Lehigh Valley bird sightings for Aug. 29

Can you identify this Selasphorus hummingbird?

One of the birds listed in this week's Lehigh Valley bird sightings isn't actually a specific bird species. It's been identified as a "Selasphorus" hummingbird, a catchall term that includes seven different species, each of them remarkably similar.

"Members of the genus Selasphorus are infamous for being incredibly difficult when not impossible to identify, especially the females and juveniles," writes John F. Garrett, who has written a primer on the subject for the American Birding Association.

The local sighting of the Selasphorus hummingbird occurred in Williams Township, Northampton County, on August 24.

Virtually all of the hummingbirds we see in the Lehigh Valley are vicinity are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris). The males in particular are easy to identify by a ruby-red patch on their throats and green upperparts. The females have green underparts that are whitish and indistinct. The juveniles look similar the females. Adult Ruby-throats are about 3 inches long. They tend to shuttle back and forth between flowers on a horizontal plane and with tail spread.

While most hummingbirds are geographically separated from one another, their migratory routes and other factors sometimes bring them into areas where they are not seen regularly.  

For instance, Rufous Hummingbirds usually live in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain states. However, one spent time at a feeder in Allentown early last winter. Suddenly it disappeared. It's not known whether it moved on or didn't survive as the winter grew harsher. Rufous Hummingbirds are better able to take the cold than Ruby-throats, which by late September migrate southward for the winter.

If you run across an unusual hummingbird, it's likely to be a Rufous ("rufous" refers to the reddish brown color). The other possibilities are the Broad-tailed, Anna's, Scintillant, Glow-throated, Calliope and the ominous sounding Volcano. 

You can identify a species of Selasphorus hummingbird on the basis of size, appearance and behavior.

If you need advice, consult Garrett's identification guide or Hummingbirds.com.

With that said, back to the rest of this week's bird sightings. The list was provided by Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern Pennsylvania Birdline, a project sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society.

Lake Minsi, Northampton County
Common Loon, 1 through August 22.

Plainfield Township, Northampton County
Blue-winged Teal, 1 on August 28.
Green-winged Teal, 1 on August 28.

Lower Nazareth Township, Northampton County
(at the Gremar Road retention ponds)
Ruddy Duck, 1 on August 22.


Bethlehem, Northampton County
Peregrine Falcon, 1 on August 24 at its nest site.

Moore Township, Northampton County
Olive-sided Flycatcher, 1 on August 20.

Leaser Lake, Lehigh County
Black-crowned Night-Heron, 3 on August 23; 2 to at least August 27.

Bake Oven Knob, Lehigh County
Bald Eagle, 12 on August 24.
Also seen: Common Raven, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Wilson's Warbler.

Heidelberg Township, Berks County
Tundra Swan, 1 on August 24 along Bake Oven Road.

State Game Lands 157, Bucks County
(on Haycock Mountain)
Red-headed Woodpecker, 4 on August 24; 5 on August 26; 3 on August 27.

Peace Valley Park, Bucks County
Prothonotary Warbler, 1 on August 26.

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Answer to today's quiz: The hummingbird pictured above is a female Rufous Hummingbird.

A century after Martha

Look for an important story about bird conservation in this week's New York Times Sunday Review. In an op-ed marking 100 years since the death of Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon on Earth, the director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology imagines Martha asking, "Have you learned anything from my passing?"

John Fitzpatrick, the lab's director, answers yes, we have, but we need to do much more. Read about citizen-science efforts, such as eBird, that help scientists track how birds are faring and make course corrections before species become imperiled.

Fitzpatrick will explain the 2014 State of the Birds report, a periodic assessment of the health of the nation's bird populations. Scheduled to be released on September 9, the report will document that for every successful effort to stave off extinction, a number of other birds or their habitats "are in serious danger."

25% off on new 20-inch tube feeder

The Bird House is presenting an introductory offer on a new feeder that features an extra large seed capacity. For one week only, you can buy the Birds Choice Classic feeder at 25 percent off the regular price.

The feeder is huge—20 inches long and 6 inches in diameter and holds 10 pounds of seed! No more refilling your feeder daily! Think of how nice your bird-watching experience will be if you don't have to trek outdoors on a rainy or chilly morning to replenish your feeder.

The Classic feeder is made of UV-resistant Lexan designed not to fade, crack or yellow. A baked enamel-coated top will provide many years of use. The feeder has four all-aluminum seed ports, each with a perch. A Lexan rain guard protects the ports from rain and snow.

Birds Choice is one of the quality names in the backyard-birding world.

Products at The Bird House may be available for a limited time.

Exhibits, books on the Passenger Pigeon

There are several opportunities to learn more about the life and extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, a bird that ceased to exist 100 years ago as of next week. Here are some options:

Lafayette University in Easton will present "Requiem: Ectopistes migratorius," a multi-media exhibition that starts Monday, September 1, and continues through December 13. Fall artist-in-residence Michael Pestel's evolving exhibition will include a participatory gallery installation, videos and collaborative performances to mark the centennial. The exhibition will present opportunities to discuss such topics as extinction, endangered species, the concept of de-extinction, the history of the environmental movement, the science of ornithology, social history and habitat destruction.

• Location: Williams Center Gallery, 317 Hamilton Street, Easton
• Hours: Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.., and Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
• Admission: Free

The John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove will present an exhibit commemorating the centennial and encouraging people to work toward conservation of today's species. Local artists will present their works depicting the Passenger Pigeon and its extinction. The exhibit begins on September 13 and continues through November 15.

• Locaion: 1201 Pawlings Road in Audubon, Montgomery County
• Hours: Tuesday through Saturday noon to 4 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.
• Admission: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors (ages 60 plus), $3 for children (ages 5 to 17). Children under 5 years old are admitted at no charge.

The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia maintains a Passenger Pigeon diorama on the third floor of the museum. The Academy possesses several specimens, including two from Haddonfield, New Jersey, that were collected between 1877 and 1879. The museum has a new sound composition, "Unfrozen in Time," which presents the voices of many North American birds and mammals.

• Location: 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
• Hours: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Admission: $15.95 for adults and teens (ages 13 and older) and $13.95 for children (ages 3-12)

Note: If you know of any additional exhibitions, displays or lectures on the Passenger Pigeon, please send us a note at birdhse@rcn.com. We'll be glad to pass the word along.

Books

A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction, by naturalist Joel Greenberg, is the first major work on the life and demise of the pigeon. A painstaking researcher, Greenberg sifted through tens of thousands of pages of 19th century and early 20th century newspaper clippings, scientific journals, correspondence, diary notations and minutia to present a book aimed at a general audience. Much of the material he collected is available online at Project Passenger Pigeon.

Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record, by Errol Fuller, is a visual presentation of 28 extinct species, including the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, the Heath Hen and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Also you might wish to examine John C. French's The Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania. Published originally in 1919, it is now archived and available at no charge in book format, including illustrations. Click here.

Remembering Martha

From the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto

Martha died alone, the last of her kind—the last Passenger Pigeon remaining on earth.

Next Monday, September 1, marks the 100th anniversary of the extinction of a species that once was so numerous that a single flock could blot the noonday sky, the advance guard of a multitude that formed a vast majestic undulating river of birds.

Named for George Washington's wife, Martha died at age 29 in the Cincinnati Zoo. Her corpse was placed on ice and rushed to the Smithsonian Institution where it remains on display. When she was born in 1885, Passenger Pigeons still existed in the wild, though their numbers were declining precipitously.

The naturalist John James Audubon identified the Passenger Pigeon as a species in 1813, having witnessed a mile-wide mass of the birds moving at 60 miles per hour in a flock that took three days to pass by him. The name he gave the bird was apt: Ectopistes migratorius.

Passenger Pigeons did not settle in one place for any length of time. They couldn't. Their numbers were so profuse that the pigeons consumed enormous quantities of food. When the nuts and forest fruits ran out, they flew off, en masse, to find another location.

In Pennsylvania's Northern Tier a flock alighted in 1870. The roosting, which occupied a mountain ridge in Potter and McKean counties, zigzagged for 40 miles, with a width of one-half mile to 2 miles, according to an account in John C. French's 1919 anthology The Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania. Locals reported it to be the largest roosting in that region since 1830.

Even bigger flocks were found in the Great Lakes states. In a 1955 book naturalist A.W. Schorger says one nesting site in Wisconsin in 1871 contained 136 million breeding adults covering an area of 850 square miles. That is more territory than Lehigh and Northampton counties combined.

No one knows for certain how many Passenger Pigeons lived during the bird's heyday. Reliable estimates place the population at 3 billion to 5 billion birds, an astonishing number that can be appreciated only with comparisons. Today the most prolific bird in the United States, the European Starling, numbers 200 million. House Sparrows have a total of just 70 million. The Passenger Pigeon's distant cousin, the Rock Dove that you see in cities, numbers only 260 million worldwide. One ornithologist calculated that 40 percent of all bird life in North America in the 1880s consisted of Passenger Pigeons.

One final statistic: The global population of humans did not reach 3 billion until the 1940s.

How could a species with such a huge population decline so suddenly? It took just 70 years for the Passenger Pigeon's population to collapse beyond recovery. A boy who witnessed one of these enormous flocks—hundreds of millions of pigeons passing him one day and the next—was able to tell his grandchildren about what he saw. They could see a Passenger Pigeon only in a museum.

Stability in the early 1800s

Native Americans killed and ate Passenger Pigeons only for their needs. The same was true of the Europeans who arrived in the 1500s. And that was true, too, in the United States well into the first half of the 1800s. Much of nation's populace at the time were subsistence farmers. The pigeons provided sustenance in times of plenty and of hardship. The bird contained an ample portion of meat. The bird was twice the size of today's Mourning Doves. The meat was tasty and easily obtained. It was welcome in the spring, when frontier pantries became bare after a long winter.

Bird's territory; map by Terry Sthol; data from NatureServe

Having wintered in the southern states, Passenger Pigeons arrived in Pennsylvania in March. The snowfall melt uncovered the previous autumn's bounty of tree nuts. The "mast"—a collective name for beechnuts, chestnuts, acorns and other hard fruits of the forest—formed the staple of the pigeon's diet. Mast was abundant in the early 1800s, a time when forests stretched unbroken for hundreds of miles. As vegetarians, pigeons also feasted on corn, maize, cherries, grains and berries, among other foods.

When the advance scouts located a suitable feeding area, the rest of the flock would gather, descending as an army to form a "city" on tree limbs and the forest floor. For all the damage that humans did to the ecosystem back then, the Passenger Pigeons did a good job of causing their own havoc as well.

"Flock followed flock, sitting at the tops of trees or lighting on the ground, and moving forward still, as if impelled by the momentum gained in flight," Edwin Haskell wrote in the Potter County Journal in northern Pennsylvania. "Hopping, tumbling, flitting over one another, in the eagerness of each one to keep in the front rank."

The birds often would weigh down tree limbs so much that they'd snap, killing their flock mates below and causing nests and nestlings to tumble down. Their droppings were enough to be toxic to some trees. Alexander Wilson, the eminent Philadelphia ornithologist, called the roosting "a perpetual tumult."

As numerous as they were, Passenger Pigeons had a surprisingly low reproductive rate. Usually a female would produce just one egg, which was incubated by both parents in a platform-like nest of sticks high in a tree. If food was plentiful, a pair might raise a second or third brood, doing so in a new locale each time as the summer passed. The nestling—a squab—would be fed with high-fat curd known as "pigeon milk," which was produced and regurgitated by both parents.

Two weeks after hatching, the squabs would depart with their elders—that is, if they could manage. The squabs often were too fat to fly. They'd tumble to the ground and, after slimming down for awhile, gain the power of flight and join the flocks.

Those that couldn't get away quickly faced almost certain death. "Wild beasts of prey devoured the young and fought over them through the night, making a hideous uproar, and owls and hawks attacked the old birds upon the roosts above the nests," recalled Jeremiah French, the grandfather of John C. French, the Potter County historian and author.

Slaughter is intense

But an even greater slaughter came at the hands of humans. The growth of cities on the East Coast starting in the 1820s created an increased demand for meat. Passenger Pigeons were a cheap, plentiful and seemingly inexhaustible source. Finding the pigeons was another matter. Sometimes they wandered close enough to the city. But more often, locating them was by happenstance. By the time word got out that a pigeon city had settled, hunters arrived to find the forest a mere clutter of debris.

Two inventions solved their handicap. The telegraph guided hunters to prime roosts. The railroad provided a quick means of reaching the site and of shipping the harvest to market.

By 1855 professional pigeon hunters—"pigeoners" as they became known—were sending 300,000 birds a year to New York City alone.

In 1868 the townspeople of Coudersport, in central Pennsylvania, learned that "wild pigeons" had arrived in the woods nearby. They, and plenty of newcomers, reached the site en masse.

"The presence of so many people near the town, engaged in killing, catching, buying and shipping pigeons has caused such an influx of money that the dealers in hunters' and sportsmen's supplies soon ran out of shot," Haskell said. "On entering the town, its streets, usually so quiet, presented a novel spectacle. Men carrying guns were coming into town from various directions. They came in carriages, buggies, lumber wagons, and on horseback and foot. A motley crowd."

Pigeon-shooting was a family affair. As the men and boys shot, the women collected the birds, removed the finest feathers and helped packing hundreds of birds in barrels. The barrels were taken immediately by wagon to the nearest railroad station, where the birds were placed in ice or salt to preserve them for shipment to the cities.

The machinery of death

By the 1870s hunting developed on an industrial scale.

Shooting was the method preferred in heavily forested lands. Some flocks were so thickly packed that a single round of birdshot could bring down 30 or 40 pigeons. 

Knocking down squabs from nests was another technique. It made pigeoners a lot of money. Fine dining had become a fixture of urban life. Restaurants from Boston to Milwaukee were eager for the squabs.

Colored woodblock image of a shoot in Louisiana, 1875 

But nets proved to be the most effective method. Reporting in the Pennsylvania Sportsman in Scranton, R.P. Robinson described the scene: The pigeon net, covering 200 to 300 square feet, would be placed in a high, open field. One side of the net was secured by stakes driven into the ground; the opposite end was on a long, taut rope stretched between stakes. "Grain was scattered on the group for the birds to peck at. By pulling a string the net was fully unfurled, covering the full extent of the feeding ground," he said.

Two decoys were used to attract the pigeons—a "flier" and a "stool pigeon." The flier was a live bird whose feet were secured to the ground by a long cord. The bird would try to fly away but would be held back by the cord. Its struggle would help catch the flying pigeons' attention. The stool pigeon, also alive, would be made to hover as a further enticement. It was tied by the foot of the stool—a 5-foot-high pole—to seduce the other birds to circle it. They came nearer and nearer until they were caught in the net.

"At once there would be a mass of fluttering, struggling pigeons, with heads erect and protruding from the meshes of the net," Robinson said.

Hundreds of birds would be caught at a time in the net and easily killed by hand. The birds would be cleared away, and another round would begin.

"The cruelty of this method of procuring game birds was party in the treatment of the stool pigeon, the poor bird's eyes being sewed shut to cause it to hover more readily," Robinson said.

Pigeon-netting reached its apex in Michigan. During 1869 pigeoners in that state collected 7.5 million birds. Each year their haul increased. Their greatest haul occurred in 1878: somewhere between 10 million and 15 million birds, most of them harvested from one of the last big Passenger Pigeon breeding grounds along Crooked Creek near Petoskey.

That year marked another innovation that hastened the birds' demise: the refrigerated railroad boxcar. This meant that fresher pigeon meat and an even wider distribution to cities thousands of miles away. Immediately there were boxcars and boxcars of birds heading to market.

A new environment

Pennsylvania's last big pigeon city formed in April 1886 along the west branch of Pine Creek in Potter County. Attracted by a prolific beechnut crop, millions of birds arrived. Thirty or 40 men and boys entered the forest, guns firing into the treetops. After three days, no more fluttering could be heard. The people collected their catch and moved on.

"That was the death blow to pigeons in Pennsylvania," C.W. Dickinson, of nearby McKean County, reported.

A few astute observers realized that the slaughter of the Passenger Pigeon could not go on indefinitely. As early as 1857, an Ohio state legislator proposed restrictions on pigeon hunts. After considering the matter, the Legislature filed a report: "The Passenger Pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, traveling hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere tomorrow."

Twenty years later, in 1878, the Rochester Union and Advertiser editorialized against the springtime shootings of "wild pigeons."

"The system is inhumane, unsportsmanlike and must if continued assist materially in exterminating the pigeon race ... In this state the law forbids the shooting of the birds within a half mile of the nesting ground, but that provision is useless even if enforced, for the mature birds must fly far from the nests to get food, and can then be slaughtered at will. Killing them at all during the breeding season should cease," the newspaper said.

Compounding the indiscriminate killing was the loss of the pigeon's feeding, breeding and roosting grounds. Large swaths of forests were being clearcut to furnish lumber for railroad ties, barns, houses and other necessities of a growing, industrializing country.

At one time the American chestnut tree comprised one-third of Eastern hardwood forests. The trees grew as tall as 100 feet, with trunks 12 feet in diameter. Its nuts were a staple for the pigeons. Extensive logging and a blight brought the tree to near-extinction. The American beech, perhaps the single most important food for the pigeons, was logged heavily. The species survived but never again produced as many nuts as the bigger, older trees that preceded it. Hemlock, too, was devastated by loggers. Railroads built a labyrinth of tracks deep into the woods to bring the logs to sawmills. This helped hasten the forests' demise.

Towns and farms now dotted the thousands square miles that had been unbroken, virgin forests.

Final flights

In 1885, the year Martha was born, the Passenger Pigeon's population was declining precipitously. The nature of the species required ample food and a large population base for breeding and protection. When pigeons were plentiful, hawks and eagles had trouble taking pigeons on the wing because the flock swarmed and dodged, confusing the predators. Even though Passenger Pigeons flew at 60 miles per hour, isolated individuals became prey to fast and clever predators.

Martha, at the Smithsonian Insitution

It is widely believed that the last Passenger Pigeon in the wild was killed in 1900 by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, who shot it out of a backyard tree with a 12-gauge shotgun. However, that story is disputed by the painstaking research of Joel Greenberg, the author of the 2014 book A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction. Greenberg identified the last wild specimen as expiring in 1902.

By then the only remaining Passenger Pigeons were in zoos. They did not breed successfully. Martha laid a single egg in her lifetime and it was infertile. Her mate died in 1910. In failing health, Martha eventually succumbed. Zoo keepers found her lifeless body on the bottom of her cage on September 1, 1914.

A handful of people couldn't believe that such a prolific species had simply vanished. Some speculated that the birds fled to the Arizona desert, or South America, or the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Supposedly 30 were seen in 1917 in Pennsylvania's Delaware County. C.F. Hodge, a professor at Clark University in Massachusetts, offered a reward to anyone who claimed to have seen a Passenger Pigeon. He repeatedly traveled to validate those claims, only to discover that each was a "wild goose chase." He rescinded his offer in 1912.

The world had moved on. European armies were clashing in The Great War, "the war to end all wars." The United States proudly opened the new Panama Canal to commercial shipping. Women were attempting to get the right to vote; the Anti-Saloon League was agitating for the prohibition of alcohol nationwide.

At the time, only naturalists treated Martha's death as an important passing of an era.

"The Passenger Pigeons shrank in numbers, as did the bison on the plains, but no one realized that a race was being exterminated," wrote author John C. French of Potter County. "The decline was slow at first; but from 1865 to 1886 it was remarkable—and then the deluge!"


Tomorrow: Upcoming exhibits and events on the Passenger Pigeon

Lehigh Valley bird sightings for August 22

White-winged Dove (file photo)

This week's report of Lehigh Valley bird sightings has resulted in another species making its debut in our region.

A White-winged Dove was spotted on August 18 just north of Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, along Curly Hill Road in Plumstead Township, according to Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline.

The White-winged Dove is a bird of scrub and desert thickets throughout Texas and parts of the southwestern United States. Its white crescents on the wing and its white tail tip distinguish it from the Mourning Dove that is so common locally. The face of the White-winged Dove is more colorful, with bright orange eyes and a blue eye shadow. It also is larger-bodied than the Mourning Dove. 

Another difference is that it tends to be migratory, spending its winters in the Rio Grande Valley, Mexico and Central America. Sometimes it forms colonies covering several acres.

Note the orange eye and blue eye shadow (file photo)

Heavily hunted during the early 20th century, the population is rebounding. Lately the White-winged Dove has been making inroads beyond its normal range. The birds are becoming more common in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Kansas. It has been introduced in Florida.

The dove is becoming suburbanized, where the blandness of grassy lawns resembles its habitat in the Southwest. In its normal range, the White-winged Dove's main diet consists of the fruit of cacti and the seeds of the grasses and Saguaro cactus. It's also fond of cracked corn, which it consumes in farm fields and will take at backyard feeders.

The sighting in Bucks County was photographed, so there is proof of its appearance locally. Individual birds wander widely and irregularly once breeding season ends but it's surprising they are appearing this far north. There have been a handful of reports of White-winged Doves in Pennsylvania over the years, according to ebird.org, the international online bird reporting system. In 2012 a dove was spotted on Staten Island for the first time in 12 years. There even is a report of a White-winged Dove in Alaska.

Meanwhile, the Eastern PA Birdline, which is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, reports other species for the week ended August 22. With many birders on vacation, this week's list is brief.

Bake Oven Knob, Lehigh County
Bald Eagle, 9 on August 15.
Also seen: Common Raven.

Leaser Lake, Lehigh County
Black-crowned Night-Heron, 3 from August 15 through at least August 17.

Haycock Mountain, Bucks County
(on State Game Lands No. 157)
Red-headed Woodpecker, 1 on August 15 through at least August 17.
Olive-sided Flycatcher, 1 on August 15 through at least August 17.

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Better red than dead

Strongly colored male House Finch

Back in the dark days of the Cold War, there was a commonly heard exhortation: "Better dead than Red." A new study flips that saying on its head, at least as male House Finches are concerned. For them, it's better to be red than dead.

Several studies have linked bright colors as a sign that an individual bird has superior foraging abilities, the ability to recover from diseases faster and, in general, a body that is in better overall health. It also better able to attract a mate.

Researchers in Sweden put those findings to the test with House Finches. They placed a number of male House Finches in an large avian compound encased by a net. Then they tested the ability of the House Finches to escape when a human came too close.

The researchers found that males with redder feathers escaped faster than the duller colored finches. ""The superior flight performance of redder birds would be an important asset in escape from predators, as well as when foraging or maintaining a territory," they said. 

They also surmised that redder finches would be better able to survive the winter.

The study was reported in the July 2014 issue of The Auk, which is published by the American Ornithologists' Union.

So there you have it: If you see a very red male House Finch on your feeder, chances are that he will be back many times to visit. 

Oh, and keep in mind one of the distinctions between House Finches and Purple Finches. A Purple Finch has a pinkish red (not purple) color on its head and breast, mixing with brown on its back. The House Finch tends to have a more intense, rosier color, though it's limited to its head and upper breast. 

Maybe that's why the House Finch has largely replaced the Purple Finch on the East Coast of the United States. The Purple Finch is native to this area; the House Finch was introduced from the Southwest as house pets in the 1940s. The House Finches were let loose and have been gaining territory ever since.

Township gives mixed reviews to planned housing at Green Pond

Special to The Bird House

Photo from savegreenpond.yolasite.com

For the first time, birding enthusiasts who oppose a proposed 265-unit gated housing community near Green Pond Marsh have a clearer picture of where the Bethlehem Township Commissioners stand.

The five-member Board of Commissioners ultimately will decide whether to approve or reject the project. Two previous development plans, by Toll Brothers and J.G. Petrucci, died because of traffic and stormwater management concerns.

But this time, supporters of Green Pond face a tougher task. This plan seems more acceptable to the commissioners, based on comments they made at Monday evening's meeting. One of them voiced outright support for the project and another has spoken favorably about the plan. Two others raised questions about the ramifications of the development. The fifth was mum.

The township commissioners did not take a vote on whether to approve the project because it was only a preliminary sketch plan. The plan must be reviewed by state and regional officials, and then will be sent back to the commissioners for final action.

Traditions of America, which describes itself as a nationwide builder of housing projects for people aged 55 and older, wants to build 265 homes at a stone's throw of marshy areas where migrating and year-long birds obtain food and take refuge. 

The National Audubon Society lists Green Pond Marsh as an "Important Bird Area." Over the years 162 different species of birds have been seen at the site, including eight that are listed as "endangered" or "threatened" in Pennsylvania.

Did the developer exaggerate?

One major issue at Monday's meeting was whether Traditions of America mischaracterized the meeting that its executives had in July with representatives of the Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited and Hawk Mountain. 

According to many critics of the project, the developer gave the impression at a public meeting on July 28 that all three organizations were satisfied with wetlands as designated on the housing plan.

However, a spokesman from the Pennsylvania Audubon Society and a researcher from Hawk Mountain denied that they had commented favorably on the project. In a letter, the Pennsylvania Audubon Society said it "is not in favor of any development of this site." A scientist from Hawk Mountain she was asked only to examine issues connected with wetlands generally. In her letter, she said she did not speak for Hawk Mountain then or now. However, as a personal matter, she said the project should not go through.

At Monday's meeting, TOA operations director David Biddison denied the company had misrepresented itself. He asserted that the company only sought information from the groups and did not solicit their endorsement. However, he did not address the objections raised in the letters from the Pennsylvania Audubon Society and the Hawk Mountain researcher.

Leaders of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society strongly oppose the housing plan.

More wetlands in new plan

Traditions of America told the audience that it has reworked its "conservation area" to create a total of 20.35 acres, an increase of about 2 acres. In addition, TOA is increasing its designated wetlands to 153,000 square feet (equal to 3.5 acres), instead of the 73,000 (1.7 acres) as initially proposed.

"Right now, the Important Bird Area is fully covered," Biddison said. 

TOA said it would create three ponds of varying depths on the east side of the tract. There will be a fourth pond at the southern end of the property. During wet periods, an infiltration basin will catch storm water. The infiltration basin would be planted with native grasses.

Originally TOA argued that, as a legal matter, it must protect just 27,000 square feet of wetlands, or less than an acre. That zone was earmarked by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sometime after 1987, when amendments to the federal Clean Water Act required the Corps to delineate the extent of wetlands nationally for purposes of issuance of permits for dredging or backfilling.

Steve Kunz, a certified wetlands ecologist retained by Save Green Pond, which opposes the development, told the commissioners that the marshy area is much larger than the 27,000 square feet shown on TOA's original map. Kunz said the wetlands could be as large as five to seven acres.

The definition of a "wetland" is based on the plant life, soils and hydrology of the site. Kunz said the hydrology is the most important defining issue at Green Pond Marsh. One of the characteristics of a wetland is the amount of overflow created from rainfall or winter thaws. A wetland is an area that ponds for 14 days or more per year, an event that happens at Green Pond.

The wetlands are part of the area TOA has marked as a "conservation area." Biddison said the developer reduced the size of driveways to give more space for conservation.

"We're trying to do the right thing. We're trying to listen to the public. We're trying to address their concerns," Biddison said.

The people get their say

The public wasn't able to react to Biddison's presentation. The public portion of the meeting preceded the developer's. About 100 people attended the meeting. Of the 24 people who spoke, none supported the developer's plan.

The speakers emphasized that the loss or alteration of any habitat would harm bird life, especially for migratory species. 

Some of them noted that the site presents an ideal opportunity for educational opportunities for school students. For instance, Terry Master, a professor at East Stroudsburg University, said Green Pond serves as a regional resource. He takes his students to Green Pond whenever possible to examine the ecology of the wetlands.

Vicky Bastidas, a member of the Northampton County Open Space Committee, suggested that the township try to acquire the site to create a nature preserve. Funding for land acquisition is available through the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the state Department of Community and Economic Development, the Northampton County Open Space Program and several nonprofit groups. However, because of the nature of the grant programs, the township cannot force a landowner to sell property for open space preservation.

The development site currently is owned by Green Pond Country Club, which is selling the property to the developer. Traditions of America plans to pitch the project as a boon to golfers.

Other speakers focused on the aesthetic beauty of Green Pond Marsh and on the wildlife that lives there. They feared that Bethlehem Township would soon become overdeveloped to the detriment of residents who live there.

Still other speakers focused traffic and flooding problems the development would create. Dennis Taylor, a Farmersville Road resident who farms 3,000 acres, tackled both issues. He cultivates in various locations, some on leased properties. As a result, he needs to move equipment to different sites, and the increased traffic would compound the problems he has even now in traveling on a 16-foot-wide combine. He also pointed out that erosion from development throughout the area is causing greater flooding on Nancy Run.

"I really hope you guys would take a look at what happens downstream because of what happens upstream," Taylor said.

He said he loses 200 to 300 acres of farmland each year due to development.

Barbara Malt, vice president of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, and Rick Wiltraut, who has been studying birds for 45 years, were among those making presentations at the meeting.

Two other speakers tried to emphasize their points with visual effects.

Scott Burnet, head of the habitat and conservation committee of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, displayed a mounted American Coot that had been killed by a herbicide that was sprayed in another township. The species, he said, is a shy, retiring bird that has been seen in Green Pond. Do the Bethlehem Township Commissioners, Burnet asked, want to be responsible for killing birds like this species by voting for the housing project?

Gwendolyn Evans Caldwell, a professional painter who lives in sight of Green Pond, gave each commissioner a watercolor painting of birds that she has seen at the site.

"Bird watching is no mere hobby like golf," she said. "Birds are crucial to man's survival."

Commissioner Hudak has 'heard this before'

Commissioner Michael Hudak was unimpressed by Caldwell's gift. He didn't look up to accept the painting. He had been staring at the ceiling during most of her presentation. He got the cold shoulder from several other speakers, a fact that did not go unnoticed.

Michael Adams, a former Butztown resident who now lives in Lehigh County, began his remarks with a biblical reference. "The Good Book has some very profound things to say about the birds of the sky," he said, pausing as his voice choked with emotion. Once he resumed his presentation, he turned to Hudak and said: "I find your studied indifference contemptible."

"That's your right," Hudak replied.

"I don't need you to affirm that right," Adams countered.

Hudak brushed aside the public objections to the development, saying, "I've heard this before."

He asserted that Traditions of America has fully met the needs of bird life in Green Pond.

"I don't think that the houses will scare the birds away," he said, noting that Blue Herons have roosted on his roof.

"The birds have been here for hundreds of thousands of years," he said. "I'm not so arrogant as to think they need our help."

Hudak also said there are many 55-and-older residents in the township who have told him they're interested in the project and support it.

Commissioner Zawarski wants proof about bird life

A second commissioner, President D. Martin Zawarski, spoke favorably of the project when it was unveiled in early July. "Out of all of the plans that came before us over the years, this is absolutely the best use and they're more respectful of all the issues they have to deal with," Zawarski told the Easton Express-Times back then.

On Monday evening, Zawarski didn't expressly endorse the project, but wondered why Green Pond has become such a big deal. He said has lived in the township since the 1960s but doesn't recall seeing birds at Green Pond back then. He thinks they arrived as time went on, and now the site has become a refuge for them. He asked the Audubon Society to document why Green Pond should be treated as an Important Bird Area. "Next time you come back, bring something with some more meat in it so I can understand this better," said Zawarski, a real estate agent and developer.

Earlier in the meeting, the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society had presented the commissioners with a binder containing photographs taken at Green Pond of dozens of birds, some of them rarely seen locally.

Commissioners Nolan and Barnard have reservations

On the other hand, Commissioner Thomas Nolan posed numerous questions to the developer. He noted that in his 27 years as a township official, he has seen development projects come and go, and not all of them worked out as planned.

"I have to go into the bigger sphere: What is good for the township, not what is good for the developer," Nolan said.

He commended Traditions of America for making improvements to the original plan, but said the final plan still has hurdles to get through, including those relating to traffic congestion and a clear delineation of what is a wetland and what is not.

"My judgment as to whether to support it right now is on hold," Nolan said.

Commissioner Phil Barnard had similar reservations. "When you come up with a formal plan, I hope their concerns are addressed," he said, referring to those in the audience.

The fifth commissioner, Pat Breslin, was mum. Throughout the meeting, he said nothing about the development plan or about the concerns voiced at the meeting. He asked no questions of the developer.

No timetable was announced for a final vote on the housing project. The developer has yet to present it for review by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission or the Northampton County Conservation District. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation must sign off on the developer's traffic study. The state Department of Environmental Protection may have to evaluate the wetlands issue.

Lehigh Valley bird sightings for August 15

Black-crowded Night Heron

Here are the Lehigh Valley bird sightings for the week ended August 15. The listing was compiled by Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline, which is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society. With many birders away on vacation, this week's list is short.

Lake Minsi, Northampton County
Common Loon, 1 from August 11 through at least August 13.

Lower Nazareth, Northampton County
(Gremar Road retention ponds)
Ruddy Duck, 1 on August 13.
Pied-billed Grebe, 5 on August 13 (pair with three young).

Bethlehem, Northampton County
Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 through the past week at a private backyard.

Leaser Lake, Lehigh County
Black-crowned Night Herons, 2 from August 11 to at least August 14.

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Bugged by bugs?

Male cardinal with a caterpillar

Bugs of all types are at their peak in the backyard: everything from destructive pests such as weevils and scale insects to beneficial insects such as katydids and butterflies.

Many of the backyard birds that we attract to our feeders actually require a healthy diet of insects as well. Birds that we think of as seed-eaters, such as the Northern Cardinal, actually prefers insects during the summer.

Other common birds—Barn Swallows and Purple Martins, for instance—eat insects almost exclusively.

Insects are high in protein and easy to feed to nestlings.

But who is eating what right now?

Cardinal. Beetles, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies and moths.

Chickadee. Moths, caterpillars, flies, beetles, plant lice, scale, leafhoppers, tree hoppers, aphids, leaf miners and spiders.

Tufted Titmouse. Caterpillars, beetles, ants, wasps, stinkbugs, tree hoppers, spiders, and snails.

Mockingbird. Beetles, earthworms, moths, butterflies, ants, bees, wasps and grasshoppers.

Catbird. Ants, Japanese beetles, midges, grasshoppers, caterpillars and moths.

Common Grackle. Beetles, spiders, grasshoppers and caterpillars.

Starling. Grasshoppers, beetles, flies, caterpillars, millipedes, spiders and Japanese beetles (the adult and the grub).

Downy Woodpecker. Beetles, larvae that live in wood or tree bark, ants, caterpillars, bark beetles and apple borers.

Carolina Wren. Caterpillars, moths, stinkbugs, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and cockroaches.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird snags a fly

House Wren. Beetles, caterpillars, earwigs, daddy longlegs and flies.

Northern Flicker. Ants, beetles (gathered from the ground or from "cow paddies"), flies, butterflies, moths and snails.

White-breasted Nuthatch. Weevil larvae, wood-boring beetle larvae, click beetles, most other beetles, tree hoppers, scale insects, ants, gall fly larvae, tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, stinkbugs and spiders.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies and spiders. They catch insects in mid-air or pluck them from spider webs. (Hummingbirds need protein to thrive; the nectar furnishes them with the fuel to help them find the protein sources.)

Robin. Grasshoppers, beetle grubs, caterpillars, cutworms and (of course) earthworms.

Eastern Bluebird. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, weevils, crickets and an occasional ant, fly, centipede, sowbug or snail. They also love mealworms. Mealworms are available at The Bird House in either live or in dried form.

Baltimore Oriole. Beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, flies, spiders, snails, tent caterpillars, gypsy moth caterpillars, fall webworms, spiny elm caterpillars and the larvae within plant galls.

Summertime tips

FREEZE BERRIES FOR WINTER. Before you see the last of affordable blueberries or blackberries this season, try freezing some for the winter. Birds that appreciate a wintertime fruit snack include Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Cedar Waxwings, House Finches and Tufted Titmice. 

So you don't confuse the birds' treats with your own, use the same method as you would if you were planning to freeze the berries for the dinner table. Wash the berries, let them dry thoroughly on a cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Let the berries freeze overnight. Then place the berries in plastic bags. With this method, the berries won't clump when frozen. You'll be able to dole them to birds a little at a time.

USE A SUMMER SEED MIX. Birds have different dietary requirements during different seasons. A good summertime seed mix consists of a high percentage of black-oil sunflower seeds, then a lesser percentage of white millet and safflower. Round it out with striped sunflower or shelled peanuts. We have several mixes that fit that bill. These include Backyard Medley, Ultimate Blend (which includes dried cherries as well) and Backyard Best.

KEEP SUET FRESH. A beef-based suet can melt or even spoil in the hot summer sun if the birds don't eat it right away. Try placing your suet feeder in the shade if you plan to use rendered beef fat suet. If you store suet, it's a good idea to refrigerate it until it's time to fill the feeder.

During the summer The Bird House switches mostly to "No Melt" cakes. (There are a few exceptions because customers sometimes do prefer offering rendered beef fat to birds.) The no-melt cakes are meant for year-round use. They cakes carry the label "Dough" or "Never Melt."

SPRUCE UP YOUR FEEDER. Unless you offer a shell-free or hull-free food, you're bound to have debris beneath your feeders some of which may sprout. You can keep your lawn or garden cleaner—and healthier for birds—by removing the sprouts, the hulls or shells, and spreading a layer of mulch. You'll find that in the future, any uneaten seed that sprouts will be easier to remove. You can also use a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet which catches the shells and can make clean up easier.

Another option is to relocate your feeders periodically before any debris can build up. Moving feeders around is an important consideration if you fill your feeders with black  oil sunflower seed. The hulls that accumulate on the ground in a thick layer can become toxic to the lawn. You may find it difficult for grass seed to sprout in the future.

Lehigh Valley bird sightings for August 8

White-tailed Kite

A White-tailed Kite was seen in Perkasie in Bucks County on August 7. This may be the first recorded sighting of the bird in Pennsylvania, according to Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline, a project of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society. 

Two experienced observers saw the White-tailed Kite flying southwest over their house. Unfortunately the bird passed by so quickly that it was impossible to photograph it.

A medium-sized raptor, the White-tailed Kite is readily identified by its brilliant plumage and its habit of hovering while hunting for small mammals. While hunting, the White-tailed Kite hovers up to 80 feet off the ground and then drops straight down to capture its prey.

"This ability to hold a stationary position in midair without flapping is accomplished by facing into the wind, and is so characteristic of these birds that it has come to be called kiting," the Cornell Lab of Ornithology said.

White-tailed Kite in flight

The White-taled Kite is commonly found in open woodlands, desert grasslands, savanna, partially cleared lands and cultivated fields. It generally avoids areas with extensive winter freezes.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources says the number of White-tailed Kites is increasing, in part because of its extensive range. It is common from Argentina north to Mexico. In the United States, however, its range is confined to California and the western Gulf of Mexico, from Louisiana to Texas.

That is why a White-tailed Kite's appearance in Bucks County is so unusual. There have been infrequent sightings along New Jersey's inland coast near Barnegat, according to ebird.org. The online reporting service shows no sightings in Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley and vicinity, the number of bird reports continues to be low, with many observers on vacation. Other sightings reported to the Eastern PA Birdline include:

Green Pond, Northampton County
Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Williams Township, Northampton County
Lawrence's Warbler, 1 on August 3. (Lawrence's Warbler is a natural hybrid which looks like an all-yellow Golden-winged Warbler.)

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Purple Finches

Male Purple Finch

Roger Tory Peterson once described the Purple Finch as "a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice." These birds breed in North America, but it requires careful observation to distinguish them from the more commonly seen House Finch.

Purple Finches are larger and more chunky than chickadees and nuthatches. They have thicker and more conical bills than sparrows. Their tail is noticeably notched. 

The male Purple Finch shows pink-red (not purple) on the head and the breast, mixing with brown on the back and some white on the belly. The back has some streaks. The head is rather bright, with a distinct paler pink eyebrow contrasting with a darker cheek. The lower belly is whitish with some wide blurry streaks.

Female Purple Finch

The female Purple Finch has no red color. She is mostly brownish. The underparts are brownish streaks on whitish color. The female has a strong white eye stripe and a dark line down the throat. 

Purple Finches breed mostly in moist, cool coniferous forests or mixed deciduous and coniferous woods. During winter they may be seen feeding in backyards.

Female Purple Finches do all of the nest building. The nests are made from twigs, sticks and roots, and are lined with fine grasses or animal hair. Two to seven eggs are laid and incubated for 12 or 13 days. Nestlings fledge in about two weeks.

Purple Finches' primary diet consists of seeds of conifer trees and tulip poplars, maples and similar trees. They also eat soft buds, nectar (by biting off the base of the flower) and many types of berries. In winter they will eat seeds from dandelions, ragweed and cocklebur. Purple Finches also eat insects, such as aphids, caterpillars, grasshoppers and beetles. If they visit a feeder, it will be for black oil sunflower seed.

Purple Finches used to be common in the eastern United States but are losing their numbers here. Instead House Finches now prevail. In the 1940s House Finches were brought to Long Island from the Southwest (where they are native) to be sold as house pets. As selling native birds is illegal, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service threatened the pet shops with prosecution. The shops responded by releasing the "evidence" into the wild. Since then, House Finches rapidly adapted to the eastern United States. Now 9 out of 10 finches we see are House Finches. 

So how do Purple Finches differ from House Finches? The two may be difficult to distinguish. In general, House Finches are a bit drabber than Purple Finches. 

Female and male House Finches

Male Purple Finches have a greater amount of pink or rosy red color. Male House Finches have a lesser amount of reddish color; the hue is more intensely reddish or orange reddish. The wings of the male House Finch lack bright color and the flanks are streaked. 

The female House Finches is grayish brown. The breast of has some streaking but it is blurrier than that of the female Purple Finch. The female House Finch's face is indistinctly marked.

House Finches also tend to be more slender than Purple Finches. Both species of these seed-eating birds have similar bills, but the House Finch's bill is slightly smaller and is fairly blunt and rounded, without a sharp tip.

Another distinguishing feature is their nesting practices. House Finches welcome nesting boxes (bird houses); Purple Finches do not use them.