It ain't quite Labor Day yet, but from a birding perspective summer is over. Heck, the Orchard Orioles are already gone south for the winter. Birds are indeed moving again and fall migration for 2014 is already going full throttle! Below are a few highlights for the past week in the southeastern PA, including several cool non-bird sightings.
Most shocking was yesterday, August 25th when Brian Quindlen, Andrew Leidig, Chad Hutchinson, and Mike Defina spotted a juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger flying over Rushton Farm in Chester county. Brian Quindlen's pictures of the bird can been seen at the link above. This is an extremely rare vagrant to Pennsylvania, as these birds breed in the arctic, and mostly migrate and winter at sea, usually hundreds of miles from land.
On Sunday I was birding the Delaware River Trail in south Philadelphia, and where the trail intersects with Reed Street I found a Clay-colored Sparrow feeding amongst a small flock of House Sparrows. I believe this may be a first August record for the city and there are few other reports for the state in this month. Every now and then a House Sparrow flock can yield an interesting bird (look for Dickcissel).
Early in the morning of August 25th I was able to get some poor video of two river otters swimming along Darby Creek in extreme south Philadelphia at Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Though present probably year-round, this was my first sighting in the city limits.
Very rare for the region was a Giant Swallowtail found by Frank Windfelder in his yard in northeast Philadelphia. It's unclear how many other records there are for the city of this butterfly that resides mostly well to our south.
The coolest "megafauna" sighting goes to Jennie Prescott, who saw and photographed a coyote along the Wissahickon in northwest Philly last week. Coyotes are on the increase regionally it seems, though sightings in the city limits are still very rare.
That's all for now. I imagine I've overlooked some notable sightings of the last week. In the future, if you would like to contribute notes for a Sightings post, we'd encourage you to be in touch.
The DVOC's first meeting of the fall is coming up at the Academy of Natural Sciences on September 18th (Thurs. night). Come meet some friends and enjoy Rob Hynson's talk about "Birding Down Under".
Most shocking was yesterday, August 25th when Brian Quindlen, Andrew Leidig, Chad Hutchinson, and Mike Defina spotted a juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger flying over Rushton Farm in Chester county. Brian Quindlen's pictures of the bird can been seen at the link above. This is an extremely rare vagrant to Pennsylvania, as these birds breed in the arctic, and mostly migrate and winter at sea, usually hundreds of miles from land.
On Sunday I was birding the Delaware River Trail in south Philadelphia, and where the trail intersects with Reed Street I found a Clay-colored Sparrow feeding amongst a small flock of House Sparrows. I believe this may be a first August record for the city and there are few other reports for the state in this month. Every now and then a House Sparrow flock can yield an interesting bird (look for Dickcissel).
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| This smaller Clay-colored Sparrow is on the left and facing. It was feeding among House Sparrows on Aug. 24th |
Early in the morning of August 25th I was able to get some poor video of two river otters swimming along Darby Creek in extreme south Philadelphia at Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Though present probably year-round, this was my first sighting in the city limits.
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| Giant Swallowtail by Frank Windfelder |
Very rare for the region was a Giant Swallowtail found by Frank Windfelder in his yard in northeast Philadelphia. It's unclear how many other records there are for the city of this butterfly that resides mostly well to our south.
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| Coyote in the Wissahickon by Jennie Prescott |
That's all for now. I imagine I've overlooked some notable sightings of the last week. In the future, if you would like to contribute notes for a Sightings post, we'd encourage you to be in touch.
The DVOC's first meeting of the fall is coming up at the Academy of Natural Sciences on September 18th (Thurs. night). Come meet some friends and enjoy Rob Hynson's talk about "Birding Down Under".
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