photos – Page 2 – Orange Birding

Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25

It’s not very often these days that I get to say I did something completely new locally, but that was the case this morning. I went kayaking at Mongaup Falls Reservoir in Sullivan County. Last night I was flipping through the book Quiet Water New York by John Hayes & Alex Wilson, and I saw their write up for this location. I realized that in spite of how close it is, I somehow never kayaked there before.

It was a cool misty morning went I put in. The mist stopped quickly, but the morning stayed cloudy and pleasantly cool. I wouldn’t have minded a little more light for photos, but what can you do? It was a very birdy paddle; I had over 45 species, and it was really just a peaceful morning to be out. Notable species for me included Common Merganser, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Magnolia Warbler. Merlin heard Purple Finch a couple of times, but that’s a bird I’ve never been very good at identifying by ear. Merlin also identified RED CROSSBILL several times. I kept missing it when it happened, but then I finally I heard something and looked at my phone and it said Red Crossbill. I kept listening, and even though Merlin was no longer picking it up, I was sure I was hearing a Red Crossbill doing its chipa-chipa-chipa call. I was scanning the treetops madly, but frustratingly, I never got a visual.

~A young Common Yellowthroat at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~I was surprised to see this young Green Heron – the habitat didn’t seem quite right for it to me. I guess I was wrong about that – I saw several Green Herons during my kayak around the reservoir.~

~I was less surprised to see this bird. Adult Bald Eagle at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~More young birds. Barn Swallows at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~I’m pretty sure this is an Eastern Wood Pewee (I thought I heard some slight vocalization which sounded Pewee-like). Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~Green Heron at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~Another adult Bald Eagle at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

~And one final shot of the young Green Heron at Mongaup Falls Reservoir, 07/13/25.~

Sunday Shots, 06/29/25

At my first stop this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find two young Barred Owls. They were being mobbed by Common Grackles, which is the only reason I found them.

For my second stop, I’d nearly forgotten about one of the best summer birding spots in Orange County: the Mongaup River Trail. It’s an easy hike that, as the name indicates, runs along the Mongaup River. I find that it’s not a great spot first thing in the morning because everything is still in dark shadows. I arrived around 9:00 am, and that seemed to be a good time to arrive. I was in some shade on the way out and mostly in sun on the way back. My first bird was a Pine Warbler, followed shortly by a high, calling Blackburnian Warbler. There were a good number Louisana Waterthrush, Ovenbirds, and Black-throated Green Warblers. I usually get Magnolia Warbler at this location, but did not today. I also had a single Northern Parula and an adult Bald Eagle.

On my way home, I took the long way and went through the Rio Dam area. I had a Red Fox cross the road in front of my car. They disappeared into the woods quicker than you can imagine! And, a little later I had a Winter Wren singing just off the road.

~Young Barred Owl in Orange County, NY 06/29/25.~

~A Louisiana Waterthrush with a mouthful of insects. Mongaup River Trail, 06/29/25.~

~Ovenbird at Mongaup River Trail, 06/29/25.~

~A Green Heron cuts a nice figure on a dead tree limb, 06/29/25.~

Sunday Shots, 06/01/25

We’ve enjoyed some good and exciting birding in the area recently; my recent posts have reflected that. So this afternoon I’m just doing a little clean up and posting some of the shots which were also taken during that time. Migration is winding down now, and the exciting birding will probably be on hold for a little while; meanwhile we can change our focus to breeding birds, hiking, and just enjoying being out.

~American Goldfinch in the black dirt, o5/25/25.~

~Grasshopper Sparrow in the black dirt, 05/25/25.~

~Barn Swallow in the Black Dirt Region, 05/31/25.~

~Cedar Waxwing at Port Orange Road, 05/25/25.~

Sunday Shots…a day late, 05/19/25

Tricia and I went away for the weekend, but I was able to get out and do some local birding on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. I hit the black dirt on Sunday, hoping for the White-rumped Sandpiper that had been reported earlier in the week. I dipped on my target, but I was able to add Semipalmated Plover to my year list and get a handful of shots of a Grasshopper Sparrow. This morning I birded Ironwood Drive at Sterling Forest State Park. It was birdy as can be, and I had several new year birds. Most notable for me, was Alder Flycatcher, as that’s not a species I get every year. I had some frustrating likely misses, as the Merlin app was hearing birds that I wasn’t able to hear nor locate. The trees are full of leaves now, and that made it challenging as well. Here’s some shots from the last couple of days.

~These guys are generally pretty accommodating. Male Bobolink in the black dirt, 05/18/25.~

~I rarely take backlit photos – I’ve seen others have some great images with backlighting, but usually I don’t see it. This case was an exception – backlit Prairie Warbler singing at Sterling Forest State Park, 05/19/25.~

~For a bird that I see and hear daily, I rarely get any photos of Baltimore Orioles. This one was at Sterling Forest, 05/19/25.~

~I was pleased to find this GRASSHOPPER SPARROW perched near the road as I made my way home from the black dirt on Sunday afternoon, 05/18/25.

Sunday Shots, 05/11/25

After a couple of days of focusing on shorebirds, I figured I better get out and try for some songbirds this morning before they all pass me by. I spent some time early at Elks Brox Memorial Park, and it was fairly productive. I added several species to my OC 2025 list: Blue-headed Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler. Afterwards, I went to Port Orange Road and enjoyed trying for photos of a couple of Cerulean Warblers that were present.

~Cerulean Warbler at Port Orange Road, 05/11/25.~

~Magnolia Warbler hiding in the shadows at Elks Brox Memorial Park, 05/11/25.~

~Prairie Warbler at Elks Brox, 05/11/25.~

~Eastern Phoebe at Port Orange Road, 05/11/25.~

OC Shorebirds, 05/10/25

Yesterday evening, and then again first thing this morning, I was out in the Black Dirt Region, looking for shorebirds in the all the puddling from the recent heavy rains. Between the two days, at a couple different locations, I had a total of 8 shorebird species:

Wilson’s Snipe (1)
Spotted Sandpiper (4)
Solitary Sandpiper (9)
Lesser Yellowlegs (14)
Greater Yellowlegs (3)
DUNLIN (3)
Least Sandpiper (84)
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER (3)

~Lesser Yellowlegs in the black dirt, 05/10/25.~

~Close up of a Spotted Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 05/10/25.~

~I kind of like this photo. Solitary Sandpiper, in the rain, on a pile of onions, in the black dirt region, 05/09/25.~

Sunday Shots, 04/27/25

Songbird migration is really kicking into gear, so just being out and about this weekend I added a dozen species to my year list. While none were out of the ordinary, it was just enjoyable to be out with so many birds around. As far as warblers go, I added 6 species: Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Parula, and Black-and-white Warbler. While I came up short regarding warbler photos, I did manage to get some shots over the weekend:

~Bald Eagle in flight in the Black Dirt Region, 04/27/25.~

~Bald Eagle in the black dirt, 04/27/25.~

~One of my first Gray Catbirds of the yeaar. Wickham Lake, 04/26/25.~

~Tree Swallow at Wickham Lake, 04/27/25.~

~Horned Lark on the move in the rain on Saturday morning. Black Dirt Region 04/26/25.~

Sunday Shots, 04/13/25

I enjoyed a decent Sunday morning of birding, hitting several of my usual spots – Wickham Lake, Wallkill River NWR’s Liberty Loop and Winding Waters, and of course, the black dirt. It was mostly the usuals, but I enjoyed being out and a I was fortunate enough to get a few decent photo ops. My highlight was having a single Bonaparte’s Gull at Wickham Lake fly in and land not too far out from where I was standing on shore.

~Beautiful bird – Bonaparte’s Gull at Wickham Lake, 04/13/25.~

~Singing Palm Warbler at Wickham Lake, 04/13/25.~

~Greater Yellowlegs in the black dirt, 04/13/25.~

~One more shot of the beautiful Bonie at Wickham Lake, 04/13/25.~

Sunday Shots, 03/16/25

It was a low key weekend of birding for me. I stayed local, checking the area lakes each morning and then hitting the black dirt. I didn’t have anything too exciting, but I did add (4) new species to my Orange County 2025 list. That brought my species total to (93).

Cooper’s Hawk, My Yard 03/13/25
Horned Grebe, Round Lake 03/16/25
Rusty Blackbird, Black Dirt Region 03/16/25
American Pipit, Black Dirt Region 03/16/25

Photos were tough to come by, but I did manage to get a few raptor shots in my travels.

~Black Vulture portait. Black Dirt Region, 03/16/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk on some farm machinery in the black dirt, 03/16/25.~

Sunday Shots, 03/09/25

Last weekend was a tough one – very few birds and almost no photo ops. This weekend was a different story. The PINK-FOOTED GOOSE on Saturday was by far the highlight, but in addition to that, it was a birdy weekend and I took a lot of photos. Heat shimmer gave me fits for photos as well as scanning, but that can’t be helped. I was at Wickham Lake both mornings at sunrise; the lake is loaded with birds right now and made for some enjoyable birding. There are many Common Mergansers (hard to say, but probably 300-400?). Gulls were plentiful as well; it was probably the most gulls I’ve ever seen on that lake, with approximately 100+ Ring-billed Gulls and 20+ American Herring Gulls.

~American Herring Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls at Wickham Lake, 03/09/25.~

I can’t even tell you how many geese I looked through in the past two days – many thousands for sure. I had 11 Snow Geese (8 were blue morphs!), and I also had one bird that I think is a very good candidate for a Cackling Goose; see photo at the bottom of this post. Two Sandhill Cranes were reported at the Liberty Loop on Saturday afternoon – I ended up seeing them on Sunday morning through dumb luck (they flew in and landed in front of a flock of geese I was sorting through).