Say's Phoebe, Cumberland County, PA
Don Henise (deheni@ark.ship.edu)
Mon, 05 Jan 1998 10:47:16 -0500
A Say's Phoebe was found during the Newville, PA Christmas Bird Count on
Saturday Jan. 3rd. It was also seen yesterday 1/4 in the morning and
then later in the afternoon. Both days the earliest sighting was around
9:00 am.
Directions: From I-81 take the Newville Exit (#11) and follow Rt. 233
north to Newville. From the traffic light at the intersection of Rts.
233 and 641 in Newville continue 1 block north on 233 and turn left onto
Green Street which becomes Steelestown Road after you get out of town.
Look for the first road to the right - Wildwood Road - about 2 miles or
so from 233. Wildwood Road does a lot of twisting and turning and after
one sharp left turn you will come to a farm lane with the name Ethan
Weaver on the mailbox and a sign for Blue Mountain Supply. There is a
microwave relay tower on the farm. We saw the phoebe Sunday afternoon at
2:45 actively flying sorties from the block building and fences at the
base of the tower. We watched the bird working around the base of the
tower for 1/2 hour. We had been there earlier and searched the farm from
about 11:30 to 1:00 with out seeing it, so be prepared to wait.
We spoke with the owner and even showed him the bird. He was pretty
excited about it and is open to anyone coming to search for it on his
property. Just be sure to stop in at the house if you go there. There is
a large, but friendly german shepherd at the farm. His name is Dino.
The bird has been seen working around some of the farm buildings
especially on the roof at the far end of the long chicken house. It was
also seen on the fence line behind the barn. The original sighting of
the bird on Saturday was at the next sharp left bend in the road beyond
the microwave tower and that is where it was first sighted Sunday
morning just before 9:00 am.
Mr. Weaver gave us permission to walk around his farm but said to stay
out of his neighbor's fields on the opposite side of the road. Remember
to check in at the house if you go into the farm.
Good Luck,
Don
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Don Henise Mailto:deheni@ark.ship.edu
Information & Computing Tech Center Voice:(717) 532-9121 ext 3170
Shippensburg University Home:(717) 776-6550
1871 Old Main Drive Fax:(717) 532-1427
Shippensburg, PA 17257 http://www.ship.edu/~deheni/
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