2007 by the numbers

Since everyone from my brother to Google is posting a list of 2007 by the numbers, I might as well do it too…
3- number of first state records I missed in PA this year (Slaty-backed Gull, Long-billed Murrelet and Yellow-billed Loon)77- number of posts this year253- number of species I saw in PA in 2007269- [...]

Fortunate series of chases

I had an excellent Easter. I saw 2 of the 3 birds I chased, missing only Yellow-headed Blackbird. That miss is not too big of a deal because between Scott’s Oriole (1st PA record), Lazuli Bunting (3rd PA record) and Y-h Blackbird, the blackbird is the most likely to turn up in PA again in [...]

First miss of the year and FOY sightings

Well, I went to go find the Western Kingbird again. I figured it was so easy the first time, why not try to get it for this year’s list. It is an attractive bird anyways, so it would be nice to see again. Well, no such luck for me today. I [...]

Strike three for Thayer’s

Well, I have been to Memorial Lake 3 times now to see the Thayer’s Gull and last night was the closest I have come to see it. It showed up as it was getting dark and Tom Johnson gave me a call that he was seeing it from across the lake. My mistake [...]

Strike on shrike

I have a brand new miss for my list. There was a Northern Shrike reported around the same area as that mystery empid (probably Least Flycatcher) during the Solanco CBC. It was in an easy to locate area and close to my girlfriends house so I decided to give it a shot today. [...]

and I missed the Thayer’s Gull

Missed another good bird yesterday. There was a Thayer’s Gull reported at Memorial Lake State Park along with a first cycle Iceland Gull. Both are good for the area with Thayer’s being especially hard to find this far east. It was a second cycle bird that had been seen at least several [...]

What is luck?

Well, first of all let’s look at my luck so far. There was a Rufous Hummingbird only 15 minutes from my house for over 3 weeks. As luck would have it I was busy working at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and did not have time to chase this bird. When the season was [...]