Lebanon County 1st Butterflies recorded in 2020

The 2020 butterfly season had an early start this year with the rather mild winter we've been having.

On March 9, a Cabbage White was observed at Tunnel Hill Park in Lebanon. The Cabbage White may be the most widely seen and recognized butterfly species in Lebanon county. It can be seen fluttering around in almost any farmers field and home yard in county.

Cabbage White

Two days later, on March 11th at the same park a Morning Cloak and Eastern Comma were also observed.

Eastern Comma

Mourning Cloak

A nice start to the 2020 Lebanon County Butterfly season and count.

Until Next time

Lebanon County Pa 2019 Butterflies

2019 was the 2nd year that I started keeping the list of butterfly species that where verified and confirmed sighting in Lebanon Count Pa - for the year 2019 there where 50 species sighted.

As I just saw my first butterfly of 2020 on March 13 (a Cabbage White at Middle Creek wildlife Area) , I thought I would review some of the highlights of 2019.

In 2019 both a Spring Azure, Cloudless Sulphur & Cabbage White where recorded March 20 as the first species seen and recorded in Lebanon County. The Cabbage White may be the most recognized and abundant butterfly species seen  in Lebanon County. Just look out over any farm grass field and you will see them fluttering. Quite a site when you see hundreds of them in June & July.

Spring Azure

Cloudless Sulphur

Also as with other years, my yard meadow again this year had an abundance of Tiger Swallowtails, Pearl Crescents, Silver Spotted Skippers, Spicebush Swallowtail, Spring and Summer Azures just to name a few. The pollinator meadow continues to amaze me with the abundance of species I record there each year.

Red admiral

Hobomak Skipper

Tiger Swallowtail

A real surprise was the sighting of a Tawny Emperor on July 2 sitting on my house siding - the first recorded yard sighting of this species.

Tawny Emperor 

Tawny Emperor

The Painted Lady and Buckeye butterflies seemed to be in abundance in 2019, with many reported sighting throughout the Lebanon County. Pearl Crescents where also quite common in 2019.

Painted Lady

A Swarthy Skipper was recorded for the first time on July 26..another yard first.

Swarthy Skipper

August 25th also saw a surprise with a Hackberry Emperor sighted at the edge of the forest bordering my yard. Another yard first in 2019

Hackberry Emperor

Hackberry Emperor

While Monarch numbers where down somewhat from other years, there was still many reported sighting of Monarch's in the Lebanon and the surrounding counties.The last species of 2019 I recorded in Lebanon County, was a Buckeye on October 11.

As the Spring of 2020 approaches I look forward to another exciting year of recording the butterfly sighting of Lebanon County Pa.

Until next time.

Harlequin Duck in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

During the month of December, 2019 there were rare ebird alerts that a Harlequin Duck was being seen on the Susquehanna River near Williamsport, Pa. I decided to 'chase' this bird and hopefully make it my last counted bird for 2019. I contacted a few follow Audubon members and we set off on the 1 1/2 hour drive to locate the species.

We arrived in Williamsport around 10am. We then drove around for another 45 minutes trying to locate the parking area near the river that we could see but didn't know how to reach. We finally got accurate directions and arrived at the parking area. We parked and walked up on the river dike and starting scanning the river for the Harlequin.

We spotted Common Goldeneye and Common Mergansers but no Harlequin. Was the trip going to end a DNFTB (did not find the bird).

After about 15 minutes, I finally spotted a smaller duck in the rapids near some 'islands' in the river. As we all trained our scopes on the duck...sure enough it was the Harlequin.

Harlequin Duck

After a few high fives, we watched the Harlequin for about 20 minutes and then packed up our gear and headed home....having successfully added the Harlequin Duck as the last recorded species for 2019 and a lifer for everyone's Pennsylvania bird (waterfowl) list.

A nice way to end the 2019 birding year.

Until next time.

Lark Sparrow in Lancaster Pa

Every year I help with the Lititz CBC – this year it was held on Dec 29 – and I was helping Bruce Carl in his section 12 area – which is in and around the Elm/Locust Grove area of Lancaster county.

The day was cool and overcast with rain forecast starting in the early afternoon…so our game plan to hit all the ‘hot’ spots before the rain began. We started the day owling at 4am and had Saw whet, Great Horned and Screech Owl before the sun had risen.

The day was proceeding as planned when we arrive at a woodlot along Boyer Run Road around 1:45 pm – we noticed a few Junco’s, White Throated sparrows some other birds moving around the area. We scanned those birds and as we are standing along the roadside talking – another bird popped up – a lighter colored slightly larger bird then the other sparrows we had been seeing…we immediately put our bins on the bird and where amazed to see a Lark Sparrow.

















Needless to say, we where both rather excited about this rare find. As of this writing the Lark Sparrow has been hanging around the same area and been providing many birders the opportunity to add a rare bird to their PA and overall life list. It always amazes me where these rare birds show up and how the are mostly accidently found – makes you wonder how many are out there that we don’t know about. Below is a link to the ebird hotspot with directions and recent sightings.

Lark Sparrow ebird hotspot

The moral of the story – keep looking at all the birds you see as you never know what you will see in your bins or where it will show up…. perhaps the next rare bird will be in your backyard.

Until next time

Pink Footed Goose in Lebanon County

A Pink Footed Goose was being reported in nearby Lancaster county since mid February but none had been reported in Lebanon county.

On March 22, 2020 a Pink Footed Goose was found and reported on a pond at Middle Creek wildlife area. The pond was in Lebanon County.

After I saw the notice on the Pa rare ebird alert, I drove to MCWA and was lucky enough to see the species. There where several other birders when I arrived and someone pointed the gooses location out to me.

The sighting of the Pink Footed Goose was unofficially a first Lebanon county record.

I took some very poor quality pictures thru my scope with my iPhone and they are posted below.

Several unusually species have been showing up in the area (and around the country), so keep your eyes opened  - you may the one reporting the next rare bird in your area.

Until next time

Hanalie NWR Hawaii April 13 & 14, 2019

My families last two days in were April 13 & 14 on Kauai. This is a beautiful Island and we enjoyed traveling around it and enjoying it's many sites and activites.

I did get to do some birding on our travels as we visited the Hanalie NRW.  The Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaiʻi. It is located within the Hanalei River Valley along the island's northern shore. The Refuge was established on 30 November 1972 for the conservation of endangered plants and animals, especially the Hawaiian stilt, Hawaiian coot, Hawaiian gallinule and Hawaiian duck.(see link below).

 Hanalei NWR

We arrived at Hanalie around 9:30am and started our tour of the area. I was searching for Hawaiian Duck that had eluded me so far on the trip. One of the first species we saw was a Scaly Breasted Munia -  another lifer to my life.

Scaly breasted Munia

We continued our exploration of the area and observed 17 species other species including the target species - Hawaiian Duck. Actually, it looked very similar to the Mallards I see back home in Pennsylvania.

Hawaiian Duck

We left the NWR with a total species count of 17 and my life list for trip standing at 44.

We did continue to explore the island, and revisited Kilauea Point NWR were I added the last lifer for the trip - the Great Frigatebird.

I ended my Hawaiian vacation with a total of 45 lifers and my overall life list at 550.

Great Frigatebird

Our last day in Hawaii was April 14, we had an early flight to SF - unfortunately no birding was done except what we saw on the way to the airport.

I can't wait to return the Hawaii Islands sometime in the future.

Until next time.

Hawaii - Kauai birding - April 12, 2019

After arriving in Kauai and picking up our rental car we traveled https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kilauea_point/ Kilauea Point NWR in search of off shore waterfowl in particular the Laysan Albatross, Red Tailed tropicbird  and Red Footed Booby.

We paid our entrance fee and found a parking spot at the near full lot and walked a short distance to the overlook and were stunned and amazed at the site before us.

There on the cliffs where over 600 Red Footed Booby's. I was speechless at the site. I have heard stories but never expected what I saw...it was a birders paradise.

Red Footed Booby

Red Footed Booby

After recovering my senses, and a many minutes of observation, we moved on in search of our other target birds. We didn't have to go far before we spotted a Laysan Albatross & Wedge Tailed Shearwaters.

The Laysan Albatross where taking off from the so called 'albatross hill' and watching them making the running start before taking flight was an amazing experience.

Laysan Albatross - lifer 542

Laysan Albatross

Laysan Albatross in flight  - and amazing wingspan

The wedge tailed Shearwaters where nesting in the sands right along the walkways...quite and amazing site.

Wedge Tailed Shearwater - lifer 541

Shearwater's in flight

As we moved toward the lighthouse, we spotted both Red & White Tailed tropicbirds - all our target birds in less than 1 hour...amazing.

We spend the next 2 hours there (until they closed and we had to leave) and planned on returning before leaving and the 14th.

In addition, I added a Warbling White Eye to my life life...which now stood at 545

Warbling White Eye lifer - 543

I have already added 41 species to my life list - how many more would I add before leaving in two days...the next post will hi-light the birds I saw on our last two days in Hawaii.

Until next time - good birding.