island from the Lancaster side of the river, but it may move to a visible location. Other birds reported at the flats that day included a male LESSER SCAUP, BALD EAGLE, AMERICAN COOT, LEAST and SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, and several hundred BARN SWALLOWS. On July 12, two AMERICAN AVOCETS were discovered on Gull Island at the flats. Later in the day they were seen just south of Avocet Point, possibly visible from the viewing area below Blue Rock Rd, though a scope is a necessity there. The AVOCETS appear to favor the sand spit just downstream of Avocet Point where the big driftwood is located. A RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH invasion was underway recently, with birds appearing at feeders in Bucks and Berks Counties. At the Koch property in southern Northampton County, a WORM-EATING WARBLER and ORCHARD ORIOLES were noted on July 10. VESPER SPARROW, a SAVANNAH SPARROW, and a pair of AMERICAN KESTREL were reported near Leaser Lake, located in Lynn Twp in Lehigh County. The birds were on Leaser Rd in a grassy area as the road comes out of the woods. Several GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS were reported on nearby Utt Rd, and HORNED LARK and KESTREL were reported on nearby Blue Mountain House Rd. The weekly bird walk at Churchville in Bucks County discovered SPOTTED SANDPIPER, GREAT HORNED OWL, EASTERN SCREECH-OWL and PINE WARBLER on July 7, while July 10 sightings included SHARP-SHINNED HAWK & PINE WARBLER. Warminster Community Park continued to host RUDDY DUCK and SAVANNAH SPARROW through July 8. Also present on July 8 were SPOTTED SANDPIPER, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, 3 ORCHARD ORIOLES and 5 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS. Mud Island Shoal produced WARBLING VIREO and ORCHARD ORIOLE on July 7, while a BANK SWALLOW appeared at the Delaware River Access Area, Station Ave in Bensalem. Highlights from Tyler State Park on July 8, included WHITE-EYED VIREO, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, VEERY and OVENBIRD. WARBLING VIREOS were present at Washington Crossing Historic Park on July 11, and at Silver Lake Nature Center on July 9. At Franklin's Cove, a first summer ICELAND GULL was found on July 4th along with five LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS. Central Perkiomen Valley Park in Montgomery County provided excellent breeding birds on July 7th including LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, SCARLET TANAGER and ORCHARD ORIOLE. Water levels at Tinicum (aka John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge) have apparently been lowered, making excellent habitat for shorebirds. Birds found on Friday, July 6 included 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 12 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, 3 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, and 13 KILLDEER. High tide is generally best for shorebird observation at this site. A family group of WILD TURKEY was also observed at Tinicum on July 6. While highlights from July 7 included a COMMON MOORHEN, an AMERICAN COOT and an immature female HOODED MERGANSER, 75+ GREAT BLUE HERONS and 50+ GREAT EGRETS on July 7th. *** ANNOUNCEMENTS *** There is a DVOC field trip to Bombay Hook scheduled for July 14 which will meet at the headquarters parking lot at 7:30am, there is no fee and members and non-members are welcome to attend. Please contact the trip leader if you plan on attending. Details can be found on http://www.dvoc.org. The next meeting of the DVOC is on August 2, 2007. This is an informal meeting and will be held at Palmyra Cove Nature Center at 7:30pm. Sarah Thorp will present "The Delaware River Trail Project in Philadelphia" at this meeting. Details are on the website and guests are welcome. See Life Paulagics will be running pelagic trips in the Delaware Valley region in the next few months. Scheduled trips include an overnight trip out of Lewes, DE on Aug 23-24; a trip Aug 11 out of Lewes, DE; a trip out of Belmar, NJ on Aug 26; and a Sep 16 trip out of Freeport, NY. Details can be found on their website. The Delmarva Ornithological Society has undertaken an ambitious project to study the American Kestrel in Delaware, estimating population size, identifying reasons for the species decline in DE, and ultimately developing strategies for stabilizing the population or reversing the decline. Please report all summer kestrel sightings to the DOS website: http://www.dosbirds.org/kestrel/submit_sighting.php The Delaware Valley Rare Bird Alert is a weekly
report on birding in the Delaware Valley Region including Pennsylvania,
Delaware and New Jersey. To report birds or significant upcoming birding
events and planned pelagic trips, please email [email protected]. This is Steve
Kacir, good birding to you all and thanks for calling, surfing and reporting.
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