Black Dirt – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 09/07/25

Saturday was pretty much a dud for me. I started the day up at Mount Peter Hawkwatch; when I arrived it was socked in with fog. I counted for 4 1/2 hours when a big storm rolled through and I left (with 0 migrating raptors counted). Hopefully this is not an indication of how this season will go for me.

This morning was much better – at my first stop I found a nice collection of shorebirds. The highlight was a couple of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS. There was also a huge flock of American Golden-Plovers – probably between 40 and 50 birds. Additional species included Pectoral Sandpipers and, of course, plenty of Killdeer. Later at the Camel Farm, I had a couple of Wilson’s Snipe and a handful of Least Sandpipers. At the Liberty Loop platform, I had a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. And finally, at Winding Waters Trail, I had a Spotted Sandpiper and a Greater Yellowlegs. That’s a total of (9) species of shorebirds, not too shabby. And, in my travels, I found a pair of Sandhill Cranes in range for some photos.

As always, I took photos as I went; several of these were actually taken earlier this week, on Labor Day. Unfortunately all the shorebirds from today were just too distant for any good shots.

~American Goldfinch on Missionland Road, 09/01/25.~

~Sandhill Crane in the Black Dirt Region, 09/07/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk in the black dirt, 09/07/25.~

~Chestnut-sided Warbler at Winding Waters Trail, 09/01/25.~

~A second Sandhill Crane in the black dirt on 09/07/25.~

~Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Missionland Road, 09/01/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk on a pile of crates in the black dirt, 09/07/25.~

~Great Egret at Bullville Pond, 09/01/25.~

Sunday Shots, 08/31/25

I didn’t get out all that much over the past couple of days, but when I did, I got lucky and made the best of it. On Saturday evening (I didn’t get out in the morning), I birded the black dirt and had some shorebird success. I had (9) distant American Golden Plovers at my first location. Then, on my way to my second location, I saw a Black Bear on the road! Ant then, at my second and final location, I had an additional (29) American Golden Plovers. They were doing their flocking, whipping around the black dirt thing, which is so enjoyable to watch and photograph.

~American Golden-Plovers in the black dirt, 08/30/25.~

~AMGPs whipping around the Black Dirt Region, 08/30/25.~

~One more shot of the American Golden-Plovers in the Black Dirt Region on Saturday night, 08/30/25.~

~A Black Bear moseys down a dirt road in the Black Dirt Region, 08/30/25.~

This morning I went to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary first thing. I got lucky with a distant Sora that kept coming out into the opening. I only had my 400mm lens, so I tried to document by digiscoping with my phone; here is the result. Good bird, terrible photo. I was pretty happy to see a Sora; it’s been several years I believe, since I last saw one. Afterwards, I headed up to Mount Peter to participate in the annual cleanup. Hawkwatch starts this week; I have to say I’m pretty excited.

~Digiscoped image of Sora at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 08/31/25.~

~White-tailed Deer fawn in the black dirt, 08/30/25.~

Sunday Shots, 08/24/25

After last night’s Uppy excitement, today was relatively uneventful. Kyle Knapp let me know early in the day that he had (3) Baird’s Sandpipers in the black dirt; I eventually caught up with those birds later in the morning alongside Bev, Rich, and Diane. There was young birder there as well; it was only his second trip to the black dirt. We got him on the birds and it was a lifer for him, so that was exciting. I did some running around prior to that, hoping for more shorebirds. At 6 1/2 Station Road I had just (8) Least Sandpipers; Bullville Pond had high water levels and just a single Spotted Sandpiper. The platform at Liberty Marsh had a similar situation with high water and no shorebirds at all. As always, I took photos as I went, so here’s the latest batch.

~Horned Lark in nice light in the black dirt 08/23/25.~

~Great Blue Heron at Echo Lake, 08/23/25.~

~Upland Sandpiper in the black dirt, 08/23/25.~

~Upland Sandpipers can make some quirky movements – here’s one caught in a funny position in the Black Dirt Region, 08/23/25. ~

~This image is from a couple weeks back, but I never got around to posting it. Least Sandpiper in the black dirt, 08/11/25.~

~There are MANY Bobolinks on the move right now. I seemed to hear them everywhere I went this weekend. BOBO in the black dirt 08/24/25.~

Upland Sandpiper, 08/23/25

I didn’t get out this morning, so this evening I followed up on several reports of an UPLAND SANDPIPER from earlier in the day. I was hoping to get some better looks than I did a couple of weeks ago. Well, mission accomplished! I got super lucky with an Upland Sandpiper very close to the road. The bird flushed from some longer grasses as I approached in my car. It posed for a short time right in front of me, and then worked its way along the side of a turf field. It was probably the best/longest Uppy observation that I’ve had, and I was excited and thrilled.

~Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 08/23/25.~

Good Shorebirding, 08/19/25

QUICK POST: I played a hunch and ran out to the Black Dirt Region after work this evening. I got lucky and was able to locate a single BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, along with two American Golden-Plovers. The birds were distant and mostly backlit, but still it was a thrill to see them. I put the word out and Silas Wareham and Jeanne Cimorelli both ran for the birds and got them. On a personal note, this evening put me over the 200 bird mark in Orange County for the year, with birds #200 and #201. Pics were tough, but I tried my best to document.

~Always a thrill to see this bird. BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER in the black dirt, 08/19/25.~

~One of two American Golden-Plovers in the black dirt tonight, o8/19/25.~

~Buff-breasted Sandpiper and American Golden-Plover in the BDR, 08/19/25.~

Young Horned Larks

I went out to the black dirt three nights this week, and again this morning, hoping for shorebirds of course. Unfortunately, notable shorebirds were not in the cards; the only shorebirds I found were Killdeer (many!), a handful of Least Sandpipers, and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. As a consolation prize, on a couple of evenings I spent some time with some young Horned Larks. I think they have a fantastic look at this age – it’s obvious that they are larks, but at the same time they look like an entirely different bird. The photos with the nice golden look were taken on 08/11/25 and the others were taken on 08/14/25.

Orange County Sanderling, 07/31/25

With the weather moving in today, I knew I wanted to check the Black Dirt Region for shorebirds after work this evening. It was mostly quiet until I found a single field with a decent sized collection of shorebirds, maybe 40 or so birds. One bird stood out immediately; I did what I could to document it before the rain came down in full force. While I sat in my car in the rain, I put the word out and sent photos. John Haas responded very quickly, identifying the bird as a SANDERLING. Sanderling was on my short list, but I certainly wasn’t sure about it. Big thanks to John and everyone that weighed in. Other species present were Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Killdeer. I’ll leave you with this reminder: BAD WEATHER = GOOD BIRDS = TERRIBLE PICS.

~Sanderling in the black dirt, 07/31/25.~

~Semipalmated Plover in an absolute downpour. Black Dirt Region 07/31/25.~

More Good Birding, 04/12/25

As anticipated, along with the weather came some good birds. Wickham Lake continues to deliver; I made an early stop there this morning while it was still snowing quite heavily, and had 8 Horned Grebes and a Bonaparte’s Gull on the lake. I also had my first Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Palm Warblers of the year. I checked a few other nearby lakes – I didn’t have any out-of-the ordinary birds at Glenmere, Round, and Greenwood Lakes. Walton Lake, however, had 4 Long-tailed Ducks. In the black dirt afterwards, I got the year’s first good looks at American Pipits, having had only flyovers previously.

~American Pipit marching through a field in the black dirt, 04/12/25.~

~Long-tailed Ducks at Walton Lake, 04/12/25.~

~Double-crested Cormorant in the snow at Round Lake, 04/12/25.~

~Red-winged Blackbird flock in the black dirt, 04/12/25.~

Sunday Shots, 02/02/25

It was a quiet birding weekend for me. Quiet and cold. The black dirt was pretty dead on Saturday morning and just a smidge bit better on Sunday morning when I was able to at least get distant looks at both a large flock of Snow Buntings and a light morph Rough-legged Hawk. I birded the Newburgh Waterfront with Bruce Nott on Saturday afternoon; it was my most productive birding from the weekend – we were able to locate (2) Iceland Gulls among five or six hundred of the usuals. And on a final note, first this morning I tried to change it up a little bit by birding the Port Jervis area, but unfortunately it was just super cold and very quiet on the birding front, with no real highlights to mention.

~At the Newburgh Waterfront, while scanning for gulls, this Red-tailed Hawk flew in with a dead Ring-billed Gull in its talons. It appeared to have scavenged the meal, rather than it being fresh kill.~

~Red-tailed Hawk with prey, Newburgh Waterfront 02/01/25.~

~One of a couple of Snow Geese that have been around the black dirt recently, associating with a large flock of Canada Geese. SNGO in the black dirt, 02/01/25.~

~Eastern Bluebird in the black dirt, 02/02/25.~

~Red-winged Blackbird in the black dirt on 02/01/25.~

~Unfortunately, this has become the norm for this species for me. This is only the second Rough-legged Hawk I’ve seen in 2025, and as usual it was just miles away. RLHA in the BDR on 02/02/25.~

Winter Waterfowl Count, 01/18/25

On Saturday, Linda Scrima and I took part in the Mearns Bird Club’s Orange County Winter Waterfowl Count. For the seventh straight year, we covered the Black Dirt Region for the survey. Much of the water in the area was frozen over, but in spite of that, I think we managed to tally some decent numbers:

Canada Goose: 4,716
Cackling Goose: 1
Snow Goose: 3
Mallard: 22
American Black Duck: 4
Green-winged Teal: 1
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser: 2
Common Merganser: 16

~American Kestrel in the Black Dirt Region, 01/19/25.~

I did some additional birding this weekend, mostly trying to catch up with the GLAUCOUS GULL that Bruce Nott found last weekend. I tried for that bird both days, but unfortunately came up empty. I also birded the black dirt first thing this morning; I was rewarded by an extremely confiding American Kestrel.