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Brickhouse Lane and Mason Farm



Hi folks, started my weekend birding marathon last night at 
Brickhouse Lane. This was my first visit and I was blown away! I 
won't bore you with the whole list but I got 3 lifers and some 
stunning sights of many many birds

Highlights:

turkey (lifer!)
Eastern kingbirds by the dozen (lifer!) Every phone/power line had one on it!
Prothonotary W (lifer!) 2 fighting on a log
Immature male orchard oriole
Summer tanagers m+f
Northern bobwhites (heard only)

And the most surprising thing was 12 glossy ibises flew over! These 
were totally unexpected and I am absolutely certain of the ID: they 
were close, the bills were in clear view and they were not 
silhouetted so I got all the color too.

Also I heard the weirdest call and I don't know if its a bird or frog 
or what: there were two of them calling at the pond on the path 
signposted for the Beaverdam impoundment, just past the old 
explosives cache (I assume that's what it was: concrete block with 
metal door and signs all over not to smoke within 50 feet). The noise 
was a low piping noise, long and drawn out and they seemed to be 
replying to each other: I checked bitterns, herons and rails on my 
Stokes CD and nothing matched: any ideas?

This am I went to Mason Farm EARLY (before 7am) and was rewarded with 
a great deal of good sightings including:

the kentucky warbler (lifer!): only a short look but he gave me nice 
views of his face paint
2 swamp sparrows
a savannah sparrow (lifer!): really good looks, so I got all the 
field marks. It was perching on long grass and sticks in the 2nd 
field, on the RHS after the path turns after the bench.
summer tanager male
common yellowthroats
blue grosbeaks
indigos indigos indigos
and the really big find was a pair of American woodcock sat on the 
path for a good 15 minutes to give me great looks. As I crept closer 
and closer to them they started to do a weird body bobbing and 
shuffling walk before fleeing into the wood when I was within 30 
yards.

So Q's:

Are savannah sparrows breeding at Mason Farm: was my sighting unusual?

What was that noise at Brickhouse Lane?

Are glossy ibises supposed to be this far inland?

Just in work for the time it takes to write this and to set up stuff 
for tomorrow, then off to Eno SP then back to Brickhouse Lane!

Steve