2008 Sightings

Late-May Bird Sightings. Most of the migratory warblers have passed us by; however, Tioga County has many nesting species, including Blackburnian, black-and-white, black-throated blue, black-throated green, hooded, and yellow warblers, American redstarts, Louisiana waterthrushes, and ovenbirds. All of these can be found in higher-elevation forested areas. Many Baltimore orioles have been seen along water ways (Pine Creek, Crooked Creek), and scarlet tanagers have been relatively easy to find, their loud singing giving them away. Ospreys are still on their nests in two locations at Ives Run/Hammond Lake. The easiest to see have built nests on poles erected next to the admin buildings (first right immediately after you cross the bridge into the recreation area). Nesting ospreys have also been reported on stumps at the west end of Cowanesque Lake as well. While you are at Hammond Lake, take some time to watch the swallows -- there are four species present at any one time -- bank, barn cliff, and tree. Telling them apart as they fly is an interesting challenge. Other birds showing up in the country include rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings and alder flycatchers; red-eyed, blue-headed, and warbling vireos; and veeries and hermit and wood thrushes.

May-24 Hills Creek Bird Walk. On May 24 we tried a different route through Hills Creek State Park for the Saturday bird walks, and it was quite enjoyable with a larger variety of habitat and good views of the lake. The high point was a pair of nesting brown creepers along the lake near the yurts. There was a late-season common loon out on the water early in the morning before the Memorial Day boaters arrived, and several spotted sandpipers could be seen working the stumps at the north end of the lake. Quite a few wood warbler species are still around (since many of them nest in the county), and red-eyed, blue-headed, and yellow-throated vireos have all been seen at various times this month at the park. Bald eagle sightings are unpredictable, but common, and one weekend we watched a bald eagle and osprey battle it out close overhead. The barred owls that frequent the campground have not been so frequent this year -- only one reported sighting in two months -- but a sighting is still a good possibility. Other birds likely to be seen are nesting eastern bluebirds, baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, ovenbirds, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks Broad-winged hawks seem to be hanging around the park this year and are being seen regularly. Three were seen yesterday (May 28), one a dark morph. Incidentally, a red-headed woodpecker was reported in nearby Mansfield last week. This is a relatively rare sighting for Tioga County.

Mid-May Bird Sightings. Many birders like to visit Colton Point State Park to see the spring warbler migration, and a trip there this past Wednesday (May 14) was no disappointment. Blackburnian, magnolia, hooded, and black-throated blue warblers could be seen everywhere in good numbers. Ovenbirds and black-throated green warblers were also around, but seemed to be harder to find. Other birds seen included both red-eyed and blue-headed vireos, hermit thrushes, red-breasted nuthatches and white-crowned sparrows.A scarlet tanager regaled the park's visitors from the tree tops for most of the morning and was often and easily seen. Elsewhere in the county, ruby-throated hummingbirds are regular feeder visitors now, and baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, common yellowthroats, and yellow warblers are showing up everywhere. A straggler common loon made an appearance for last week's bird walk at Hills Creek State Park on May 10.(GT)

Please check out the sightings page for sightings reported in our area earlier this year.

Early-May Bird Sightings. Warblers are beginning to show up in large numbers now. Hills Creek State Park seems to be filled with yellow-rumps, and black-throated greens can be heard high up in the trees. Ovenbirds are here as well as yellow warblers and common yellow throats. The waterfowl migration is pretty much over, but an occasional commomn loon or horned grebe may be found in the lakes. Backyard birders are beginning to see house wrens, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and white-throated sparrows. Not many hummingbird reports yet.

April Bird Sightings. Much of the spring waterfowl migration has passed through, but there are still many interesting birds to be seen. Saturday's April-12 bird walk at Hills Creek State Park yielded a small flock of about 8 Bonaparte gulls and a long-tailed duck (oldsquaw). Other birds seen on the lake included several horned grebes, a couple of pied-bill grebes, many buffleheads, a pair of northern shovelers, one gadwall, and a half dozen ring-necked ducks. A pine warbler was seen at the park headquarters building, and a small flock of yellow-rumped warblers was found near the campground. Common loons are starting to show up in Hills Creek Lake and at the Muck. If you are lucky, they will sing for you. A tundra swan arrived at Hills Creek Lake at least the week before, and for some reason has decided to stay. It was there as of 20 April.

A pair of lesser yellowlegs and several rusty blackbirds were seen on a trip on Thursday (April 10) to the new section of the Pine Creek Rail Trail off Rte 287 and Marsh Creek Road just north of Wellsboro. There were other shorebirds present in the flooded fields, but the distance made indentification unreliable.

March Bird Sightings. The spring migration is off to a great start, with Hammond Lake being the place to go. Several observers have reported as many as eight bald eagles at the lake, with one sitting on the nest. With no leaves on the trees, the nest is not difficult to find now -- just look across the lake from the parking areas for a white spot about half way up the slope on the other side -- the head of the adult sitting on the nest. Although most of the lake was still frozen over as of 24 March, there is a large open section near the mouth of Crooked Creek. A great variety of waterfowl can be seen there, including lesser scaups, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, common and hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks, horned grebes, etc. The bays in Crooked Creek just south of the bridge are very good, too. You can expect to seen northern pintails, American widgeons, green-winged teals, more ring-necked ducks and hooded mergansers, mallards, and many wood ducks. Be sure to check out the gulls as well. There are often a few herring gulls mixed in with the ring-billed gulls, and last week a great black-backed gull was seen visiting the lake. Other migratory birds moving into the region, in addition to the American robins, of course, include red-wing blackbirds, common grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, fox sparrows, song sparrows, turkey vultures, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. There are undoubtedly more. Keep your eyes open. (GT)

February's bird-sighting highlights come from a couple of winter raptor counts made in the north of the county. On February 19, Jeff Holbrook counted 16 red-tail hawks, 9 rough-legged hawks, 3 kestrels, and a pair of bald eagles. The eagles were near their usual nest site near Cowanesque Lake. Jeff also saw a flock of 78 snow buntings. He covered a rather large area in the county's northwest quadrant: Lawrence, Nelson, Osceola, Deerfield, Chatam, Westfield, Clymer Townships and just into Gaines near Gurney, and finally Farmington township. The county's northeast quadrant was covered by Bruce Lanuius on February 11; he saw 45 red-tailed hawks, 3 Rough-legs, and one adult bald eagle. Despite the snow and cold weather, if you turn your binoculars up into the trees, you will see some early signs of spring -- catkins are forming on the gray/white birches and the flower buds are swelling on the maple trees. Yes, and that harbinger of spring -- the American robin -- is beginning to show up in numbers, too. About 75 of them were seen at Hills Creek State Park on February 26.

This February's bitter cold temperatures and snow and ice have made it difficult to get out (and discourage all but the most dedicated), but bird reports continue to come in. Large numbers of common redpolls have been showing up in backyard's throughout the county, and flocks of evening grosbeaks appear from time to time; a flock of about a dozen was seen on the bike trail paralleling Marsh Creek Road on 2 February. Horned and barred owls were reported in the Millerton area. This is breeding season for the two species, and if you hear or see any, they may be included in the PA Breeding Bird Atlas. For the most part, though, this is a time for chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos. Nevertheless, a few people are beginning to see robins. I guess that is a start. (GT)

January Bird Sightings. January in Tioga county is always a tough month for birders, and although we had several unseasonably warm days with record-breaking temperatures early in the month, January this year has been no exception. Most bodies of water are frozen over, although there are some open sections in Pine Creek and Crooked Creek. A few common mergansers or mallards may be seen from time to time, but waterfowl are pretty much ruled out until spring. There was very little activity in two of the county's better birding locations -- Pine Creek Gorge and Ives Run/Hammond Lake -- on 7 and 8 January, but the birding was actually quite good on 13 January in the new section of the Pine Creek Rail Trail near the intersection of Routes 6 and 287. Although nothing particularly rare was seen, there was enough activity to keep one busy, which was a good thing because the temperature was just above 20 degrees. Twenty species of birds were seen, including all local species of woodpeckers, American tree sparrows, eastern bluebirds (there seem to be a lot of these around just about everywhere this winter), cedar waxwings, and a carolina wren. Common redpolls continue to show up at feeders nearly everywhere. Numbers in some cases have grown rather high to where they sometimes drive off the usual visitors. If anything interesting is showing up at your feeders, please let us know. (GT)

If you have seen anything interesting that you would like to share or if you would like help identifying a particular bird, please let us know at raven@tiaudubon.org. We will try to help you out and/or pass the information on to our other readers.