Birding with Brooke

School has really taken the toll this year on my outdoor time, so last Saturday I decided that it would be a good idea to get out. My girlfriend Brooke was visiting for the weekend so it was nice to spend some time with her outside as well. We first hit the Centre Furnace Duck Pond to see the locals.

 

Mallard

Redheads

Ring-necked Ducks

Buffleheads

Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Duck

Common Goldeneye

Mallard

 

I was comparing and contrasting all the ducks that were present, and what makes them different for Brooke, when a couple of American Coots started to chase each other around, which made for a few action shots.

 

American Coots

 

American Coot

 

There was also a Canada Goose with a roughed up wing, I have seen this bird the past several times visiting the duck pond.

 

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

 

We left the Centre Furnace Duck Pond and headed for Bald Eagle State Park where we saw a TON of Red-breasted, common, and hooded mergansers, ring-billed gulls, a pair of common loons, tundra swans, and an adult bald eagle. Most birds observed were distant, making it hard to get good photographs.

 

Tundra Swans

Common Merganser

Common Loons

Red-Breasted Mergansers

 

Also present at the park, were both the men and womens Penn State University CREW.

 

Mens PSU CREW

Womens PSU CREW

 

There was not a wide variety of bird species at Bald Eagle State Park, but my student was very attentative.

 

Brooke, she hardly ever complains when we go out!

 

On our way back to my apartment, I noticed a light morph Northern Harrier along I 99 near the I 99 / Route 150 overpass. So I decided to stop for a quick photo.

 

Norhtern Harrier

 

On Saturday the 16, the PSU Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences 407 Ornithology class went on a birding trip to Hadleman's Island. I only had taken a few pictures during the trip due to the bad weather, but here is one of at least 200 mallards flocking to corn stuble. I had never seen this many ducks on dry land in Pennsylvania up to this point. there were also some american Black Ducks, and Northern Pintails mixed in the flock.

 

Dabblers flocking to corn stubble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



3 Wise Men

When I was younger, my dad once told me, big bucks don't get big by being stupid. I believe that there is allot of truth to that statement. I also believe that it goes with more animals than just deer. As some of you may have already found out for yourselves from hunting, photography, or birding, that birds can be the smartest critters there is. I think that this is especially true for wild gamebirds. It seems odd to me that you can search and search for these things, and come up without a trace; they disappear, they can be invisible, they are ghosts. Yet you look out of the kitchen window, and they can be found digging up your backyard in search for food. Over spring break, I found that these three gobblers spent some of their time in the afternoon scratching around the Northern Red Oak tree in my back yard.

 

Though these birds are leaving themselves vulnerable in the open like this, there is no doubt in my mind that they are very wise.

These boys got some ropes on em' eh!?

 

 

One of them seems to have a busted, and slightly deformed spur. It could be from getting shot, maybe an unsuccessful attack from a predator, or even disease. Or maybe he was just in a gobbler scuffle. Either way, the leg knob that this guy is yielding gives him character, if you ask me.

 

You can see the unusual spur on the right birds' right leg as these two do their turkey scratchin' line dance.

Here is a better view of the spur.

 

I watched these birds for a good ten minutes, how one bird would take watch as the other two had their heads down picking, taking turns watching their perimeter, scratching at the ground, sending each other certain vocalizations which I'm sure each had their own meaning.

 

Two birds scratchin', with one always keeping watch.

 

These guys seemed to be more concerned with the corn kernels and bird seed that they were finding, rather than me and my camera; as soon as I started to get a little bit restless, they had had enough of my presence, and the 3 wise men made their retreat back to the safety in the stand of hardwood which they came from.

 

The last of the three birds bringing up the rear, as they scurried back into the forest.