Seasonal Editors PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS Daniel Brauning Journal of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology Michael Fialkovich Nick Bolgiano Geoff Malosh Volume 34 Number 1 Dec 2019 - Feb 2020 Department Editors Greg Grove, Editor-in-chief 9524 Stone Creek Ridge Road Book Reviews Gene Wilhelm, Ph.D. Huntingdon, PA 16652 513 Kelly Blvd. Slippery Rock, PA (814) 643-3295 [email protected] 16057-1145 (724) 794-2434 https://pabirds.org [email protected] CBC Report Contents Nick Bolgiano 711 W. Foster Ave. State College, PA 16801 (814) 234-2746 1 from the Editor [email protected] Hawk Watch Reports 2 The Curious History of Black-headed Gull in Southwestern David Barber 410 Summer Valley Rd. Pennsylvania.......................... Geoff Malosh Orwigsburg, PA 17961 (570) 943-3411 [email protected] 6 Strangers from Afar: Two Un-"twitch"able Additions to the Data Technician Wendy Jo Shemansky PAvifauna . Billy Weber 41 Walkertown Hill Rd. Daisytown, PA 15427 [email protected] 9 The 2019-2020 Christmas Bird Count in Pennsylvania Publication Manager .................................... Nick Bolgiano Franklin Haas 2469 Hammertown Rd. Narvon, PA 17555 15 The 2020 Winter Raptor Survey in Pennsylvania . Greg Grove [email protected] Photo Editor Rob Dickerson 20 Book Review: BIRD LOVE: The Family Life of Birds 92 Carriage House Lane Reedsville, Pa. 17084 . Gene Wilhelm [email protected] Assistant Editor 21 Twenty-five Years ago in Pennsylvania Birds . Frank Haas Deb Grove [email protected] 22 Summary of the Season: Winter 2019 - 2020 . Nick Bolgiano 25 Birds of Note – December 2019 - February 2020 27 Photographic Highlights 30 Local Notes 64 Suggestions for Contributors – Publication Schedule Inside back cover – In Focus - Winter Waterfowl Cover: An ice storm brought down Red-throated Loons in central Pennsylvania 17 December. Some were rescued and taken to Centre Wildlife Care, to then be released after recovery. This loon ended up on Penns Creek, Centre where it stayed 10 days, seen here 2 January. (Debra Rittelmann) ... from the Editor As the previous issue of Pennsylvania cancellation of our annual meeting, In this Issue: New birds Birds was being finalized, the term announced in this message (in part) from “coronavirus” had entered into our Vern Gauthier: In the last few years, Pennsylvania birders consciousness, but was still mostly have continued to add new species to our something happening “somewhere else”. Greetings All PA Birders, official state list; some were quickly and However, that was before we knew how widely publicized and were featured on the drastically it was going to change our lives. The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology cover of this journal, including Roseate Now, we know how much and it’s far more (PSO) Board at its May 26 meeting decided Spoonbill, White-winged Tern, Varied than we could have imagined at the to postpone the 2020 Annual Gathering Bunting, Rock Wren, and Snail Kite. A beginning of 2020. (PSO 2020 All Things Birds) to be held in couple other new species, now officially Birding festivals were canceled, as Lancaster, until September 17-19 of 2021. accepted by P.O.R.C., were not nearly so were long-anticipated trips to points beyond While we regret the postponement, we felt quickly known. Their stories are told in the Pennsylvania; other activities were with the uncertainty of the status of the article by Billy Weber in this issue. One of curtailed, such as the annual ritual of COVID-19 Pandemic in the upcoming the two individual birds involved, a running BBS routes. The word Zoom months that it was best to reschedule. Common Shelduck, may still be flying free became part of our lexicon as bird club Utmost in our decision was the safety of our (although probably not in Pennsylvania!). meetings were held electronically. Still, members and other fellow birders. In The other, a Corn Crake, met an compared to many aspects of daily life, addition, we felt that postponing will mean unfortunate fate after entering Pennsylvania, birding in the purest sense was relatively that ultimately more PA Birders will be able and now permanently resides in the less affected by the virus, especially to enjoy the unique birding experience of specimen collection in the Academy of considering the onset of social restrictions Lancaster County together. We thank the Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, as seen in coincided with spring migration. Most of us Lancaster County Bird Club (LCBC) for the the photo on this page. have good birding options that do not wide variety of field trips they had set up for require mingling with crowds or straying far PSO 2020 and the leaders they provided. We from our own back-yards. Indeed, based are hopeful that we will be able to offer these upon lots of, so far, anecdotal information, same trips in 2021. We look forward to our the ranks of birders may have swelled continued partnership with the LCBC on this considerably as the non-initiated turned to event. …. what was happening in their own back- Be safe, and Good Birding, yards, and sales of sunflower seed (I Vern Gauthier speculate) stayed strong later into the spring Annual Meeting Chairperson and early summer than ever before. PSO Board That’s not to say that the lives of birders weren’t seriously affected in other ways – Photos submissions from the dangers to health care workers to work layoffs to schooling kids at home - and Each season, our photo editor Rob in some cases experiencing the viral Dickerson receives dozens of photos - infection first-hand or within ones’ family. sometimes in excess of 100 submissions, Combine all that with the explosive depending on the season. We are delighted developments of our continuing 400-year to receive so many, although, of course, this nightmare of racial oppression, and 2020 causes a bit of a problem, albeit a good will be noted as a memorable year for all problem, in that we cannot print all that we terribly bad reasons. get, usually not even half. We try to use at By late May and heading into June, it least one photo from everyone who submits, seemed that the United States had begun but there are seasons when that goal is not gaining on the virus. “Re-opening” was realized. My message here is simply that we underway, quite aggressively. As I write this appreciate all submissions. If there is a Corn Crake specimen (photo by Nate Rice) in late June, however, it seems likely our season when your submission is not used, relaxed attitude was premature. Numbers of don’t be discouraged – keep sending! new cases were spiking sharply upward in As always, we are looking for two many some states (although not (yet) so categories of photos. One, of course, is alarmingly in Pennsylvania). By the time photos of rare or uncommon birds, for which you read this in mid- or late July, I hope we documentation rather than quality is the will have gotten back on course to recovery, over-riding consideration. Second is good but it could also be that things are worse than quality photos of just about any species that ever, as warned by experts whose advice occurs in the state, with the requirement that seems increasingly to be falling onto deaf the subject was actually in Pennsylvania ears. when photographed. For PSO members as an organization, the principle effect of COVID 19 is the PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS (ISSN 0898-8501) is published four times per year by The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology. Editorial and business offices are located at 2469 Hammertown Road, Narvon, PA 17555. Subscriptions, all in US$: One year U.S.A $30, Canada $48, Foreign $62. Library rate $33. Single copies: $9. Checks and money orders in U.S. dollars only should be made payable to PSO. Copyright © 2020 by the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT EPHRATA, PA 17522 and additional entry offiCes. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PSO, 2469 Hammertown Road, Narvon, PA 17555. PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS 1 2020 – VOLUME 34 NO.1 The Curious History of Black-headed Gull in Southwestern Pennsylvania Geoff Malosh On 4 Nov 1997, the late Chuck Tague photographed an adult successful more years than not. The bird was not seen in 2018, but Black-headed Gull at Riverfront Park, a small stretch of grass and hope still remains that it may yet turn up again. benches along the Monongahela River in the city of Pittsburgh’s Black-headed Gulls typically reach adult plumage in their South Side district. The bird provided a first for Allegheny County second winter, meaning birds in adult basic plumage could be as and the first for anywhere in the southwestern corner of young as a year and half old, having hatched two summers Pennsylvania. (For purpose of this article, “southwestern previously. Assuming that it’s been the same bird at the South Pennsylvania” refers to the region often considered Pennsylvania’s Shore each time since 2008, and because the bird was an adult in physiographic Southwest, i.e., the counties south of the Glaciated 2008, we can deduce that it could have hatched no later than the Northwest and west of the Allegheny Front.) summer of 2007, making it at least 10.5 years old in 2017—which Black-headed Gull is a Eurasian species that for most of known is still somewhat young, actually, for a gull. history was a rare vagrant to North America. Nearly all records But what of those four records from the late 1990s? Again with through the middle of the 20th Century were from the far those records, although comprising three different places, in all northeastern provinces of Canada and states of the U.S.