Rough-legged Hawks (Light & Dark) at Voganville Rd

Light phase Rough-legged Hawk

Scenic view of landfill

Dave Eberly, Jacob Socolar and I took an afternoon frolic to Lancaster County hoping for a Lapland Longspur, Horned Larks and Rough-legged Hawks. On the drive put Jacob spotted a Turkey but unfortunately Dave and I weren't able to see it in time. We had no luck with the longspur but we found lots of Horned Larks. Along Voganville Rd we managed to find a light phase immature Rough-legged Hawk. After cruising around some, we found a dark phase Rough-legged Hawk on Amishtown Rd.

Dave & Jacob scouring the gulls

After leaving the Lancaster area we headed to the South Eastern Chester County Refuse Authority landfill and got permission to drive up to the top. The trash trucks were emptying their loads and the bulldozers were pushing the trash around as a thousand gulls flew about. The most common gull was by far the Ring-billed, followed by Herring Gulls. We managed to find at least four Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Other birds present were quite a few Fish Crows, Black & Turkey Vultures and many, many Starlings.