Seasonal Report - Fall 2020

Lycoming County Fall 2020 Summary

Despite a few tropical systems/remnants passing through the area during the fall season, fallout events did not really produce many good records. Most of the excitement for the season came from shorebirds and the finch irruption that started to kick into gear during the early fall. In total, 204 species were reported in Lycoming County during the fall.

Observations

Observer abbreviations include: Bobby Brown (BB — county compiler), Yvonne Beiler (YB), Dan Brauning (DanB), Bob Brown (BoB), David Brown (DB), Deb Brown (DeB), Ken Cooper (KC), Jean Dalton (JD), Maddi Dunlap (MD), Dave Ferry (DF), Norwood Frederick (NF), Joe Gyekis (JG), Eric Hartshaw (EH), Melissa Holland (MH), Andy Keister (AK), Patrick Lister (PL), Brett Matlock (BM), Steve Pinkerton (SP)
m. obs. = many observers

Waterfowl

The male Lesser Scaup that spent the summer at Rose Valley Lake, remained at the lake through mid-October (m. obs.).

A Surf Scoter was at the Williamsport Dam 10/26-27 (BB, et al.). Two White-winged Scoters spent several weeks at Rose Valley Lake in November (m. obs.). A Black Scoter was at Rose Valley Lake on 10/28 (AK, et al.), and two were at the Williamsport Dam on 11/12 (BB, DeB, BoB, DanB).

Two Red-breasted Mergansers were at the Williamsport Dam on 11/17 (BB) and three were at Rose Valley Lake on 11/30 (BB, EH).

Grebes

A Red-necked Grebe was at Rose Valley Lake on 10/28 (AK, et al.).

An Eared Grebe was at Rose Valley Lake on 9/15 (BB, DeB, BM, et al.), providing the third Lycoming County record of that species (all of them from that location).

Hummingbirds

A late Ruby-throated Hummingbird was still visiting a feeder outside of Hughesville on 10/13 (BB, DeB, BoB).

A Rufous Hummingbird was confirmed at a feeder near Salladasburg on 9/25 (BB, DeB, BoB), which is at least the ninth confirmed record of that species for Lycoming County, and the first since 2016.

Rails

A Sora was at Rose Valley Lake on 10/5 (BB, DeB, et al.).

Two American Coots were at the Williamsport Dam 10/4-17, and one was at the same location during the last week of October (m. obs.).

Shorebirds

Four American Avocets were at the Williamsport Dam on 8/11 (BB, et al.), providing the third Lycoming County record of that species (all of them from that location).

An American Golden-Plover dropped in at the Williamsport Dam on 11/12 (DanB, et al.), providing the second Lycoming County record of that species (with the prior record coming in 2019 at the same location). Up to 3 Semipalmated Plovers were regularly seen at the Williamsport Dam during the first half of August (BB, et al.).

Three Pectoral Sandpipers were at Rose Valley Lake on 9/21 (BB, DeB, BoB), and were joined by a fourth the following day. The birds were present though 9/28 (EH).

A Red Phalarope flew by the Williamsport Dam during fallout conditions on 10/29 (BB, DeB), providing the third Lycoming County record of that species.

A very late Solitary Sandpiper was at Rose Valley Lake 11/7-8 (BB, DeB, BoB), which is the second-latest record ever for Pennsylvania on eBird.

Raptors

A somewhat late Osprey was seen near Cedar Run on 10/31 (BB).

Golden Eagle reports were not very abundant, with one at the Rte. 15 Overlook on 10/24 (BB, DeB, BoB) and one at Mill Hill Rd. on 11/28 (DF).

An injured juvenile Northern Goshawk was found in the Jersey Shore area on 11/20 and was taken to rehab.

There were no very large Broad-winged Hawk days in the county during the fall, with the highest count coming in at 398 in Ralston on 9/14 (NF). With reports of a lot of Rough-legged Hawk movement up north, a flyby bird at Rose Valley Lake on 10/25 (BB) sparked hopes of a nice irruption coming to this area, but those hopes did not pan out, and numbers ended up being on the low end of normal for Lycoming County.

A Northern Saw-whet Owl was heard near Cedar Run on 11/5 (PL) and another in Gamble Twp. on 11/13 (BB, DeB, BoB).

Flycatchers

An Olive-sided Flycatcher was at Rose Valley Lake on 8/29-30 (BB, DeB, BoB), and one was at Mill St. on 9/2 (BB). A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was at SGL 252 on 9/13 (BB, AK).

Vireos

Philadelphia Vireo reports included South Williamsport Park on 9/2 (BB), SGL 252 on 9/13, 9/20, and 10/4 (BB, AK), Rose Valley Lake on 9/21 (BB, DeB, BoB), and Bruce Henry Park on 9/24 (BM).

Swallows

A pretty late Purple Martin was in a mixed flock of swallows at Rose Valley Lake on 9/16 (BB, DeB, BoB, MH).

Two reasonably late Tree Swallows were at the Williamsport Dam during fallout conditions on 10/29 (BB, DeB).

Nuthatches

This fall's Red-breasted Nuthatch irruption was evident in Lycoming County, as numbers started to climb during the second half of August, and the species was present in elevated numbers the rest of the fall. The highest count of the fall was 17 at the Williamsport Water Authority on 11/27 (BB, DeB, BoB).

Wrens

There were quite a few Marsh Wren reports at various areas of Rose Valley Lake during September, including 9/15 (BB, DeB, BM), 9/17 (BB), 9/21 (BB, DeB, BoB), 9/22 (BB, DeB), 9/23 (BB), 9/24 (BB, DeB, BoB), and 9/25 (BB, DeB).

Mimids

A late Brown Thrasher was at Rose Valley Lake on 11/30 (EH).

Finches

A widespread finch irruption occurred during the fall season, leading to many more reports than normal for several locally uncommon or rare species.

The first finch species that started appearing in elevated numbers was Purple Finch, which started showing up right at the end of August.

Next, after the first report at SGL 252 on 9/27 (BB, AK), an influx of Pine Siskins started to arrive at the beginning of October, and the species was fairly abundant for six to eight weeks before numbers really started significantly declining.

Crossbills never really showed up in Lycoming County in significant numbers during the fall, but a Red Crossbill was at Little Pine SP on 10/27 (BM), and a flock of 6 was seen at the Rte. 15 Overlook on 11/1 (AK).

Evening Grosbeaks were reported in a variety of areas during late October and November, in what was one of the strongest seasons for them in a couple decades.

The last of the finch arrivals during the fall, small flocks of Common Redpolls were at Rose Valley Lake 11/7 (BB, DeB, BoB), 11/8 (BB), 11/22 (BB), 11/25 (BB), and 11/28 (BB, DeB, BoB) and at the Williamsport Water Authority on 11/27 (BB, DeB, BoB).

Longspurs & Snow Buntings

Snow Buntings were seen off and on at Rose Valley Lake during much of November (m. obs.).

Sparrows

A Vesper Sparrow was found in Jackson Twp. on 10/31 (SP).

A mostly white Song Sparrow was at SGL 252 on 10/4 (AK, BB). To see more photos and info about that bird, check out my article about the sighting.

An Eastern Towhee was still at the Williamsport Water Authority as late as 11/27 (BB, DeB, BoB).

Blackbirds

A late Bobolink was in Antes Fort on 10/31 (SP).

Warblers

A Connecticut Warbler was photographed near South Williamsport Park on 10/5 (EH). A Mourning Warbler was found in the Tiadaughton SF near Cedar Run on 8/30 (JG), and one was at SGL 252 on 10/4 (BB, AK).

An extremely late Chestnut-sided Warbler was at Rose Valley Lake on 11/21 (BB, DeB, BoB). There are only two previous November eBird records for this species in Pennsylvania, and this record is more than two weeks later than the previous late date.

A late Palm Warbler was at the Robert Porter Allen Natural Area on 11/9 (EH, YB).

29 species of warbler were reported during the fall:

• Ovenbird
• Worm-eating Warbler
• Northern Waterthrush
• Blue-winged Warbler
• Black-and-white Warbler
• Tennessee Warbler
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Nashville Warbler
• Connecticut Warbler
• Mourning Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• Hooded Warbler
• American Redstart
• Cape May Warbler
• Northern Parula
• Magnolia Warbler
• Bay-breasted Warbler
• Blackburnian Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Chestnut-sided Warbler
• Blackpoll Warbler
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Palm Warbler
• Pine Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Prairie Warbler
• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Canada Warbler
• Wilson's Warbler

Videos

Additional Photos

The Fall 2020 report was compiled and written by Bobby Brown. Our seasonal reports cover March-May (Spring), June and July (Summer), August-November (Fall) and December-February (Winter) to better line up with migration, breeding and wintering timings.