Sandhill Crane in Delaware and Redhead in Pennsylvania, April 2017

A short trip to visit relatives in the Mid-Atlantic states in April 2017 provided opportunities to try for at least a couple new statebirds.  As is typically the case on my trips I set up eBird Needs Alerts to look for possible targets.  But I typically don’t have a lot of birding time when visiting relatives so any birds that I could chase after would have to be close by. 

Our first stop was in northern DE, and although my DE state list was already pretty good at 274, my Needs Alert revealed two realistic possibilities.  The first was Sandhill Cranes that had been seen sporadically at the Ashton Tract of the Augustine Wildlife Area – just 20 minutes from our visit.  And nearby were several recent sightings of Ring-necked Duck, though it was getting quite late for this wintering species.  So my plan was to get out of the house pre-dawn, arrive at the Crane spot by dawn for a quick stop, then make a couple stops on the way back to try for the Ring-necks.

Right on schedule I was pulling into the parking area at the Augustine Wildlife Area at dawn.  There were a few sightings of up to 3 Cranes in this marsh over the last couple months, so I hoped that these birds might be nesting there.  The most recent sighting mentioned a calling bird heard “from the observation platform towards the left”.  I quickly found the observation platform which provided a nice panoramic view of this large freshwater marsh, and I started to scan hoping to find the birds foraging in the vegetation.  And all the while listening for their bugling calls.  But to no avail.

Then on my second scan I noticed two pairs of large birds in flight off in the distance.  Although far away and just using binoculars, I thought I could see the long outstretched necks and legs of Cranes.  But I needed to confirm the ID, so I quickly got them in my scope and they were indeed 4 Sandhill Cranes heading north away from the marsh.  I watched them for a few more seconds until they disappeared out of sight.  I’m guessing that they had been roosting in the marsh overnight and were heading out to feed somewhere else.  Boy was I lucky – not only in picking them up in the air in the distance, but if I had arrived just a few minutes later they would have already left the marsh for the morning. 

DE was my 35^th state for Sandhill Crane.  As a result my statebird map below still shows a lot of gaps for this expanding species.   

With that one quickly checked off, I did another scan of the marsh and began to pick out numerous Bald Eagles.  I counted at least 11 birds, including this group of 5 together.

 

Time was getting short, so I quickly headed off to a couple nearby spots where Ring-necked Ducks had been reported.  But I came up empty - my targets were most probably gone for the year.  Even though I missed my second target, I was happy to have seen the rarer of the 2, and happier still to arrive back just as everyone was getting up – no one even knew I had been out.

The family’s next stop was in south-central PA, and my PA Needs Alert revealed 2 nearby targets – a pair of Redheads and yet another Sandhill Crane.  The Redheads had been reported for some time in a small pond at the Chestnut Grove Natural Area, hanging out with Mallards.  Less than an hour away, my plan once again was to make this a very early morning stop, and then return back before I was missed.

I arrived at Chestnut Grove Natural Area just after dawn, and could see the pond where the Redheads had been reported in the distance.  After a short walk I neared the pond, but didn’t want to get too close in case the waterfowl flushed.  So I set up my scope and quickly scanned the water – no birds at all.  Then I noticed a couple Mallards resting on the shore.  I zoomed in and found 6 male Mallards together, along with the male Redhead.  A couple minutes later all 7 birds woke up and began to swim across the pond, when I got this barely passable phonescoped photo.

 

In my experience with dabblers, when you only see males together that means the females are off on their nests.  So I wondered if that would be the case with the Redheads as well.  But based on eBird records, the male Redhead was only spotted for 4 more days and the female was never spotted again at this location, so nesting was not likely.  PA was one of my last remaining gaps for this species – now I just need it in AR and IN.

 

Sandhill Crane was my last realistic PA target – one bird had been hanging out with a flock of Canada Geese in farmfields right along our route back home.  So we made a quick stop there on the way home at the end of our trip, and although we found the goose flock, the Crane was nowhere to be seen.  I’d have to be content with adding just one bird to my PA list – now at 241.