Year Report - 2017
Lycoming County 2017 Summary
Although 2017 didn't provide the same caliber of rarities as 2016 did, it was still a solid year. The total species count of 230 is an increase of 2 compared to 2016, which had a strong number of rarities. Checklist totals on eBird stayed close to the same, with close to 6,600 checklists.
Several species were added to the all-time Lycoming County list as first county records during 2017. The additions included Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Avocet, Long-tailed Jaeger and Ross's Goose.
Observer abbreviations include: Bobby Brown (BB), David Brown (DB), Deb Brown (DeB), Bob Brown (BoB) (BB, DB, DeB, BoB collectively as Browns), Brent and Su Bacon (B&SB), Dan Brauning (DanB), Jean Dalton (JD), Maddi Dunlap (MD), Dave Ferry (DF), Norwood Frederick (NF), Eric Hartshaw (EH), Mark Hull (MH), Andy Keister (AK), Mark Lengel (ML), Steve Pinkerton (SP), Annette Sheets (AS)
Rare Birds
It is difficult to draw a specific line on what constitutes a rare bird, but this list attempts to include only the birds that are truly scarce in the Lycoming County. Many of these birds were refound by several observers, but only the initial observers are listed here. Nocturnal Flight Call records are not included here.
January
No rare birds were found in Lycoming County during January 2017.
February
At least 4 Red Crossbills were found in a remote area of the Williamsport Water Authority on 2/25 (DF).
March
The first county record of Yellow-headed Blackbird was found on 3/15 at a backyard feeder in Montgomery (MH). More than a foot of snow the previous day had pushed many birds to backyard feeders all over the area, which is probably the only reason this bird was found.
The rare gull records for the year were a Great Black-backed Gull at Rose Valley Lake on 3/15 (DanB), and a Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Williamsport Dam on 3/26 (BB, DeB, BoB, MD)
A Sandhill Crane was briefly seen on 3/24 near Jersey Shore Airport (ML).
Trumpeter Swan M78 (Harvey) was found at Rose Valley Lake on 3/25 (NF). The bird was seen near Germantown, MD during the evening prior (and reportedly in that area for quite a while) — a straight-line travel distance of roughly 150 miles. Harvey is a male hatched in May 2013.
April
In April, a pair of Trumpeter Swans with neck tags Z603 and Z675 were photographed on a private pond near Pier 87 by a family member of the property owner. The birds were reportedly present 4/1-7. These swans are a pair that have been traveling together, and are possibly escaped birds.
A flyover flock of 3 Sandhill Crane was observed at Mill St. on 4/10 (BB). A very cooperative Sandhill Crane was at South Williamsport Park 4/15-24.
An adult Red-headed Woodpecker was photographed in a backyard in Moreland Twp. on 4/30 (AS).
An Orange-crowned Warbler was found at a private residence outside of Williamsport on 4/29 (DF).
May
A flyover flock of 22 Brant were observed migrating over the Lycoming Creek Bikeway during the PA migration count on 5/13 (DB, et al.).
A Yellow-breasted Chat was found at SGL 252 on 5/28 (BB, DB, DeB, AK).
June
The Red-headed Woodpeckers in Slate Run from 2016 were confirmed to still be present in June and July. Possible nesting results are unknown. A Red-headed Woodpecker also passed through Eldred Twp. on 6/16 (JD).
July
Four American Avocets were found at the Williamsport Dam on 7/14 (DB, MD), the first Lycoming County record of that species.
August
Three Black Terns were found near Canfield Island on 8/18 (BB, DeB, BoB), and another one was observed at Rose Valley Lake the same evening (SP).
A flyover Long-tailed Jaeger at the Williamsport Dam during the evening of 8/26 provided the first Lycoming County record of that species (DB, MD).
An Olive-sided Flycatcher and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher were both found at SGL 252 on 8/27 (BB, DB, AK).
September
No rare birds were found in Lycoming County during September 2017.
October
A Connecticut Warbler was found at Mill St. on 10/2 (BB), which was the first Lycoming County report of that species since 2012.
A Marsh Wren was found in brush along the Loyalsock Creek at Mill St. on 10/7 (BB, DeB, BoB).
A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron was found at the Williamsport Dam on 10/29 (BB, DeB, BoB), providing the second known county record of that species
Two Dunlin were seen at Rose Valley Lake on 10/30 (SP).
November
Around 60 Dunlin dropped in at Mill St. during a rainy 11/1 (BB, DeB, BoB), 10 of which stayed through the following day.
The Black-crowned Night-Heron at the Williamsport Dam was seen again at dusk on 11/2 (BB, MD, JD).
A flyover Greater White-Fronted Goose was observed from Indian Park on 11/22 (BB, DeB, BoB).
A Snowy Owl was found near the Lycoming Mall on 11/15 (B&SB). One was reported a few miles away on Facebook earlier that morning, which may have been the same bird, and there were other reports of two owls in the same area that week, but that was never confirmed.
December
There were Snowy Owls seen in at least 5 different locations during Decemeber.
A small flock of Snow Geese flying over Montoursville on 12/22 contained a Ross's Goose, an apparent first Lycoming County record (BB, DeB, BoB).
Hotspots
Like the past few years, Mill St. and Rose Valley Lake were the top hotspots in the county during 2017, although they swapped positions with Rose Valley finishing first with 181 species, and Mill St. being a bit below normal with 168 species. Those species totals were respectable at the state level as well. Rose Valley finished the year tied for 11th most species for a hotspot in Pennsylvania, and Mill St. tied for 17th. Rounding out the top 5 Lycoming County hotspots for 2017 were SGL 252 with 149 species, the Williamsport Dam with 141, and Canfield Island with 137.
New additions for Mill St. included Rough-legged Hawk, Pine Warbler, Sandhill Crane, Purple Martin, Connecticut Warbler, Marsh Wren and Dunlin, bringing the all-time count to 208 species.
New additions for Rose Valley Lake included Great Black-backed Gull, Trumpeter Swan, Purple Martin, Peregrine Falcon and Least Sandpiper, bringing the all-time count to 207.
Individual Results
For individual results, 4 birders each recorded more than 200 species in Lycoming County in 2017: BB (219), DeB (215), BoB (212), and DB (207), with 3 additional birders at 175+: SP (196), EH (195), and AK (175). The 2,000 checklist mark was broken for the first time for an annual list by BB with 2,026, and DeB broke 1,000 with a total of 1,334.
Conclusion
While the craziness of 2016 didn't really continue into 2017, at least as far as state review list rarities are concerned, several first county record birds and many other rarities definitely made it a fun year.
The 2017 report was compiled and written by Bobby Brown. For detailed summaries of all sightings instead of just rarities, check out our Seasonal Reports.
