Weekend Sightings....

I spent this past weekend, once again, down in Bedford County. Friday afternoon when I stopped by Shawnee State Park, and found a nice assortment of waterfowl including Red-breasted Mergansers, Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, and one Canvasback, as well as five other species. Friday night I owl banded up at the Allegheny Front and we managed to capture 3 Northern Saw-whet Owls despite the very strong winds.

Saturday I hawk watched at Tussey Mountain. It was a very successful day, with 62 total raptors migrating past. 5 red-shouldered Hawks, 1 Golden Eagle, and 9 Northern Harriers were the highlights. Below are some pictures.

Adult Red-shouldered Hawk
Juvenile Bald Eagle

Juvenile Golden Eagle

Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the Hawk Watch

Sunday, Anna, Cory Ritter, and I went to a few places to search for waterfowl. Shawnee State Park had some American Wigeons, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shoveler, and Gadwall. Whitetail Wetlands had a very nice assortments of waterfowl, including Mallard, Gadwall, American Black Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, American Coots, and best of all a beautiful Trumpeter Swan. Trumpeter Swans are very rare in PA.

Trumpeter Swan; photo by Anna Fasoli.

These two juvenile, male Northern Harriers were enganged in an aerial battle for a few minutes while we watched the waterfowl; photo by Anna Fasoli.

Sunday night I went owl banding again till 1:15 in the morning and we managed to catch 22 saw-whet owls!