Fall Migration

After a few weeks of slow migration, the past two nights have been excellent for bird movement. Although I have not seen a tremendous number of birds in the mornings, I have certainly heard huge numbers of thrushes migrating overhead and seen masses of birds on the radar map. While out birding this morning, Scarlet Tanagers were the most numerous migrant. Over the course of the morning, I saw more tanagers than warblers, which is unusual for this time of year. Of the warblers I did see, Black-throated Blue Warblers are the only real "migrant" species, for Ovenbirds, Black-and-white Warblers, and American Redstarts frequently breed around my property.

 Even the male Scarlet Tanagers are plain this time of year. I managed to photograph this individual as it flew overhead.

While watching tanagers fly from tree to tree, I spotted a bird darting over the yard. As it flew, I recognized the bird as a cuckoo by the long tail and wing shape. The reddish color on the wings and the yellow on the bill identified it as a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. It is unusual to observe this species flying in the open, so I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to watch and to photograph this bird!

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo in flight - note the reddish patches on the wings. This field mark distinguishes this species from the Black-billed Cuckoo.

 If the lighting is good, the yellow on the bill can be very obvious in flight.

Tonight is shaping up to be another great night for migration. A quick look at the NEXRAD map shows a lot of birds moving in the eastern United States, so if you can get out to do some birding tomorrow, there is a good chance there will be migrants around.

 radar image from http://rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar

Finally, next weekend is Migration Fest at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. The weekend will be filled with various programs about the annual migrations of our native wildlife, including bird research presentations, Monarch butterfly tagging demonstrations, a hawk identification workshop, and an evening presentation by Pete Dunne. For more information on this event, visit the Lehigh Gap Nature Center website.

Snow Storm!

As many know, the last week or so here in Pennsylvania has been extremely snowy. Last weekend, Philadelphia was hit with close to 30 inches of snow. In Kunkletown, we only got about 4 inches. The past few days, however, have been quite different. Here in Kunkletown, we got 17 inches of snow between Tuesday evening and late Wednesday night. Due to the storm last weekend plus the new storm, some areas of the yard have over 20 inches of snow, making walking difficult.



Today, the sun finally came out. There was no school today due to the poor road conditions, so I was able to spend some time outside this morning. A walk into the woods with the dog proved a bit challenging, for both me and the dog. The woods were filled with woodpeckers: Downy, Hairy, sapsuckers, as well as many juncos and chickadees.



During and after the storm, the feeders have been busier than usual. Lots of juncos, cardinals, and White-throated and Songs Sparrows have been feeding under the feeders, while chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and finches have been emptying out the sunflower seeds. Tomorrow marks the start of two bird counts, the Great Backyard Bird Count and the Lehigh Gap Feeder Watch.



Good birding for anyone participating in either of the bird counts and happy shoveling to those covered by the snow!