Rails (Rallidae) – LIFE IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED

May 19, 2026June 5, 2026

The Stewards of Inland Shorebird Habitat

As they travel between coastal wintering ranges and breeding territories in Canada and Alaska, vast numbers of shorebirds pass through the lower Susquehanna region each spring and fall—though few stop here to rest, feed, and provide us with an opportunity to observe them. Prior to the construction of man-made dams and other alterations on our lotic (flowing) waterways including the river, shorebirds took advantage of lateral bars, stream deltas, and other alluvial deposits as places to loaf and re-energize. Before they were drained and filled, some of the valley’s wetlands probably included sparsely vegetated flats where shorebirds could drop in for a brief visit. Previous to their extirpation from our region, North American Beavers were the primary providers of quality habitat for shorebirds and other migrating waders on our lotic waters. Their widespread network of dams, pools, and marshes maximized floodplain function by keeping streams thoroughly connected to their wetlands, nurturing plant communities that not only provided food and shelter for the beavers and other wildlife, but provided superb buffering against erosion while protecting against sediment and nutrient imbalances in lower Susquehanna waterways.

Beaver Dam and Lodge — Beaver dams need not be large, particularly on low-gradient streams where a structure like this is sufficient to create a pool with depth adequate for building and maintaining a lodge and transporting leafy branches and other food items by water.

A beaver lodge assembled in a pool with less than three feet of water, deep enough to provide the family with a measure of protection against terrestrial predators.

Beaver Pool — Beaver pool ecosystems provide homes for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including migrating shorebirds and other waders.

Mud flats in the margins between emergent shrubs and herbaceous plant growth attract migrating shorebirds like this Solitary Sandpiper to the abundance of invertebrate life. Seasonal movements of migrating shorebirds regularly coincide with the reductions of water levels in beaver pools which typically occur between May and September each year.

During its southbound migration in September, a Least Sandpiper searches for arthropods and annelids as it visits a food-rich puddle along the periphery of a beaver pool.

A Pectoral Sandpiper feeds in shallow water near a stand of Common Cattails in a beaver pool.

During migration, rails including the Sora are attracted to dense emergent vegetation in beaver pools. Some will nest in these rodent-managed refugia.

Green Herons visit beaver pools during migration and, due to the reliability of the food supply, will often nest in their vicinity.

So how did this happen? How did the North American Beaver become a keystone species—an animal upon which the majority of other life forms within its ecosystem are so reliant? Well, it’s largely due to the fact that our beavers aren’t particularly fond of a constant stream of noise. More specifically, they don’t like the sound of running water in places where they intend to build and maintain a lodge. And so, as they begin to place sticks, mud, limbs, stones, and other materials within a noisy riffle on a stream, they create a dam, and behind it a pool—a pool that is particularly advantageous for protecting their home and providing a means of conveyance for their construction materials and food supplies.

Cascading Series of Beaver Pools — On a high-gradient segment of stream, beavers will create a cascading series of pools. Because water filters through a beaver dam instead of spilling over it, the work of these meticulous rodents soon silences the sounds of water changing altitude. No more sonorous riffle.

Beaver Dam — **Quiet please.** High seasonal stream flow and damage from storms may create areas where water begins to erode the structure of the dam. Where this condition persists, an adult beaver will soon mend the breach, just to quiet things down. Why would beavers demand such a hush upon their domain? Well, they have poor eyesight, but their hearing is excellent, and they rely upon it to detect danger.

The Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), one of our earliest-arriving warblers, nests in forests along clear, high-gradient streams. In mid-April, we found this individual and three others squabbling over a breeding territory adjacent to the series of cascading beaver pools shown in the previous images.

Brook Trout and Blacknose Dace — Native denizens of coldwater streams, neither the Brook Trout nor the Eastern Blacknose Dace has any difficulty finding its way through the voids in beaver dams to ascend and descend the sequence of pools.

Beaver Dam and Pool on Low-gradient Stream — On a low-gradient segment of stream, a dam just over a foot in height may be sufficient to create a beaver pool of considerable size. Resembling the water-logged muskeg of the far north, well-established beaver pools form boggy habitats familiar to migrating shorebirds.

Water levels in the pools usually drop along with the stream’s base flow as soon as the effects of the spring thaw and rain showers subside. Feeding areas in shallow water and on muddy ground are often revealed just in time for northbound shorebirds and other waders to stop by in late April and May. These conditions often persist through the growing season and the fall migration of these birds which begins as early as late June and sometimes extends into October.

Tree Swallow at Natural Cavity — Where the pool inundates standing timber such as Red Maple and other species not used by beavers, the dead snags provide vital feeding areas for birds and other wildlife. Cavity nesters like this Tree Swallow seldom find suitable natural housing elsewhere.

Eastern Newts Among Alderfly Exuvia — The mosaic of marshlands and braided stream channels within the beaver pool complex supports an abundance of aquatic life including these breeding Eastern Newts, seen here surrounded by the exuvia left behind following a massive hatch of alderflies (Sialinae). Alderflies are a stream inhabitant during their larval stage and are indicator of clean water conditions.

**A modern-day example of the way fully functional stream floodplains used to look in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.** Though the pools may appear pond-like during the cooler and wetter months of the year, by summer the water levels behind the beaver dams recede as the base flow of the stream wanes. Now the true nature of the marsh, shallow pool, and braided stream complex is revealed. Unlike most man-made dams that set a fixed pool elevation regardless of flow by discharging water over the top of the structure or through a spillway or gate, beaver dams merely throttle the flow through their porous construction. Unless the beaver begins plugging small leaks as fast as the stream flow ebbs, the water level in the pools will drop. So they’re not left high and dry, lodges are located in the deepest pools, usually in close proximity to the dam and/or one of the stream courses. Though not inundated during the dry season, the soil in the pool complex is almost always damp and plants grow vigorously there, sequestering nutrients and retaining sediments in beneficial deposition patterns that actually inhibit erosion of the riparian landscape. These streams and floodplains retain their hyporheic zone and freely exchange water with the underlying water table and aquifer. It’s the ultimate floodplain management system, and the beavers don’t even know their doing all the work. (Google Maps base image)

Where another high-gradient segment of stream enters the main pool complex, beavers have created an additional series of cascading pools. The impoundments created by these dams help diffuse stormwater energy and process more nutrients and sediments within the floodplain’s wetland vegetation system. (Google Maps base image)

Sandhill Cranes in Beaver Pool — Beaver pools often refill as stream flows increase following autumn rains. The stockpiles of vegetative foods that grew within the beaver’s domain through the summer then become flooded and are a prime source of nutrition for not only the beavers, but waterfowl during both their autumn and spring migrations. Gleaning and probing Sandhill Cranes often find these habitats to their liking as well.

While North American Beavers have returned to the region, most live as “bank beavers”, residing in the river and larger creeks of the valley where they excavate shelters among the roots of Black Willows and other shoreline trees and shrubs. Floodplain encroachment, legacy sediment deposits, and just plain human intolerance have all conspired to prohibit North American Beavers from performing their magic on smaller local streams. For migrating shorebirds, this continued absence of beaver dam ecosystems has turned much of the lower Susquehanna valley into “flyover country”. Those travelers that do stop to rest and feed concentrate at the few favorable locations such as the lateral bars and the hydroelectric dam-created delta at the Conejohela Flats on the river in Lancaster County. But centralization has its drawbacks. Migrants spending time at concentration points may have a greater chance of contracting and spreading disease. Protracted heavy foraging can degrade these habitats. And over time, features such the lateral bars and delta deposits, including those on the Conejohela Flats, transition into other habitats—riparian forests. A more widespread selection of favorable stopover points for shorebirds, waders, waterfowl, and other migrants is certainly desirable.

IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY

Until public sentiment sways in favor of the North American Beaver, wildlife managers are mimicking some of the attributes of their sound-inspired installations.

New Impoundment at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area — Created by excavating a depression in heavy clay soils, this new impoundment at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area collects water directly from rainfall and from surface runoff. Its depth at no point is greater than about two or three feet. During the driest times of the year, this space will be a mudflat, and a haven for migrating shorebirds.

Shallow-water conservation impoundments designed, constructed, and managed for migratory waterfowl and waders including shorebirds are not what we typically refer to as ponds—though they are lentic (still) waters. Similar shallow freshwater impoundments at our National Wildlife Refuges are referred to as pools by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, but smaller versions like this example at Middle Creek very closely resemble the prairie potholes created by glacial scour in the north-central United States and adjacent portions of Canada. Many populations of migratory birds are familiar with pothole ecosystems and, like the beaver pools and marshes, have relied upon them as waypoints along their journeys for centuries.

Pond and Lake Zonation — Impoundments most beneficial to migrating waterfowl and waders including shorebirds are shallow in depth. They lack the deeper waters of a pond or lake and thus have no limnetic (open water) or aphotic zones. Managed throughout as a littoral zone, impoundments grow plants in shallow water or on damp soil through the summer months to chew up nutrients accumulated in waste deposited by visiting birds. This vegetation is then flooded from late fall through early spring as forage habitat for migratory waterfowl. The timing of the fluctuations in water levels approximates those of the beaver pools and marshes on lotic (flowing) waters.

Impoundment Gate — A gate assembly is a water control structure installed to provide seasonal management of the water levels in a conservation impoundment. More than once, beavers have heard the sounds of tumbling waters inside these types of devices and tried to dam them up!

You’ve heard the line, “If you build it, they will come.” Well, it’s true. Here is a sample of the activity witnessed during the past two weeks at the new impoundment completed just several months ago at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area along the tour route just beyond the “Stop 3” overlook.

The ubiquitous Snow Geese were among the first migratory occupants of the new impoundment. A few are currently lingering in the vicinity.

Ducks soon followed. These Blue-winged Teal were among the last to pass through earlier this month.

Wilson's Snipe — Wilson’s Snipe were among the first species of migratory shorebirds to visit the new impoundment at Middle Creek…

…as were Killdeer, a species which nests nearby.

Then, earlier this month, flocks of shorebirds including these Least Sandpipers were arriving to feed and rest.

Least Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Sandpiper — A Least Sandpiper (left) and a Semipalmated Sandpiper (right).

White-rumped, Least, and Solitary Sandpipers — Here’s a Solitary Sandpiper (right) feeding alongside a Least Sandpiper (center) and a White-rumped Sandpiper (left).

Least Sandpiper and a White-rumped Sandpiper — A Least Sandpiper (left) and a White-rumped Sandpiper (right).

Rare in our area during spring, the White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) flies north using the central flyway, then heads south along the Atlantic flyway in the fall, when it tends to be more regular here.

Rocking and teetering along as it looks for food, the Spotted Sandpiper may be one of the easiest of shorebirds to identify.

Chunky little Dunlin (Calidris alpina) with their conspicuously down-curved bills are another easy-to-identify species, particularly in the spring when their breeding (alternate) plumage includes a black belly.

Black-bellied Plovers acquire a handsome set of plumage in the spring as well.

The Semipalmated Plover doesn’t have nearly the flair for ornament its close relatives the Killdeer do; these little shorebirds wear only one ring around their neck instead of two. Think this plover is cute?,…

Speaking of legs, here’s one of dozens of Lesser Yellowlegs that visited the new impoundment during their recent northbound travels.

Though less numerous than the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs, a Greater Yellowlegs seldom goes unnoticed when dropping by the man-made pothole habitat.

Wilson's Phalarope — Everyone likes to see something unusual every now and then, and this impoundment delivers. Just yesterday, we photographed this migrating Wilson’s Phalarope (top center) among two Least Sandpipers (top left and right), a Lesser Yellowlegs (left and slightly forward of the phalarope), and a White-rumped Sandpiper (foreground).

Species of wildlife in addition to shorebirds and waterfowl have already found the new impoundment favorable…

Pairs of breeding Spot-winged Gliders (Pantala hymenaea), seen here in tandem while ovipositing, were swarming the impoundment after arriving earlier this week. These dragonflies are ofttimes unpredictable nomads and are similar in appearance to the usually more numerous Wandering Gliders. To recolonize seasonal portions of their range, both are famous for hitching a ride en masse on storm systems. They share the behavior of finding ephemeral and new bodies of water favorable for egg laying due to their low density of aquatic predators.

We watched this Snapping Turtle arrive to apparently find the newly created waters to its liking. Snapping Turtles are important consumers in a wetland ecosystem. Larger specimens may fill the role of an upper trophic level or apex predator, eliminating vulnerable mid-level consumers including other Snapping Turtles.

Because it bounces its tail up and down like a Spotted Sandpiper, you may at first glance mistake an American Pipit for a shorebird. Long known as the Water Pipit, these songbirds have been visiting the impoundment while migrating north and stopping to feed in nearby croplands.

Seen here with Least Sandpipers is a visiting Glossy Ibis.

Western Cattle Egrets visiting Middle Creek this spring have been frequenting the new impoundment.

Western Cattle Egret — With still little in the way of insects such as grasshoppers available in the surrounding landscape,…

…cattle egrets are looking to find prey like this Green Frog.

Managing saturation levels in shallow-water impoundments to resemble the seasonal variations in beaver pool and marsh systems can create lush growth and wildlife-rich environments. Take a look at some images from a project in a headwaters area of a tributary to Conewago Creek (west)…

Well-established Shallow-water Impoundment — By late July, southbound shorebirds were already using these mudflats to feed and rest. Other sections of the impoundment were dense with emergent and aquatic plants, the latter kept hydrated in deeper pools of the project by the inflow from several captured springs that supplement direct rainfall and sheet runoff to supply its water. During a seasonal drawdown, the exposure of the impoundment’s soils to direct sunlight can provide a measure of disinfection to reduce the chances of disease transmission among its populations of visiting birds and other animals.

Water Lily Growth — In the deeper pools of the impoundment, water lilies and other aquatic plants grow in lush mats to provide cover and feeding areas for resident populations of breeding reptiles and amphibians.

Immature Little Blue Heron — …and this immature Little Blue Heron, a wanderer typical of more southern latitudes.

While walking the road among tall grasses in the supporting landscape surrounding this impoundment, we were at first startled when these Sandhill Cranes strode by going the other direction. We quietly kept moving,…

Sandhill Cranes with Colt — The hatching of this colt is testimony to the vital role wetland ecosystems play in the lives of hundreds of species. Whether they be beaver pools and marshes on lotic waters or man-made shallow lentic waters, each of these habitats is filling a void that left floodplains and other critical lowland biomes faltering. While they can’t replace the full-function floodplain management provided by an active beaver colony, shallow-water impoundments can provide relief for habitat-starved populations of the animals and plants that rely upon them. A constellation of these projects on lands public or private across the lower Susquehanna watershed could help provide refuge for many of our flora and fauna with the most desperately fragmented of ranges.

So that you can relax while observing the comings and goings at a pair of the lower Susquehanna valley’s man-made impoundments, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has erected two viewing pavilions for public use on its lands…

The Haldeman Island observation pavilion is located on State Game Lands 290 just upstream from the Juniata River’s mouth on the Susquehanna at Clark’s Ferry in Dauphin County.

Haldeman Island Pavilion — It overlooks not only the island’s man-made shallow-water impoundments and neighboring grasslands, but the hacking tower used in the 1970s to reintroduce Bald Eagles from Saskatchewan to the lower Susquehanna. Interpretive signs explain the conservation stories of habitats and the eagle reintroduction program.

Middle Creek W.M.A. Observation Pavilion — The observation pavilion at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is of similar construction to the one at Haldeman Island. It is accessed from the parking pull-off along the tour road at its intersection with Chapel Road, just before the right turn and incline that leads to the “Stop 3” grassland overlook.

It too includes numerous interpretive signs to help visitors understand impoundment management.

During the next two weeks, the exodus of migrating shorebirds now staged and feeding upon Atlantic Horseshoe Crab eggs on Delaware Bay will commence. During the evening of their departure from the bay, many of these birds cross portions of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, particularly east of the river. Stormy weather and other climatic conditions may force some of them to seek a place to put down temporarily, so keeping a close eye on the new pothole-like impoundment at Middle Creek may be a prudent move. After that, waders known as “post-breeding wanderers” can show up at any time. Then, beginning as early as late June, shorebirds begin moving south on a migration that can provide us with viewing opportunities into September and beyond. See you out there!

December 30, 2023May 17, 2026

Want Healthy Floodplains and Streams? Want Clean Water? Then Make Room for the Beaver

I’m worried about the beaver. Here’s why.

Imagine a network of brooks and rivulets meandering through a mosaic of shrubby, sometimes boggy, marshland, purifying water and absorbing high volumes of flow during storm events. This was a typical low-gradient stream in the valleys of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed in the days prior to the arrival of the waves of trans-Atlantic human migrants that started to inundate the area during the seventeenth century. Then, a frenzy of trapping, tree chopping, mill building, and stream channelization accompanied the east to west surge of settlement across the region. The first casualty: the indispensable lowlands manager, the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis).

Beaver Traps — Nineteenth-century beaver traps on display in the collection of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Soon after their arrival, trans-Atlantic migrants (Europeans) established trade ties to the “trans-Beringia”/”Pacific-rim” migrants (“Indians”) already living in the lower Susquehanna valley and recruited them to cull the then-abundant North American Beavers. By the early 1700s, beaver populations (as well as numbers of other “game” animals) were seriously depleted, prompting the Conoy, the last of the Indian peoples to reside on the lower Susquehanna, to disperse to the north. The traps pictured here are samples of the types which were subsequently used by the European settlers to eventually extirpate the North American Beaver from the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during the 1800s.

Without the widespread presence of beavers, stream ecology quickly collapsed. Pristine waterways were all at once gone, as were many of their floral and faunal inhabitants. It was a streams-to-sewers saga completed in just one generation. So, if we really want to restore our creeks and rivers, maybe we need to give the North American Beaver some space and respect. After all, we as a species have yet to build an environmentally friendly dam and have yet to fully restore a wetland to its natural state. The beaver is nature’s irreplaceable silt deposition engineer and could be called the 007 of wetland construction—doomed upon discovery, it must do its work without being noticed, but nobody does it better.

North American Beaver diorama on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Beavers were reintroduced to the Susquehanna watershed during the second half of the twentieth century.

A beaver dam on a small stream in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. — A beaver dam and pool on a small stream in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

Floodplain Wetlands Managed by North American Beavers — Beaver dams not only create pools, they also maintain shallow water levels in adjacent areas of the floodplain creating highly-functional wetlands that grow the native plants used by the beaver for food. These ecosystems absorb nutrients and sediments. Prior to the arrival of humans, they created some of the only openings in the vast forests and maintained essential habitat for hundreds of species of plants as well as animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Without the beaver, many of these species could not, and in their absence did not, exist here.

The beaver lodge provides shelter from the elements and predators for a family of North American Beavers. — Their newly constructed lodge provides shelter from the elements and from predators for a family of North American Beavers.

Sandhill Cranes Visit a Beaver-managed Floodplain in the lower Susquehanna valley — Floodplains managed by North American Beavers can provide opportunities for the recovery of the uncommon, rare, and extirpated species that once inhabited the network of streamside wetlands that stretched for hundreds of miles along the waterways of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

A wintering Great Blue Heron is attracted to a beaver pond by the abundance of fish in the rivulets that meander through its attached wetlands.

Sora Rail in Beaver Pond — Beaver pools and their attached wetlands provide nesting habitat for uncommon birds like this Sora rail.

Wood Duck feeding on Lesser Duckweed in Beaver Pond — Lesser Duckweed grows in abundance in beaver ponds and Wood Ducks are particularly fond of it during their nesting cycle.

Sandhill Cranes feeding among Woolgrass in a Beaver Pond — Beaver dams maintain areas of wet soil along the margins of the pool where plants like Woolgrass sequester nutrients and contain runoff while providing habitat for animals ranging in size from tiny insects to these rare visitors, a pair of Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis).

Sandhill Cranes feeding among Woolgrass in a floodplain maintained by North American Beavers.

Few landowners are receptive to the arrival of North American Beavers as guests or neighbors. This is indeed unfortunate. Upon discovery, beavers, like wolves, coyotes, sharks, spiders, snakes, and so many other animals, evoke an irrational negative response from the majority of people. This too is quite unfortunate, and foolish.

North American Beavers spend their lives and construct their dams, pools, and lodges exclusively within floodplains—lands that are going to flood. Their existence should create no conflict with the day to day business of human beings. But humans can’t resist encroachment into beaver territory. Because they lack any basic understanding of floodplain function, people look at these indispensable lowlands as something that must be eliminated in the name of progress. They’ll fill them with soil, stone, rock, asphalt, concrete, and all kinds of debris. You name it, they’ll dump it. It’s an ill-fated effort to eliminate these vital areas and the high waters that occasionally inundate them. Having the audacity to believe that the threat of flooding has been mitigated, buildings and poorly engineered roads and bridges are constructed in these “reclaimed lands”. Much of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed has now been subjected to over three hundred years-worth of these “improvements” within spaces that are and will remain—floodplains. Face it folks, they’re going to flood, no matter what we do to try to stop it. And as a matter of fact, the more junk we put into them, the more we displace flood waters into areas that otherwise would not have been impacted! It’s absolute madness.

By now we should know that floodplains are going to flood. And by now we should know that the impacts of flooding are costly where poor municipal planning and negligent civil engineering have been the norm for decades and decades. So aren’t we tired of hearing the endless squawking that goes on every time we get more than an inch of rain? Imagine the difference it would make if we backed out and turned over just one quarter or, better yet, one half of the mileage along streams in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed to North American Beavers. No more mowing, plowing, grazing, dumping, paving, spraying, or building—just leave it to the beavers. Think of the improvements they would make to floodplain function, water quality, and much-needed wildlife habitat. Could you do it? Could you overcome the typical emotional response to beavers arriving on your property and instead of issuing a death warrant, welcome them as the talented engineers they are? I’ll bet you could.

September 11, 2023May 17, 2026

A Visit to a Beaver Pond

To pass the afternoon, we sat quietly along the edge of a pond, or more accurately a pool, created recently by North American Beavers (Castor canadensis). They first constructed their dam on this small stream about five years ago. Since then, a flourishing wetland has become established. Have a look.

A beaver lodge. — The beaver lodge was built among shrubs growing in shallow water in the middle of the pond.

Woolgrass in a beaver pond. — Woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus) is a bulrush that thrives as an emergent and as a terrestrial plant in moist soils bordering the pond.

A male Common Whitetail dragonfly keeping watch over his territory.

A Twelve-spotted Skimmer perched on Soft Rush.

A Blue Dasher dragonfly seizing a Fall Field Cricket (Gryllus pennsylvanicus).

A Spicebush Swallowtail visiting Cardinal Flower. — A Spicebush Swallowtail visiting a Cardinal Flower.

A Green Heron stalks potential prey. — The Green Heron stalking potential prey.

A Wood Duck feeding on Lesser Duckweed. — A Wood Duck feeding on the tiny floating plant known as Lesser Duckweed (Lemna minor).

A Least Sandpiper feeding along the muddy edge of a beaver pond. — A Least Sandpiper poking at small invertebrates along the muddy edge of the beaver pool.

A Solitary Sandpiper testing the waters for proper feeding depth.

A Sora rail in a beaver pond. — The Sora (Porzana carolina) is a seldom seen rail of marshlands including those created by North American Beavers. Common Cattails, sedges, and rushes provide these chicken-shaped wetland birds with nesting and loafing cover.

Isn’t that amazing? North American Beavers build and maintain what human engineers struggle to master—dams and pools that reduce pollution, allow fish passage, and support self-sustaining ecosystems. Want to clean up the streams and floodplains of your local watershed? Let the beavers do the job!

July 24, 2023August 25, 2023

Shorebirds and More at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Have you purchased your 2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp? Nearly every penny of the 25 dollars you spend for a duck stamp goes toward habitat acquisition and improvements for waterfowl and the hundreds of other animal species that use wetlands for breeding, feeding, and as migration stopover points. Duck stamps aren’t just for hunters, purchasers get free admission to National Wildlife Refuges all over the United States. So do something good for conservation—stop by your local post office and get your Federal Duck Stamp.

2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp. Your Federal Duck Stamp is your free pass to visit the nation's National Wildlife Refuges including Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware. — Your Federal Duck Stamp is your admission ticket for entry into many of the country’s National Wildlife Refuges including Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware.

Still not convinced that a Federal Duck Stamp is worth the money? Well then, follow along as we take a photo tour of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Numbers of southbound shorebirds are on the rise in the refuge’s saltwater marshes and freshwater pools, so we timed a visit earlier this week to coincide with a late-morning high tide.

This pair of Northern Bobwhite, a species now extirpated from the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed and the rest of Pennsylvania, escorted us into the refuge. At Bombay Hook, they don’t waste your money mowing grass. Instead, a mosaic of warm-season grasses and early successional growth creates ideal habitat for Northern Bobwhite and other wildlife.

Shearness Pool at Bombay Hook N.W.R. — Twice each day, high tide inundates mudflats in the saltwater tidal marshes at Bombay Hook prompting shorebirds to move into the four man-made freshwater pools. Birds there can often be observed at close range. The auto tour route through the refuge primarily follows a path atop the dikes that create these freshwater pools. Morning light is best when viewing birds on the freshwater side of the road, late-afternoon light is best for observing birds on the tidal saltwater side.

Semipalmated Sandpipers stream into Raymond Pool to escape the rising tide in the salt marsh.

Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitcher — More Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) arrive at Raymond Pool.

Two more Short-billed Dowitchers on the way in.

Sandpipers, Avocets, Egrets, and Mallards — Recent rains have flooded some of the mudflats in Bombay Hook’s freshwater pools. During our visit, birds were often clustered in areas where bare ground was exposed or where water was shallow enough to feed. Here, Short-billed Dowitchers in the foreground wade in deeper water to probe the bottom while Semipalmated Sandpipers arrive to feed along the pool’s edge. Mallards, American Avocets, and egrets are gathered on the shore.

Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Forster's Terns — Hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers, several Short-billed Dowitchers, and some Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri) crowd onto a mud bar at Bear Swamp Pool.

Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster's Terns, and a Short-billed Dowitcher — A zoomed-in view of the previous image showing a tightly packed crowd of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster’s Terns, and a Short-billed Dowitcher (upper left).

Short-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and a Snowy Egret in Raymond Pool. A single Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) can been seen flying near the top of the flock of dowitchers just below the egret.

Stilt Sandpiper among Short-billed Dowitchers — Zoomed-in view of a Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus), the bird with white wing linings.

American Avocets probe the muddy bottom of Raymond Pool.

Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers — Among these Short-billed Dowitchers, the second bird from the bottom is a Dunlin. This sandpiper, still in breeding plumage, is a little bit early. Many migrating Dunlin linger at Bombay Hook into October and even November.

Marsh Wren singing — The chattering notes of the Marsh Wren’s (Cistothorus palustris) song can be heard along the tour road wherever it borders tidal waters.

Marsh Wren Nest — This dome-shaped Marsh Wren nest is supported by the stems of Saltwater Cordgrass (Sporobolus alterniflorus), a plant also known as Smooth Cordgrass. High tide licks at the roots of the cordgrass supporting the temporary domicile.

By far the most common dragonfly at Bombay Hook is the Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice). It is our only dragonfly able to breed in saltwater. Seaside Dragonlets are in constant view along the impoundment dikes in the refuge.

Red-winged Blackbirds are still nesting at Bombay Hook, probably tending a second brood.

Look up! A migrating Bobolink passes over the dike at Shearness Pool.

Mute Swans and Canada Geese — Non-native Mute Swans and resident-type Canada Geese in the rain-swollen Shearness Pool.

A pair of Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) as seen from the observation tower at Shearness Pool. Unlike gregarious Tundra and Mute Swans, pairs of Trumpeter Swans prefer to nest alone, one pair to a pond, lake, or sluggish stretch of river. The range of these enormous birds was restricted to western North America and their numbers were believed to be as low as 70 birds during the early twentieth century. An isolated population consisting of several thousand birds was discovered in a remote area of Alaska during the 1930s allowing conservation practices to protect and restore their numbers. Trumpeter Swans are slowly repopulating scattered east coast locations following recent re-introduction into suitable habitats in the Great Lakes region.

A hen Wood Duck (second from right) escorts her young. — Wood Ducks in Bear Swamp Pool.

Black-necked Stilt and young. — A Bombay Hook N.W.R. specialty, a Black-necked Stilt and young at Bear Swamp Pool.

As the tide recedes, shorebirds leave the freshwater pools to begin feeding on the vast mudflats exposed within the saltwater marshes. Most birds are far from view, but that won’t stop a dedicated observer from finding other spectacular creatures on the bay side of the tour route road.

Tidal Marshes — Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge protects a vast parcel of tidal salt marsh and an extensive network of tidal creeks. These areas are not only essential wildlife habitat, but are critical components for maintaining water quality in Delaware Bay and the Atlantic.

The shells of expired Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs were formerly widespread and common among the naturally occurring flotsam along the high tide line on Delaware Bay. We found just this one during our visit to Bombay Hook. Man has certainly decimated populations of this ancient crustacean during recent decades.

Boardwalk Trail — As the tide goes out, it’s a good time for a quick walk into the salt marsh on the boardwalk trail opposite Raymond Pool.

Among the Saltmarsh Cordgrass along the trail and on the banks of the tidal creek there, a visitor will find thousands and thousands of Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs (Minuca pugnax).

A male Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab peers from its den.

A juvenile Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans crepitans) emerges from the cover of the cordgrass along a tidal creek to search for a meal.

Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and possibly other species feed on the mudflats exposed by low tide. — Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and possibly other species feed on the mudflats exposed by low tide in the marshes opposite Shearness Pool.

Ospey — An Osprey patrols the vast tidal areas opposite Shearness Pool.

No visit to Bombay Hook is complete without at least a quick loop through the upland habitats at the far end of the tour route.

Indigo Buntings nest in areas of successional growth and yes, that is a Spotted Lanternfly on the grape vine at the far right side of the image.

Blue Grosbeaks (Passerina caerulea) are common nesting birds at Bombay Hook. This one was in shrubby growth along the dike at the north end of Shearness Pool.

Trumpet Creeper and Poison Ivy — These two native vines are widespread at Bombay Hook and are an excellent source of food for birds. The orange flowers of the Trumpet Vine are a hummingbird favorite and the Poison Ivy provides berries for numerous species of wintering birds.

Pileated Woodpecker in Sweet Gum — The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the numerous birds that supplements its diet with Poison Ivy berries. The tree this individual is visiting is an American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), a species native to the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Delaware. The seed balls are a favorite winter food of goldfinches and siskins.

Red-bellied Slider and Painted Turtle — Finis Pool has no frontage on the tidal marsh but is still worth a visit. It lies along a spur road on the tour route and is located within a deciduous coastal plain forest. Check the waters there for basking turtles like this giant Northern Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubiventris) and much smaller Painted Turtle.

The White-tailed Deity is common along the road to Finis Pool.

Fowler's Toad — Fowler’s Toads (Anaxyrus fowleri) breed in the vernal ponds found in the vicinity of Finis Pool and elsewhere throughout the refuge.

Turk's Cap Lily — The National Wildlife Refuge System not only protects animal species, it sustains rare and unusual plants as well. This beauty is a Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum), a native wildflower of wet woods and swamps.

Just as quail led us into the refuge this morning, this Wild Turkey did us the courtesy of leading us to the way out in the afternoon.

We hope you’ve been convinced to visit Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge sometime soon. And we hope too that you’ll help fund additional conservation acquisitions and improvements by visiting your local post office and buying a Federal Duck Stamp.

May 23, 2023June 1, 2023

Forty Years Ago in the Lower Rio Grande Valley: Day Three

Back in late May of 1983, four members of the Lancaster County Bird Club—Russ Markert, Harold Morrrin, Steve Santner, and your editor—embarked on an energetic trip to find, observe, and photograph birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. What follows is a daily account of that two-week-long expedition. Notes logged by Markert some four decades ago are quoted in italics. The images are scans of 35 mm color slide photographs taken along the way by your editor.

DAY THREE—May 23, 1983

For Russ, Harold, and Steve, this trip would target several bird species each individual had never observed at any prior time in their lives. Upon seeing a new bird, they could add it to their personal “life list”. They, like thousands of other “listers”, were dedicated to the goal of having a life list that included over 600 species seen in the American Birding Association (A.B.A.) area—North America north of Mexico. Harold had traveled throughout much of North America (and the world) and had an A.B.A. life list well in excess of 600 species, thus he had seen nearly all of the regularly occurring birds in the coverage area. His chance for seeing new species was limited to vagrants that might wander into North America or tropical birds that, over time, had extended their range north of Mexico into the United States. I don’t recall how many species Russ and Steve had seen, but I know each had very few opportunities for new finds east of the Rocky Mountains. For all three of these men, the Lower Rio Grande Valley presented a best bet to add multiple species to their lists. I had never been south of Cape Hatteras or west of Pennsylvania, so I had the opportunity to add dozens of species to a life list. Throughout the trip, Russ, Harold, and Steve enthusiastically helped me locate and see new species. As a result, I saw over 50 new birds to add to my list.

One of the functions of the American Birding Association was to decide which bird species an observer could add to the life list. The official A.B.A. list was revised regularly to include not only regularly occurring native species, but vagrants as well. One of the trickier determinations was the status of introduced species. Back in 1983, a birder could count a Ring-necked Pheasant seen in Pennsylvania on their A.B.A. life list because they were thought to be freely reproducing with a population sustainably established in the state. Today, they are considered an exotic release and are not countable under A.B.A. rules.

Enter the Black Francolin (Francolinus francolinus), a member of the pheasant family that back in 1983, was countable under A.B.A. rules. Native to India, the Black Francolin was introduced into southwest Louisiana in 1961 and was apparently reproducing and established. Russ had a tip that they were seen with some regularity in areas of farmland, marsh, and oil fields south of Vinton, Louisiana. It was one of this trip’s target species for his life list.

“Ready for Black Francolin. Up at 5:30 — After breakfast, we went to Gum Cove Road. No Francolins, but at the end of the blacktop road, we had 5 Purple Gallinules in the scope at one time. King Rails were plentiful. We found a dead male Painted Bunting. Later, we saw a very beautiful live one. Water everywhere. Flooded fields everywhere. The road was flooded for about 50 yards at one point. White Ibis were abundant.”

Purple Gallinules (Porphyrio martinicus) were common along Gum Cove Road. In silhouette from a distance, those that were perching atop the shrubs raised hopes that we had located the sought after Blank Francolin, but they were all Purple Gallinules. We weren’t overly disappointed. (Vintage 35 mm image)

The live male Painted Bunting (Passerina cirus) seen along Gum Cove Road. (Vintage 35 mm image)

Other sightings of note along Gum Cove Road included: Northern Bobwhite, Common Nighthawk, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, American Bittern, Snowy Egret, Glossy Ibis, Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Forster’s Tern, Black Tern, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Kingbird, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Brown Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major), and Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)—a very large and noisy blackbird I had never seen before.

The reader may be interested to know that today, the area between Vinton and the Gulf of Mexico has largely been surrendered to the forces of the hurricanes that strike the region with some regularity. Cameron Parish* is a sparsely populated buffer zone of marshes, abundant wildlife, and oil and gas wells. Its population of more than 9,000 in 1983 has plunged to less than 6,000 today. Hurricane Rita (2005) and Hurricane Ike (2008) precipitated the sharp decline. The latter hurricane had a 22-foot storm surge that flooded areas 60 miles inland of the coastline. Following these storms, the majority of severely damaged and destroyed homes were not rebuilt and residents in the most affected areas relocated. In 2020, Hurricane Laura made landfall at Cameron Parish with record-tying 150 mph winds and a storm surge that pushed flood waters inland to Lake Charles. Six weeks later, Hurricane Delta followed with 100 mph winds. For government agencies, the emergency response required by these two storms was minimized by the reduced presence of people and/or their personal property.

* A parish in Louisiana is similar to a county in other states.

Category 4 Hurricane Laura making landfall at Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on August 27, 2020, with wind speeds of 150 mph. Had this storm come ashore to the east at New Orleans or to the west at Houston, it would have catastrophically impacted a million people or more. (N.O.A.A./National Weather Service image)

“After a quick stop at the camp grounds, where I slipped and fell in the shower last nite, we headed south. Larry saw many birds en route.”

Russ took a bad fall on a slippery wet concrete floor and had bruises to show for it. It worried me; he was 71 years old at the time. But he was adamant about continuing on and did so with great vigor.

Just hours after a sojourn through the swampy parcels south of Vinton, we were cruising through the metropolis of Houston, Texas, then across a landscape with less cultivated cropland and more scrubland with grazing. Here and there, but primarily to the east of Houston, blankets of roadside wildflowers painted the landscape with eye-popping color. Lady Bird Johnson encouraged the plantings soon after she and Lyndon returned to Texas upon leaving life in the White House in 1969. The sight of those vivid blooms was so memorable and so beautiful. One couldn’t resist making nasty comparisons to the gobs of mowed grass and mangled trash along the highways back in Pennsylvania.

Birds along the way: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Nighthawk, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Great Blue, Heron, Great Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Laughing Gull, Black Tern, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Cliff Swallow, Loggerhead Shrike, and Painted Bunting. I saw my first Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) and Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) near Woodsboro, Texas, and added both to my life list.

“We stopped for the nite at an A OK camp ground 7 miles south of Kingsville.”

Day Three: Vinton, Louisiana, to Kingsville, Texas, a distance of 404 miles. (United States Geological Survey base image)

Birds at the camp included two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying overhead, Common Nighthawk, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Blue Grosbeak, and another “lifer”—Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre).

We also saw a Mexican Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys mexicanus), easily identified by the rows of white spots running the length of its back.

While relaxing at the campsite that evening, we watched the landscape darken and remarked how interesting it was that the glowing red sun had yet to set below the distant horizon—a land so very flat and air so hazy and humid.

We found this Common Nighthawk roosting on a tree limb near our campsite. During our first few days in Louisiana and Texas, it became increasingly evident that we were in the midst of their peak northbound spring movement. (Vintage 35 mm image)

March 29, 2020May 26, 2026

The Fallout Continues

Fog and mist lingered throughout the day, as did the migratory water birds on the river and lakes in the lower Susquehanna valley. As a continuation of yesterday’s post on the fallout, here’s a photo tour of some of the sites where ducks, loons, grebes, and other birds have gathered.

American Robins may have been a large portion of the northbound flight appearing on last evening’s radar images. Today, hundreds could be seen on soggy lawns where earthworms might be found near the surface. This flock was finding sustenance at Highspire’s Reservoir Park in Dauphin County.

This drake Gadwall (Mareca strepera) and two hens had dropped in for a visit at the Highspire Reservoir Park.

Hundreds of Buffleheads were on the fogged-in Susquehanna River at Harrisburg this afternoon. From Front Street and Maclay Street in front of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion, they seemed to be everywhere in sight on the rain-swollen current. After passing downstream, flocks flew in a straight line formation just above the water’s surface as they made a short trip back up the river to then drift down through the channels once again.

A portion of a raft consisting of about three dozen Red-breasted Mergansers floats by the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion. Several of the hundred or more Scaup on the river intermingled with these mergansers from time to time.

A lone Long-tailed Duck (Clanqula hyemalis) near the aforementioned raft of mergansers. The Long-tailed Duck was formerly known as the Oldsquaw in North America. The common name used in Britain and Europe is now preferred.

Two of at least a hundred Horned Grebes (Podiceps auritus) seen in the Susquehanna at Harrisburg this afternoon.

American Coots (Fulica americana) at Memorial Lake State Park in Lebanon County.

One more Common Loon than yesterday at Memorial Lake.

A mixed raft of diving ducks and grebes at Memorial Lake.

A closeup of the same raft reveals Buffleheads, Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis), a Pied-billed Grebe, and Horned Grebes.

Stormy weather certainly is a birder’s delight.