We’ve been birding at Scotia Barrens, a local state game lands unit almost every morning. September first brought 15 species of warblers! In the previous days, Alex and his friends have had similar numbers, and on one day Drew Weber documented 17 species! This is by far one of the best places to see warblers in the state right now. Some of the warbler species from the first included Magnolia, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green, American Redstart, Tennessee, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, and Common Yellowthroat. We also found lots of Red-eyed Vireos mixed in with the flocks. For a few moments, a flock that included all of these birds stayed out in the open on this small dead branch. Seven warbler species were present at once, and I managed a photo with 7 warblers in it of 5 species!
Magnolia Warbler: Red, Chestnut-sided Warbler: Blue, American Redstart: Yellow, Tennessee Warbler: Purple, Black and White Warbler: Green, Tufted Titmouse: White
Blackburnian Warbler: light red, Black-throated Green Warbler: dark red, Chestnut-sided Warbler: blue, Tennessee Warbler: purple, Northern Parula: pink, Black-capped Chickadee: white
Red-eyed Vireo
American Redstart, Tufted Titmouse, and 3 Magnolia Warblers
Chestnut-sided Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler
On the second at the barrens, we picked up a Black-throated Blue Warbler and Ovenbirds, in addition to most of what we had seen the previous day. Alex showed me a few local birding hot spots around the area, where we found this Red-tailed Hawk, and also an early Blue-winged Teal on a campus pond (in addition to a few Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers). Later in the day, we headed to Julien Wetlands with Tim Shrekengost, where we found a few more Solitary and Spotted sandpipers, and also a Common Nighthawk.
Ovenbird at Scotia Barrens
Bufflehead in State College, PA
Red-tailed Hawk at PSU campus
Solitary Sandpiper at Julien Wetlands
On September third, we joined Tim Shrekengost and Nate Fronk, who are helping out a grad student at Penn State with a banding project in a local park. An amazing variety of birds were captured, including a number of catbirds, a Magnolia Warbler, a Blackpoll Warbler, a Yellow-breasted Chat, a Worm-eating Warbler, a House Wren, a Carolina Wren, Black-capped Chickadees, a Willow Flycatcher, and two Ovenbirds. It was great to see the warblers up close after only having caught quick glimpses of them over the last few days!
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
House Wren
Ovenbird
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Worm-eating Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Willow Flycatcher
Later in the day, we went to Coyler Lake, where we had a few Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, who were quite anxious with the approaching front and high winds. There were also a number of Killdeer, Solitary, Spotted, and Least Sandpipers, in addition to a Baird’s Sandpiper that we were surprised to find!
Greater Yellowlegs
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