WAS Trip Reports... 2007-2008

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July 19, 2008 trip to Bombay Hook

It was hot, very hot as five of us went looking for shorebirds at Bombay Hook on a steamy July Saturday afternoon. Raymond Pool had a nice mix of birds with close to 100 American Avocets, 20+ Black-necked Stilts, 100s of Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers and a few Stilt Sandpipers. In the far back corner of the pool, Lynn found 3 Wilson’s Phalaropes to start the day off on a high note.

There had been reports of the Little Egret during the week so every white long-legged wader had to be scrutinized and there were several hundred Great, Snowy and immature Little Blue Herons to look at throughout the refuge. Despite giving it a noble effort, we did not find the Little Egret. While searching through the egrets at Shearness Pool we noted several large, dark lumps in the grass that turned out to be an adult and two immature Bald Eagles. While these birds can be rather majestic when they are soaring, they are not the most elegant creatures hoping around on the ground.

We did find three Yellow-Crowned Night Herons trying to stay out of the sun at the far end of Bear Swamp along with several Black-Crowned Night-Herons along with a Pectoral Sandpiper feeding on the mudflats. Also here were a few Spotted Sandpipers and some Killdeer.

As we came out of Bear Swamp we found Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and Eastern Kingbird. We decided to check out Finis Pool and have lunch there as there had been reports of some good birds there in the recent weeks. As we arrived at the turn around we heard one of the refuges resident Barred owls. A photographer pointed one out but it flushed before the group could see it. While eating lunch the owl called again and it was answered so using our cars as blinds we searched hoping that one or both of these calling birds could be found. It took some effort but we found one of them and were able to set up a scope on it. It was a great way to end the day.

Scope views of Barred Owl - it dosen't get much better

~ Martin Selzer

May 4, 2008 trip to Belleplain State Forest

Our group met at the WaWa at 47 and 347 and then headed off to Belleplain State Forest. We turned into the forest and quickly had a group of birds made up of Pine, Black and White and Blue-Winged Warblers. Ovenbirds were again calling all around us and today were we bound to finally find one perched in the open. It may have taken us another stop or two before we finally got a cooperative bird but we finally had one and were able to get everyone who had been teased now for the better part of two mornings to see one. We also encountered the first of several Great Crested Flycatchers. When we reached Sunset Road, several Northern Parulas greeted us along with a Black-throated Blue and several Black and White and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We had great success at the “bridge on Sunset Road” with Louisiana Waterthrush and Hooded Warbler but no luck with Prothonotary Warblers. A walk around the campground turned up Eastern Wood-Pewee, Chipping Sparrow and a very cooperative Worm-eating Warbler. We hadn’t had much luck at this point yet with Yellow-throated Warblers and this might have been because they all were in the pine by the second bridge. We heard several singing birds and caught varying degrees of success in seeing them here. We then headed off to Lake Nummy for a quick lunch break. After lunch we tracked down both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers before finally calling it a day.

Thanks for joining me, hope to see you next field trip
~ Martin

May 4, 2008 trip to Woodlawn Trust and Brandywine Creek State Park

This is one of my favorite places to catch both spring and fall migration and a group of 11 people joined me on this early May visit. As soon as we arrived in the parking lot we had singing Field Sparrows, Warbler Vireos, Orchard Orioles and Bobolinks. By the time we had walked down to the trailhead at the creek we had picked up Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Our walk along the Brandywine allowed us to hear and see Rough-winged, Tree and Barn Swallows, Black and White, Parula and Common Yellowthroat Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Baltimore Orioles and Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos.

At Thompson’s Bridge Road just before entering the State Park proper we had Scarlet Tanager, American Redstart and Black-throated-blue and Black-throated green Warblers. We crossed Thompson’s Bridge Road and entered the park proper where we were greeted by an Ovenbird and a pair of very obliging Louisiana Waterthrushes along the creek.

From here we took a “healthy hike” over what seemed to be the largest mountain in all of Delaware until we came upon another mixed flock of warblers: yellow-rumps, black-throated blues, black-throated greens, redstarts, black and whites and a Hooded.

We finally made our way to the old orchard where a House Wren’s chatter greeted us and singing White-eyed Vireo and Prairie Warbler sang out in the open for us as if on cue. This is nesting territory for both species. Three Cedar Waxwings were also in the trees in this field. We worked our way back to the cars enjoying looks at Common Yellowthroat, Swamp Sparrow and Eastern Towhee along the way. As we were saying our good-byes and a Bald Eagle flew overhead to round out our day. Even a bicyclist getting his gear together took the time to enjoy this bird.

Thanks for joining me, hope to see you next field trip
~ Martin

April 19, 2008 Field Trip to Coastal Delaware

It was a great day for a field trip – sunny and warm weather, mild winds and lots of birds. What more could anyone want? We began the trip at Dragon Run Marsh which was alive with Coots and Wood Ducks. We also got great looks at Ruby-crowned Kinglets, House Wrens, Little Blue Heron and Pied-billed Grebe.

Dragon Run Marsh
© Lynn C. Jackson

We then drove south to Fort Dupont visiting the Grass Dale Center on the west side of Rt 9. This is a lovely area of open fields and woody edges where we got White-eyed Vireo, Bluebirds, tons of Tree Swallows, lots of Chipping Sparrows and Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroats, elusive Field Sparrows and a very cooperative Brown Thrasher that demanded our attention.

Grass Dale Center at Ft. Dupont
© Lynn C. Jackson

Water levels were high along the C & D Canal so not a lot of birds but we did get great looks at newly arriving Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage.

Rt 9 Bridge over the Canal
© Lynn C. Jackson

After a brief stop at August Beach, we continued south on Rt 9 stopping to watch Cliff Swallows returning to their nests under one of the many bridges, just below the many fisherman who were quite amused at our intense interest at the underside of their bridge.

We then stopped for a lovely picnic lunch at the Aquatic Center and views of Bufflehead and Barn Swallows before stopping off at Woodland Beach WMA to find a lone Greater White-fronted Goose that’s been hanging out with the Snow Goose. The bird was easily found feeding along the pond edges.

Tree Swallows © Lynn C. Jackson

Then, it was on to Bombay Hook. Purple Martins have just arrived in force. All the expected waders are present: Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets and lots of Black-crowned Night-herons. Water levels were high and the tide was in so we didn’t get huge numbers of shorebirds but we did get good looks at some large flocks of dunlin, Black-bellied Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Willets and a few Short-billed Dowitchers. About 50 Avocets were showing off their breeding plumage as well. Ducks were in force with Shovelers, Green and Blue-winged Teal, Pintails, Mallards and Black Ducks. With scopes we checked out the Great Horned Owl nest across the marsh and clearly saw an adult sitting patiently; no sign of the chicks buried below. Other birds seen at the Hook included Black and Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, American kestrel, Clapper Rail, Forster’s Terns, American Goldfinch, Swamp Sparrow, and the ever present and very vocal Red-winged Blackbirds.

It was also a good day for butterflies: at the Grass Dale Center there were tons of Spring Azures and Eastern Tailed-Blues along with at least 3 Falcate Orangetips. We also had Cabbage whites, Orange Sulphurs and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

A great day was had by all.

~Lynn Jackson

March 22 , 2008 Field Trip to Middle Creek WMA

Field trip regulars and several guests, including two persons for whom it was their very first birding trip, joined me as we set out in unpredictable weather to ply the usual route. While this trip can be somewhat predictable as to what species one will encounter; the weather on this day was anything but. It included rain, snow, sun and a mix of each throughout the day. Fortunately for us it was mostly the latter. Because of quirks in the calendar and the scheduling of Wyncote meetings on the third Friday of the month with the field trip on the following Saturday (not meant to be instructive, but nonetheless true in this case), the trip occurred one week later than usual. So the question on my mind was where are the snow geese? WMA officials had been reporting 80,000 birds at their peak. Had they continued their northern journey along with the tundra swan, which for the most part had moved on except for few stragglers?

Once the snow stopped we had good looks at many species of waterfowl including: green winged teal, blue winged teal, pintail and ringed neck duck, lesser scaup, hooded merganser, common merganser, and horned grebe. We also spotted a longtailed duck in mixed raft a good ways out from Willow Point. In my experience, this is not one of the ducks usually found at Middle Creek. On our way out to the point, we enjoyed a phoebe foraging among the milkweed pods on the back edge of the brush Snow was still falling, but no snow geese except for a few birds some of which were noticeably injured.

We enjoyed the birds off the point for about a half hour. Pointing out what to the seasoned birder is an expected “find” to a new birder is a real privilege. You can see that they are obviously both struggling to focus on what you are trying to show them and also the look of wonderment on their face as they encounter nature at whole new level. Exciting! The sky was now clearing as we made our way back to the cars for the auto tour of the rest of the WMA.

As we were making our way along the trail, a familiar call came from the distant horizon; yes it was the snow geese! As they snaked their way through the sky we turned our attention toward them. I rounded up those who were further down the path alerting them to look up and see the many birds that were now settling down with their familiar sound and titling glide, landing both in the water and on the grass around Willow Point. Like the birds, birders return to the same spots every year and if we are patient the birds turn up, well at least most of the time.

We had a total of 46 species; not bad considering the trip is basically a half day. One of our last stops included a look at some mixed flock of snow geese and canada geese grazing by a pond on the field edge, The birds were a couple of hundred yards away as our progress was curtailed by a boundary sign stating the area beyond the sign was off limits. Martin pointed out a bird on the back edge that looked like a pale version of a canada goose. After some discussion of certain field marks the bird was identified as a cackling goose. A first for me!

All in all, good way to spend the Saturday before Easter. Enjoying the creation with old friends and making some new friends as well.

See you on the trail
-Rick White

February 16, 2008 Field Trip to Indian River Inlet and points north

Ten people joined me on the combined Wyncote Audubon and DVOC field trip this Saturday as we visited southern Delaware. Starting at Indian River Inlet and working our way north, we enjoyed a rather successful day birding many of the spots highlighted on the newly completed Delaware Birding Trail. At the inlet we were treated to a pair of common eiders, multiple red-throated and common loons, long-tailed ducks, red-breasted mergansers and a less than cooperative red-necked grebe. A trip to the marina and the Burton’s Island trailhead, produced bufflehead, greater yellowlegs, horned grebe, and brant.

Common Loon © Jane Henderson

Red-throated Loon © Jane Henderson

From here we started heading north with a stop at Silver lake in Rehobeth Beach. The flock of canvasbacks must number around 500+. Smattered amongst them were a few mallards, double-crested cormorants and ruddy ducks. We found one drake ring-necked duck but couldn’t manage to find any redheads. Well, there really isn’t much else to hope for here after giving the flock a couple healthy searches so we were moving north again, this time for the Nature Center in Cape Henlopen State Park.

© Jane Henderson

Here we took advantage of the facilities and watching the feeders. Eventually, several brown-headed nuthatches made an appearance. Somehow, it isn’t a field trip to Cape Henlopen if you don’t find these guys. There were also a few red-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, white-throated sparrows, juncos and house finches here.

Red-breasted Nuthatch © Jane Henderson

Before heading over to the campground for a lunch stop and a search for crossbills and other passerines we went out to the point at Henlopen. While searching the waters around the breakwater for ducks we noticed 100s of gannets feeding close to shore. We had started to work on another red-necked grebe and on the gannets when someone spots a whale. Turns out those 2 fin whales had followed the fish into the area just as the gannets had. We quickly lost all interest in the possible grebe and focused on watching the whales. We had repeated sightings of spouts and a couple surfacings. The DOS trip to the park earlier in the day had observed them too. Both groups unofficially awarded the “best bird of the trip honor” to the whales.

The campground was quiet although we did find one mixed flock of birds with Carolina wren, and chickadee, tufted titmouse, yellow-rumped warbler, palm warbler, red-breasted and brown-headed nuthatch, golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets and several sparrows.

We then made a quick trip to Herring Point where we again witnessed the ongoing gannet show, caught another glimpse of one of the whales, had purple sandpipers and ruddy turnstones on the jetty and sanderling on the beach.

Our next stop north was Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Here we had a couple northern harriers, white crowned sparrows and a great study of rusty blackbirds on the boardwalk trail. We still had lots of ground to cover so we headed off to Ted Harvey Wildlife Management Area and added some waterfowl to our day’s list: hooded merganser, gadwall, green-winged teal, northern shoveler, northern pintail, American wigeon, and American coot.

The farm fields along the way held snow geese and we flushed horned larks from the side of the road. We were seriously loosing light now so we headed straight to Port Mahon road in hopes of catching short-eared owls hunting. It took a while but eventually we had 3-4 of them, several harriers and two American bitterns to end our day.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on what is my favorite winter field.

~ Martin

November 17, 2007 Field Trip to Barnegat and Brigantine

On a surprisingly mild Saturday in mid November, Rick White led the annual Wyncote field trip to Barnegat Light and Brigantine (Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge). The 10 participants met in the Barnegat parking lot at 9 AM. We walked over to the inlet and found Royal and Forster’s Terns, American Oystercatchers, and assorted gulls. We returned to the main parking lot, scanned the trees around it, and found a Brown Creeper and several Yellow-rumped Warblers.

© Jane Henderson

Overdressed for winter, as it turned out, and armed with binoculars, scopes and cameras, we began walking out the jetty. There really wasn’t much to be seen until we were pretty far out on the rocks. Then Martin found a single Snow Bunting, after which we all got good looks at a Common Loon, and several Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers.

Ruddy Turnstones © Jane Henderson

Near the end of the jetty we found Northern Gannets, both full adult and juvenile, plunge diving in the ocean. A Great Cormorant perched among the Double-crested Cormorants atop a channel marker.

It wasn’t until we had stepped off the rocks and onto the sand that we found Harlequin Ducks and a few Common Eider. A single Horned Lark was found in the grasses on the way back to the lighthouse. Northern Harriers and Brant were all over the place all day in both places. We had lunch at the picnic tables and then left for Brigantine.

There had been reports of an Ash-throated Flycatcher on the way into the refuge, and also American Bittern and Wilson’s Snipe near the road to the observation tower. We had to settle for the snipe, seen, flying, at a distance.

On our tour around the impoundments we found Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, and several species of ducks, but none in great numbers: Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, American Black Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser and Ruddy Duck. Shorebirds included thousands of Dunlin, and also Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover.

A Merlin perched on one of the Osprey platforms, and two distant Peregrine Falcons could be seen at a distance on the hacking tower. At one spot we found a group of sparrows foraging in the grasses, and had good looks at Song, Swamp and Savannah Sparrows. At the end of the day we schmoozed with other field trip leaders: Bob Mercer, Tom Reeves and Pete Bacinski, and compared notes. All in all, it was a very nice day.

~Jane Henderson

Bird list, Barnegat: Red-throated loon Common Loon Northern Gannet Double-crested Cormorant Great Cormorant Brant Common Eider Harlequin Duck Long-tailed Duck Red-breasted Merganser Turkey Vulture Northern Harrier American Oystercatcher Black-bellied Plover Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Purple Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Royal Tern Forster’s Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Horned Lark Tree Swallow Northern Mockingbird Brown Creeper American Crow European Starling House Sparrow American Goldfinch Yellow-rumped Warbler White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Snow Bunting

Bird List: Brigantine Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Tundra Swan Snow Goose Canada Goose Brant Green-winged Teal Mallard American Black Duck Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon American Coot Black-bellied Plover Wilson’s Snipe Greater Yellowlegs Western Sandpiper Dunlin Ring-billed Gull Great Black-backed Gull American Herring Gull Belted Kingfisher Northern Flicker American Robin Yellow-rumped Warbler Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow

October 13, 2007 - Fort Washington State Park - Flourtown section

Five participants met in the parking lot of the Flourtown section of Fort Washington State Park on Saturday, October 13. The weather had turned cold, for a change, and everyone was bundled up. The temperature at 8:00 AM was a nippy 40F when we started out.

When the newsletter and calendar were published, this field trip had been billed as a “Sparrow Walk”. However, in the intervening period, a large part of the park had been dug up to make way for a wetlands mitigation project. The grasses that the sparrows had favored the previous season had all been removed.

So we made the best of the situation, and walked toward the pavilion, instead of toward the stream, as originally planned, and checked out all the sunny spots along the loop trail back to the parking lot. We did see some sparrows along the way. Shortly into the walk we found a large group of White-throated Sparrows and a few Song Sparrows. Later on, a couple of participants got a fleeting glimpse of a Swamp Sparrow.

Other notable birds along the trail were a number of warbler species: Palm, Prairie, Nashville and Yellow-rumped; also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Towhee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Great Blue Heron. There were also several American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.

~ Jane Henderson

Sept. 15, 2007 - Fort Washington State Park

Thirteen eager birders were not scared off by the overcast skies and we were treated to a small taste of fall migration as we walked up Ridge Road. Along with the Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice that are common in the park; we found a small migrant flock consisting of several Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, Black-throated Green Warblers and Red-eyed Vireos. The birds were busily feeding. The light was not the best so there may have been something else mixed in with this flock but at least there was some evidence of migration. We continued walking up Ridge Road and came across a second group of migrants. The species mix in the second group was similar to the first group. As we neared the top of the Ridge, an Osprey was observed and talk began to turn to the coffee and muffins that awaited us at the end of the walk.

We crossed over Joshua Road in hopes of finding another group of migrants and found a few other birds including a Black and White Warbler and White-breasted Nuthatch although it was rather quiet. By the time we had looped back to the main part of the park, the sky was beginning to clear and Carolina Wrens were calling in full force. We continued to walk the main auto loop as the overcast skies began to completely clear. Feeding with the American Robins and Catbirds was a Scarlet Tanager. By the time we had made it back to the Hawk Watch platform, it was a sunny day and the coffee and muffins were out. Goldfinches were feeding and some of us again found at least part of that flock of Redstarts, Vireos and Parulas.

With the sunshine, raptors were beginning to fly. Anyone who stayed the entire day at the Hawk Watch, would have been treated to over 1200 Broad-winged Hawks, 12 Ospreys, 6 Bald Eagles, over 30 Sharp-shinned Hawks along with Red-tailed Hawks and Black and Turkey Vultures soaring from their near-by roosts. As those of us who bird at the park regularly have said more than once, it is a great place to bird.

~ Martin Selzer