Swamp Sparrows can be found year-round in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. They seldom occur far from water, this one spending its time in a dense stand of Common Cattails (Typha latifolia).
Weedy patches and successional growth are important feeding and shelter habitat for wintering birds including the Field Sparrow. So, forget about the mowing, whacking, and pesticide application from now on and you just may see this and other species of native animals near your place.
A bit on the mild side for the final days of December, wouldn’t you say? This Green Frog living in the pond at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters certainly thinks so.
Our largest sparrow, the Fox Sparrow, is an uncommon but regular late-autumn and early-spring migrant in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Where there is dense cover among thickets, a few may remain through the winter.
Right now, White-throated Sparrows are arriving for the winter throughout the lower Susquehanna valley. They are common inhabitants of brushy fields and woodlot edges. “White-throats” are a bit fussy about spending time in suburban gardens, not liking things overly “tidy”. They are often seen feeding upon weed seeds near or on the ground and can be attracted to white millet and cracked corn scattered atop a short stump or flat boulder. Listen for the male’s song, typically heard beginning in the spring ahead of and during migration back to the breeding grounds, a whistled “old-sam-peabody-peabody-peabody” that they sometimes can’t resist practicing on a sunny winter day.
It’s that time again in Pennsylvania, the gasoline and gunpowder gang’s second-biggest holiday of the year. Pious worshippers of the White-tailed Deity don brightly colored sacred ceremonial garb and depart on a pilgrimage to find the sovereign target of their passion. For the faithful, the sacrifice ritual is accompanied by great emotion. There can be sweating, trembling, and even hallucinations before the act commences and a tremendous sense of euphoria is savored, despite the heresy of it all. Needless to say, you don’t want to be downrange when the trigger is pulled. So, unless you’re cloaked in similar celebratory dress and glowing like the sun in a dark room, you had better stay out of the woods and fields for a while.
During the coldest months of the year, Great Blue Herons linger on the lower Susquehanna, its tributaries, and on local ponds and lakes until ice forces them to move south. Now is the time to watch for them hunting mice and other small mammals in grassy meadows and fields to supplement their diet before heading out.
It’s Gallo the Wild Turkey reminding you how delicious, nutritious, and filling macaroni and cheese can be as your center of the plate selection this holiday. And if macaroni and cheese isn’t filling enough for you, there’s always filling. But, remember, food safety experts remind us to never cook filling inside a bird. So why invite a turkey to dinner? Just eat more mac and cheese…and filling. Gobble it up.
The Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata), also known as the Common Snipe, is a regular late-fall and early-spring migrant that sometimes visits spring seeps, wet meadows, vegetated brooks, and man-made stormwater basins during stopovers in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. The long bill is used to probe moist soils for prey consisting of worms and other invertebrates. Snipe sometimes linger into the winter, provided soft unfrozen ground is available for foraging. And yes, the snipe is a real bird, not just folklore invented by the mischievous adolescents you knew when you were a kid. Remember how they tried to lure you into a “snipe hunt” so they could abandon you in a dark forest? Remember how nobody ever fell for their nonsense, but they kept trying? Sad, isn’t it?
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.
Nothing like a flock of nomadic Cedar Waxwings to brighten an otherwise gray and dismal November day. To satisfy their appetites, waxwings are constantly on the move searching for berries. In late summer, their assemblage disperses and mated pairs settle down to nest and raise young. During the breeding cycle, the waxwing’s diet transitions to mostly flying insects, a protein-rich prey that they readily seize by darting from a perch like a flycatcher. After the young are fledged, flocks form once again and begin roaming widely in search of a suitable supply of fruits to fuel their wanderings.
Eastern Bluebirds are found year-round in semi-open country and in suburbs throughout the lower Susquehanna River basin. Their numbers swell during both the spring and fall migrations each year. With autumn movements presently drawing to a close, some small flocks are beginning to settle in for winter, particularly where tree, shrub, and vine berries remain in abundance and where nest boxes or natural cavities offer roosting shelter.
A Pileated Woodpecker devours the dark blue berries of a Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica). The Black Gum, also known as the Black Tupelo, Sour Gum, and Pepperidge, sports crimson leaves in the fall to attract birds to its fruit, thus assuring distribution of its seeds. In 2021, the fruit is so abundant that it has outlasted the foliage, much to the delight of resident and migrating birds.
Dark-eyed Juncos, the easiest to identify of our native sparrows, are arriving throughout the lower Susquehanna valley for winter. Formerly known as Slate-colored Juncos, they are sometimes called “snowbirds”. Juncos like brushy habitat with an abundance of small seeds for food. This one is munching on white millet scattered atop a large boulder. Pines and other evergreens provide roosting sites for stormy nights.
A second-year Golden Eagle passes over the lookout at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Do make plans to visit a hawk watch during the coming days. The Golden Eagle migration through the lower Susquehanna region is peaking right now, so it’ll soon be last call for this fall. Be sure to click on the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Raptors” and the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tabs at the top of this page to learn more about your sightings.
A hatch-year/juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on its first southbound migration glides on an updraft created as northwest winds strike the slope of a hillside in the Valley and Ridge Province. It’s a free ride, and this bird could easily cover one hundred miles or more in just one day of flying.
Those owl-faced Northern Harriers, formerly known as marsh hawks, are among the raptors and other migratory birds that will be rolling through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during the next couple of days. A cold front is presently passing through the region and gusty northwest winds will follow. This could be one of the best flights of the season, so make plans now to go to a hawk watch site atop a local ridge. Don’t forget your field glasses! And remember to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Raptors” tab at the top of this page for a photo gallery of the vulture, hawk, eagle, and falcon species your likely to observe.
The shade-loving Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa) is a common species of resident dragonfly in the lower Susquehanna basin. Females deposit their eggs on aquatic vegetation in clean still waters, including those found in marshy sections of streams, beaver ponds, and even, on occasion, garden pools, as long as they aren’t overpopulated with large fish. Shadow Darners are the most likely of the dragonflies to be noticed cruising in search of prey at dusk and are the last to be seen during the season, sometimes still found hawking small insects on warm days in November. As you may have guessed, they are quite fond of consuming mosquitoes.
A Peregrine Falcon appearing to be equipped with a tracking transmitter passes the lookout at Second Mountain Hawk Watch in northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, today. Note the antenna trailing behind the tail. This individual appears to be a hatch-year/juvenile “Tundra Peregrine”. An effort is currently underway to try to find out more about the bird and its travels.
In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the Common Yellowthroat is a summer resident that nests within brushy cover along stream courses and forest edges. It is particularly fond of dense thorny growth in utility right-of-ways. During spring and fall migrations, it is one of the most likely of the warbler species to be found visiting suburban shrubbery.
The Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus) is a terrestrial denizen of steep forested slopes. These amphibians are lungless, “breathing” air through their skin, so don’t touch or handle them. In autumn, as freezing temperatures arrive in the lower Susquehanna region, Northern Slimy Salamanders seek a cozy subterranean shelter to pass the winter.
A juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker surveys the morning landscape. In the lower Susquehanna watershed, Red-headed Woodpeckers are an uncommon summer breeder requiring large dead oak trees in semi-open habitat for nesting. They can occasionally be found during winter in mature oak woods, appearing most frequently west of the river at places including Gifford Pinchot State Park. Fall migrants are seen along local ridges in September and October.
A migrating Monarch butterfly takes a break to feed on nectar from the blooms of a Frost Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum), a common autumn wildflower also known as Heath Aster.
