Big Day of Birding at Lehigh Gap Wildlife Refuge
Big Day of Birding at Lehigh Gap Wildlife Refuge
by Robert E. Hoopes
The following article is from Summer 2004 issue of Wildlife Activist.
From 6 p.m. Friday, May 7 through 6 p.m. Saturday, May 8 “Big Day” birders counted 79 species of birds on the Lehigh Gap Wildlife Refuge, including four species recorded for the first time. The participants contributed various hours of birding, including two dedicated enthusiasts who spent the entire time on the refuge (including a few hours of sleep at the Osprey House!). The event was scheduled to coincide with the peak of the spring migration of neotropical migrants, highlighting the avian diversity of the refuge.
Jeff Frantz, Jeff Hopkins, Ron Kline, Grant Stevenson, and I kicked-off the Big Day at the Kittatinny Ponds area Friday evening, recording the first Purple Martins seen at the refuge since the land was purchased by the Wildlife Center two years ago. Wood Ducks, Osprey and other expected species were recorded as the sun began to set. Jeff Hopkins and I then headed up to the LNE trail to record Common Nighthawk and Chimney Swift as night fell, along with the nesting Killdeer that performed its broken wing imitation. After dark we unsuccessfully listened for owls and Whip-poor-wills. The final leg of our night-time observation was planned for the ponds area but this was interrupted by weekend activities (people, music and lights) at the cabins located in this area.
At dawn Jeff and I were back at the ponds, joined again by Jeff Frantz. The warblers were few and hard to find but they were there (16 total species for the day), including a refuge first Northern Waterthrush, along with abundant Baltimore Orioles and a few Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. After thoroughly working the ponds, the riparian areas by the river and the wooded western end of the LNE trail, Jeff Hopkins and I jumped into the canoe we had transported from the Tannery Building and set out to bird the Lehigh River. We found a surprising number of Spotted Sandpipers feeding at different locations along the water’s edge. About 30 took flight down river as our canoe approached, many obviously counted more than once. At one point we did count three “Spotties” standing together on a log. Common Merganser, lots of Rough-winged Swallows and a surprising Red-shouldered Hawk were also seen on the trip.
Jeff and I reached the Osprey House around noon and then split up after lunch, with plans to re-unite back at the Ponds at 3:30 p.m. I headed up to the wooded area above the Osprey House while Jeff birded the Osprey House grounds, the D&L trail out to the Bobolink Trail and then up to the LNE and back to the OH. Ann & Fritz Brock and several others dropped off their sightings, which Jeff posted to the overall list. I worked the woods over to the Devil’s Pulpit, stopping to enjoy the view, then continuing through the gap and the steep rocky areas recently seeded by airplane with prairie grasses. Lots of Ovenbirds and Black & White warblers were observed, along with a needed Red-bellied Woodpecker, but not the elusive Turkey or Ruffed Grouse seen recently during the seeding operation by Frank & West engineer Jake Nims.
Jeff and I met up again back at the Kittatinny Ponds each picking up another refuge first along the way, Tennessee Warbler for Jeff and Nashville Warbler for me, making it a total of four new birds for the refuge’s “yard list.” Jeff also added the beautiful “Necklace Warbler,” aka Canada Warbler. Ed & Judy Wanamaker and Ron Hillegas joined us around this time, sharing their sightings. By 5:30 p.m. we headed back to the Osprey House, hoping to find early Blackpoll Warblers by the river, but the tiny long distant migrants were yet to arrive. Jeff completed the final tally and announced the total of 79 Big Day birds, including four refuge “firsts.” Perhaps next year this Big Day total can be made even bigger…surely the elusive House Sparrow or White-breasted Nuthatch are lurking out there along with who knows what other fun species!
Following is the current “Refuge List” with the “Big Day” birds indicated in italics. Thanks to Jeff Hopkins and Jeff Frantz, list compilers.
|
Common Loon Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Green Heron Snow Goose Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Black Duck Common Goldeneye Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Coopers Hawk Northern Goshawk Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Swainson’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Golden Eagle American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Woodcock Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Ruffed Grouse Wild Turkey Killdeer Palm Warbler
|
Bay-breasted Warbler American Greater Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Black-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood Pewee Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Common Raven *Purple Martin Tree Swallow No. Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse
|
White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren Winter Wren House Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Veery Swainson’s Thrush Hermit Thrush Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing *Tennessee Warbler *Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler
|
Blackpoll Warbler Black & White Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird *Northern Waterthrush Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson’s Warbler Canada Warbler Scarlet Tanager Eastern Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole Purple Finch House Finch Pine Siskin American Goldfinch House Sparrow
|
