Brewbirds

Phalaropes

Got my 10th Pennsylvania out-of-county (Bucks Co) year bird today...a record pace for me, compared to just 2 last year (232 in Bucks, 2 elsewhere in PA). PA bird #187 for 2004. Missed a lot of easy stuff this spring, but this was a good one: female Red-necked Phalarope in Shartlesville, Berks County PA. This bird has been on a farm pond for the last few days. Today was terrible, meteorologically speaking. Rained almost all day. Decided i had to get out anyway cuz sittin around the house just makes ya nuts. Got thoroughly soaked watching this cool little bird. Picture quality is rather poor, but here it is:

If you're a big fan of phalarope pictures that totally suck, then this is your lucky day. Here's a male Wilson's from East Rockhill Twp, Bucks Co, on 31 May. Also taken in the rain. I've been battling a serious PA phalarope curse for years now. Always miss em. Always! Now at least i can find em in the rain. It's certainly a step in the right direction...can't complain too much aye?! Bring on the Red...

Odd nesting and cicadas

Got a hot tip on breeding Cliff Swallows in one of my blocks for the PA Breeding Bird Atlas. The swallows are nesting under a bridge over Lake Nockamixon...at least two nests so far. They've been seen here over the past two summers, but this is the first confirmed nesting. Something else is nesting under that bridge too, and it was actually a bit more of a surprise to me:

This Egyptian Goose got up under the joint work of the bridge, kicked together a few stones and laid eggs, evidently. Unfortunately, this is NOT the first confirmed nesting for the area. Another pair is probably nesting again this year at a local farm pond just a few miles away. The bridge nesting seemed pretty weird to me, but maybe this is the way these birds operate. Think i've heard that they nest in trees in Africa, but have to look into that?!?

The most interesting nature event in the area is the emergence of Brood X of the 17 Year Cicadas this month. On the south shore of Nockamixon you can't find one to save your life, but they're EVERYWHERE on the north side. Don't understand why they're not on both sides of the lake, which is manmade and didn't even exist just 3 cycles ago in 1953. The noise on the north shore is almost deafening in places. It's pretty cool, but i'm glad they don't emerge every spring. Here's one sitting on my hand:

Sanderling

Feel as though i've missed out on the bulk of spring migration 04, but found a few consolation birds today. Left work early and set about finding shorebirds since it felt like a shorebird kind of day...right time, right place, early AM storms, SE wind! First several stops produced nothing but Killdeer. One was parked on eggs in the lot at the local youth football field. As i unwittingly approached, the bird got up, lowered its head, fanned out its wings, puffed itself up and charged me head on, screaming threats and insults. so much for the 'broken wing' routine...i was truly afraid of this bird for a moment and left promptly. Anyway...about that sanderling...

First stop at Lake Nockamixon was the Tohickon Boat Access, since there's like 50 feet of narrow stoney shorline there. Best (and just about only) "shorebird habitat" in the park. And there she was...a nice little Sanderling. I agonized briefly over it being a biggish weird Semipalm sandpiper, cuz i like to be accurate. As she worked the shoreline, she moved ever closer, and wound up pretty much at my feet, which was really cool, and decidedly Sanderling-like. I flinched oh so slightly and she ran away as if i were the fast approaching tide. Don't see Sanderlings often cuz the shore is like 2-3 hours away and i'm lazy...and not much of a beach person to boot. Funny how a familiar bird out of place can confuse you! In the end, it was still a sanderling, which is a new Nockamixon bird for me (#236)...yay!...

Looking for worms:

Looking at me:

Looking at a vulture (i think...)

Also present at Nockamixon Wednesday were 3 Common Loons, a late Red-breasted Merganser, and several migrant gulls, including Herring and several Ring-billed (seen by Cameron Rutt toward dusk).

brew birds

i have a small collection of beer bottles that feature birds and various other winged creatures (moths, satan, etc). at this point, new selections are difficult to find. it usually involves travel, and lord knows i don't get to do that enough. Pennsylvania's regulations regarding the sale of alcohol are stuck in the 19th century, so variety and convenience to the consumer suffer. it's nearly impossible to find single bottles or sixes of interesting brews. there's always case sales, but variety is also hard to find there, and where available, prices are generally inflated beyond what i'd like to pay for a beer i've never tried, bird or no bird on the label. i complain about it a lot. luckily i live near New Jersey, so i can pop across the bridge for non PA-approved brews. here's a good one:

Hitachino Nest Beer is a white ale brewed in Japan. i'm allergic to white ales, but i tried this one anyway. seem to recall that it was fresh and tasty, and that i would have finished it if the throat and tonsils hadn't begun to swell. really hate that...very uncomfortable. the owl is cool. there are other varieties of this available with variations on the owl, but i haven't found them yet, thanks to Ye Olde PA Liquor Control Board. they still refer to themselves as 'Ye Olde'. isn't that wierd? i've heard that they work by candle-light and maintain ledgers with ink and quill. good quills are difficult to obtain these days, so they'll go for weeks without accomplishing anything at all. apparently the chairman sports a cape and top hat...

Blue-winged Teal

I've been watching a pair of Blue-winged Teal for the past few weeks. Tonight, the drake was quite busy harassing a pair of mallards. He was relentless, following the larger birds closely and yapping away at them. Blue-winged Teal aren't known to breed in the county, so I'm not sure what this display was all about. Will be interested to see how long the teal remain on this little pond. A few Wood Ducks and a pair of American Black Ducks were the only other ducks present this evening.

While fairly plain, the hen is a pretty little creature none the less.

Mallard gets an ear full!

hybrid gulls pt 1

Just spent about an hour posting these photos cuz i don't really know what i'm doing here yet and windows collapsed just before i saved it. That's never really happened to me before actually, but i'm complaining anyway. Bill Gates you owe me 60 minutes of my life back you robber baron doofus bastard.

I have a few gull pictures that people might find of interest. Not normal people of course, but maybe Gull People. Here are a few shots of a "Nelson's Gull" that i found at Lake Nockamixon in Bucks Co, Pennsylvania on 22 Mar 2004. It's a hybrid of Glaucous Gull x arentatus Herring Gull. Nice chunky young bird, with that 'about to nod off' look typical of young Glaucous Gulls. Primaries are quite dark. It's seen here dwarfing a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls:

Here's a shot that's been cropped and brightened to show the sooty primaries. Again, sleepy lookin' and huge compared to a 2nd winter Lesser Black-backed:

Have more pics of a totally different strange gull, but it's now quite late so i'll have to get to it later...

Exotic beast

Photographed a beautiful male Painted Bunting in York County PA today, but here's something completely different. Meet Bucks County PA's Canada Goose of 2024. This bird is just one of a steadily increasing Bucks Co population of Egyptian Geese. Three have been hanging out at Lake Nockamixon for several weeks; they bred last summer on a small farm pond adjacent to Nockamixon State Park, producing 8 or 9 young. Apparently waterfowl collectors often release these birds due to their habit of systematically seeking out and destroying every egg that isn't their own. Nasty quarrelsome nuisance birds, but kinda cool looking anyway.

Here's that Painted Bunting. Photo kinda sucks...distant and not exactly focused. This bird is wary and doesn't tend to sit still for long. Came within about 2/10ths of a second of getting a nice focused zoomed in well-composed photo, but the bird jumped as my finger hit the trigger and never reappeared. Rats...

That's it for now.