Eastern Pennsylvania Spring Birdathon

On May 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 there will be birding by top leaders from the Pennsylvania Audubon Society board and staff. The sites are some distance from Pittsburgh, but if anyone is interested, please contact Marian Crossman, PAS Secretary.

Spring Birdathon plans are well underway, and we have six teams committed and eager to go. The team dates and descriptions of where they will go are listed below. You'll be glad to know that we're well on our way to 100% participation by board members, as well.

We sure hope you are able to participate. You can solicit some pledges and join a team and wander all over creation hunting birds with them. Or, you can do your own personal Birdathon. Or, you can seek pledges to commit to one of the teams. Frankly, if you have the time, and are able, you'll have more fun trekking about, not only finding birds, but also increasing your bird identification skills. The staff will help you in any way it can.

NE Birdathon — Thursday, May 2:

Team: Steve Hoffman, Joe DeMarco, Bruce McNaught, Alan Gregory, Joe, Alan, Bruce and Steve

Plans are for a pre-sunrise start in southern Luzerne County, visiting Nescopeck State Park for owls, forest-interior species (hope is alive for a Cerulean Warbler here) as well as marsh and swamp species. Then, they'll head over toward the Susquehanna River with a stop at an IBA — the Susquehanna Riverlands — for bottomland woodpeckers, shorebirds, and lingering waterfowl. And, they hope to spot one of the Bald Eagles now at home along this stretch of the river. From there, it's a 45-mile ride up to another IBA — Ricketts Glen State Park — in search of more northerly species (Blue-headed Vireo, nesting Yellow-rumped Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Hermit Thrushes, among others). We'll also check across SGL 57, one of our state's largest public land holdings, for other northerly (even boreal!) species. Then, the trio will head east into the Poconos and a stopover at another IBA, the Long Pond Barrens, in search of nesting Nashville, Golden-winged and Prairie Warblers. Time permitting, we'll check the Two-Mile Run Preserve for birds that favor conifer swamps. Whew!

Kittatinny Birdathon — Friday, May 3

Team: Paul Zeph, Scott Weidensaul, Rob Blye
From Hawk Mountain to Waggoner's Gap

Join us at dawn on Hawk Mountain in search of Screech and Barred Owls, then head west with us zig-zagging from woods to wetlands to ravines and back to woods in search of warblers, raptors, and waterbirds. We expect to find Golden-winged, Hooded, Canada, and Black-throated Blue Warblers; tanagers; grosbeaks; sandpipers; a bittern or two; and perhaps a Hooded Merganser. We'll check on the Wade Island Rookery for nesting egrets and night-herons, stop at several ridge-top lookouts for migrating raptors, and we'll scour the ridges and valleys until we're too pooped to hoot!

Middle Creek Birdathon — Saturday, May 4

Team: Pam Evans, Pat McElhenny

With any luck at all, May 4th will dawn bright and warm for a great day of birding! This outing will be led by a great birder and all around general naturalist, Pat McElhenny. One of Pat's strengths is his ability to share his knowledge of birds, butterflies, and wildflowers with the public. Two years ago Pat and I birded Middle Creek for Birdathon and found 100 species in about 8 hours. We will start our day early — 6:00 AM. However, we will make many small loops throughout Middle Creek and will have ample opportunities to hook up with less dedicated bird watchers. Middlecreek is a great spot for beginner birders — lots of up close looks at many species. Besides the many field (swallows, meadowlark, bobolink, bluebird) and edge species (oriole, bunting, woodpeckers, kingbird) and, of course waterfowl that we expect to find, there are also resident Bald Eagles and Great Horned and Screech Owls to be found. And of course, in the treetops we will look for warbler fallouts! Join Pam Evans and Pat McElhenny for a more leisurely paced day with lots of opportunities to learn (and maybe see or hear) something new!

SE Birdathon — Monday, May 6

Team: Cindy Dunn, Rob Blye, Leigh Altadonna, Alan Candor, Joanne Denworth

A team of intrepid birders will visit key birding hotspots in southeast Pennsylvania, the cradle of ornithology in the United States. We will begin with an early morning visit t the Piedmont forests of the Hay Creek Watershed IBA Site. We will be birding in one of the last significant remnant forests of Pennsylvania's Piedmont. From there, we will go to the Green lane Reservoir IBA to "bag" the shorebirds seen frequently there. We will next visit Mill Grove — where the bird conservation movement had its origin, and explore the several hundred acres and the walking trails along the Perkiomen Creek. Birds migrate up the Delaware Valley, and the Schulykill, and its tributaries such as the Perkiomen. Our last stop of the day will be the John Heinz Refuge were we can add waterefowl and wading birds to our list, plus visit Pennsylvania's only saltwater march IBA site. To date, our team consists of Leigh Altadonna, Alan Candor, Joanne Denworth, Rob Blye and Cindy Dunn.

Central PA Birdathon — Wednesday, May 8

eam: Ron Freed, Carmen Santasania, Mark Henry

Carmen, Mark, and Ron will be doing Birdathon on May 8 in Centre County area. We'll start out before sunrise at Curtin Marsh near Bellefonte, a great spot for marshbirds, waders and shorebirds. Last year we had two rail species, swamp sparrow and other marsh birds. Then we'll move to Bald Eagle State Park, a mix of habitats that will produce birds of open water, wetlands and uplands. We should see waterfowl, herons, resident hawks, and a number of neotropical migrants such as Golden-winged Warbler, American Redstart and Yellow-breasted Chat. We will then concentrate on an Important Bird Area that is under threat. Sections of the Rothrock State Forest are being considered for relocation of Route 322, including Bear Meadows, Alan Seeger, and Detweiler Run Natural areas. These interior forest areas should have a good mix of warblers, including Black-throated Green, Hooded and Canada Warbler. We should also see other interior forest species such as Scarlet Tanager, Blue-headed Vireo and Hermit Thrush. We plan to finish the day checking grasslands in Penn's Valley, to pick up Bobolink, Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrow.

Susquehanna River Birding & Wildlife Trail Birdathon — Lancaster Co. Area — Thursday, May 9

Team: Marci Mowery, Beth Sanders, Jason Beale, Chris Rebert

We plan to visit sites that could potentially become part of Susquehanna River Wildlife and Birding trail. Starting early in the morning in the Lancaster Co. area (meeting spot to be determined) we will begin by looking for woodcocks and owls. We will then travel to Mt. Gretna in search of woodland species, furthering our exploration of Lancaster County looking for waterfowl. A lunch stop is planned at the Bird-In-Hand restaurant near Intercourse, PA. We will resume our pilgrimage down to Muddy Run and/or Susquehannock State Park and end our day with a sunset canoe ride on the Conjohela flats looking for shorebirds. Interesting species we may encounter include Bald Eagles, Osprey, Least Sandpipers, Semi-Palmated Sandpipers, Dunlins, Greater Yellowlegs and other shorebirds, Egrets, warblers.