Good Birding at the Liberty Loop, 8/29/15

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~A Northern Parula perches briefly on the west side of the Liberty Loop, 8/29/15.~

QUICK POST: I had a birdy visit this morning to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Loop Trail. The cool weather made for a pleasant walk and the clear skies helped with some nice light for photos. Birds are certainly on the move and I did pretty well with warblers (for me!) on the west side of the loop. Shorebird numbers seemed up to me, with a good number found on the west side of the loop (in addition to the back pond). My best shorebird was a single juvenile Semipalmated Plover located in the back pond. All in all, a good morning of birding with over 50 species seen or heard. I’ve included my species list at the bottom of this post.

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~This was a shoot first and ask questions later situation. When I got home I figured out that this was a Nashville Warbler, Liberty Loop at Wallkill River NWR, 8/29/15.~
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~I had several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers while walking the loop today. Walkill River NWR, 8/29/15.~
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~This is a nice bird that I wish I’d gotten a better shot of. Magnolia Warbler on the Liberty Loop Trail, Wallkill River NWR, 8/29/15.~
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~I got some nice looks at several Yellow Warblers this morning. Wallkill River NWR, 8/29/15.~
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~With all the small birds in this post, I couldn’t resist posting this Great Egret flyover. Walkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 8/29/15.~
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~I can’t resist these wrens – they are numerous at the refuge right now and I keep taking pics! House Wren at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 8/29/15.~

Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Virginia Rail
Sora
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sand.
Least Sandpiper
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Green W.
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Magnolia Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
House Finch
American Goldfinch

 

 

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6 thoughts on “Good Birding at the Liberty Loop, 8/29/15”

  1. Matt,
    Nice call on the Nashville Warbler! I’m not at all sure what’s happening with the birds this year. I’ve had Herring Gulls (first Sullivan record for August) Bonaparte’s Gulls (rare) and Swainson’s Thrush. All seem very early to me. Certainly, Nashville would be. They had a Wilson’s Warbler at the Bash today, the second in a week. You never know what’s happening in birding. Thanks for keeping us posted! John

    1. John, I’m not as in tune with the timing of the warblers, so I had no idea that the Nashville would be early – thanks for the info. Matt

  2. Matt, it was nice to meet you this morning on the Liberty Loop Trail. was looking forward to these pictures, thanks for sharing! I saw what I thought was a Nashville Warbler this morning, I had my field guide with me, but was unsure of my ID as he was so active and of course I didn’t have a picture anywhere near as clear as yours to confirm the ID later. We saw at least four inidvidual Northern Harriers fly over from the back pond to the main marsh at one point as we continued on the trail.

    1. Nancy – It was a pleasure to meet both of you as well. The Nashville was one of the “shoot first and ask questions later” birds for me, that we discussed on the trail. Good to know about the Northern Harriers at the back pond, that’s exciting! Hope to see you out there again soon. Matt

    1. Thanks Karen, it was a pretty good morning for birds and I was happy with the photos too. Matt

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