Checklist: Heinz bird walk in September

Back in September, Penn Birding joined a bird walk led by volunteer Gregg Gorton at Heinz Wildlife Refuge. What a lovely morning for birding it was! 

Here's a checklist of some birds we saw during the excursion:

Canada Goose  40
Mute Swan  6
Northern Shoveler  4
Mallard  2
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Wood Duck  3
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Blue Heron  7
Great Egret  21
Common Gallinule  3 
Bald Eagle  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  15
Chimney Swift  15     Flying
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard
Tufted Titmouse  2
Marsh Wren  1
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  5
European Starling  15
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Northern Parula  3
American Goldfinch 3

Learn about birds seen locally

Penn Birding member, Larry (me!), conducted a prep session in advance of Penn Birding's outing to the Heinz Wildlife Refuge, a premier birding hotspot right in Philly's backyard! 

We reviewed some of the more exciting recent sightings based on reports posted on eBird -- a database where birders can record & share their findings. 

Drawing from recent bird sightings recorded on eBird, I put together a list of cool birds that we might see.  


We looked at photographs of these birds and talked about their field markings -- i.e., physical features that help distinguish one bird from another. 

Equipped with this new knowledge, we eagerly anticipated our upcoming birding trip to Heinz. 

Urban Birding in Central Park, NYC

Penn Birding members went on the GAPSA-organized bus trip to New York City to do some urban birding in Central Park.

Turtle pond with cormorants and shovelers

At Turtle Pond, we saw a variety of waterfowl, as well as Eastern Phoebe. You may be able to spot the Double-crested Cormorants and Northern Shovelers in the photo.

Next to the platform was a handsome pair of mallards, showing off their iridescent purplish-blue speculums with black and white edges.

A little sparrow was hopping along the platform next to Turtle Pond, peeking at us.

A couple of Canada geese flew toward us, honking loudly as they landed in the water.

The highlight of birding Central Park was a golden-crowned kinglet on the banks of Turtle Pond. The adult male had a vivid orange patch on the crown that looked almost fluorescent!

Can you see a golden-crowned kinglet in this photo?

We watched an American Robin catching lunch. The bird pulled a worm from the ground, then pecked smaller pieces off to eat. It was mesmerizing to watch up close!

We saw huge flocks in the trees, flying back and forth. Red-bellied woodpeckers drew attention to themselves with their distinctive calls.

Some common grackles were foraging on the ground toward the east side of the park.

Grackles

One very enjoyable aspect of birding Central Park is that there are always many beautiful blue jays around. Back in Philadelphia, I tend to see one or two at a time, but there are many in Central Park, jabbering loudly, flying back and forth, very easy to find.

All in all, it was quite a productive birding excursion to Central Park. I recorded seeing over 200 birds and 16 species. My checklist is posted below.

Central Park, New York, New York, US, Apr 1, 2017
Canada Goose  2
Mallard  15
Northern Shoveler  20
Double-crested Cormorant  7
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  6
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  30
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  90
White-throated Sparrow  3
Northern Cardinal  2
Common Grackle  20
House Sparrow  30

White-throated sparrow spotted on campus!

Spotted a white-throated sparrow at Penn on Tuesday (April 11)! He seemed to be feeding along with some house sparrows in Blanche P. Levy Park near College Hall.

Photo: John Flannery 

Photo: Kelly Colgan Azar 

Seen any other visitors lately?

Birds, birds, birds! A Complete Indoor Birding Trip

Penn Birding screened "Birds, birds, birds! An Indoor Birdwatching Field Trip" again.

This time we completed the "field trip", which is designed to help improve our bird identification skills, by sight and by sound.


 

Whether new to birding & looking to develop skills or an experienced birder looking to hang out with other birders, all were welcome.

We had food from our sponsor Jake's Sandwich Board & we also talked about plans for the rest of the year.

Please write in if you have ideas for other educational events!

Birding at Brigantine/Forsythe NWR

Penn Birding took a tour of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Brigantine division. 

Photo: Shereen Chang

To cover as much ground as possible, we drove around the Refuge in a car & popped out whenever we saw something interesting -- which was a lot!

Photo: Shereen Chang

 One interesting sight was a gull dropping some kind of shellfish onto the road and eating it in front of us!

Other than gulls, we mostly saw water fowl, including Brants, American Black Ducks, Shovelers, Pintails, Canvasbacks, and thousands of Snow Geese.

Photo: Shereen Chang

Hopefully we can return soon to more thoroughly explore this beautiful environment!

Checklist: February trip to Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Penn Birding enjoyed an excursion to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park one freakishly warm day in mid-February. 

We achieved our goals of seeing 2 species of loons, harlequin ducks, as well as other water and shorebirds. With the help of a friendly birder, we even saw an Ipswich Savannah Sparrow!

Checklist for Barnegat Feb 19, 2017 8:49 AM:
40 Brant 
10 Common Eider
16 Harlequin Duck
6 Black Scoter
45 Long-tailed Duck
7 Red-breasted Merganser 
1 Red-throated Loon
11 Common Loon
8 Ruddy Turnstone 
100 Dunlin
10 Purple Sandpiper 
100 Ring-billed Gull
40 Herring Gull
1 Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler      Myrtle

An Indoor Birdwatching Field Trip

Penn Birders met up for a productive session of indoor birding!

We hatched (yes, that is a birding pun!) plans for future outings and watched part of "Birds, birds, birds! An Indoor Birdwatching Field Trip" -- an educational video to help teach beginning birders how to identify birds by their calls. 

We were impressed to learn that many bird names are onomatopoeic, i.e., derived from their calls -- like the chickadee and killdeer. Good to know! 

After watching the video and stuffing our faces with yummy Thai food, we were pumped for our first trip of the semester: a Saturday morning guided walk at Heinz Wildlife Refuge!

February bird walk at Heinz NWR

On an icy February morning last week, Penn Birding went on a bird walk at Heinz Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum.

The water in the impoundment was frozen over -- no ducks to be seen.
Photo: Shereen Chang

The walk was led by Friends of Heinz volunteer Lynn Roman.
Photo: Shereen Chang

A juvenile red-tailed hawk was perched right beside the path & was very cooperative in posing for photos with us!

Juvenile red-tailed hawk
Photo: Shereen Chang

A juvenile red-tailed hawk was perched on a branch for some time. After a while, the hawk flew down and caught some prey -- it was grey & furry & long, perhaps a weasel? We were lucky enough to see the hawk eating some breakfast.

After a couple hours birding of, we returned to the warm visitor centre, where we doublechecked and discussed sightings with some more expert birders in the group, including Chuck, the hawk counter.
Photo: Shereen Chang

We saw so many different kinds of birds during the walk, including 3 kinds of woodpeckers, saw-whet owls, sparrows, juncos, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and even a brown creeper! We also caught a glimpse of the winter wren and both golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets!

As we were leaving, we finally saw a red-shouldered hawk -- our fourth hawk species of the day!
Photo: Shereen Chang

It was an eventful day for birding, with some happy additions to the life list.

My checklist is posted separately.

Volunteer-led bird walks at John Heinz NWR at Tinicum

We love John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge At Tinicum! This 1200-acre urban wildlife refuge protects the largest freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania.

"The refuge is a green respite nestled within the urban setting of the city of Philadelphia. Refuge lands are a thriving sanctuary teeming with a rich diversity of fish, wildlife, and plants native to the Delaware Estuary. Healthy and productive expanses of freshwater tidal marsh, open waters, mudflats, and woodlands support the hundreds of species that breed, rear their young, rest during migration, or call the refuge home year-round."(from the Heinz NWR website)
Photo: Shereen Chang

John Heinz NWR often has volunteer-led bird walks organized by the Friends of Heinz Wildlife Refuge. They're a great way for beginners to learn more about birding. The walks are easy-going, typically run 2-3 hours, and people can come and go as they please.  

Penn Birding is planning many visits to Heinz NWR. Heinz NWR is an especially beginner-friendly place to bird, not only because of the volunteer-led walks, but also because the Visitor Center loans out binoculars to visitors. Hope to see you there!

First meeting

At our first meeting, we talked about birds and birding -- surprise, surprise! We heard about different members' experiences with birds, ranging from elusive sightings of stunning birds to frustrating encounters with bold gulls stealing our food. We brainstormed ideas for activities and excursions, including many spots that are local to the Philadelphia area.

Happily, many beginner or brand new birders are interested in Penn Birding! We've attracted interest from a broad range of programs; our members include students enrolled in the GSE, SAS, SEAS, Wharton, Dental, Medical and Veterinary schools.

Calling all bird, wildlife & nature lovers: Join Penn Birding!

Do you love wildlife? Like being outdoors? Interested in birding with others at Penn? 

We're looking for people to join Penn Birding for meetings, walks, and birding trips. We are a new group at the University of Pennsylvania for people to go on birding trips & enjoy other birding-related activities together (screenings, discussions, lectures).  

Penn Birding promotes the appreciation and study of wild birds and their habitats through community, education, and other activities. Birders and birdwatchers at all levels of experience are welcome to participate. We aim to build a community of students who support each other in learning about birds & developing their birding skills via meetings, walks, and trips for birding.

Penn Birding serves the Penn community by encouraging people to spend time outdoors together on birding walks, which promotes physical and mental wellness.

If you'd like to join, please fill out our membership form here. We need volunteers to help run the group, so please get in touch if you could help with planning events, setting up a web page, funding, communications, recruiting others at Penn to join or anything else.