Pennsylvania Game News - February 2018 - 59

were more bird species than I'd seen on
my entire hike.
The next day was even warmer, reaching 67 degrees.
Even though it was as warm as late
March, no spring birds had returned.
On another long walk on another part
of the mountain, an area full of brush that
usually holds small birds, all I heard or
saw were pileated woodpeckers.
On the third morning of the count, it
was warm, overcast and breezy as two
Canada geese croaked over Sapsucker
Ridge at 7:15. They could have been part
of the local flock, and ahead of their usual
10 a.m. flyover. Or, possibly, they were
early migrants lost from a larger flock.
As I started on my walk for the day, I
paused to watch a pair of white-breasted
nuthatches chase a downy woodpecker
from a black walnut tree.
Then at the entrance to Bird Count
Trail, a tufted titmouse scolded, throwing
its voice in every direction, starting quietly
and getting progressively louder as a male
downy woodpecker foraged quietly on a
nearby tree.
A red-bellied woodpecker called from
Greenbrier Trail, followed by a pileated.
Slowly, I climbed up Dogwood Knoll to
Sapsucker Ridge as the wind picked up.
A pair of turkey vultures floated overhead
- the first migrants of the season and three
weeks earlier than usual.
A red-tailed hawk flashed past. It probably was our resident redtail. Then a third
turkey vulture appeared, reminding me
that the Winter Raptor Survey statewide
recorded the highest number of turkey
vultures ever, although we didn't see any
on our count in nearby Sinking Valley.
By afternoon, it was 62 degrees on the
veranda, and Bruce and I sat there, soaking up the sun for a winter that might or
might not return.
FEBRUARY 2018	

Our resident chipmunk, which has its
den hole at the far end of the veranda, approached my feet, then Bruce's, sniffing
his slippers before running off.
Maybe it was trying to figure out what
kind of creature wore fake fur lining.
The weather still was beautiful, clear
and warm the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count. Chipmunks mate-chased
throughout the forest. I was hoping to see
or hear birds, but walked a totally silent
and birdless Ten Springs Trail to a birdless road.
Even our feeder birds had dwindled -
six juncos instead of the usual 40 and no
cardinals, goldfinches or blue jays, all of
which had been there the previous days.
Were they as flummoxed as I over the
"winter" weather, or was the open ground
providing more natural food for them?
I counted 22 species, the lowest number ever. Winter bird diversity continues
to dwindle from one year's count to the
next. Last winter, I found no brown creepers, winter wrens or golden-crowned
kinglets - species I usually can depend
on counting here.
The next day I walked up First Field
Trail and noticed fresh turkey scat.
I started along Far Field Road, when a
bird from the flock saw me before I saw
it. The flock rushed across the road and
out of sight, so quickly I couldn't count
the birds, although there were at least 30.
I sat on Alan's Bench and watched as
a chickadee extracted cone scales from a
low-hanging Norway spruce bough with
a cluster of cones at its tip. It then landed
on a nearby branch to extract the paired
seeds from the scale.
It did this three times before calling
dee-dee-dee and flying away.
Observing bird behavior always is
59
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Pennsylvania Game News - February 2018

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