I met Jeff and Angela at the PSO conference not long after they hiked up the road, and with their combination of enthusiasm and gorgeous photos I knew we needed a Bird Mountain guest post for the Plummer’s Hollow 200. They left the comment above in their eBird checklist, a sentiment we Hollow folk tend to agree with.
Over the last two years, my girlfriend Angela and I have really come to love exploring Pennsylvania while seeing as many birds as possible in the process. We often do this with very loose itineraries that act more as suggestions than schedules. Friday, May 19th, was one of those days. Our morning started in Bedford County with a few mesmerizing Golden-winged Warblers, and we continued toward Centre County after having lunch while watching an active Cliff Swallow colony. We needed to be in State College by late afternoon for the PA Society for Ornithology Birding Festival, but we had time to make a quick birding pit stop along the way.
Using eBird’s explore function, Plummer’s Hollow looked like the perfect stop. I was a little suspicious with its being so close to the highway, but we decided to give it a shot. If nothing else, our Blair County list needed some work, and this is the best time of the year to rack up species. We are trying to get 67 species in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and this was our first Blair County stop this year.
After parking (and wondering if we were in the right place), we crossed the tracks and it felt like we were transported to another planet. We slowly climbed the hill as we took in the beautiful scene around us. Soft light filtered through the canopy as the gentle roar of the creek and the occasional train whistle provided the background music. The main attraction for us, the birds, most certainly did not disappoint. Louisiana Waterthrushes, flycatchers, and Scarlet Tanagers, among others, were constantly singing and calling.
Because of the positioning of the trail above Plummer’s Hollow Run, we saw a steady stream of birds pop down to the creek to bathe, then relocate to our eye level to preen and dry off. We saw several warblers and vireos do this, but the headliner was the Scarlet Tanager. The bright red male can be surprisingly hard to get good looks at, as it spends much of its time in tree tops. Seeing several tanagers splashing around the creek then preening for several minutes at eye level was a definite birding highlight of 2023.
Unfortunately, we were short on time, and had to turn around and start heading downhill after only three-quarters of a mile. As we neared the bottom, a flash of movement of a fairly large bird in the canopy caught our attention. Our eyes quickly settled on a Yellow-billed Cuckoo giving us a judgmental side-eye. The bird quickly grew bored of us, and settled in for almost a minute of soft cooing before taking off. Cuckoos are one of our favorite seasonal residents, so getting great looks at this one as our last bird of this visit was a pretty great cherry on top.
Jeff’s eBird profile includes an impressive 312 species all-time for Pennsylvania, and Angela is close behind at 302. This year, they are currently in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the state, an impressive achievement! Jeff’s Instagram is https://instagram.com/eljefekenney.