Gray Ghosts

Saxonburg through Harrison Hills to the Eastern Terminus, February 27

Flu is going around. I had a little bit of a sore throat and a sick stomach yesterday. I was pretty down because I was sure I wasn’t going to be able to walk today. But when I woke up this morning, the sun was shining and the sky was blue and I felt much better. I decided to get on the trail.

My friend’s son drops me off and I stride down Saxonburg Boulevard eager to get away from the loud traffic. I’m tackling the last three segments of the trail today trying to take advantage of the fact that I don’t have to rush home for high school pick up and the gorgeous weather.

Just before I cross under the 28, I spy three hawks spiraling in the sky waaaay in the distance. Two of them are coming at each other with their claws. I see white crescents in the wing of one. OK, that one is a Red-shouldered Hawk. The other two are most likely Red-tailed Hawks, but I can’t see the pale windowpanes in the wing that helps me identify Red-tails from this distance. Hmm.

The hawks soar out of view.

I complete the road section and I’m in a field. I see those circling raptors again. They are closer and now I notice they have very distinctive, conspicuous white rumps. They bank and dive and then zoom right across the trail in front of me at eye level and I hold my breath as I realize I’m looking at two Northern Harriers!!!!

I’m dumbfounded. I don’t remember I can take a photo with my phone. I don’t even need my binoculars - they’re that close to me - but they’re fast and then they’re gone. Gray ghosts indeed!

Stunning. What a gift!!

There are still a few secret pockets of snow hiding in the shadowed parts of the trail but mostly I’m snapping twigs and squishing mud as I walk. I stop to try to decipher if I’m hearing a Hairy or a Downy Woodpecker and in the quiet, I hear a Common Raven call out.

Tree trunks block my way. I have to go under, and under, then over. I thank my trainer for side lunges.

Sunlight sparkles on a tiny stream at the bottom of a ravine. I hear what sounds like a Red-tailed Hawk but the call is incomplete, sort of stunted, at the end. I’m certain it’s a sneaky Blue Jay.

I hear something that I haven’t heard in a long time: the squeak of chipmunks! They scurry away at the bottom of another ravine. I cross a small stream. The worst part is the first step. My foot sinks several inches into gooey mud. I rinse my foot off in the stream and keep walking.

I get to a very soggy section of the trail. I make sure not to fumble with my gear too much. I keep my phone tucked away and keep my gloves on even though it’s hot. I don’t want to drop something in the muddy mess.

As I pass through the mud section, I get some ideas for a story that I’m working on for Highlights magazine. After I’m past the mud, I pull out my phone and make a voice note. (I voice record all of my thoughts during my birding adventures. It’s quicker than typing.) I make my voice notes about the story and a Pileated Woodpecker belts out a laugh overhead! The critics approve!

Off to the left, I hear the bouncing ping-pong call of a Field Sparrow. There’s also Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Cardinals keeping an eye on me. An American Crow joins the chorus.

I see movement from a teeny, tiny bird back in the forest and I stop to get a good look. I catch a flash of red. It’s a Ruby-crowned Kinglet! There are several Dark-eyed Juncos and sparrows hanging out in a sunny spot of grass where a stream cuts through the trail.

Then the teeny, tiny bird comes much closer and I realize it’s actually two Golden-crown Kinglets, not a Ruby-crowned. Sometimes Golden-crowns can have a red outline on their crown. I should’ve known better because even though this bird was tiny and frantic, it wasn’t doing any wing flips, which Ruby-crowned Kinglets just love to do.

I see a dark shape a little further back in the forest. It’s almost as large as a crow, but it’s very quiet. I lift my binoculars and see it looking at me with its beautiful yellow eye. It’s a silent Common Grackle.

For a moment, the grackle perches in the sun, and it’s blue-black feathers gleam in the sunlight. Then it tucks itself back into the shadows.

I’ve been walking for about 75 minutes and I have 23 species so far. I’m excited about what my total will be. I wonder what section of the trail has the highest species count each season. I’ll have to keep track of that.

I’m out of the woods and next to busy Freeport Road. I finally see a Red-tailed Hawk for sure.

I eat my Clif bar and enter Harrison Hills Park. A sign says “Rachel Carson 3.4 miles.” I hope I’m back to the car before the sunset.

I pause for a moment to look at the wetland and the small pond. I was joking about getting back to the car before sunset, but my shadow is getting long on the ground.

The swampy wetland is quiet… and stinky.

The quiet is broken by the sound of someone firing an automatic weapon at a nearby gun range. For a while I’ve been hearing sounds that sounded like gunshots, but I told myself were cars backfiring. But I can’t pretend the last one was anything but a weapon.

In the woods I see a Hairy Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker. The Northern Flicker is on a log on the ground and I’m reminded just how darn big they are.

I hear a really funny bird call and Merlin claims it’s a Tufted Titmouse. I am surprised, but it’s so easy to get tricked by all of the different noises in the forest: chipmunks that sound like birds, frogs that sound like birds, a leaf tapping against a twig that sounds like a bird.

I’m walking east and the sun is behind me. This is very helpful. If any bird tries to fly across the trail behind me when I’m not looking, I will see their shadow in front of me.

My phone is a little low on battery so I pull out the portable charger that for donating to our local public radio station, WESA. Public radio is going to save the world in more ways than one.

I come up to an overlook. I’m excited. I’m sure to see some ducks or geese! Instead all I see are chunks of ice floating down river.

Finally, I hear some geese. Then I spot two in the river in the distance. I see more little white dots could be gulls.

Bing pot!

I count 14 Common Mergansers, a mix of male and female. The Mergansers are hanging out right at the edge of a little inlet near a marina. The water is still frozen but outside in the river it’s melted and flowing.

The Mergansers do a good job camouflaging themselves as floating chunks of ice, but I manage to spot a few more up river closer to the big bridge.

I’m on the homestretch now. I take a minute to play peekaboo with a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

A Raven calls as it passes overhead. My second one today!

There’s one combination downhill/ledge section that I traverse with a confidence that surprises me. One more stream crossing and then I’m going up, up, up!

Just kidding, the trail curves to the left in a winding chicane up the hillside.

I check the river one more time and get to get to witness three Canvasbacks get spooked by something and fly away up river. The last part of the trail is quiet, not a Wax-tailed Boomer to be found.

I’m surprised the road toward the end of the trail is still blanketed in snow it’s 52° right now, but I guess the spot just never sees sun.

Three Turkey Vultures soar overhead as I reach my car and end the walk.

Checklist 1

RCT - Saxonburg to East Terminus, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Feb 27, 2026 12:33 PM - 4:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.498 kilometer(s)
32 species

Canada Goose 2
Common Merganser 35
Mourning Dove 3
Ring-billed Gull 4
American Herring Gull 3
Turkey Vulture 3
Northern Harrier 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 5
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 4
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 4
Common Raven 2
Carolina Chickadee 2
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 11
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 2
House Sparrow 2
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 1
Field Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 10
White-throated Sparrow 9
Song Sparrow 4
Common Grackle 2
Northern Cardinal 10

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S304365173