Along Lakefront Trail, where thin slivers of ice interrupt the mirror-like stillness of the water, Karen Hardy scans the horizon through binoculars early on a December Saturday morning.
“Looks like we’ve got some hooded merganser ducks,” she announces. “A male and two females.”
More elongated in flight than the common species, the merganser male is distinguished by a black crested head, while the female carries a tufted red-brown crown.
Those characteristics are important to Hardy, who was participating in the National Audubon Society’s 124th Christmas Bird Count.
Between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, birders across the country take to the woods to identify and record the number of nonmigratory birds settling in for the winter.
Organized by the Schuylkill County Conservancy, a battalion of birders spread out over a roughly 15-mile region of western Schuylkill, centered around Tremont.
The count area included Swatara State Park; Schuylkill County Airport; the Lebanon Reservoir; and game lands and farms throughout the west end.
David Kruel, a Pottsville birder, coordinated the count, which has been held locally for about 20 years.
With Tania Jordan of St. Clair, Hardy scanned the shores of Sweet Arrow Lake for winged residents, including robins, bluebirds, sparrows, finches and ducks.
They had no difficulty finding the honking Canada geese or the flock of mallards cutting a “V” in the still water near the lake clubhouse.
It took a little more effort to spot a golden-crowned kinglet feeding on pine cones and sycamore seed pods. A great blue heron did a flyover, and an energetic belted kingfisher patrolled the shoreline in search of a finned breakfast.
Spotting a red-bellied woodpecker, Jordan inputs its presence into the eBird database, which registers more than 100 million bird sightings a year.
Armed with cameras equipped with 600mm telephoto lenses, Hardy and Jordan are able to scan treetops for birds seldom seen by the untrained eye.
Hardy, 35, a Wayne Township stay-at-home mom, identified a rare Nelson’s sparrow last year near Lake Wynonah. It was the first recorded sighting of the species in the county.
Jordan, 43, a real estate appraiser, has been birding for about a decade. She, too, made a notable find last year — a Hammond’s flycatcher at Tuscarora State Park.
“You get to know a lot about certain birds who occupy certain trees,” Jordan said.
Contrary to the ritual of seeing the “first” robin of spring, Jordan said robins typically remain in the region during the winter, retreating to wooded areas where they survive on berries and seeds.
Hardy’s interest in nature began by studying native plants. Eventually, she developed an interest in birds.
“Birds are a lot more interesting,” she said. “There’s always something moving through the area.”
Barbara Ritzheimer spent five hours documenting 29 species of birds in Swatara State Park.
The rarest find was an Eastern Phoebe in a marshy area of the park, said Ritzheimer, a retired Pine Grove Area teacher who’s active in the conservancy.
“You often find birds around water,” said Ritzheimer, whose party spotted a ruby-crowned kinglet and a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
Source: Berkshire mont
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