Finches, mergansers, woodys, and rookeries.

 I have been snapping photos of birds that I have been seeing roadside, at my feeders, flying over the house, etc. Here are a few of some house finches that are constantly emptying my feeders and some turkey vultures that have been flying around for the past few days.

Male house finch

Male house finch

Male and female house finch

Male house finch

 Male house finch

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vultures

 Today, I finally got to go out and spend some time birding, the first time this month. I added a few new ticks to my year list, including the 3rd and final merganser species for Pennsylvania for the year, the wood duck, and tree swallow. I am still not happy with my waterfowl and waterbird lists for the year, but there is still some time plus fall migration to pick up species that I have missed.

Female Red-Breasted Mergansers

I counted over 200 ring-necked ducks today, with some wigeon, lesser scaup, horned grebes, and buffleheads mixed in.

Ring-necked ducks, American Wigeon, and Bufflehead

American Wigeon

Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe

I was passing through on the causeway when a male wood duck caught my eye, so I parked the jeep and went back with my camera. When I got to where the wood duck was, I noticed that there was a female with him. He was in the open, and she was behind some cattails that I was using for cover.

Wood Ducks

 I was hoping that they would both give me a clear photo opp, but they took off before she cleared the cattails. Flight pictures are pretty cool, so I followed them in my view finder, focused, and right when I took the photo, I caught a piece of a cattail...fail. Maybe next time!

Wood Ducks

 I got a picture of this Great Blue Heron flying right after the wood ducks had flushed.

Great Blue Heron

Things were pretty slow at the Anderson Creek end of the reservoir, but I did see this canda goose doing its' best to play hide and seek with me. The goose stayed like this with its' head down untill I left and was going down the road.

Canada Goose

I stopped at the Great Blue Heron colony to see if anything had changed. Still no herons, and there was a Bald Eagle on the nest. The bird was tending the nest for about ten minutes, then settled in. It looks like I won't be getting any pictures of baby blue herons this year, but the possibility of getting some shots at some eaglets looks pretty good!!

Bald Eagle

I stopped by Kyle Lake to see if there was anything good. NOPE! Just some tree swallows. But I can't complain, that's a new tick for me.

Tree Swallows

It was nice to finally get outside for a little while. It made for a good day in the field, untill I came home to a group of European Starlings at my feeders...

European Starling