Yet another short session at the waterfall.

There was a very small number of migrants overflying the county last night which gives an indication of what was flying over Lancaster County to the South which means they may drop into my yard with a bit of luck. As such I wasn't expecting a great deal and I was happy with the American Redstart that dropped in. It wasn't until I came inside just after 4pm that I realized how cold I was. It's getting down to about 40F in the early hours of tomorrow, I'm done with this cold weather, it needs to warm up a bit so I can complain how damned hot it is. 

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

American Redstart

American Redstart

Gray Catbird

A very short session on Monday afternoon.

A short but sweet session yesterday finished at 4:30 because I had very important things to do. Monday is trash night, I have to collect the trash and take it out to the wheelie bin then take the wheelie bin down the 50 yard driveway to the side of the lane where the trash will be collected early Tuesday morning. While gathering the kitchen trash I glanced out of the window and saw a small brightly colored bird flying around the waterfall. At 4:40 or so the light was absolutely perfect grabbing my nearby bins off the kitchen counter to see what it was. (I keep a set of bins there to see what I'm missing at the waterfall). I was absolutely gutted to see a crippling male Blue-winged Warbler prancing about at the waterfall just 10 minutes after I had packed up and gone inside. I hope to get a chance to get out there this afternoon and as the migration data shows, a lot of birds migrated last night, I hope a few of them pop in to have a drink and a bath.

1,281,100

1281100Birds crossed Lebanon County last night (est.)

High

Starting: Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT

Ending: Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 6:10 AM EDT

Myrtle Warbler

Myrtle Warbler

Baltimore Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Sunday afternoon at the waterfall.

It's been a murky overcast Sunday morning but brightened up slightly this afternoon. I'd been outside potting a load of native plants I grew from seed and while outside I set Merlin listening. As it was a quite impressive list of birds including many new migrants I decided to give it a go to see what I could photograph.  It was mainly Robins the first 1/2 hour, there were 12 all bathing at the same time. For some reason it went quiet for a while, the reason soon became apparent as Puma poked his head through the bushes. It picked up again as soon as he scampered off when I yelled at him from the blind. I came in at 4pm and looking through the kitchen window I saw a cracking Blue-headed Vireo, one of the migrants that Merlin had been reporting.

American Robin

Puma

Puma

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Myrtle Warbler

Blue Jay

My Gardener works everyday, including Sundays

I looked out onto the front yard this morning to see my gardener hard at it dealing with the weeds. 

Marmot aka Groundhog aka Woodchuck

Marmot aka Groundhog aka Woodchuck

A short session at the waterfall.

It was a very short 1 1/2 session this afternoon and this included setting up the blind a little further away than the other day. I totally missed a nice Myrtle Warbler because I was texting Kelly. I did get a nice Gray Catbird. I had seen one in the water bowl yesterday morning but this was the first I've photographed this year. I do like Catbirds.

Starling having a splash

American Robin

Common Grackle

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird

First afternoon at the waterfall

Well not exactly a whole afternoon, maybe a couple of hours at most. There were a lot of birds about all the time I was out in the yard mainly getting the potted plants back out of the greenhouse because of a late frost last night. This should be the last frost of the Spring, hopefully!

I got the Tragopan blind out of storage and got it setup, perhaps little too close as the birds were very wary and flew at every movement of the lens. Next time I'll back up a yard or two. Mostly Robins and Grackles but as soon as I packed up for the evening a Myrtle Warbler came down for a bath! 

American Robin

Common Grackle

House Finch

Common Grackle

Common Grackle

American Robin

American Robin

Virginia Blubells

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

I've been busy OK.

 It's been that time of year when it warms up during the day but can still freeze at night. I thought we had the last frost last week but maybe not. Tuesday according to the forecast may dip below freezing allegedly. Not only have I been busy in the yard, I've been doing all sorts things that I can't exactly call fun. Needless to say we did manage a trip out to Middle Creek yesterday evening where I actually took a few pictures. I missed a nice Osprey shot because I had the wrong lens for flying birds. I did manage a shot of a Pheasant which is quite a rarity in these parts.

Ring-necked Pheasant

Ring-necked Pheasant