Now that the snow is finally melting and the bird songs are changing, the sense that Spring is really coming has most birders excited. Geese are on the move and the Wildlife Drive at Middle Creek has opened as of March 1st. It is a great spot to visit to experience the volume of the Snow Goose migration. Please check the Middle Creek’s snow geese forecast for 2025-26 here. Ducks are on the move as well so be sure to check any open water to see if something new has dropped in.

Early March is the best time in our area to experience the American Woodcock and their Timberdoodle dance. Find more information here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock. Now that the ground has defrosted a bit, these forest dwelling shorebirds can be found probing the mud for earthworms. Their courtship displays around dusk and dawn are easily overlooked because most people are in their homes preparing dinner or preparing for their day. Listen for the nasal “peent” repeated then a whirring sound as they fly up spinning in the air. The light will be low so you must initially depend on your hearing to find them. Check forest edges and thickets. In our area, a reliable public spot is at Bradford Dam at the power line cut as you make your way from John Paul Park at Lower Nike towards the reservoir. 

The winter Atlas season has just ended and it is time to start thinking about breeding codes and using the PBA3 Atlas portal for the third breeding season. Sign up here https://ebird.org/atlaspa/home . There are two tricky aspects to using the Atlas portal in eBird. When to code species with possible and probable codes is one of the biggest concerns that we hear. This helpful website was put together for birds in the Philadelphia region. https://navinsasikumar.github.io/pba3/. You can enter the date in question then look at the listed species that are able to be coded and determine if possible or probable works. The reason for restricting these codes is because a singing bird may just be singing to stay in contact with its migratory group but not necessarily singing to establish a territory. Researchers have determined the nesting dates for the birds and from that information establish the dates when singing could be significant. Find more information here: https://ebird.org/atlaspa/about/breeding-behaviors-codes. Understanding the block system is a sticking point for some people, but it doesn’t need to be. The state is broken down into three mile by three mile blocks. Checklists need to stay in one block. The difficulty comes when a park has more than one block. The eBirder would need to stop the checklist and start another after they move into the next block. The eBird app will notify you when you are near the edge of a block. You can click on your track to find out where the line occurs. Please consider submitting to the Atlas portal when you make eBird lists. It is a fun way to contribute to research and enjoy your hobby at the same time. The two previous Atlases are a wealth of information and excellent for comparison of changes over time. We would like this third effort to meet the standards of the previous two. Any questions can be directed to the Bucks County Coordinators, Erich Boenzli or Barb Stollsteimer at PBA3.Bucks@gmail.com.