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- [...]

Finally a Rufous!

Number 266 for my Pennsylvania list, the female Rufous Hummingbird I was able to see in Berks County this past week was a delight. When I first arrived at the house that it has been frequenting for about a month now, the hummingbird was nowhere to be seen. I was treated to a lovely overview [...]

Clay-colored Sparrow

I saw my 2nd state bird in as many days yesterday. Although its not very common in PA, Clay-colored Sparrows are findable in several parts of the state. They breed in some limited areas in the western part of the state and are sometimes seen in migration elsewhere.

This bird is coming to a feeder in [...]

New State bird on the drive home

This afternoon, I was driving home from New Jersey after completing the hawk counting season. It was a pleasant day but I didn’t see much bird-wise for most of the trip. It was pretty ordinary in fact until I turned on to Schantz Rd southwest of Allentown. I spotted a plowed field off to the [...]

Mega! Yellow-billed Loon in Pennsylvania

As already blogged by Birdchaser, there is a beautifully plumaged Yellow-billed Loon drifting up and down the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. Only a little over an hour from my house, this would be an excellent bird to chase for both a state and life bird for me. But, seeing as I am in New [...]

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 [...]

Smith’s Longspur

Well, I didn’t miss this one. Seems like everyone else got to see the Smith’s Longspur in the blogosphere- City Birder, Mike from 10000birds.com, Jersey Birder, etc. I was pretty sure that I was going to come up short again after searching for over an hour and only seeing Snow Buntings and Horned Larks. I [...]

The Long-billed Murrelet Quandry or "Would you Count it?"

Well, I was there. And I most certainly saw an alcid. Could have been a murrelet. Definitely not a Razorbill. Hmm… So is this the record that I put on my life list? It seems questionable, for all I know, I could have seen a Marbled Murrelet. But most [...]

The chase is on!

A stray from Asia, the Long-billed Murrelet has been sighted at Sandy Hook, NJ and I am off to meet Cameron and some other birders in Bucks County to carpool to the site. I will let you know tonight if I am successful!

Year birds, state birds and a lifer

Yesterday I spent the day cruising the gull scene around Tullytown, Pa which is home to a rather massive dump. Larophiles know that dumps can often attract large numbers of gulls and this dump is no exception, attracting one of the largest numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls of anyplace in the Americas. My [...]