Damon's Birds for the Weeks of July 21 - August 3

Yeah, summer is slow and we slow down with our weekly reports so that they are every-other week, only we put an extra week into that. But, hey, both of us have plenty of birds to report for these weeks!

It wasn't easy getting new birds while being stuck in the Philadelphia region for most of the time, so all my birds for this reporting were was through hard work. It took me about four trips to Heinz Wildlife Refuge to find that damn Little Blue Heron, but I finally did! He was around where the nest for the Least Bittern was (at least when I saw him), but it took me a bunch more times before I saw that bird. Damn shy and cryptic birds!

But the big fun just started with shore bird migration commencing! They aren't as common here, but we get a couple at my work and the spotting scope there was good enough to pick up the Semi-palmated Sandpipers and the single Pectoral Sandpiper that visited. Yeah, that Pectoral Sandpiper was 10 minutes of staring with the scope and plenty of consultation with Sibley and the Shorebird Guide, but it sure was one!

But those weren't many over a two week span, so I did what any sane individual would do when they need to find birds: I went down to Cape May! But that is for the next update, though rest assured that I went down there and immediately saw a Pectoral Sandpiper.

American Goldfinches feeding next to my car at Heinz  the day I saw the Little Blue

164; Little Blue Heron; 7/27/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA
165; Semi-palmated Sandpiper; 7/28/13; DuPont Environmental Education Center; Wilmington, DE
166; Pectoral Sandpiper; 8/1/13; DuPont Environmental Education Center; Wilmington, DE
167; Least Bittern; 8/3/13; John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge; Philadelphia, PA