I made it out to three locations this morning. My first stop was a quick ride around the Orange & Rockland Lake. There was not too much going on there really, but I was able to get some photos of three Ring-necked Ducks that for some reason did not mind my presence. My best bird was a Sharp-shinned Hawk that flew over as I was pulling away. Here’s my list:
Canada Goose 6
Green-winged Teal 2
Ring-necked Duck 3
Bufflehead 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Tree Swallow 8
My second stop was at Glenmere Lake, in hopes that the Long-tailed Ducks that had been seen there were somehow still around. I had tried for them unsuccessfully the night before. Well, I struck out again with the LTDUs, but it was still a worthwhile stop. Photos were really not an option between the grey rainy weather and most birds being quite distant.
Canada Goose 20
Mute Swan 2
Wood Duck 6
American Black Duck 5
Mallard 3
Ring-necked Duck 45
Greater Scaup 4
Lesser Scaup 8
Bufflehead 12
Common Merganser 1
Common Loon 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
American Robin 10
After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I headed over to my third stop of the day – the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I wanted to walk the Liberty Loop to see if there were any new waterfowl present. I had walked about halfway up the west end of the loop and was scanning the waterfowl when Linda Scrima and two other folks caught up with me. Linda introduced me to her friends and fellow birders, Jean and Ray, and the four of us continued down the trail for a while. We all got our first RUDDY DUCKS (2) of the season before Ray and Jean headed back. Linda and I continued walking the loop where we eventually ran into another birder named Mike, who was having trouble identifying a bird that he had seen in the back pond along the trail to Owens Station Road. He was sure it was a grebe, but it was diving at all. We eventually relocated the bird, which ended up being my first PIED-BILLED GREBE of the year. Mike continued back to the parking lot and Linda and I ended up walking that trail all the way to Owens Station Road and birding the pond over there as well. The sun had come out and it warmed up a bit as we headed down the east side of the loop back to our cars. It was a nice walk and in the end I totaled 32 species for the refuge and Owen Station Road combined:
Wood Duck 8
American Wigeon 12
American Black Duck 10
Mallard 25
Green-winged Teal 85
Ring-necked Duck 100
Bufflehead 1
Common Merganser 15
Ruddy Duck 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 2
Ring-billed Gull 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow 14
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 15
European Starling 20
Song Sparrow 10
Red-winged Blackbird 60