Pymatuning State Park

I am very sunburnt and tired, so I am going to appologize if this post is a dull read!!! BUT, I was laid off from my job at the local glass factory this past Monday. I was on the midnight shift, and when I got home at 8 in the morning, I decided that I was going to pack up and leave town. My dad has been at our camp near Pymatuning State Park the past week, so why not join him for some fishing/birding while I have some time off right? I packed up my gear and left town around 1:00 pm. It was 3:00 pm when I was coming into Linesville, the town on Pymatuning Reservoir where our camp is located. I was scanning the corn fields on either side of the road where large numbers of Canada Geese can be seen, hoping to pick something up cool like a snow or cackling goose that got off track during migration, and never left. It was cloudy and drizzling, so visibility was not at an all time high. I happened to glance to my right and see two large birds, now keep in mind I had been up for 21 hours by this time, just drove for 2, and was feeling goofy. I just assumed that the birds were turkey. But these turkey were a brownish tan......with very long necks and legs and bills....SANDHILL CRANES!!!!!!! Yes I did actually yell that to myself. By this time I had passed the birds, so I pulled off to the side of the road, swan dove into my backseat for my camera bag and bins, pulled a U-Turn on a main highway, and backtracked. Needless to say, I was excited. I had heard sandhills while banding ducks 2 years ago in this location, but never saw them. When I got back to the birds, I pulled off the road, put on my blinkers, killed the engine, lifted the nikon, and fired away. They were about one hundred yards away, and as I said visibility wasn't great, but here are some of the photos that I managed. There were just the two, no chicks, and I watched them forage for about ten minutes.

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

They started to walk away from my jeep, so I figured that I would leave them alone. I pulled away and headed towards camp. While passing the Linesville spillway, I saw a bird that was noticeably different from the rest. At first I thought to myself Greater-White Fronted Goose. So I parked in the spillway parking lot and grabbed my camera bag. As I approached the goose I was stumped, Pink Footed....? So I snapped a few photos and decided that I would figure it out later because I did not want my camera to get rained on too horribly. After examining the photos I believe that this is a feral Greylag Goose.

Feral Greylag Goose

Feral Greylag Goose with Mallard

Canada Goose

Canada Goose

What I thought was a "hutchinsii" race cackling goose, but after studying photos that I have taken of cackling geese and a discussion with a knowledgable birder that I know, this is just another Canada.

A couple buddys feeding the fish.

Common Carp at the Linesville Spillway

When I arrived at camp and showed my dad the photos, he said that there was a big white bird hunting with a Great Blue Heron the day before. He described the bird and it sounded to me like a Great Egret, however the bird was nowhere to be seen that evening or the rest of my time at the park. In early June, the Walleye are really hitting, so while we were on the boat I wasn't doing much birding. We fished Monday evening, Tuesday from 8:30 am until about 5:30 pm, and Wednesday from 5:30 am until about 4:00 pm. We caught quite a few fish, some highlights were catching my limit of Walleye within the first four hours on Tuesday, and my three 12-13" White Crappie that I picked up within 15 minutes of each other on Wednesday! I spotted several Bald Eagles, gulls, terns, osprey, cormorants, loons, and herons while fishing and tons of swallow species. I also got a glimpse of a Great Crested Flycatcher. He didn't offer the best photo opportunities. But as I said, we were taking fishing seriously this trip.

Immature Bald Eagle

Richie, waiting for the sun to come up.

The sunlight hitting the Ohio side of the lake

The sun coming up over Pennsylvania

Richie

Great Crested Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

When I left Wednesday evening I searched for the Sandhill Cranes again because after I texted Andie Graham about my sightings, she told me that she was making a trip with her boyfriend the next day to do a little birding of their own and I wanted to give her the most up to date location. No luck with the Sandhills, though I did pick up an Eastern Meadowlark, and watched some shorebirds, an immmature Bald Eagle, and a Great Blue Heron drink, forage, and hunt for food in a small pond. An older couple approached in a vehicle and told me that they observed a Semi-palmated Plover and a Curlew at this spot a week prior, and that a pair of Snow Geese had just left the area about a month ago. I would have loved to stay and search for the plover and curlew, but I had to wake up at 5:00 the next morning to go elk calf collaring, I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me, and it was 8:00 pm. I am laid off for a week, so maybe I can make a special trip back to do a little birding!

Families of Canada Geese

Families of Canada Geese

Immature Bald Eagle

Great Blue Heron

Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark

Thursday morning I went elk calf collaring, and it was a good time! I have been waiting for the photos to be sent to me from the Northern Goshawk banding trip, when I get them I will do a double post of the hawk banding and calf collaring, so stay tuned! On the way home from collaring, a raptor caught my eye while it was hunting along the road, causing me to once again pull over and dive into the backseat for my camera. Here are a few photos of the bird, a Broad-Winged Hawk, one of my favorite birds of prey.

Broad-Winged Hawk

Broad-Winged Hawk

Broad-Winged Hawk