Elk County 2008

So once again, Meet-In Pittsburgh invaded Elk County, Pa for a weekend of big critters and the outdoors. This year, everyone knew how to get to the lodge and all arrived before nightfall. Frank, Gerry, Jack, Pete, Tony, Joe, Kari and her daughters (Bridgette and Lynnette) joined me for a weekend at Medix Run Lodges. We’d been planning this since early last spring and everyone was ready to get away.

Thursday evening I brought out one of the toys that I borrowed for field testing, a night vision scope. Overall, it worked rather well, Bridgette and Lynnette loved it. We used it to see more stars than you could imagine. The evening was wrapped up with a few drinks and conversation around the campfire.

Friday morning some of us were up bright and early to go find some elk. The caravan included Kari, the girls and Tony in Kari’s van plus Gerry and Jack in my truck. It wasn’t long before we found the elk either. There was a small herd of 11 right on Route 555 about 5 miles from the camp. The herd was split onto both sides of the road enjoying a morning meal.. The herd bull was on the southern side of the road about 40 yards away with 6 cows and 4 cows were on the northern side of the road. As I got out of the truck I heard one of the northern cows calling and I got an idea. I grabbed my Primos “Lead Cow and Calf” call and went to work. After 2 or 3 mating calls the herd bull turned toward us and loudly bugled. What a way to start the morning!!! If you’ve never heard an elk bugle it’s one of the most haunting and mysterious sounds in the woods.. After hearing that I grabbed my Primos Terminator Bugle call and imitated his bugle to make him think that there was another bull in the area. The herd bull bugled again so I came back with a few more cow calls. This really got the herd bull going; he bugled several more times and then started visiting each cow to see if she was the one making the mating calls. He eventually worked his way towards us and the four cows on the northern side of the road. At one point the bull was maybe 10 yards from us. Everyone, especially the girls couldn’t believe the experience. I can still see the look in Bridgette’s eyes after the first bugle; they were as big as saucers!




We continued on our way that morning and drove to the top of Winslow Hill which is the most popular place for elk viewing in the area. The fog was very heavy on top of the mountain so we couldn’t see much. We were lucky enough to find a group of three bulls though, two of which were sparring with each other. One was a large, probably former herd bull and the other was a younger bull just beginning to feel his oats. We couldn’t see much because they were just inside some brush but you could hear them and at times make out what was going on. I think that the larger bull was just toying with the youngster; he was much larger in the body and had more than twice the amount of antler mass. After watching them for a short time we all agreed that it was time for breakfast so we set a course for the lodge.

After breakfast, most of the crew(Frank, Jack, Gerry, Tony, Pete, Joe and Lynnette) decided that it was time for a hike. As everyone got ready, I double checked my photography equipment. I had a list of places to find to determine if they would be suitable viewing areas for later in the trip and the future. I promised the crew that I would get them to the trailhead for the Fred Woods Trail which isn’t regarded as a very difficult trail but promised plenty of rock formations and overlooks. Before leading them to the trailhead I took everyone to an overlook that I found earlier this year. This overlook offers stunning views of the surrounding country; everywhere that you look all that you see is mountains. While we were at this overlook we were treated to an incredible fly-by of an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. The plane must have been practicing low-level terrain following as it disappeared into a valley north of the overlook then soon roared back up above the mountains.


I dropped off the hiking crew, made sure that most of them had some sort of fluorescent orange on for safety then I went on my own way. I didn’t have much luck with what I wanted to do but I did get to do some off-roading in my truck. Frank, Gerry, Pete and Jack had the good fortune to see a large black bear after they finished the hike! After being nearly three miles into the forest, they saw the bear right near an intersection with Route 555. Judging by their pictures, it appears to be about a 300+ pound bear. While I was on my little adventure I eventually ran into Kari and Bridgette who went to meet Kari’s sister and parents who decided to come to Elk Co. for the day. I took them to a few spots and they joined me in my luckless quest for new viewing areas for a while.

Late Friday afternoon, Pete, Lynnette and I again went looking for elk. This time we found them in a field on Winslow Hill. The first herd was made up of 14 cows and a herd bull. We got a lot of pictures of this herd and I was able to get some great shots of the herd bull as he was resting near the edge of the field. On our next stop a short distance away, we found two more groups of elk. The first herd had 11 cows and a herd bull, the second group was a bachelor bull group of three: Two spike bulls and a raghorn (small, multi-point) bull. These were quite a distance from us and I was the only one able to get pictures of them, unfortunately the pictures were too blurred for my tastes. From this same area, I spotted another herd to the east of us. Because the herd was on the move, we jumped into the truck and quickly drove to the vicinity of the herd. In a matter of a few minutes, we were out of the truck trying to spot the herd but we were too late. The herd disappeared into the woods already, when I first saw this herd I was able to make out through my binoculars two bulls sparring and eight cows. We moved on further down Winslow Hill and found two more smaller bulls bedded in another field. I believe that these were two of the bulls that we saw in the same area that morning but because I never clearly saw them I couldn’t be sure. What an evening of critter viewing the three of us had!! In a little over two hours we saw 42 elk; that was more than we saw in three days last year! The total for the day had risen to 56.

Friday evening we all relaxed around the campfire, told a story or two, had some ‘smores and planned for the next day.

Saturday morning dawned crisp and much clearer than Friday, there was a light fog in the valley and the mountain tops were clear. Frank, Tony and I decided to venture out in search of more elk. We were driving along Route 555 when Tony spotted our first elk of the day. It was a rather large bull that had probably lost his harem to another bull. He was walking through a campground and never stopped long enough to provide us with a chance of clear pictures. We drove towards Benezette to check out a couple of places that we saw elk last year. Those places brought us no elk but as we were returning to the Benezette area we found four elk right beside the road at an intersection. This small group was made up of a large bull and three cows. Frank and Tony were able to lean out the windows of my truck and take pictures since the elk were maybe 20 feet from us. From this quick stop we drove up onto Winslow Hill again, at the first viewing area, we saw some elk to the east of us in the same field that I spotted the third herd from the night before. We quickly went there and saw another 8 cows and a herd bull. They didn’t stay around for long though, maybe 10 minutes and they disappeared into the woods. Our next stop was at the main viewing area on Winslow Hill. There were no elk visible in the immediate area but through my binoculars I spotted movement in a field at least a half mile away. Through the spotting scope I was able to make out 4 cows in a field. From the main viewing area, we made our way back to the lodge. While we were driving up Grant Hill Road we saw a few cars pulled over so we got out to take a look at what was going on. There in a small clearing near the driveway of a camp was another herd of 10 elk, 9 cows and a herd bull. Frank and Tony did their best to get pictures while I used my calls to try to get the bull to bugle. Another 24 elk added to our total for the weekend.


After breakfast, everyone got ready for the balance of the day. All of the folks at the lodge except for me were meeting some other Meet-In folks at the Straub Brewery in St. Mary’s then heading to Dubois for lunch. That was covered here previously. I spent the rest of my day exploring new territory. There is so much forest in this area that you could spend years getting to know it all, that’s what I came to Elk County for in the first place.

I started by following a road that turns off of Route 555 near Weedville. According to my maps, this should take me deep into the Moshannon State Forest. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/stateforests/moshannon.aspx
I made my way on this road which eventually climbed about 15-1800 feet above the valley. As the road leveled off again I came to an area that was clearcut of trees about two years ago. This area was maybe 5 acres in size with a lot of brush and cut logs lying around. I decided to park the truck and explore a little. I grabbed the camera and GPS and made my way through the clearcut. I saw nothing exciting until I was back at the truck getting ready to move on; I was just looking around when I saw a melanistic chipmunk run across a log. This guy wasn’t a full albino because he had black ears and 2 black stripes on his tail; the rest of his body was white. I checked out my map book and saw that I was about 10 miles from the Quehanna Wild Area. The Quehanna Wild Area is a 48,000 acre area that is considered the most unpopulated part of the state. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/oldgrowth/quehanna.aspx
Michelle and I spent a little bit of time in the Quehanna Wild Area last year and I fell in love with it. I got to the Marian Brooks Natural Area which at this time of the year is something to see. The fall colors on the white birch trees were just incredible.
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/stateforests/moshactivities.aspx
While in the Marion Brooks area I found a 4WD trail and made my way into the forest. As I was driving down the trail, I saw something slither across the path in front of the truck. I knew it was a snake but I couldn’t swerve, I just hoped that he saw the tires and stopped until I was past. I continued down the trail and found a small mud hole that I just had to play in. There was no resisting this urge for me; I shifted into 4WD-Low and hit the gas. The mud was only about 6 inches deep but I was laughing to beat the band. I had rooster tails of mud flying from all four tires. The mud was really thin though so not much of it stuck to the truck.






I finished playing in the mud and made my way back down the same trail that I came in on before. When I got to where I saw the snake I realized that he didn’t wait for me to pass. I got out of the truck to check him out and saw that it was no ordinary snake, it was a Timber Rattlesnake around 30” long!!!! I’d never seen a rattler in the woods before. I picked him up with a stick and threw him into the woods. He was dead so I knew there was no chance of harm. As I was coming to the end of the trail and getting ready to turn back onto the Quehanna Highway I said to myself “I should have taken a picture of that snake”, I was already a few miles from it. Shortly after that I realized that I should have cut the rattles off too. Oh well, an opportunity missed is an opportunity lost. I continued on to explore some of the Dent’s Run valley and returned to the old stomping grounds of the Hicks Run valley. By this time it was coming close to 4 PM so I decided it was time to head back to the lodge to find something for dinner.

Shortly after I returned to the lodge, the rest of the crew showed up as well. Kari and her daughters had an obligation on Sunday so they went home after finishing lunch at the restaurant. Saturday evening turned into a night of a little alcohol fueled mayhem. Before I got too much alcohol into me I asked if anyone was interested in going back to the overlook that we were at on Friday. Gerry, Frank and Jack all agreed that it would be something to see at night. They were all a little ahead of my with the alcohol so I said that I would drive, I’d had maybe two drinks, I was safe. A little over 30 minutes later we were at the overlook. This was something to see, even with a half moon in the sky. Using the night vision we were able to pick out a vast number of stars. Frank, Gerry and Jack decided to take a little hike out to the edge of the overlook, which is just under a mile from the truck. I was content to stay where I was and look at the stars. The three amigos eventually made their way back to the truck and we started off towards the lodge. I took them down the road I found in April. At that time I gave this road a “Pucker Factor” of 8.5 due to the mud and rain, this time it wasn’t as bad but my passengers were still impressed that as they looked out the window to the left they were looking at the tops of trees that were less than 100 feet away. Yes, the cliff was that sharp and no, there weren’t any guard rails.

When we got back to Route 555 we faced a 30 minute ride back to the lodge, Frank handed me a CD and said “Put this in, Gerry will love it.” In second Gerry was going nuts, the CD was Lords of Acid. I had never heard this before and I found it uuummmm…..interesting. This is coming from a true, confessed country boy and redneck. I was actually getting into the songs but in the back of my head I was singing the Dukes of Hazard theme song. We were going to be on a dirt road soon and I was gonna show these three amigos a little good ol’ boy thrill. When we got to Grant Hill Road, which leads to the cabin, I said “I’m going for a new hill climb record on this road, hold on!” Now Grant Hill Road is steep, winding and dirt after the first quarter of a mile. I hit 45 mph on the climb. That may not sound like much but if you knew this road you’d be impressed. Gerry and Frank were suddenly quiet in the back seat, bracing themselves against the front seats; Jack was white knuckled on the two grab handles in the passenger seat. I was laughing and singing…”Just a good ol’ boy….never meaning no harm…” We got back to the lodge and the three amigos all said the hill climb was great, please don’t do it again. I said shoot, in my younger days I’d have hit at least 60. I did a lot of dirt road driving years ago and I’m a little rusty now.

After we got back to the cabin things got a little crazy. Gerry decided to dance with a stuffed bear, I was imitating Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Jack was egging us both on. Someone mentioned that Gerry always wanted to ride the lazy susan on the kitchen table, that wasn’t good for her though. We thought that she was going to turn a little green.


Sunday morning it was time to clean up and get ready to head for home. In what seemed like no time at all, our Elk County trip for the year was over.

There were some low points to the trip as well. Friday morning the well ran dry and we had no water in the lodge. We were somewhat upset about that but there were other cabins that were part of Medix Run Lodges and there were two bathhouses located there which was just a short trip down the mountain. Luckily we had a few cases of bottled water for drinking. I also ran into some rude people through the day on Saturday. Whether they were locals sick of the tourists or tourists themselves I can’t say. That was the first time in a long while that I ran into rudeness like that in Elk County or anywhere else outside of the city. Normally folks are very friendly.

All in all, it was another great trip and as far as I know, a good time was had by everyone. We’ve already talked about doing it again next year but we’ll consider a different lodge, this is the second year in a row that we ran out of water.

I’m ready to go back right now.

As usual, you can view all of my digiscope pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/richwiz34

I'm still alive!!!!

Well it's been a few months since I've posted something and I'm still here, I'm still alive.

I've had a long, busy summer, working lots of hours and getting out very little. Hopefully that will be changing for me soon even though I have the busy time at the store coming very soon.

Coming soon, you can expect to see a blog about my annual trip to Elk County, PA and of course more blogs about my quest to photograph each species of waterfowl that travels through or nests in Pennsylvania. So stay tuned, there will be more adventures soon.

Harmarville and North Park, May 4, 2008

Dave, one of the characters that I work with at the store, told me of a Green Wing Teal that he had been seeing in Harmarville, PA. I was familiar with the area which is less than 20 minutes from my house and we were due for some rain around 10 am so I got to Harmarville around 6:45am to look for this teal.

This part of Harmarville has a small marsh or wetlands area behind a shopping plaza. I parked the truck a short distance away from where he told me to look for this teal, set up my equipment and walked to where this teal was supposed to be living. I got to the general area and sure enough there he was feeding n the grass on the edge of the water. His spring mating colors were stunning. I just took my time and kept snapping pictures of him. At one point I was a little less than 25 yards away which is outstanding for this species. These little ducks are usually very skittish, before today the closest I have been was about 80 yards.


I was so busy concentrating on the teal that I didn’t notice the other ducks milling about in the grass and gravel at the edge of the marsh. A pair of mallards brought their newly hatched young out to eat. I swung the digiscope in their direction and got some good shots of these youngsters.


About 10 minutes after the mallard family showed up a pair of Canada geese brought their new goslings out as well. The goslings seemed to take over where the ducklings were. The ducklings didn’t like this so they went running to mom. Mom mallard was sitting on the ground enjoying her time away from the kids until they came running to her for protection from the goose bullies. Mom mallard patiently stood up and all of the ducklings hid under her. I was laughing out loud while watching this go on.


I turned back to the teal and saw that he was joined by a Wood Duck drake. These two guys were bouncing all over the place and it was nearly impossible to get shots of them standing still.

The teal, wood duck, mallard and goose families soon made their way back to the marsh and I decided to make a run to North Park to see what was there. I got to Marshall Lake at North Park about 30 minutes later to find that the county had blocked access to the footbridge to the island. I guessed that this was to protect the three pairs of nesting geese that took up temporary residence there. Thunder rumbled in the distance so I decided that it was time to go home.

North Park, April 26, 2008

It’s springtime now and I have a lot of responsibilities pulling me in different directions; because of that it’s been almost two weeks since my last outing. Once again this morning I was limited on time. Today I had to meet my sister so that I could do some work on her computer therefore I had about 3 hours to digiscope this morning.

I decided to hit North Park again. This time of the year is the middle of the song bird migration and the start of the mating season for those that nest in this area. Because of this activity, I figured that North Park would give me the best opportunities in the amount of time that I had.


I pulled into the parking area at Marshall Lake just after sunrise. While I was setting up the digiscope I saw that there were swallows flying all over the surface of the lake, they were catching an early morning hatch of mosquitoes. I stopped on the road side of the footbridge to the island to watch. I noticed that the swallows would buzz around the lake for a while then stop to rest of the railings of the footbridge. I decided to just wait for them to come to me.


While I was waiting for the swallows to rest on the bridge railings I was able to get a few shots of a pair of Grackles at the top of a tree on the island and also pictures of a Yellow Warbler in another tree.


The swallows finally came to rest on the bridge railings. I was able to get a multitude of pictures of these little birds. I was excited because these birds rarely stop for a rest like this.


After shooting the swallows I made my way across the bridge to the island. Halfway across the bridge I noticed that a goose was sitting on a nest on the island near the bridge landing. This could very well be the same goose on the same nest that I got pictures of last year. I got some great pictures then so I snapped another handful for this year.


I finally finished crossing the bridge to the island. On the far side of the island is a fallen tree that I like to call “The Perch”. Birds will fly from all around the lake to perch and call from this tree. I’ve gotten more pictures of more species of birds on this tree than I have anywhere else I have been and this morning was no different. When I first got to that side of the island a Red-Winged Black Bird was calling his heart out from one of the top branches of “The Perch”.


As I was watching for activity on The Perch a wood duck swam from the feeder stream at the North end of the lake to the nest boxes across the lake from me. You just know that I had to snap some pictures of this guy too.


As I saw when I first arrived this morning, the swallows were still buzzing the surface of the lake. I couldn’t see the footbridge from where I was so I can’t be sure if they were still stopping to rest there or not. They were however landing on The Perch. I was lucky enough to get good pictures of both Tree and Rough-Winged swallows as they rested on the limbs of the dead tree.


It was a good morning and it was getting close to the sister-meeting time. I decided to call it quits for the day and move on to other chores.

North Park, April 13, 2008

It has been 10 days since my last outing and I really needed a break. It’s been raining in my area just about every day for the last week. I checked the forecast the night before and saw that I’d have a 2-3 hour window to try for pictures this morning.

I arrived at Marshall Lake at North Park about 30 minutes after sunrise. I parked the truck and proceeded to get my gear ready. I looked across the lake and saw a Wood Duck drake perched atop one of the nest boxes in place there.

I made my way to the island across the foot bridge and happily saw that the woodie was still there. I started snapping pictures of him. My loyal reader already knows how I feel about Wood Ducks, I think they are the most beautiful duck to visit and reside in Pennsylvania. After about 75 pictures of the woodie I felt that it was time to search for new targets. The way that the woodie was acting I expected him to be there for quite a while yet.

The first new target that I saw was a Red-Winged Black Bird that was perched in a nearby tree. He was happily greeting the morning with his song. Yes, that picture really is a Red-Winged Black Bird. It is uneditted except for cropping to size.

A second new target was a grackle that was calling from a pine tree on the island. The light was hitting him perfectly so that his head was glowing a brilliant iridescent blue.

When I first walked onto the island this morning there was a Canada goose in the water just a few feet away from me. The goose just stayed there and watched me for most of the last hour. It seemed to me as if he was fascinated by me and my actions. So, to keep him from being insulted and needing goose counseling for my neglect of him I snapped a few pictures. Sure enough, after he saw me focus on him for a few minutes he swam away.


While I was helping the goose with his identity crisis I saw that the wood duck drake was still on the nest box. The sun had risen further into the sky by now and was casting some excellent light directly onto the woodie. I had a rare opportunity to get pictures of a woodie in the same position but under different lighting conditions in the same day. Woodies are normally just too skittish for that to happen too often.


After shooting another 50 pictures of the woodie I saw that it was time to go home; I still had a lot of work to get done there. It wasn’t my best morning of digiscoping this year but any day spent enjoying nature is a good day.

Day Three “Up North” – The Journey Home, April 3, 2008

Today would be the last day of this trip, I had to be back to work at both jobs tomorrow. I decided to pack-up and leave camp early so that I could stop at Moraine State Park/Lake Arthur on the way home. I set the alarm for 4:30 AM so that I could be packed up and on the road by 6 AM. My plan worked, I was on I-79 south by 5:50 in the morning and made it to the boat launch at old Route 422 on Lake Arthur by 6:45.

I previously wrote about the wildlife viewing area near this boat launch. From this little platform I was able to see and get shots of buffleheads and wood ducks. Some of the woodie pictures are really outstanding if I do say so myself. I used up the remaining space on the 2GB memory card that I started yesterday. It was time to move to the next spot for the morning.

I drove to the South Shore Recreation area and saw some ducks in the end of the cove. I parked the truck and checked out the ducks, they were Mallards so I passed on the pictures. I also saw a Red Winged Black Bird perched upon a sign near the edge of the water. I set up the digiscope and got some pictures of this guy as he was doing his spring mating calls.



After the Red Winged Black Bird flew off I caught some movement near the shore across the cove. This turned out to be a handful of Hooded Mergansers, unfortunately they were too far away to get any decent pictures.

I moved again, this time to the point of land where this cove meets the main lake. Out on the main lake, maybe 150 yards away, I spotted a Common Loon. I was ecstatic!!!! I had never seen one of these birds before and wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity. Luckily, the loon cooperated with me.



The entire time that I was shooting the loon there was a song sparrow singing away in a tree about 12 yards away from me. After I took about 50 shots of the loon I swung the digiscope towards the song sparrow. It was almost as if he was singing and posing just to get his picture taken.


My next stop would be the boat launch at McDaniel’s Road. I had stopped here before when the lake was frozen and the area showed some potential. I wasn’t even in the parking lot when I saw two osprey in a nest across the cove from me. I parked the truck and walked to the lake shore with the digiscope in hand. The osprey nest was about 150 yards away but the light wasn’t perfect so the pictures weren’t as good as those that I got yesterday.


I left the ospreys and walked to another small cove because I heard wood ducks calling from that direction. I just can’t pass up a chance at pictures of wood ducks in their mating plumage which they are in now. They have the most vibrant mix of colors of all of the waterfowl that visit PA. Try as I might I just couldn’t find the woodies that were doing the calling though.

While I was looking for the woodies, I heard a Blue Jay calling repeatedly. I looked around and saw the blue jay perched at the top of a tree nearby. I swung the digiscope around and started snapping pictures. I’ve seen blue jays quite often but I’ve rarely had a chance to get good pictures, here was my opportunity.

When the Blue Jay flew away I decided to pack up and move to the North Shore of Lake Arthur. I checked a few of my spots and found nothing. I stopped at one of the points overlooking the lake. As I was getting out of the truck I spooked two wild turkeys that were no more than 25 yards away from me; I never saw them before they spooked. These were two long-bearded gobblers and this was the start of the mating season so I used my turkey call to try and bring them back. Although they were gobbling in answer to each of my calls they wouldn’t come into the open for pictures.

After a few minutes I decided that the turkeys didn’t want to be sociable so I scanned the lake with my binoculars. In the water just off the point that I was on I saw a group of four Double-Crested Cormorants. I set up for some pictures and was able to get several before they went out of range. These pictures aren’t as good as those from yesterday but for a rare bird for this area I’ll take them.

After the cormorants were out of range I decided to pack up and head home. I had only 75 pictures remaining on my last memory card anyway. I also wanted to download the pictures to my computer at home to see what I captured over the last few days.

I was slowly driving down one of the back roads on the North Shore when about 150 feet in front of me something very tall and hairy walked across the road on two legs. This thing walked just like the Bigfoot in the famous footage from the 60’s. It crossed a 20 foot wide road in three steps!! I said to myself “Holy Sh*t it’s Bigfoot!!!!!” The camera was packed in its case so I couldn’t get pictures. This creature knelt beside the road with its back to the road. I pulled my XD-40 from its holster and said to myself “If this sumbitch really is Bigfoot I’m gonna give my taxidermist a heart attack.” I wound down the window and slowly drove towards the creature.

I was maybe 50 feet or less from it when I saw that its body wasn’t covered in fur but in canvas. I got a little closer and was able to make out the faded lettering on its back that read “PA Parks and Recreation Maintenance”. It was a maintenance guy with long dark hair and a long beard both the same color as his suit!!!

I pulled up to him and said “I thought that you were Bigfoot.”

His answer was “People say that all of the time. I saw you down on the point and I figured that I’d play a trick on you.”

I replied “You played a trick alright, you were almost on your way to the taxidermist.”

We both had a good laugh about the encounter and I went on my way. After 2 ½ days I drove some 600 miles and took more than 1700 pictures. I saw and photographed 20 species of waterfowl and birds as well as white-tailed deer, elk and turtles. It was an outstanding trip.

Day 2 “Up North” – April 2, 2008

Since I was staying in the area I could sleep an extra hour and still be at my first stop for the morning before sunrise. That was my plan anyway. The sun was supposed to rise around 7 AM; I would set the alarm for 5 AM so I would have an hour to get everything ready and be on my way by 6 AM. Like I said, that was my plan. However my mind wouldn’t let that happen, I was wide awake at 4:30.

I made it to Erie National Wildlife Refuge in Crawford County at 6:40 and in the twilight of early morning I was able to make out Canada Geese on some of the ponds that I drove past. I knew that I would have better opportunities before the day was through so I didn’t bother to shoot those geese. At the Erie National Wildlife Refuge there are lakes and ponds scattered throughout the area, some along roads and others accessible only by hiking to them. I decided to drive past the ponds visible from the roads and if I didn’t see anything worth shooting I would hike to some of the other ponds.



I was driving past one of the ponds and saw a small flock of nearly 20 Ringneck Ducks; it was time for some pictures. The wind was still blowing quite hard from the storm last night; the temperature was in the mid 30’s but the wind made it feel like the high teens. It wasn’t a very comfortable first stop for pictures. While I was shooting the ringnecks, I noticed something among a flock of geese at the far end of the pond. I continued to get shots of the ringnecks as the new creature worked its way closer to me. Eventually he was close enough so I swung the digiscope in his direction. It was a diving duck but I hadn’t positively ID’ed him yet. I got into his rhythm as I do with all divers that I shoot and was shortly getting acceptable pictures. This little guy turned out to be a Pied-Bill Grebe! I had only seen one of these before and was unable to get pictures of him. Getting the pictures of this Grebe made passing up the photo opportunities earlier worth while. It was time to leave Erie National Wildlife Refuge. You could spend days there and not see everything but I had other places to get to today.

Woodcock Creek Lake is a small recreational lake near Meadville, PA. I had no idea what to expect to see when I got there. I pulled into a parking area on the east end of the lake and before the truck even came to a stop I saw more new-to-me species. These were all black, long necked birds a little smaller than geese. I found out later that they were Double Crested Cormorants. I had never seen this species of bird before and enjoyed the time that I spent photographing them, The stayed in range for more than 30 minutes so after my initial rush to get pictures I could settle down to pick and choose which shots I wanted.


After more than 50 pictures of the cormorants I packed up the truck for the drive to my next spot. I was crossing the causeway on Woodcock Creek Lake when I looked to the west and saw some Buffleheads less than 50 yards from the base of the causeway. I immediately pulled over and grabbed the digiscope. I’ve rarely had chances with this species this close to me. I was able to get 25 shots before the birds were out of range again. Now it was time to go to Cambridge Springs.


Cambridge Springs is a small village nestled along French Creek in Northern Crawford County. Just outside of town is a Pennsylvania Game Commission Game Lands/Wetlands area and this is where I was going.

My first stop in Cambridge Springs was a boat launch/picnic area on French Creek. As I was pulling into the parking area I saw eight Wood Ducks in a small marshy area near the side of the road. I parked the truck as quietly as possible and grabbed the digiscope. I was dressed in full Realtree Hardwoods APG camo as usual. I slowly crawled about 25 yards closer to the wood ducks but they were still spooked by my initial arrival. I made some greeting and feeding calls on my duck call but the woodies weren’t buying any of it. I tried a few more calls but had no luck with the woodies. Less than a minute after I finished with the last calls I heard a splash behind me. It seems that although the calls didn’t work with the woodies I did manage to call in 3 drake mallards. I laughed to myself for a few minutes about the mallards showing up like that. I was able to see the woodies the entire time but I wasn’t able to get them into a decent picture. The drakes were at the back of the marshy area and the hens were in trees.


My next stop was about ¾ of a mile down the road. This spot is a pond set up by the PA Game Commission as a feeding and resting place for migrating waterfowl. There is an access road/trail beside the pond with brush on the pond shoreline. This brush would provide cover for me to make my way along the pond without spooking any of the waterfowl.


I parked the truck across the road from the pond. I got my equipment ready and prepared to cross the road and walk along the pond. Just before I crossed the road, a guy on a LOUD Harley rode past. As he did a mixed flock of Blue-Wing and Green-Wing Teal flew away from the near end of the pond. It figures, two new-to-me species that I could have gotten great pictures of disappear because of a bonehead that thinks his obnoxious bike is cool. Don’t get me wrong, I like Harley’s but you don’t need to have the exhaust earsplitting loud.

Anyway I crossed the road and soon found a break in the brush alongside the pond. I used the Tetons to find that there was a nice mix of waterfowl still on the pond including Canada Geese, Mallards, Blue Wing Teal, Green Wing Teal, Northern Shovellers, Wood Ducks and Mergansers that weren’t spooked by Harley Boy. I continued walking along the access road until I came to the end of the brush. From this point I was able to set up and get some good pictures but not as many as I had hoped to get. Most of the ducks were on the far side of the pond which was 250 yards away. I couldn’t go on that side of the pond because it was privately owned and posted against trespassing. I filled the memory card that was started yesterday and drained the battery before walking back to the truck.


On my walk back to the truck I ran into some local folks that were just out for a walk. They told me of another place west of Cambridge Springs to try for waterfowl. (I did go there but there was nothing to be seen).

When I got back to the parking area I saw a guy in a pick up truck watching the waterfowl; I waved as I walked past and went to my truck. I had the battery changed and was in the process of changing the memory card when the guy from the truck walked over and introduced himself. I put the camera case in the truck, sat the full memory card case on the roof(remember this) and shook hands with the guy. We spent about 20 minutes talking about digiscoping, waterfowl and elk. It turned out that he is an elk hunting guide in Idaho every fall. I’ve met several people that work/live in this area most of the year but work as guides during the hunting season out west. Well we finished our conversation; he drove off as I was putting the digiscope and tripod into the truck.

I had hoped to get lunch at the Wooden Nickel Buffalo Farm and Restaurant in Edinboro but they were closed. Apparently they changed their hours. I did see plenty of buffalo at the farm but I didn’t bother taking any pictures of them.

I made my way to Pymatuning, making some of the stops that I did yesterday. The ponds that I stopped at yesterday still held nothing of spectacular so I proceeded to the spillway and nature center. I walked a trail from the nature center towards the closed part of the lake. While on this walk I was able to get pictures of a small group of Buffleheads. The excitement didn’t really pick up until I walked through the remainder of the loop trail to the far side of the nature center. I found an older man sitting on a bench with a spotting scope set up in front of him. He told me that he was there waiting for the eagles. It wasn’t long before we spotted one flying almost directly overhead of us. I turned the digiscope in the direction he was flying, just in case. I continued to watch the eagle soar out over the lake and back again until he landed in a tree about 800 yards away. I had the digiscope on him in a matter of seconds. The camera was satisfied with the focus so I started snapping pictures. Unfortunately the eagle was just too far away for the pictures to be clear. I didn’t realize this until I was home and viewed the pictures on the computer.

While I was busy watching the eagle I failed to notice the small flock of Bluebirds flying around the area. Again I quickly moved the digiscope and was able to get a few good shots of these birds.

It was now early afternoon so I decided to make my way back towards Lake Wilhelm; I wanted to try for the eagles and osprey there too. My first stop was where I got the osprey pictures yesterday. I was able to check the nest from the road but the birds weren’t there.

My next stop was an access area below the bridge that I was just on. I was told by a local that from this access area you can just make out the active bald eagle nest. I couldn’t find the nest but I was able to see an immature bald eagle perched above the water some 500 yards away. Again the distance was too great, even for the 40x eyepiece, for the pictures to be clear. I did however get some nice shots of Herring Gulls that were perched on a submerged log. I decided to drive back to camp before going to my next stop so that I could put a battery in the charger.


My next stop for the day was a small pond near the Lake Wilhelm marina. On my way to the camp I drove past this pond and saw some Ringneck Ducks. I parked the truck and didn’t even have my equipment out of it and set up before I saw a photo opportunity. There were Killdeer frolicking all over the parking lot of the marina. I got some shots of these hyperactive birds before starting my walk towards the pond. I was about half way to the pond when I noticed two Ospreys in a tree near the back of the pond. I immediately set up the digiscope and got some pictures in case they flew away before I got to the pond. After about 35 pictures I walked to the small observation deck on the pond. The ospreys were still there so I took another double handful of pictures before they flew off.


When the ospreys departed I busied myself taking pictures of the ringneck ducks in the pond. I was lucky enough to get some really good pictures of these ducks. Soon enough the ospreys returned and I was able to get great shots of these birds, almost at will, for nearly 45 minutes.


An older couple joined me on the deck and I explained to them how the digiscope worked. I went to the camera case in my pocket to get the memory card that I had switched out earlier in the morning and it wasn’t there!!!!! I double checked all of my pockets and still no memory card. I grabbed the digiscope and walked to the truck. I checked all through the truck and on the ground around it, no memory card. I went back to the camp and checked inside, no memory card. I ripped apart the truck again, no memory card. I was starting to panic, yes, really panic. That was a 2GB card, the card itself is easily replaced but the pictures on it would be next to impossible to get again. I went to the previous two stops that I made before I came back to camp the first time this afternoon and had no luck, the card wasn’t there. The last place that I knew that I had the card was Cambridge Springs, 40 miles North of where I was. It was nearly 5 pm now so I better get moving. A little over an hour later I pulled into the parking area at Cambridge Springs and saw my memory card lying on the ground next to where the truck was parked in the morning. I immediately tried the memory card, it was just fine, no damage and all of my pictures were still there. I suppose that I forgot to take the memory card off the roof of the truck before I pulled away this morning. I crossed the road to see if there were any waterfowl on the pond but it was empty. I turned the truck around and started the drive back to camp. I was done for the day. It was after 6 pm and I still had an hour to drive. I did have a truly outstanding day though so I was happy about that.