Birding Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maine
April 23, 2007 · Print This Article
During the last two weeks, my wife and I have been very busy with visits to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Of course, we found time to do some birding in these locals and we were not disappointed with the bird activity despite the horrendous weather.
Last weekend, we visited Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. and saw tens of thousands of Red-Breasted Mergansers, Lesser and Greater Scaup, Buffleheads, Coots, Canada Geese and Grebes. We enjoyed a total of 3 hours of sunshine last Saturday morning, which allowed me to photograph most of the above species. After that, snow, rain and wind greeted anyone brave enough to venture into the park.
Our return trip from the Keystone State was a journey through every type of weather imaginable! On the New York Thruway, between Buffalo and Albany, a raging snowstorm kept traffic to a crawl with numerous accidents. Once entering Massachusetts on the MassPike, heavy rain and high winds wracked us and persisted the rest of the way home. Maine was a disaster area, with homes washed into the sea, downed trees and powerlines which led to power outages affecting 300,000 homes and businesses and major flooding. It was a mess! I saw a dead seagull entangled in powerlines on Pool Street here in Biddeford, and another dead gull laying in a yard. I recorded a 68 m.p.h. wind gust here at home, which in turn, knocked over my instrument tower. No damage was done.
This past weekend, we birded the Biddeford Pool area on Saturday and then made a trip to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island in Massachusetts on Sunday. Activity was light all around this weekend, but the weather was beautiful.
Below are photographs I took over the last 2 weeks. Simply click a thumbnail for a larger view. Comments and criticisms are always welcomed.
Presque Isle State Park - Erie Pennsylvania
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Biddeford Pool, Maine
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PRNWR - Plum Island, Massachusetts
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Happy birding!
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John, Sweet! Got that exact same song sparrow on the Vine’s Landing sign! Great work!!! Bob
Nice site with great pictures. Your last trip was like a summary of my life. I grew up in MA, now live in PA and will be visiting my brother who lives in Turner ME this August. Thanks for sharing!
Bob;
Singing his territorial song. He kept busy chasing off other males.
Thanks for the comments!
John
Vern;
Thank you for stopping by! Will add a reciprocal link to your site in my side bar.
Thanks for the comments!
John