3/31/14 – Catch Up

Okay, so it’s time to play a little catch up. I’ve been getting out a bit in the last week but haven’t been organized enough or had the time to do posts. I’ll start with tonight after work – I stopped by 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary right here in Goshen. I  am happy to say that all the ice has melted and the sanctuary was relatively birdy. It was nice to be on foot once again as well. Here’s my list for the night:

Canada Goose  85
Wood Duck  2
American Black Duck  3
Mallard  15
Green-winged Teal  3
Ring-necked Duck  12
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Mourning Dove  5
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  35
American Tree Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  12
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Grackle  6

So, that was tonight. Now for the catch up over the last week. No great photos to speak of, but I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Monday 3/24/14

Monday I was out in the Black Dirt Region sorting through Canada Geese with no luck. I was happy to see that 4 Short-eared Owls were still around though.

Tuesday 3/25/14

Tuesday I was out looking for geese in Pine Island and came across a small flock of Snow Geese – approximately 400 birds. This group continues and was seen at the Camel Farm by a couple of people today (3/31/14).

Wednesday 3/26/14

Wednesday was so cold and windy  that I did not stay out very long at all. Really, just long enough to get some shots of this mixed flock of blackbirds. This pic looks like all Red-winged Blackbirds, but when I was looking at the birds on the ground there were definitely some Brown-headed Cowbirds in the flock.

Thursday 3/27/14

I actually got it together and did a post on Thursday from my visit to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge but did not include this Turkey Vulture shot. See Thursday’s post here

Saturday 3/29/14

I had Nature Watch Training at the Basha Kill in the morning and I got out for a little while in the afternoon. Notable observations included 3 Snowy Owls in the Black Dirt and the continuing flock of 400 to 500 Snow Geese as well.

Sunday 3/30/14

On Sunday, I only had a brief window to bird early in the morning. I headed over to the Hudson River to look for waterfowl. On my way over I stopped by the Heron Rookery across from Stewart Airport and noticed that several Great Blue Herons had taken up residence there. There was not many waterfowl to be seen from the Hudson, but I did have 15 or so Tree Swallows hunting over the river, seen from Plum Point. On my way back I stopped at Brown’s Pond, and although it was still mostly ice, there were some waterfowl to be found, including: Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Merganser, American Wigeon, Bufflehead and Mute Swan.