Nuthatches (Sittidae) – LIFE IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED

November 23, 2023

Time to Eat

A glimpse of the rowdy guests crowding the Thanksgiving Day dinner table at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters…

A male White-breasted Nuthatch visits a peanut feeder…

A male Downy Woodpecker gets a bill full of suet.

An Eastern Gray Squirrel stuffs itself on peanuts dropped by the birds.

A territorial Northern Mockingbird stands guard over its supply of Common Winterberry fruit.

To avoid the mockingbird’s aggression, the Eastern Bluebirds opted out of fresh fruit in favor of raisins offered at the feeders.

This persistent American Robin has made an art of repeatedly sneaking in to quickly devour a few berries before being chased away by the vigilant mockingbird.

After everyone has had their fill, Dark-eyed Juncos clean up the leftovers.

September 5, 2023September 17, 2023

Catch a Wave While You’re Sittin’ on Top of the World

During the recent couple of mornings, a tide of Neotropical migrants has been rolling along the crests of the Appalachian ridges and Piedmont highlands of southern Pennsylvania. In the first hours of daylight, “waves” of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, and other birds are being observed flitting among the sun-drenched foliage as they feed in trees along the edges of ridgetop clearings. Big fallouts have been reported along Kittattiny Ridge/Blue Mountain at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch. Birds are also being seen in the Furnace Hills of the Piedmont.

Here are some of the 300 to 400 warblers (a very conservative estimate) seen in a “wave” found working its way southwest through the forest clearing at the Second Mountain Hawk Watch in Lebanon County this morning. The feeding frenzy endured for two hours between 7 and 9 A.M. E.D.T.

Tennessee Warblers at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — Tennessee Warblers (Leiothlypis peregrina) were very common among the migrants seen this morning on Second Mountain.

Tennessee Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — An adult male Tennessee Warbler.

Nashville Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — A Nashville Warbler.

Chestnut-sided Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — A Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Cape May Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — Cape May Warblers were another common species during the morning flight.

Magnolia Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — Magnolia Warblers were frequently observed as well.

Black-and-white Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — A Black-and-white Warbler exhibiting its nuthatch-like feeding behavior.

Blackburnian Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — A Blackburnian Warbler.

Black-throated Green Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — Black-throated Green Warblers were numerous.

Bay-breasted Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — A Bay-breasted Warbler.

Wilson's Warbler at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — This was the only Wilson’s Warbler discerned among the hundreds of warblers seen in a “wave” on Second Mountain this morning.

Not photographed but observed in the mix of species were several Black-throated Blue Warblers and American Redstarts.

In addition to the warblers, other Neotropical migrants were on the move including two Common Nighthawks, a Broad-winged Hawk, a Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), and…

Scarlet Tanager at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — At least half a dozen Scarlet Tanagers were in the treetops.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — And no less than 23 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were counted cruising southbound past the lookout at Second Mountain Hawk Watch today.

Then, there was a taste of things to come…

Red-breasted Nuthatch at Second Mountain Hawk Watch. — One of 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches filling the air on the mountaintop with calls reminiscent of a toy tin horn. Will this summer’s forest fires in Canada prompt a significant invasion of this and other birds including winter finches in coming months? Time will tell.

Seeing a “wave” flight is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Visiting known locations for observing warbler fallouts such as hawk watches, ridgetop clearings, and peninsular shorelines can improve your chances of witnessing one of these memorable spectacles by overcoming the first variable. To overcome the second, be sure to visit early and often. See you on the lookout!

June 23, 2023June 23, 2023

Peanuts! Get Your Peanuts!

Red-bellied Woodpecker on Peanut Feeder — Don’t want to feed suet to the birds around your home during the blazing heat of summer? Well, you might be glad to know that peanuts offered in one of these expanded metal tube feeders make a great substitute. They provide a nutritious supplement to naturally occurring foods for nuthatches, chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Blue Jays, finches, and woodpeckers including this Red-bellied Woodpecker. Secured to a vertical length of wire hung from a horizontal tree limb, these feeders have proven so puzzling to the squirrels at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters that they no longer make any effort to raid them.

Though marketed primarily to dispense suet nuggets, powder-coated metal mesh feeders can be used for sunflower seeds too. This juvenile House Finch plucks the black oil variety from one of the tubes in our garden. Seeds that fall are quickly scarfed up by ground-feeding species including Northern Cardinals, Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), and frustrated squirrels. Fewer seeds are lost if the larger varieties of sunflower such as “grey stripe” are used.

February 18, 2023February 18, 2023

Photo of the Day

Female Red-breasted Nuthatch — Are you participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend? Have you seen a Red-breasted Nuthatch at your feeders? If not, then maybe you should see the post from earlier today so that you might order some White Pine and Eastern Hemlock trees to spruce up the habitat around your pad and improve your chances of seeing them and other interesting winter birds in coming years.

February 4, 2023February 5, 2023

Berries and More on a Bitter Cold Morning

The annual arrival of hoards of American Robins to devour the fruits found on the various berry-producing shrubs and trees in the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters happened to coincide with this morning’s bitter cold temperatures. Here are photos of some of those hungry robins—plus shots of the handful of other songbirds that joined them for a frosty feeding frenzy.

American Robins consuming Common Winterberry fruits.

American Robin in a "Hollywood Juniper". — An American Robin in the boughs of a “Hollywood Juniper”, a cultivar of the Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’, also known as J. c. ‘Kaizuka’).

A Carolina Chickadee preparing to pluck a sunflower seed from a tube feeder.

American Robins feeding on "Hollywood Juniper" berries. — American Robins feeding on “Hollywood Juniper” berries.

One of two Red-breasted Nuthatches spending the week at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.

Eastern Bluebird. American Robin, and Tufted Titmouse. — A male Eastern Bluebird among the crowd in the garden’s trees.

An American Robin and Common Winterberry, a native deciduous holly.

A Carolina Wren investigates a tree cavity, a potential nest site. — A Carolina Wren investigates a tree cavity, a potential nest site in coming weeks.

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

Photo of the Day

January 29, 2022August 15, 2022

Five Best Values for Feeding Birds

Despite being located in an urbanized downtown setting, blustery weather in recent days has inspired a wonderful variety of small birds to visit the garden here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to feed and refresh. For those among you who may enjoy an opportunity to see an interesting variety of native birds living around your place, we’ve assembled a list of our five favorite foods for wild birds.

American Goldfinches in drab winter (basic) plumage visit the trickle of water entering the headquarters pond to bathe and drink. In addition to offering the foods animals need to survive, a source of clean water is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your property.

The selections on our list are foods that provide supplemental nutrition and/or energy for indigenous species, mostly songbirds, without sustaining your neighborhood’s non-native European Starlings and House Sparrows, mooching Eastern Gray Squirrels, or flock of ecologically destructive hand-fed waterfowl. We’ve included foods that aren’t necessarily the cheapest but are instead those that are the best value when offered properly.

Bread, “bargain” seed mixes, and cracked corn can attract and sustain large numbers of House Sparrows and European Starlings. Both are non-native species that compete mercilessly with indigenous birds including bluebirds for food and nesting sites. Though found favorable for feeding Northern Cardinals without attracting squirrels, the expensive safflower seed seen here is another favorite of these aggressive House Sparrows. Ever wasteful, they “shovel” seed out of feeders while searching for the prime morsels from which they can easily remove the hulls. Trying not to feed them is an ongoing challenge, so we don’t offer these aforementioned foods to our avian guests.

Number 5

Raw Beef Suet

In addition to rendered beef suet, manufactured suet cakes usually contain seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, and other ingredients that attract European Starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels to the feeder, often excluding woodpeckers and other native species from the fare. Instead, we provide raw beef suet.

Because it is unrendered and can turn rancid, raw beef suet is strictly a food to be offered in cold weather. It is a favorite of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many other species. Ask for it at your local meat counter, where it is generally inexpensive.

Raw beef suet is fat removed from areas surrounding the kidneys on a beef steer. To avoid spoiling, offer it only in the winter months, particularly if birds are slow to consume the amount placed for them. If temperatures are above freezing, it’s important to replace uneaten food frequently. The piece seen here on the left was stored in the freezer for almost a year while the rancid piece to the right was stored in a refrigerator at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for just two months. You can render raw beef suet and make your own cakes by melting it down and pouring it into a form such as cupcake tin. But do it outdoors or you’ll be living alone for a while.

A female Downy Woodpecker feeds on raw beef suet stuffed into holes drilled into a vertically hanging log. Because they can’t be cleaned, log feeders should be discarded after one season. Wire cage feeders though, can usually be scrubbed, disinfected, dried, and reused.

Pesky European Starlings might visit a raw beef suet feeder but won’t usually linger unless other foods to their liking are available nearby.

This male Downy Woodpecker has no trouble feeding on raw beef suet packed into holes drilled into the underside of this horizontally hanging log. Starlings don’t particularly care to feed this way.

Unusual visitors like a Brown Creeper are more likely to stop by at a suet feeder when it isn’t crowded by raucous starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels. This one surprised us just this morning.

Below the feeders, scraps of suet that fall to the ground are readily picked up, usually by ground-feeding birds. In this instance, a male Eastern Bluebird saw a chunk break loose and pounced on it with haste.

Number 4

Niger (“Thistle”) Seed

Niger seed, also known as nyjer or nyger, is derived from the sunflower-like plant Guizotia abyssinica, a native of Ethiopia. By the pound, niger seed is usually the most expensive of the bird seeds regularly sold in retail outlets. Nevertheless, it is a good value when offered in a tube or wire mesh feeder that prevents House Sparrows and other species from quickly “shoveling” it to the ground. European starlings and squirrels don’t bother with niger seed at all.

Niger seed must be kept dry. Mold will quickly make niger seed inedible if it gets wet, so avoid using “thistle socks” as feeders. A dome or other protective covering above a tube or wire mesh feeder reduces the frequency with which feeders must be cleaned and moist seed discarded. Remember, keep it fresh and keep it dry!

Niger (“thistle”) seed is very small, so it is offered in specialized feeders to prevent seed from spilling out of oversize holes as waste.

An American Goldfinch in winter plumage feeding on niger seed from a wire mesh feeder. By April, goldfinches are molting into spectacular breeding feathers. Niger seed can be offered year-round to keep them visiting your garden while they are at maximum magnificence.

American Goldfinches in August. This tube feeder is designed specifically for goldfinches, birds that have no difficulty hanging upside down to grab niger seed from small feeding ports.

During invasion years, visiting Pine Siskins favor niger seed at feeding stations.

Like goldfinches, Pine Siskins are quite comfortable feeding upside down on specialized tubes with perches positioned above the seed ports. Seeds dropped to the ground are readily picked up by ground-feeding birds including Mourning Doves and Dark-eyed Juncos. Periodically, uneaten niger seed should be swept up and discarded.

Number 3

Striped Sunflower Seed

Striped sunflower seed, also known as grey-striped sunflower seed, is harvested from a cultivar of the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same tall garden plant with a massive bloom that you grew as a kid. The Common Sunflower is indigenous to areas west of the Mississippi River and its seeds are readily eaten by many native species of birds including jays, finches, and grosbeaks. The husks are harder to crack than those of black oil sunflower seed, so House Sparrows consume less, particularly when it is offered in a feeder that prevents “shoveling”. For obvious reasons, a squirrel-proof or squirrel-resistant feeder should be used for striped sunflower seed.

A male House Finch and a Carolina Chickadee pluck striped sunflower seeds from a squirrel-resistant powder-coated metal-mesh tube feeder.

An American Goldfinch in winter plumage finds striped sunflower seeds irresistible, even with niger seed being offered in an adjacent feeder.

A Tufted Titmouse visits a feeder stocked with striped sunflower seeds.

Northern Cardinals readily feed on striped sunflower seeds, especially those that fall from our metal-mesh tube feeders.

An Eastern Gray Squirrel (*Sciurus carolinensis*) has no choice but to be satisfied with striped sunflower seeds that spill from our wire-mesh tube feeders.

Number 2

Mealworms

Mealworms are the commercially produced larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor. Dried or live mealworms are a marvelous supplement to the diets of numerous birds that might not otherwise visit your garden. Woodpeckers, titmice, wrens, mockingbirds, warblers, and bluebirds are among the species savoring protein-rich mealworms. The trick is to offer them without European Starlings noticing or having access to them because European Starlings you see, go crazy over a meal of mealworms.

A male Eastern Bluebird tossing and grabbing a dried mealworm.

A female Eastern Bluebird with a dried mealworm.

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds. The value of mealworms is self-evident: you get to have bluebirds around.

To foil European Starlings, we assembled this homemade mealworm feeder from miscellaneous parts. The bluebirds took right to it.

It frustrates the starlings enough to discourage them from sticking around for long.

If you’re offering dried mealworms, a source of clean water must be available nearby so that the bluebirds and other guests at your feeder don’t become dehydrated.

Number 1

Food-producing Native Shrubs and Trees

The best value for feeding birds and other wildlife in your garden is to plant food-producing native plants, particularly shrubs and trees. After an initial investment, they can provide food, cover, and roosting sites year after year. In addition, you’ll have a more complete food chain on a property populated by native plants and all the associated life forms they support (insects, spiders, etc.).

In your garden, a Northern Mockingbird may defend a food supply like these Common Winterberry fruits as its sole means of sustenance for an entire winter season. Having an abundance of plantings assures that in your cache there’s plenty to eat for this and other species.

The American Goldfinches currently spending the winter at our headquarters are visiting the feeders for niger and striped sunflower seeds, but the bulk of their diet consists of tiny seeds from the cones on our Eastern Hemlock trees. At night, birds obtain shelter from the weather by roosting in this clump of evergreens.

While the Eastern Bluebirds visiting the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters are fond of mealworms, the bulk of their diet here consists of these Common Winterberry fruits and the berries on our American Holly trees.

Cedar Waxwings are readily attracted to red berries including Common Winterberry fruit.

Migrating American Robins visit the headquarters garden in late winter each year to devour berries before continuing their journey to the north.

Your local County Conservation District is having its annual spring tree sale soon. They have a wide selection to choose from each year and the plants are inexpensive. They offer everything from evergreens and oaks to grasses and flowers. You can afford to scrap the lawn and revegetate your whole property at these prices—no kidding, we did it. You need to preorder for pickup in the spring. To order, check their websites now or give them a call. These food-producing native shrubs and trees are by far the best bird feeding value that you’re likely to find, so don’t let this year’s sales pass you by!

November 17, 2021August 15, 2022

Photo of the Day

The White-breasted Nuthatch is a familiar woodpecker-like songbird of deciduous forests, parks, and wooded suburbs. It frequently descends the trunks of trees head first while searching the bark for insects. Nuthatches visit feeding stations stocked with cracked corn, sunflower seeds, suet, or peanuts.

April 19, 2021August 15, 2023

Coming Soon, Very Soon: Brood X Periodical Cicadas

Yesterday, a hike through a peaceful ridgetop woods in the Furnace Hills of southern Lebanon County resulted in an interesting discovery. It was extraordinarily quiet for a mid-April afternoon. Bird life was sparse—just a pair of nesting White-breasted Nuthatches and a drumming Hairy Woodpecker. A few deer scurried down the hillside. There was little else to see or hear. But if one were to have a look below the forest floor, they’d find out where the action is.

Not much action in the deer-browsed understory of this stand of hardwoods.

Upon discovery beneath a rock, this invertebrate quickly backed its way down the burrow, promptly seeking shelter in the underground section of the excavation.

A closeup of the same image reveals the red eyes of this Periodical Cicada (Magicicada species) nymph. It has reached the end of seventeen years of slowly feeding upon the sap from a tree root to nourish its five instars (stages) of larval development.

2021 is an emergence year for Brood X, the “Great Eastern Brood”—the largest of the 15 surviving broods of Periodical Cicadas. After seventeen years as subterranean larvae, the nymphs are presently positioned just below ground level, and they’re ready to see sunlight. After tunneling upward from the deciduous tree roots from which they fed on small amounts of sap since 2004, they’re awaiting a steady ground temperature of about 64 degrees Fahrenheit before surfacing to climb a tree, shrub, or other object and undergo one last molt into an imago—a flying adult.

Here, approximately one dozen Periodical Cicada nymphs have tunneled into pre-emergence positions beneath a rock. Seventeen-year Periodical Cicadas, sometimes mistakenly called “seventeen-year locusts”, are the longest-lived of our insects.

Note the wings and red eyes beneath the exoskeleton of this Periodical Cicada nymph. Within weeks it will join billions of others in a brief emergence to molt, dry, fly, mate, and die.

Adult (imago) Periodical Cicadas. Brood X includes all three species of seventeen-year Periodical Cicadas: Magicicada septendecim, M. cassinii, and M. septendecula. All Periodical Cicadas in the United States are found east of the Great Plains, the lack of trees there prohibiting the expansion of their range further west. Seventeen-year life cycles account for twelve of the fifteen broods of Periodical Cicadas; the balance live for thirteen years. The range of Brood X includes the lower Susquehanna basin and parts of Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. (United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service image)

The flight of Periodical Cicadas peaks in late-May and June. Shown here is the Eastern Scissor Grinder, an “Annual Cicada” that emerges later in the season, peaking yearly during July and August.

The woodlots of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed won’t be quiet for long. Loud choruses of male Periodical Cicadas will soon roar through forest and verdant suburbia. They’re looking for love, and they’re gonna die trying to find it. And dozens and dozens of animal species will take advantage of the swarms to feed themselves and their young. Yep, the woods are gonna be a lively place real soon.

Did you say Periodical Cicadas? We can hardly wait!

October 31, 2020August 17, 2022

October Transition

Thoughts of October in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed bring to mind scenes of brilliant fall foliage adorning wooded hillsides and stream courses, frosty mornings bringing an end to the growing season, and geese and other birds flying south for the winter.

The autumn migration of birds spans a period equaling nearly half the calendar year. Shorebirds and Neotropical perching birds begin moving through as early as late July, just as daylight hours begin decreasing during the weeks following their peak at summer solstice in late June. During the darkest days of the year, those surrounding winter solstice in late December, the last of the southbound migrants, including some hawks, eagles, waterfowl, and gulls, may still be on the move.

The Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), a rodent-eating raptor of tundra, grassland, and marsh, is rare as a migrant and winter resident in the lower Susquehanna valley. It may arrive as late as January, if at all.

During October, there is a distinct change in the list of species an observer might find migrating through the lower Susquehanna valley. Reduced hours of daylight and plunges in temperatures—particularly frost and freeze events—impact the food sources available to birds. It is during October that we say goodbye to the Neotropical migrants and hello to those more hardy species that spend their winters in temperate climates like ours.

During several of the first days of October, two hundred Chimney Swifts remained in this roost until temperatures warmed from the low forties at daybreak to the upper fifties at mid-morning; then, at last, the flock ventured out in search of flying insects. When a population of birds loses its food supply or is unable to access it, that population must relocate or perish. Like other insectivorous birds, these swifts must move to warmer climes to be assured a sustained supply of the flying bugs they need to survive. Due to their specialized food source, they can be considered “specialist” feeders in comparison to species with more varied diets, the “generalists”. After returning to this chimney every evening for nearly two months, the swifts departed this roost on October 5 and did not return.

A Northern Parula lingers as an October migrant along the Susquehanna. This and other specialist feeders that survive almost entirely on insects found in the forest canopy are largely south of the Susquehanna watershed by the second week of October.

The Blackpoll Warbler is among the last of the insectivorous Neotropical warblers to pass through the riparian forests of the lower Susquehanna valley each fall. Through at least mid-October, it is regularly seen searching for crawling insects and larvae among the foliage and bark of Northern Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) trees near Conewago Falls. Most other warblers, particularly those that feed largely upon flying insects, are, by then, already gone.

The Blue-headed Vireo, another insectivore, is the last of the vireo species to pass through the valley. They linger only as long as there are leaves on the trees in which they feed.

Brown Creepers begin arriving in early October. They are specialist feeders, well-adapted to finding insect larvae and other invertebrates among the ridges and peeling bark of trees like this hackberry, even through the winter months.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be abundant migrants in October. They will often behave like cute little flycatchers, but quickly transition to picking insects and other invertebrates from foliage and bark as the weather turns frosty. Some may spend the winter here, particularly in the vicinity of stands of pines, which provide cover and some thermal protection during storms and bitter cold.

Beginning in early October, Golden-crowned Kinglets can be seen searching the forest wood for tiny invertebrates. They are the most commonly encountered kinglet in winter.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a woodpecker, is an October migrant that specializes in attracting small insects to tiny seeps of sap it creates by punching horizontal rows of shallow holes through the tree bark. Some remain for winter.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler arrives in force during October. It is the most likely of the warblers to be found here in winter. Yellow-rumped Warblers are generalists, feeding upon insects during the warmer months, but able to survive on berries and other foods in late fall and winter. Wild foods like these Poison Ivy berries are crucial for the survival of this and many other generalists.

American Robins are most familiar as hunters of earthworms on the suburban lawn, but they are generalist feeders that rely upon fruits like these Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) berries during their southbound migration in late October and early November each year. Robins remain for the winter in areas of the lower Susquehanna valley with ample berries for food and groves of mature pines for roosting.

Like other brown woodland thrushes, the Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is commonly seen scratching through organic matter on the moist forest floor in search of invertebrates. Unlike the other species, it is a cold-hardy generalist feeder, often seen eating berries during the southbound October migration. Small numbers of Hermit Thrushes spend the winter in the lower Susquehanna valley, particularly in habitats with a mix of wild foods.

Due to their feeding behavior, Cedar Waxwings can easily be mistaken for flycatchers during the nesting season, but by October they’ve transitioned to voracious consumers of small wild fruits. During the remainder of the year, flocks of waxwings wander widely in search of foods like this Fox Grape (Vitis labrusca). An abundance of cedar, holly, Poison Ivy, hackberry, bittersweet , hawthorn, wild grape, and other berries is essential to their survival during the colder months.

Red-breasted Nuthatches have moved south in large numbers during the fall of 2020. They were particularly common in the lower Susquehanna region during mid-October. Red-breasted Nuthatches can feed on invertebrates during warm weather, but get forced south from Canada in droves when the cone crops on coniferous trees fail to provide an adequate supply of seeds for the colder fall and winter seasons. In the absence of wild foods, these generalists will visit feeding stations stocked with suet and other provisions.

Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus) were unusually common as October migrants in 2020. They are often considered seed eaters during cold weather, but will readily consume small fruits like these berries on an invasive Mile-a-minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) vine. Purple Finches are quite fond of sunflower seeds at feeding stations, but often shy away if aggressive House Sparrows or House Finches are present.

The need for food and cover is critical for the survival of wildlife during the colder months. If you are a property steward, think about providing places for wildlife in the landscape. Mow less. Plant trees, particularly evergreens. Thickets are good—plant or protect fruit-bearing vines and shrubs, and allow herbaceous native plants to flower and produce seed. And if you’re putting out provisions for songbirds, keep the feeders clean. Remember, even small yards and gardens can provide a life-saving oasis for migrating and wintering birds. With a larger parcel of land, you can do even more.

**GOT BERRIES?** Common Winterbery (Ilex verticillata) is a native deciduous holly that looks its best in the winter, especially with snow on the ground. It’s slow-growing, and never needs pruning. Birds including bluebirds love the berries and you can plant it in wet ground, even along a stream, in a stormwater basin, or in a rain garden where your downspouts discharge. Because it’s a holly, you’ll need to plant a male and a female to get the berries. Full sun produces the best crop. Fall is a great time to plant, and many garden centers that sell holiday greenery still have winterberry shrubs for sale in November and December. Put a clump of these beauties in your landscape. Gorgeous!

October 11, 2020November 27, 2020

A Visit to Waggoner’s Gap

Nothing beats spending a day at a hawk watch lookout—except of course spending a day at a hawk watch lookout when the birds are parading through nonstop for hours on end.

Check out Waggoner’s Gap, a hawk count site located on the border of Cumberland and Perry Counties atop Blue Mountain just north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is by far the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed’s best location for observing large numbers of migrating raptors during the October and November flights.

Waggoner’s Gap is located where Route 74 crosses Blue Mountain north of Carlisle.

The entrance to a parking area for hawk watch visitors is designated by this sign located along Route 74 several hundred yards north of the summit of Blue Mountain.

Since acquiring the site in 2000, Audubon Pennsylvania has added improvements to expand the function of Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch to include education for both formal students and the public at large.

The site is named in honor of the late conservationist Clifford L. Jones, a business leader, a former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, a cabinet secretary for six Pennsylvania governors (both major parties), a director on the boards of numerous conservation organizations, and an active birder.

Orange falcon silhouettes function as blazes for the trails that lead from the parking area to the lookout. The trail and the lookout consist entirely of boulders. Some of these move when stepped upon. Others may be slick. Use caution at all times.

The lookout at Waggoner’s Gap is staffed by official counters from August through December each year. They are tasked with enumerating every migratory raptor’s passage during that period.

Sure-footed observers climb into a comfortable position among the Tuscarora quartzite boulders and begin watching the flight.

The view from the lookout is spectacular. To the east, downtown Harrisburg can be seen in the distance.

During a recent afternoon with breezes from the “southwesterlies”, a steady stream of migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks, including this juvenile, passed by the lookout.

Sharp-shinned Hawks were ready subjects for photography as they sailed on updrafts along the south side of the ridge.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk below eye level. Over 400 Sharp-shinned Hawks migrated past Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch on this particular early October day.

The local Turkey Vultures at Waggoner’s Gap seem ubiquitous at times. They’re on the radio towers, they’re flying overhead, and a few are cruising the slopes below the crest. But on the day of our recent visit, their numbers were eclipsed by the more than 300 “T.V.s” that migrated down the ridge.

Black Vultures, both migrants and local birds, are seen from the lookout.

Northern Harriers are a hawk watch favorite. Their long uptilted wings, long tail, and white rump make them easy to identify, even for beginners. Their plummeting numbers make them a treasured sighting for everyone.

A distant Red-shouldered Hawk. Numbers of these migrants peak later in the season.

A Peregrine Falcon darts past the lookout. Note the white forehead, throat, and breast. This bird is probably a “Tundra Peregrine” (Falco peregrinus tundrius). In the lower Susquehanna valley, this subspecies is strictly migratory, a transient in spring and fall. “Tundra Peregrines” breed in the arctic and winter as far south as South America.

An immature Bald Eagle. Waggoner’s Gap is a superb place for sighting eagles, especially on a breezy day.

Hundreds of Blue Jays filtered through as their southbound exodus continues. Other songbirds of interest included Blue-headed Vireos (Vireo solitarius), Winter Wrens, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Pine Siskins, and both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Waggoner’s Gap is a hardy birder’s paradise. During the latter portion of the season, excellent flights often occur on days that follow the passage of a cold front and have strong northwest winds. But be prepared, it can be brutal on those rocks during a gusty late-October or early-November day after the leaves fall—so dress appropriately.

To see the daily totals for the raptor count at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch and other hawk watches in North America, and to learn more about each site, be sure to visit hawkcount.org

October 8, 2020August 15, 2022

Pine Siskin Invasion

When wild food crops such as pine cones, acorns, berries, and other tree seeds fail in the forests of Canada, bird species which may have otherwise remained north of the eastern United States for winter pay us a visit. There was a hint that such an event would occur this year when Red-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis) became widespread throughout the Mid-Atlantic States beginning in August. Then there were big flights of Blue Jays in recent weeks, an indication that the oaks of the northern wood are producing a less than optimal mast crop.

Reports of Pine Siskins (Spinus pinus), songbirds very similar in shape and size to the familiar American Goldfinch, have been posted from hawk watch sites throughout the region for several weeks now. During the last several days though, the numbers have increased to indicate that an invasion is underway. Just yesterday, nearly two thousand were seen from the lookout in Cape May Point, New Jersey. Just after sunrise this morning, between twenty and thirty Pine Siskins descended upon the hemlocks at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters. There, they began feeding on the abundant cone crop—then they quickly discovered the accommodations offered by the bird bath and feeders.

Pine Siskins visiting the susquehannawildlife.net bird bath just after this morning’s water change. Note the dark streaky plumage, deeply notched tail, and the yellow in their wings. This yellow appears as a bar when the wings are extended and is brightest on adult male birds.

The tiny bill of the Pine Siskin is adapted to extracting seeds from birch catkins and the cones of various evergreen trees.

Like American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins are very fond of niger (thistle) seed offered in tube feeders.

Like goldfinches, Pine Siskins are quite comfortable feeding upside down from feeders with perches positioned above the seed openings. Note the yellow in the tail of this bird.

Flocks of Pine Siskins roam widely in search of food during invasion years. Keeping your feeders clean and stocked with fresh seed will improve your chances of having them as visitors this winter. And remember, if you’re feeding niger (thistle) seed, it’s very important to keep it dry. Avoid using “sock feeders” and, after each storm, empty tube feeders for a cleaning and drying, discarding any clumps of wet seed.

January 1, 2018January 2, 2018

Eighteen, and I Like It

Is this the same Conewago Falls I visited a week ago? Could it really be? Where are all the gulls, the herons, the tiny critters swimming in the potholes, and the leaping fish? Except for a Bald Eagle on a nearby perch, the falls seems inanimate.

Yes, a week of deep freeze has stifled the Susquehanna and much of Conewago Falls. A hike up into the area where the falls churns with great turbulence provided a view of some open water. And a flow of open water is found downstream of the York Haven Dam powerhouse discharge. All else is icing over and freezing solid. The flow of the river pinned beneath is already beginning to heave the flat sheets into piles of jagged ice which accumulate behind obstacles and shallows.