Penn State Wildlife Society: Birding Middle Creek WMA 2/26/2011

Today, the Penn State Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society took a trip to Middle Creek WMA to bird and observe the huge flocks of Snow Geese. I started a tally of bird species from the time we met on campus until we got back. We ended up seeing 45 species total for the trip, with 16 species of waterfowl and 9 species of raptors. Highlights include Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, Cackling Goose, Snow Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Redhead, and Northern Pintail. Most of the students on the trip have never been birding before, so it was nice to teach them some species ID and overall life history of different species. Here is a complete list from today followed by a few photos:

male Northern Harrier

Snow Geese in flight

Snow Geese

1. Mute Swan
2. Tundra Swan
3. Snow Goose
4. Canada Goose
5. Cackling Goose (Richardson's)
6. Mallard
7. American Black Duck
8. Northern Pintail
9. American Wigeon
10. Northern Shoveler
11. Green-winged Teal
12. Redhead
13. Ring-necked Duck
14. Bufflehead
15. Hooded Merganser
16. Common Merganser
17. Bald Eagle
18. Turkey Vulture
19. Black Vulture
20. Cooper's Hawk
21. Northern Harrier
22. Red-shouldered Hawk
23. Red-tailed Hawk
24. American Kestrel
25. Peregrine Falcon
26. Ring-billed Gull
27. Herring Gull
28. Mourning Dove
29. Red-bellied Woodpecker
30. Northern Flicker
31. Downy Woodpecker
32. Blue Jay
33. American Crow
34. Fish Crow
35. Black-capped Chickadee
36. Carolina Chickadee
37. Tufted Titmouse
38. White-breasted Nuthatch
39. Eastern Bluebird
40. European Starling
41. American Tree Sparrow
42. White-throated Sparrow
43. Song Sparrow
44. Dark-eyed Junco
45. Common Grackle