Wednesday Birding around Wellsboro, PA

  

I took advantage of a relatively nice day on Wednesday (I won't call it a spring day as it was still a bit chilly for April 18th) to do some birding over around Wellsboro. I visited Hills Creek State Park, Darling Run on Pine Creek and the blind at The Muck off route 287. I only spent about an hour at each yet got to see some real nice birds. HCSP afforded some close up views of Horned Grebes and Common Loons as well as a Pine Warbler and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Being quite overcast, the lighting wasn't the best.

Horned Grebe

Common Loon

Pine Warbler

Sharp-shinned Hawk

The are of Darling Run (from the parking lot up to Pine Creek's confluence with Marsh Creek) allowed plenty of sightings of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets but those little buggers were way to quick for me to get a picture. The Belted Kingfisher always had its head turned the wrong way! And the Common Mergansers were j-u-s-t too far for a good shot.

The Muck provided pretty good views of Bufflehead and Green-winged Teal, but the use of autofocus with my camera gave me mixed success with other birds that hid behind and among the cattails. I had a Harrier fly past, too.

Bufflehead, four males and one female (on the left)

Green-winged Teal

I tried to get a picture of the Swamp Sparrow right outside the blind, but the camera kept focusing on the reeds. Then the bird took flight just as I pushed the button compounding the problem.

Swamp Sparrow

 Even a relatively cooperative Red-winged Blackbird sitting on a nesting box got messed up by the reeds.

Red-wing behind the reeds.

 I had to be careful to shoot between the reeds with a point focus setting.

Red-winged Blackbird.

I might have to go back to using my (heavy) Sony Alpha with the 600mm lens and manual focus.

Surprise! Suprise! Surprise!

Lots of interesting stuff happening around here this week.

First was a surprise visit from a Eurasian species of bird: a White-winged Tern. Seldom seen in North America this little guy showed up in a small lake over near Wellsboro on Thursday morning. It was identified by members of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society and was confirmed by some folks from Cornell. It helped that the person, Rich Hanlon, reporting it to Cornell had pictures--and is the minister of the Wellsboro Methodist Church. The two folks with him are among the top birders in Tioga County according to eBird.

As one might expect from the appearance of such a rarity, folks are flocking in from all over to get a glimpse of this super cooperative bird. This morning there was one guy who had flown from Texas to Philadelphia and rented a car to drive out here just to see the bird. There have been folks from Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey and New York (Long Island and West Point area so they weren't just hopping over the state line). Even folks from PA drove from Pittsburgh and Philly area just to add this bird to their life lists. TV news crews and the local newspaper showed up and did  interviews with Rich Hanlon and some of the birders.

I've been over to look at the birds and to meet and talk to some of the visitors  a couple of times--Friday afternoon and again this morning. I might go back tomorrow morning to see if it's still here. Rich Hanlon will, of course, be occupied elsewhere. ;-)

White-winged Tern at Nessmuk Lake, 2017_08_11

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My second surprise was finding another yellow jackets' nest. Remember the nest I said was under the cover to the septic tank? I thought I might have to wait until we had some cold weather to take care of that nest, but when I got back from Quebec, I found something--probably a bear--had shoved the cover aside enough to reach in and rip out the wasps' nest. The paper from the nest was torn apart and there was precious little left. I watched the area just in case and saw only one or two bees flying around. Nothing special--or threatening. Today I went out to cut the grass and even pushed the cover back into place without raising any wasps.

HOWEVER, as I was cutting the grass I happened to glance up at the awning of our travel trailer. A small stain on the white of the one awning drew my attention and that's when I saw it--and them.

The damn wasps have built a paper nest between the two awnings not far from the door of the trailer. It's above the white awning for the kitchen bump out and below the black awning that would create a shaded patio.

Wasp nest between the awnings

One of the b*st*rds exiting the nest.

*Sigh* I guess I'll have to get out there with some spray after dark when every bee should be home. I'll soak it good with Spectricide from a safe distance and hope for the best. Then, when the spray has worked overnight, I'll hit it again. THEN I'll knock that bad boy down using the garden hose.

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Third: While cutting the lawn, I noticed the sky was darkening a bit but thought little of it--until I ran out of gas when I was about 5/6ths done (just the area behind the house to do--maybe 10' x 40'). That's when I heard the rumble of thunder off in the distance. There wasn't much of a breeze and I could barely make out any movement in the clouds overhead, still, I figured, I had better hurry up and finish! And so I refueled the mower and proceeded to double-time my efforts.

Just as I finished and was putting the mower into the shed, the first drops fell. They were soon followed by more and more and even more. As I sat and watched on the covered porch, the sky opened up and torrents of rain fell straight down while thunder pealed about two mile away. (See the lightening flash. Count "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two...." If you get to one-thousand-five and then hear the thunder, the storm is about one mile away.)

This lasted just about 30 minutes and then, suddenly, it stopped as if someone had turned off the faucet. And the sun came out. I'm sure someone, somewhere got to see a beautiful rainbow. Unfortunately, it wasn't me. Too many trees--and a mountain--in the way.

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Four: Terry has gone south for the week. She'll be attending an EGA Seminar down in Ashville, North Carolina, right after she goes and visits her cousin in Columbia, South Carolina. So it's just me and the cats (four indoors and four outdoors) for the week.

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That is all. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and don't forget to look skyward tonight for the Perseid Meteor Shower. It's supposed to be a good one and the moon won't rise until after 11 PM.

Alaskan Cruise: Day 7--Juneau

During the night we sailed back south to the current capitol of Alaska, Juneau. All five of us went to view the Mendenhall Glacier and then take a tour of the Macauly Salmon Hatchery. 

Juneau's gold rush predates that of the find in the Yukon by about 20 years. Nuggets were found in 1880's in a couple of the streams and traced to some hard rock veins both on the mainland and across the way on Douglas Island. This led to some hard rock mining (think shafts and tunnels) that eventually petered out in the 1940s and came to an end with the flooding of the last remaining mine.

While on the mainland and not strictly speaking an island, the ice fields in the mountains make it impossible to put in roads or rail so the only access to Juneau is via boat or plane. (Okay, birth canal works too.) The two photos below show the rough mountains that pin the city to the coast.

Juneau became Alaska's capitol in 1906 while they were still a territory. Today half of Juneau's working age population works for the government in one capacity or another.

View from the pier.

Another view from the pier.

The bus was a bit late picking us up at the pier and then we had some traffic getting out of town but even the ride was impressive as there were many dozen Bald Eagles in the flats just north of the fish hatchery waiting for the tide to bring them an easy meal. The salmon weren’t running quite yet and the herring run had just ended so they were merely hanging around. Every stump, telephone pole and even stop light seemed to have an eagle perched on it.

The glacier has retreated some since we were there in 2010 and the park service went out of their way to blame global warming. (Something that was never even mentioned when we were later at the Hubbard Glacier—which is advancing—later on our cruise. Odd how that works.) The waterfall was gushing what with the warm temperatures (it was nearly 70 degrees in Juneau that afternoon) and the heavy rains of the last few days.  

Mendenhall Glacier and waterfall.

Mendenhall Glacier

Waterfall It's one mile from the visitors' center. Look carefully, there are people standing out there.

Terry touches the water in the glacial lake. Says it's "Chilly."

Some kayakers got up close to the face of the glacier.

The hatchery is a nonprofit venture dedicated to protecting the health and vitality of the Alaskan fishery. They raise and release millions of salmon into the ocean each year after getting them acclimated to the waters in which they were spawned—with a little help from man. They have a fish ladder that the returning salmon use to swim to their deaths. Their eggs are collected, fertilized and cared for to be released the next year. The carcasses are canned for food. This facility does four of the five types of salmon (chum, king, silver and pink) while a separate hatchery is used for sockeye. The sockeye carry a disease that, while it doesn’t affect their use as a food resource, can infect the other four species so they are kept apart. (Sorry. Since the salmon hadn't returned, the fish ladder was empty and I failed to take any pictures.)

Lunch was king crab legs at Tracy’s Crab Shack (“I got crabs at Tracy’s” t-shirts for sale) on the dock. Then we strolled around town in the warm sunshine. Up to 70 degrees!(Again with the no pictures! My bad!)

Mural downtown tha purports to tell the story of how man arrived in this world. Through a clam and released by Raven.

The only good bird pics I got was of these Harlequin Ducks swimming off the pier.

Harlequin Duck

Brian, Vicky and George made their way back to the ship while Terry and I got on a bus to go to a salmon bake! (Sorry no pictures were taken.) It was a buffet with all you can eat grilled salmon. There was live entertainment, too. Terry and I each had a couple of helpings and then made our way back to the ship for a night cap and some well earned rest.

During night we set sail for Icy Strait Point.

I thought it was Sunday! Where's the Sun?

A gray, dreary and down right chilly day with some spritzing of showers off and on. The temps have hovered right around 40 degrees since 6 AM.

I missed them, but Terry had eyes on a bear sow and her three new cubs as they left the yard. They must have been on the deck at one time for the feeders were knocked to the ground. And a pile of sh*t was left in the middle of the lawn. I'll have to start bringing the feeders in at night.

Even though the lighting isn't the greatest for good photos, I did play around with the Nikon P900 a little on the deck and through the window to record some of the daytime visitors.

Purple Finch

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Chipping Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Tufted Titmouse

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-winged Blackbird

Gray Squirrel

We've also had White-breasted Nuthatches and Dark-eyed Juncos on the deck this morning. Conspicuously absent are the Mourning Doves.

There were several species of birds that I saw or heard in the woods and thickets along the edge of the yard, but even there, things are noticeably quieter than they have been. My guess is they are more interested in staying warm than in wooing.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3c)

...went to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. This state park is accessible by a short, guided boat ride from the primary parking area to the visitors' entry where you pay your entry fee.

Peaceful boat ride to the main part of the park.

The park is famous for being one of the prime homes for manatees. During the winter, dozens of manatees congregate in the adjacent Homosassa River. There are some permanent residents in the main spring pool, however and you can easily view them on you own or wait around for one of the several "shows" they have. (Really just feeding times with a narrator.)

One of the three manatees who call the spring enclosure home.

 There's an underwater viewing area as well. It's lined with glass (that needs replacing) and offers underwater views of the manatees and huge schools of fish.

Lots of fish, like these snook and mullet, find the conditions around the spring just perfect.

You can get a great fish-eye view of the schools from the bubble--sort of a reverse aquarium; you're in the tank while the fish swim free.

After getting a gander at the "tame" manatees, we strolled over to the river and got a lucky glimpse of a wild one. Like many of these huge beasts, this one had a couple of wounds on its back from boat propellers. Perhaps that is why it wasn't heading north to Georgia or the Carolinas with its relatives.

Feral manatee in the Homosassa River.

Previous to becoming a state park and focusing on local/regional wildlife, Homosassa was an exotic animal park. All the previous tenants were sold off or donated to various zoos--except one. No one wanted a rather aging hippo so he has remained and is now fifty some years old. They celebrate is "birth" day every year and he's got quite a following.

The lone hold over from the "exotic animal park" days.

The rest of the entourage consists of critters you might find outside the park--and many of the birds come and go as they please. They've black bears, Florida cougar, bobcats, red and gray foxes, river otters, and red wolves. (As were were walking past the wolf enclosure, an ambulance drove up to the entrance with its siren wailing. The wolves all responded in kind and every one of them howled! Splended!)

Seven of these beasts, ranging in size from around 8 to 10 feet long inhabit their special pool.

They've a reptile house with all manor of snakes also. Many lovely specimens and many poisonous ones, too. Terry stayed well away from the glass.

The animals were neat to view, but the birds! Goodness! Did they have birds. Some were free to come and go as they pleased, others were enclosed in a huge aviary (think of it as a walk-in bird cage) and still more were unable to leave due to injury. (The latter group was primarily birds of prey--hawks and eagles--and owls.)
 

Flamingos doing flamingo things. (No, they aren't plastic.) (Free ranging.)

White pelican. (Free ranging)

Brown Pelican. (Free ranging.)

Snowy Egret. (Capitve.)

Black-crowned Night Heron. (Capitve.)

Common Gallinule. (Capitve.)

Osprey and American Bittern. (Capitve.)

Roseate Spoonbill. House building? (Capitve.)

Black Vulture. (Free ranging.)

Immature Anhinga living dangerously in the gator pool. (Free ranging.)

Eventually we had to leave which meant taking the boat back to the parking area.

Boat ride back to the parking area. Nice way to end the visit.

All in all it was a pleasant outing. As was our visit with my long lost cousins.

Time to head north (where they were having rainy/snowy weather!?). On to Savanah, GA.

See Part 4 for our tour of the city.