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For the birds: Groups host birding tour at Canonsburg Lake

6 min read
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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

John Flannigan, front, one of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s most accomplished birders, points to a bird in flight during a bird outing at Canonsburg Lake on Sunday.

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Photos: Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Birder John Flannigan adjusts a spotting scope on the shore of Canonsburg Lake during a birding outing.

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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Ruth and Dan Martt of Bethel Park train their binoculars on a shore bird during a bird outing at Canonsburg Lake.

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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Birder John Flannigan, carrying a spotting scope, leads a birding trip at Canonsburg Lake. About 20 birders with varying experience turned out for the event, organized by Upper Chartiers Creek Watershed Association and Canonsburg Lake Restoration and Improvement Association.

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Sarah Rubis, left, of Venetia, and Ruth Martt, right, of Bethel Park, search the skies for bald eagles who were flying overhead near Canonsburg Lake during a bird watching outing.

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Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

Sarah Rubis of Venetia writes down notes on birds she spotted during a bird watching outing at Canosnburg Lake.

On a cool, cloudy Sunday morning, about 20 bird watchers – from first-timers to devout birders – gathered at the main parking lot at Canonsburg Lake for a birding trip.

The 78-acre lake is a magnet for shorebirds and waterfowl, and is home to a pair of bald eagles and their three offspring.

Led by John Flannigan, one of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s most accomplished birders, who was accompanied by fellow birder Joe Papp, the group spent two hours trekking the lake’s western shoreline – and their efforts were rewarded.

Gazing through binoculars and a spotting scope that Flannigan lugged along on a tripod, the birders spotted an estimated 30 types of birds: spotted sandpipers; a green heron; great blue herons with graceful, S-shaped necks; killdeers; lesser yellowlegs with striking yellow legs; red-winged blackbirds; and a northern flicker, a medium-sized woodpecker.

The lake was alive with bird song, and what the birders couldn’t see, they could hear.

“Do you guys hear that potato chip call above us? That’s an American goldfinch,” Flannigan said.

And later, “Did you hear that in the background? That’s a Carolina wren, they usually sound like ‘Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy,’ they’re pretty loud. It’s a little brown bird with a white eyebrow.”

Among the birds the group spotted, though, two stood out.

The first was a mottled duck, a non-migratory bird indigenous to the southeastern United States that somehow found its way to Canonsburg Lake a couple months ago. Birders from out of state have driven to the lake to catch a glimpse of the wayward duck.

“That’s a bird that shouldn’t be here. Maybe he had a bad compass and ended up here,” said Flannigan. “It doesn’t belong here.”

But on this Sunday, the birders who trained their field glasses on a group of mallards caught sight of the mottled duck, with an olive-yellow bill and brown mottling on its sides that closely resembled the mallards.

“He’s second from the right, they’re moving left to right. It’s subtle, the differences. Hurry, quick, everybody take a look,” said Flannigan as he gestured them toward the scope.

Minutes later, the group reached a clearing not far from the tree where the bald eagles make their nest.

There, they got a treat: one adult bald eagle was soaring overhead with the three juveniles. The birders stood in place for several minutes as the birds circled, wings spread as they rode the thermals.

“Look at that. That is magnificent,” Papp marveled. “That was special, to get to see the juveniles flying.”

The adult bald eagles have nested in the tree for about seven years, after the prior nest near the lake collapsed.

That’s not an uncommon occurrence with eagles’ nests, said Papp, a Bethel Park resident.

“Typically, eagles use the same nest and add to it each year, so they get large and heavy. They can weigh up to 2,500 pounds,” said Papp. “They’re huge and really big, and the trees they nest in are specific for size. They have to be gigantic.”

The birding tour was coordinated by Upper Chartiers Creek Watershed Association and Canonsburg Lake Restoration and Improvement Association.

More than 186 bird types have been spotted at Canonsburg Lake over the years.

The islands and mudflats throughout the lake are enticing for shorebirds, and the cattails that grow thick along the lake’s shore and channels are breeding spots for warblers, red-winged blackbirds, and other birds. Migratory birds stop at the lake to feed on insects, crayfish, and fish during their travels.

“Mostly, resident birds are here now. Unfortunately, July is probably the worst time to bird. The migrants have moved through, and the resident birds have found their mates so they’re not singing as much because they don’t want to attract predators,” said Flannigan.

For Sarah Rubis of Venetia, the outing was her first bird watching venture, and she was delighted at the sightings. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with binoculars dangling from a strap around her neck, she brought along a backpack that contained a bird identification book and carried a field notebook and a pen.

“It’s actually my first time out. I saw it in the newspaper and I thought, ‘This looks like a great time.’ I’ve got my grandfather’s old binoculars, I just got a little Audubon book. I want to know what I saw, kind of look them up later,” said Rubis. “The bald eagles were so cool. What a great way to spend a Sunday morning.”

Dan and Ruth Martt of Bethel Park, who are regular visitors to Canonsburg Lake, usually bird watch from their canoe, so the walk offered a different vantage point.

“It’s a beautiful area, nice and quiet. We really like shore birds, so we come down here to see the shore birds, like the sandpipers, killdeers and the herons,” said Ruth Martt. “In the springtime, we’re interested in seeing the warblers and migrating birds that come through. In the fall, you’ll see another migration. The birds are all up north and they’ll all fly south for the winter, so usually in late August, September, you’ll see another group that’s migrating through.”

Flannigan, a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology, got hooked on birding about 25 years ago after a birder in the woods of Garrett County, Md., where Flannigan was walking, offered his high-quality binoculars so Flannigan could see a male scarlet tanager that was chirping in the trees.

“Birders have a ‘spark bird,’ the bird that gets them hooked on birding, and for me it was that scarlet tanager. From there, I took it to another level,” said Flannigan.

Bird watching spiked in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were searching for solitary, outdoor activities, and the interest hasn’t waned.

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, about 45 million people are birders.

Like many birders, Pamela Robinson of West Alexander writes down the names of birds she identifies on her property. So far, she has recorded 52 birds.

“We live in the country and we’d see all kinds of birds in our yard, so we’d get the guide book out,” said Robinson. “I have an Audubon notebook that was my mom’s, so I keep a list of just the names of the birds I can identify.”

Birders in the 21st century can turn to technology to help identify birds. Flannigan uses the digital tools Ebird, that lets users submit checklists of birds they spot, and Merlin, a field guide app that identifies birds using their sound and photos.

Bird watching, Flannigan believes, is good for the soul.

“As far as birds go, they’re just a wonderful thing to see,” he said. “I wish I would have started when I was younger. I see young people and kids birding, and I’m excited for them. They’ll be able to see a lot more birds than I’ll ever see in my lifetime.”

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