Delaware Water Gap
Leader: Pat Scheuer
Leader: Pat Scheuer
It was a cold and foggy day in January when me, my bro, my friend Eton Zeller, and his dad rode into the quiet parking lot of Digman's Ferry by the Delaware River to go birding. But we weren't here to enjoy the trip alone, because this was a NJ Young Birders trip! By the time we got there everyone had their scopes set up on the birds that we came here for: Bald Eagles. Even though the pair of adults were right on the other side, the blanket of fog made it slightly hard to spot in the rows of evergreens along the river. Fortunately, everyone got their decent look of the first eagles of the day. While the parents got their turn with the scopes, some of the light-hearted kids, including myself, decided to put our ice shard skipping to the test around the boat launch. I just so happened to have the beginners luck of five skips across the water, which nobody could beat after that. So if you're an expert ice skipper, let me know if you want a challenger!
With the games aside, everyone piled into the NJ Audubon van to begin the adventure into Pennslvania. Our next stop was not too far up the river. Just as the vehicle pulled into the lot, we were surrounded with songbirds that were feeding on the berry producing shrubs, making everyone hyped to get out and identify them. It only took a second to ID them as Cedar Waxwings, but mixed in were also robins, bluebirds, and even a lone mockingbird. Unfortunately, this area gave us no eagles, but we did have a surprisingly low (and noisy) Red-tailed Hawk that glided by.
Our next stop was a dead-end road of what seemed to be a ghost town. There was even a big, overgrown bridge that went over a huge, dark ravine, adding to the creepiness. Thankfully it wasn't as much of a ghost town as we thought because we had a perfect view of some filled bird feeders that got some surprisingly good birds. One was an incredibly camouflaged Brown Creeper that went to the suet cage at the base of the tree allowing us to get great pics. Suddenly my brother notices a weird bird crawling in the treetops, which turned out to be a beautiful Red-breasted Nuthatch, which gave a lifer to some of our crew.
If you thought birding in two states (NJ and PA) was great, it was time to go over another boundary and into the New York! This time we took a really high and windy road that took us right along the ridge of the Delaware river valley. When we got out of the van, we were amazed by the beautiful view over the land. Here we got to spot a few eagles from our perch on the mountains. One juvenile was even perched allowing us to scope out the raptor. Later some hoarse cawing came from the forest on our side, and out flew two massive Common Ravens that continued cruising over the expanse of hemlock woodlands.
Moving down the mountains, we got to see a huge eagle nest on the PA side. Unfortunately it was unoccupied at the moment, but according Patrick Scheuer, our trip leader, this nest was still active and might have a chance of seeing it on our way back to our meeting point at Digman's Bridge. The final location of the day was a large foot-bridge that went across the Delaware. Even though there were no eagles and not many other birds, the scenery was breathtaking, making the visit to this spot still worth it. The trip was officially over, but as I'd like to say: birding is an endless hobby. On our way back we did get to see the magnificent adult Bald Eagle on the nest, making a solid ending of spotting an eagle in three states in one day!
-Joe Hernandez
With the games aside, everyone piled into the NJ Audubon van to begin the adventure into Pennslvania. Our next stop was not too far up the river. Just as the vehicle pulled into the lot, we were surrounded with songbirds that were feeding on the berry producing shrubs, making everyone hyped to get out and identify them. It only took a second to ID them as Cedar Waxwings, but mixed in were also robins, bluebirds, and even a lone mockingbird. Unfortunately, this area gave us no eagles, but we did have a surprisingly low (and noisy) Red-tailed Hawk that glided by.
Our next stop was a dead-end road of what seemed to be a ghost town. There was even a big, overgrown bridge that went over a huge, dark ravine, adding to the creepiness. Thankfully it wasn't as much of a ghost town as we thought because we had a perfect view of some filled bird feeders that got some surprisingly good birds. One was an incredibly camouflaged Brown Creeper that went to the suet cage at the base of the tree allowing us to get great pics. Suddenly my brother notices a weird bird crawling in the treetops, which turned out to be a beautiful Red-breasted Nuthatch, which gave a lifer to some of our crew.
If you thought birding in two states (NJ and PA) was great, it was time to go over another boundary and into the New York! This time we took a really high and windy road that took us right along the ridge of the Delaware river valley. When we got out of the van, we were amazed by the beautiful view over the land. Here we got to spot a few eagles from our perch on the mountains. One juvenile was even perched allowing us to scope out the raptor. Later some hoarse cawing came from the forest on our side, and out flew two massive Common Ravens that continued cruising over the expanse of hemlock woodlands.
Moving down the mountains, we got to see a huge eagle nest on the PA side. Unfortunately it was unoccupied at the moment, but according Patrick Scheuer, our trip leader, this nest was still active and might have a chance of seeing it on our way back to our meeting point at Digman's Bridge. The final location of the day was a large foot-bridge that went across the Delaware. Even though there were no eagles and not many other birds, the scenery was breathtaking, making the visit to this spot still worth it. The trip was officially over, but as I'd like to say: birding is an endless hobby. On our way back we did get to see the magnificent adult Bald Eagle on the nest, making a solid ending of spotting an eagle in three states in one day!
-Joe Hernandez
30 Species:
Canada Goose
Mallard
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch