Field Trip

Chasing a Rare Jewel

I am not usually one to take off in search of rare birds in my area.  Usually work and commitments keep me close to home, but this weekend offered too good of an opportunity.  A 1st year male Allen's Hummingbird had been visiting a feeder at a private residence in Pipersville, PA, less than a half hour from my home.  Thanks to the generosity of the homeowner visitors are welcome, so I went out in search of the Allen's.

I was lucky enough to see it visit the feeder twice in the half hour I watched.  The Allen's Hummingbird is normally a resident of the coast of southern Oregon and California.  It was previously thought to migrate southward, sticking to the West Coast, but that idea now seems to be in question.  Quite often, too, these western hummingbirds go eastward again a year or two later. So we know that at least some of them survive the winter, go back to their breeding grounds, and return again to the East Coast.  How lucky for those that leave the feeders out!  I just might do that next year!

I capped off my day out with a trip to Peace Valley Park, saw lots of geese, gulls, and an American Coot.  What a great end to a day that added another lifer to my list.

A Remarkable Fall Continues...

As we move into late fall, I continue to be amazed.  The past few weeks have brought change and a few more surprises.  I am hearing reports of Selasphoros hummingbirds from several places in southeast Pennsylvania, and the influx of irruptive species continues.

What is an irruptive species?  These are the wonderful Pine Siskins, Redpolls, Red-Breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches that have found themselves further south than their normal winter range.  They are looking for food, since there was a fruit and seed crop failure in the Canadian forests.  Here is a link to a great Winter Finch Forcast http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/ff2012.  Maybe I will even see some Evening Grosbeaks by the end of the year!

Current Events

Since my last blog, the east coast has taken a beating from Hurricane Sandy and the weather has gotten more chilly.  In the week after Sandy the Pine Siskens and then the Goldfinches that had monopolized my Nyjer feeder began to disappear.  I am not sure where my local Goldfinches go this time of year, but it seems every year about the same time they move to a different location and return again in the early spring.  I guess this year the Pine Siskens went with them!

Record Breakers

This is the third year that I have participated in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project Feederwatch,  and for me it has already been a record breaker.  Last weekend there were 16 species at my feeders including everything from a flock of four Mourning Doves to the lovely little Red-Breasted Nuthatch.  This was a record number of species for my yard, the previous being 15 species one weekend last year.    The only other thing that could have topped my list last weekend would have been if the Sharp-Shinned Hawk that had been stalking my feeders a couple of days before had shown up again.

A Sharp-Shinned Hawk eyes a bird above him...his next meal? The small head in proportion to body size makes this most likely a Sharp-Shinned and not a Coopers Hawk.

  

Today I have already spotted a female Purple finch and a Black- Capped Chickadee.  I can't wait to see what the rest of this weekend has in store!

Female Purple Finch, note heavily streaked facial markings & chunky body.  Definitely not a House Finch!