Raptors and Sparrows

While birding around the yard this morning, I found a surprising number of species for this late in the season. Around sunrise, the field was filled with a flock of sparrows that consisted mostly of Dark-eyed Juncos, but also held White-throated, Song, Field, Chipping, and Fox Sparrows. The Fox Sparrows are some of the first I have seen this season, as their migration through the region is just beginning.

Fox Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warblers were everywhere along the field edge and in the yard itself. Every vine, bush, and tree with berries along the field edge held at least one Yellow-rump this morning. The Poison Ivy vines seem to have a tremendous amount of fruit this year, so several birds including the Yellow-rumped Warblers, sparrows, and Hermit Thrushes have been taking advantage of this excellent food source.

Yellow-rumped Warbler on a Poison Ivy vine

The best birds today were the migrating raptors. Although the sight of a kettle of hundreds of Broad-winged Hawks in September and the constant stream of Sharp-shinned Hawks in October are exciting to watch, I particularly enjoy the migrants that move through in late October and November. Species like Golden Eagles and Northern Goshawks are always amazing to watch as they fly over. Even watching a Red-tailed Hawk, another primarily late-season migrant, move down-ridge is an impressive sight. While hawk watching from my deck around noon today, I spotted several Red-tailed Hawks, three Red-shouldered Hawks, and a single, gorgeous Golden Eagle that flew directly over where I was sitting.

Golden Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

Big Sit report

On Sunday, October 9, 2011, I conducted my annual "big sit" in my yard. The Big Sit! is a birding event run by Bird Watcher's Digest, where people from around the world each pick a spot, set up a circle, and stay within that circle for 24 hours and count birds. I have participated in this event for a few years now, and set my personal record of 70 species in 2009. Here is my report from this year's big sit:

A little before midnight, Stephen Kloiber arrived at my house and we headed out to the sitting spot. The air was fairly warm, and several katydids called from the trees behind us. As midnight arrived, we stood silently, pointing our ears towards the shining moon and listened. For a while, we heard nothing. Finally, about half-an-hour into the day, we heard a call from the valley below. The call was distant, but it was clear that this was a Barred Owl - our first species of the day. A little while later, a startled mockingbird called from somewhere along the field edge, but soon quieted down once again leaving us in the dark.

As the morning progressed, the air became colder and damper. The hope of a flight call from above kept us outside, and we were rewarded. Between one and two o'clock, we heard a fairly regular, but sparse flight overhead. The first calls were from Swainson's Thrush. Next the short, lisping call of a Savannah Sparrow, then another. More Swainson's, a Chipping Sparrow, an Indigo Bunting. Somewhere between flight calls, Stephen and I heard a distant call from the west. A few seconds later the bird called again, this time the hooting was cleared: Great Horned Owl, check.

Much of the pre-dawn morning was very, very slow. We heard a few more of the previously mentioned species. Around 4 o'clock, I picked out a high, slightly rising call of a Grasshopper Sparrow. By 4:30, we were shivering, so we headed inside for a quick break. We warmed up with warm apple cider, then headed back out for more birding.

As the sky began to brighten, our list stood at 11 species. Soon, however, birds began waking up all around us. White-throated Sparrows chirped and sang from the treeline across the meadow and a couple of towhees called along the forest edge. Stephen ran up to his car to grab his scope and binocular, and as he did, an Eastern Screech-Owl (a species that we had somehow missed earlier in the morning) started calling. The bird was near his car, so I could see him rushing back to try and get the bird from the circle in case I hadn't heard it. Luckily, I was able to hear the tremolo even from across the field.

The sun continued to rise into the sky and birds became more active. Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, and Blue Jays flew overhead, both kinglet species called from the woods behind the sitting spot, a House Wren chattered from a patch of goldenrod, woodpeckers (in the form of Pileated, Hairy, Red-bellied, and Northern Flicker) called from all around. Sparrows gathered in the goldenrod patches in front of us. At one point, a Swamp Sparrow popped up fairly close allowing great looks.

Numerous Yellow-rumped Warblers flew overhead in the morning

While scanning the skies for new birds, I spotted a fast flying bird headed towards the Kittatinny Ridge. I watched the light-colored bird as it turned around - Rock Pigeon! Most birders would probably not find this species particularly exciting or worth an exclamation point, but this is an uncommon species in the yard, so an important species to get on the big sit.

A little before eight o'clock, we had our first Sharp-shined Hawk of the day. This species, the mascot for our big sit team, The Shadow Mountain Sharp-shins, would turn out to be the most abundant raptor of the day with a total of 89 seen over the course of the daylight hours. While I was watching a Sharp-shin overhead, Stephen spotted a Nashville Warbler on the other side of the field. Soon after Stephen got the warbler, I spotted a Lincoln's Sparrow that had popped up in the goldenrod patch near the circle. The sparrow chipped a few times before disappearing into the dense grass and weeds.

One of two Lincoln's Sparrows on The Big Sit! This one never left the cover of this shrub.

Dan Kunkle arrived around 10:30am while were were experiencing somewhat of a late-morning "lull." We had a few raptors on our list at this point, but hoped that Dan could help us pick out a few more from the deep blue sky, and that he did! With his help, we added several new raptors to the list including a fast-flying Peregrine Falcon. Dan also managed to spot a Red-breasted Nuthatch that zipped overhead flying north.

Sharp-shinned Hawks, the bird for which the Shadow Mountain Sharp-shins are named, passed overhead all day long

After Dan left, I spotted a group of about 30 Turkey Vultures to the south. Stephen got on the group and we watched as the birds moved north. These vultures seemed to mark the start of a raptor rush, because soon after we watched an adult male Northern Harrier fly southwest past the circle and after that, two immature Bald Eagles flew directly overhead. Not long after the eagles circled overhead, I heard a Common Raven croaking from somewhere to the west and Stephen and I spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk circling over my house. Just after the "flurry" of activity dissipated, Terry Master and my mom came down to the circle. Although they had just missed an awesome show of birds, we soon found two more Bald Eagles, several Black Vultures, and more Common Ravens than I have ever seen from my yard at once!

One of four Bald Eagles for the day. Two flew directly overhead!

Unfortunately, by 2:30pm, I was the only one left in the circle. For the rest of the afternoon, Sharp-shinned Hawks streamed overhead, but no new birds appeared. Later on, as the sun was setting, I kept an eye out for any new birds in the final burst of avian activity for the day. Groups of robins and crows gathered in the sky and in the trees, and small flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds passed overhead. One of these blackbird flocks held a Rusty Blackbird, the first new species since about one in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it soon became too dark to see anything and the katydid chorus was too loud to hear any owls or flight calls, so I headed inside for some much needed sleep.

Moon rising not long after sunset

Around 10:30pm and after a three hour nap, I headed back out to the circle for the remainder of the day. The cold air had quieted the insects, but the birds were not calling. When my watched beeped at midnight, the day's list stood at 68 species, two less than the record set two years ago, but two more than last year. Even though we didn't break the record for my yard, everyone who came saw some good birds and certainly had fun!

The List:

Canada Goose  34
Black Vulture  24
Turkey Vulture  87
Osprey  1
Bald Eagle  4
Northern Harrier  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  89
Cooper's Hawk  5
Red-shouldered Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  17
American Kestrel  8
Merlin  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
Rock Pigeon  2
Mourning Dove  3
Eastern Screech-Owl  2
Great Horned Owl  2
Barred Owl  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  8
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  8
Pileated Woodpecker  3
Eastern Phoebe  3
Blue Jay  65
American Crow  207
Common Raven  9
Black-capped Chickadee  6
Tufted Titmouse  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Carolina Wren  2
House Wren  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  4
Eastern Bluebird  4
Swainson's Thrush  12
Hermit Thrush  8
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  222
Gray Catbird  8
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  34
Cedar Waxwing  78
Nashville Warbler  1
Blackpoll Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  36
Black-throated Green Warbler  4
Eastern Towhee  3
Chipping Sparrow  9
Field Sparrow  3
Savannah Sparrow  5
Grasshopper Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  11
Lincoln's Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  10
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  2
Indigo Bunting  1
Bobolink  1
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Rusty Blackbird  1
Purple Finch  1
House Finch  8
American Goldfinch  7
House Sparrow  3

The Big Sit! 2011

Once again, I will be counting birds in my yard for The Big Sit!, an annual birding competition organized by Bird Watcher's Digest. In this event, birders sit in a spot for 24 hours and find as many species of birds as they can. For the past few years, I have birded from the corner of the field on my property. My record, set a few years back, is 70 species. With several observers this year, I hope we can break this record!

I will be out at my "sitting spot" at midnight and birding throughout the day on Sunday.

If you are interested in last year's results, check out my report.

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.

Meet Leonard

On Friday, butterfly enthusiast Billy Weber visited my property in search of a locally uncommon butterfly--the Northern Crescent. There are very few places this far south where this species can be found. However, there is a population in the field across from my house where I find them almost every year. Although the Northern Crescent is currently recognized as a separate species from the very common Pearl Crescent, the two are very similar and extreme caution is necessary when identifying these butterflies in the field.

Northern Crescent

note the large amount of orange on the forewings and hindwings

 

Pearl Crescent

the pattern is similar to the Northern Crescent, but the orange is more reduced in all four wings

While visiting the property, Billy did not find the crescents for which he came looking, but he did find another cool butterfly, a Leonard's Skipper. This butterfly is a robust, fast-flying skipper of late summer and early fall. This is the only butterfly in this region that has only one brood that comes out late in the season. In eastern Pennsylvania, the first Leonard's Skippers appear in August and continue through September. The phenology of this species is particularly interesting, as it emerges earlier in the northern latitudes to avoid the early frost.

Leonard's Skippers are not particularly rare, but are localized to large fields with their larval host plants. The caterpillars commonly feed on Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), but will also feed on other grasses. Apparently Leonard's Skippers are especially attracted to pink and purple flowers, including Phlox and joe-pye-weed (Eutrochium). Unfortunately, meadow habitats with these requirements are declining in this region due to development. As with most species, once the habitat is destroyed, the population begins to fall. It is becoming harder and harder to find this species for this reason.

 Leonard's Skipper

the pattern on the underside of the wings is unique among skippers in this region

This afternoon, I went searching for a Leonard's Skipper in the field where Billy had one a few days before. After searching through large patches of blooming flowers, I finally found on nectaring on goldenrod (Solidago) flowers. This individual allowed me to take a few photos before it flew off into the center of the field.

 Leonard's Skipper

The Leonard's Skipper belongs the to genus Hesperia, a genus of skippers that are usually marked with a distinct chevron-shaped pattern of dots against a brown or orange background color. They all live in grassland habitats, and their caterpillars likely feed on the same or similar grass species. In Pennsylvania, we have three Hesperia species (in order of flight time): Cobweb Skipper (Hesperia metea), Indian Skipper (Hesperia sassacus), and Leonard's Skipper (Hesperia leonardus). Cobweb Skippers appear in early spring as the warm-season grasses are beginning to pop up from the ground. This species is declining rapidly across its range and is a real treat to find.

 Cobweb Skipper

Indian Skippers are the next to appear, usually around the end of May. This species will live in the same habitats as the Cobweb Skipper, but is more of a generalist, so it will inhabit a wider variety of habitats. Despite the wider habitat diversity, Indian Skipper populations are also declining. In late May, I have seen Cobweb and Indian Skippers flying together in a relatively undisturbed upland bluestem meadow.

 Indian Skipper

Birds in Flight (The Easy Ones)

As I have posted about before, the identification of birds in flight can be extremely difficult, for the birds are flying by quickly and often in poor light. These factors make this aspect of birding unappealing to many birders who then end up missing a lot of birds that fly over. Although I had been hawk watching before, I truly became interested in the identification of flying birds about a year ago as the fall migration season started. I was mainly interested in the non-raptors, as those had already been well-studied. Although the task seemed daunting at first, the more I looked at the birds, the easier it became to place a name to what I was seeing zip overhead. Take a look at the photos below to learn about some of the "easy" birds that are commonly seen flying overhead.

Any birder, and perhaps some non-birders, should be able to recognize this bird as a Canada Goose. See... you can identify birds in flight!

It may seem like a big transition from the last image, as this is an unclear image of a relatively plain bird. However, this is a common woodland species that can be identified by a number of clearly visible characteristics. First, when this bird was flying, I noted its relative size. It appeared to be larger than a warbler, but smaller than a robin. Second, most of the bird, including the underside and head, is a yellowish color. Finally, the tail and wings are dark, likely black. If you flip through any good field guide, you will see that the only bird that matches this description is the Scarlet Tanager.

Even a really good look at a flying bird can be misleading. This individual may seem unfamiliar at first, but if you look closely, it is one of our most recognizable bird species. The thick beak, pattern on the face, and crest (folded-down) identify this as a Blue Jay. This species also commonly vocalizes while flying.

Here we have a bird that seems to have relatively long wings and tail. The color of the underside looks orange, and the head appears darker. Often times, these characteristics are all that an observer needs to identify the very common American Robin. Robins also frequently vocalize while flying overhead, so it is useful to learn this various calls of this and other species.

Sometimes flying birds have a very distinctive characteristic that is not obvious when that species is seen sitting in a tree. For example, the large, white crescent marks on the wings of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks allow for quick, easy identification of this species in flight; however, this mark is rarely visible on a stationary bird. Grosbeaks are commonly seen flying over on September mornings after a good nocturnal migration, so keep an eye out for this species!

A final thing to look at in flying birds is whether they are in a flock or not. The songbird species mentioned above, like most migratory species, are relatively solitary birds. In this photo, it is clear that this small group of birds is traveling as a flock. This behavior significantly reduces the list of possible candidates. Next, note the fairly pointed wings that can be seen on the birds with wings outstretched. Together, these characteristics leave us with two species, Bobolink or Cedar Waxwing. Fortunately, birds in a flock often vocalize while flying overhead, and this flock was indeed vocalizing. The high-pitched trills identified these as Cedar Waxwings long before the flock was visible.

A Gathering of Swallows

Each August, a large group of swallows gathers in the yard. This morning, I found one of these large groups flying around the yard. After a little while, the group settled, landing on the barn, power lines, and the house. The majority of the swallows were Barn Swallows, the most common swallow during this summer. About a week ago, the local population stood at about 22 individuals. This morning, I counted 52 individual Barn Swallows! The next common species was the Tree Swallow. This species also breeds on the property, but in much smaller numbers. During the past few weeks, I had seen about four Tree Swallows around the yard, but this morning there were close to 30!

A group of swallows from this morning

Although these two species are the common breeding swallow species, a few others showed up this morning. The first uncommon (for the yard) swallow was a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. This lone bird circled around and called its buzzy notes with some Tree Swallows before heading west along the ridge. Soon after, I heard a similar buzz, but this was from a Bank Swallow, an even rarer species! This small swallow sat alone on the line.

The tiny Bank Swallow preferred to sit away from the other swallows.

The third, and rarest species of the morning was the Cliff Swallow. While scanning through a group of Barn Swallows, I noticed one individual with a brighter forehead patch and a shorter tail. When the group took flight, I could easily see the tan rump, which immediately distinguished the Cliff from all of the other nearby swallows. As I searched the flock more carefully, I found three more Cliff Swallows! This is the highest count for this species in the yard!

Cliff Swallow

In flight, the tan rump patch of the Cliff Swallow is very visible and distinct.

Cliff Swallow (left) with two Barn Swallows