Recent Birding

Two weeks ago I stopped at Yellow Creek State Park to search for a Surf Scoter that was reported the day before. I located two female Surf Scoters amongst some pied-billed grebes. A flock of roughly 50 Rusty Blackbirds were also foraging along the lake. I also added Semipalmated Sandpiper to my life list. I found a lone Dunlin, which was a state bird for me. That wrapped up my morning at Yellow Creek SP.

A few trips out to Bald Eagle State Park produced Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Bonaparte's Gull, and most importantly White-winged Scoter. Drew Weber, Nate Fronk, and myself searched for the White-winged Scoter after Drew found it. This was a life bird for Nate and I. Later in the morning, an Eared Grebe was found. It would have been awesome if it was there when we were there.

I went Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding last night at a location near Brockport, PA. We caught two juvenile female owls. One was caught before 8 pm and the other was caught after 10 pm. A Great Horned Owl was calling near the nets for the better part of the night. Below are two photos I took of the owls with my cell phone so the quality is not that great.

That wraps up my birding adventures from the past few weeks. I am going to watch for Golden Eagles on next Saturday. Tomorrow morning I am stopping at Yellow Creek SP again to search for some waterfowl.