~A Tundra Swan comes in for a landing at the Potato Fields at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 4/4/15. Note the Snow Geese in the background.~
As we traditionally do, Tricia and I made it up to Syracuse for the weekend to celebrate Easter with her family. Which means a visit to one of my favorite birding spots – Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, we got home very late on Sunday night and then I worked late tonight, so I was not able to put a post together yet. Montezuma is a super birding spot which has never disappointed me, and this year there was an additional surprise… full post tomorrow!
~A Male Northern Harrier, the Gray Ghost, in flight at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~
I spent a long day on Saturday birding in the Black Dirt Region. I started the day by getting my first Killdeer photo of the year when I came upon 5 Killdeer on the side of the road on Onion Avenue…
~One of five Killdeer in the freshly fallen snow on the side of Onion Avenue in New Hampton, NY 3/21/15.~
…And the day ended with nearly 1500 Snow Geese at Skinner Lane.
~I can’t get enough of these birds. Snow Geese in flight over Skinner Lane, 3/21/15.~~More SNGOs at Skinner Lane, 3/21/15.~
But I did a lot of birding in between, hitting most of the regular spots and some of them twice. Missionland Road was a good stop; I ran into Kyle Dudgeon and another birder named Jason that I had met once before. We had good photo opportunities with a pair of Gray Ghosts, and I found what I believe was Cackling Goose in a flock of maybe 2,000 Canada Geese. The bird was distant and never seemed to have its head up, making it tough for photos. Here is my best effort:
~A likely Cackling Goose (at center with head pointed down and to the left) among many Canada Geese at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~~I’m not sure what’s going on here with the grasses in this bird’s grasp. Prey within? Male Northern Harrier in flight at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~~Not a great photo, but I included it because the bird not only has prey but is tagged. Northern Harrier on Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~
I made a stop at Scenic Farms Golf Course, sifted through a couple thousand Canada Geese (and came up empty-handed), and then saw a distant Coyote hunting in the field across the street from the golf course.
~Coyote across the street from Scenic Farm Golf Course in Pine Island, NY 3/21/15.~
Another productive stop was the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, where I walked the Liberty Loop Trail with Kyle. It took us ages to make our way around the loop, mostly because the birding was so good. Waterfowl is what I was hoping for, and we did well. Most of these birds were seen in the Sussex County portion of the loop:
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan Tundra Swan (2)
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
American Coot
~I was pretty psyched to see a pair of Tundra Swans fly in and land in the refuge. Walkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~
We also did well with raptors, with the highlight (for me) being a very active Peregrine Falcon that spent the entire time we were there terrorizing the waterfowl. I’m not sure, but I think the highlight for Kyle was the three (possibly 4) Bald Eagles that we had. In all, we had seven species of raptors: Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red Tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, and Peregrine Falcon.
~An adult Bald Eagle flies over the eastern leg of the Liberty Loop, 3/21/15.~~I wish I had gotten a better shot of this bird, what a gorgeous creature. Northern Harrier at Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~~An explosion of ducks – Green-winged Teals and Ring-necked ducks mostly, with a few American Wigeon thrown in for good measure. Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~~Bald Eagle at Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~~There were plenty of Northern Pintails at the refuge, Liberty Loop 3/21/15.~~It’s a lousy photo, but I had to include it because I was so excited to see this Peregrine Falcon doing its thing at the Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~
~Snow Geese in flight over Onion Avenue in New Hampton NY, 3/17/15.~
Last night I was at the Liberty Loop viewing platform just before sunset. There was much bird movement, particularly waterfowl. Many Canada Geese were flying over, from south to north. Mallards were circling around the reserve and Northern Pintails were doing the same. The highlight, however was a single skein of maybe 150 Snow Geese that flew over very high and pretty well east of the viewing platform. So today after work, I was on a goose chase. I found fewer Canada Geese than I would have expected, but numbers were certainly up with Canadas being seen at Scenic Farms Golf Course, the Camel Farm, Turtle Bay Road, Pierce Circle and Onion Avenue.
Also in the fields between Pierce Circle and Onion Avenue, there was approximately 150 Snow Geese! I was very excited and took some distant photos from Pierce Circle. I moved to Onion Avenue for a closer and better look. And more Snow Geese started to arrive from the south. They were putting on quite a show, picking up, circling and then landing over and over. I had put the word out and Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris both joined me as the number of SNGOs continued to grow. By the time we left at 7:15, I approximate there were 1500 Snow Geese present. They seemed to be settling down a bit too, so hopefully they will stick around for a little while.
~Lift off! Snow Geese in New Hampton NY, 3/17/15.~~I like this shot because of the calling second Snow Goose. Onion Avenue, 3/17/15.~
Also of note, I stopped by Glenmere Lake earlier in the afternoon and had 2 Common Goldeneye (as well as 12 Ring-neck Ducks and 8 Common Mergansers). Here’s a distant shot of the two COGOs:
~I thought these two would be the highlight of the day until I found the Snow Geese. Common Goldeneye at Glenmere Lake, 3/17/15.~
~Male Hooded Merganser at Schervier Pavilion in Warwick NY, 3/11/15.~
It’s been a good week of birding so far, the warm weather has been so nice to be out in, and it has thawed some of the open water in the county. As a result, I’ve done pretty well with waterfowl in Orange County over the past couple of days-
Glenmere Lake 3/11/15: Ring-necked Duck (3), Common Merganser (2), and Mute Swan (2).
Warwick Town Hall 3/11/15: Canada Goose (35), Mallard (8), Gadwall (5), Ring-necked Duck (25), Hooded Merganser (2), Common Merganser (2), and American Coot (1, FOY).
~This Red-breasted Merganser in the Hudson River, seen from the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry parking lot, 3/12/15.~~This is my first photo that shows the maroon ‘ring neck’ on a male Ring-necked Duck. It was quite a coincidence as I was just talking about this with Maria Loukeris earlier that afternoon. RNDU at Warwick Town Hall, 3/11/15.~~Ring-necked Ducks in flight, Warwick NY 3/11/15.~~My first American Coot of the year, at Warwick Town Hall, 3/11/15.~
~Immature Bald Eagle at Croton Point Park, 3/8/15.~
To be honest, I was feeling pretty uninspired about my birding for this weekend. I think I might just be tired of winter birding and ready for spring migration to get into full swing. It will be nice to get out of the car and back onto the trails, which is certainly my preferred type of birding.
That being said, I did get out quite a bit. On Saturday morning I went up to Ulster County to try for the Gyrfalcon but came up empty. The highlight of the morning was running into and catching up with fellow birder/photog/nice guy Eddie Rodriguez, who I had not seen in ages. In the afternoon, Tricia and I stopped by Piermont Pier on our way to my Aunt Judy’s 75th birthday party in the Bronx. I picked up two year birds – Greater Scaup and White-winged Scoter, but the highlight of the stop was getting photos of a male Ruddy Duck with some blue on his bill. I’m not really sure how it works, but I imagine that this bird is just starting to show his breeding colors.
~This male Ruddy Duck made Tricia’s day – she always wanted to see a Ruddy with a blue bill. Piermont Pier, 3/7/15.~
On Sunday I went over to the Hudson to look for Bald Eagles. I typically don’t go out of my way for Bald Eagles, but I like to go at least one day in the winter when they congregate at the river. On my way there, I was worried if I had waited too long, it has finally warmed up a bit and I wasn’t sure how successful I would be. I had a total of 51 Bald Eagles as seen from the following four locations: the scenic overlook off route 9 near Bear Bridge, the Peekskill Metro North Station, Charles Point Pier Park, and Croton Point Park. At the scenic overlook I picked up two more year birds: Wood Duck and Common Raven, and at Croton Point I saw my first two Killdeer of the year.
~One more shot of the immature Bald Eagle that flew over me at Croton Point Park. I like the nice blue background in this photo, but the bird is a little soft.~~Twenty-three Great Cormorants seen from Charles Point Pier Park, 3/8/15.
On Sunday afternoon I did a brief tour of the black dirt and did not have any unexpected birds. I was happy with a couple of photos, however:
~I didn’t want to post a Horned Lark photo unless I got something a little different. I sort of like this shot, HOLA at Onion Avenue, 3/8/15.~~Eastern Bluebird on a rock on Onion Avenue in New Hampton, 3/8/15.~
~Another one of my favorites! Long-tailed Duck at Piermont Pier Rockland County NY, 2/28/15.~
One of the best things that happened while we were there, however, was running into a couple of birders that had recently been to Piermont Pier. Neither Karen nor I had ever been there, so we were intrigued. They showed us good photos on their cameras of Long-tailed Ducks and mentioned seeing Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, and Ruddy Ducks.
After stopping for a sandwich for lunch, we headed out to find Piermont Pier, which is a great location. The pier, which stretches about a mile into the Hudson River, was built in the 19th century to accommodate river traffic and used during World War II as an embarkation point for troops heading to Europe. It’s a nice walk to get to the end of the pier, where we got great looks at a single Long-tailed Duck as well as many Canvasback and Common Goldeneye. We did not locate any Ruddy Ducks but we did see three Bald Eagles riding the ice floes on the far side of the Hudson River, and with the help of a local birder named Drew, we were able to see a female Peregrine Falcon in its nesting box on the Tappan Zee Bridge. We also added 5 species to our list for the day, bringing our total to 41.
What a super day of birding! I would recommend either of these locations to anyone who is suffering from cabin fever and would like to see some good birds.
~Piermont Pier provided very good looks at Canvasback, 2/28/15.~~I thought these female Canvasbacks were just beautiful, I love the color of their head! Piermont Pier, 2/28/15.~~I haven’t posted a sparrow photo in ages. This White-throated Sparrow was at the feeders next to the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary visitor center, 2/28/15.~To me this photo looks altered – I didn’t realize at the time that there was a thin layer of something oily where this drake American was hanging out. Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/28/15.~
I shot this female Bufflehead taking off on the ice at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye last Saturday, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. Though the light never seemed very good that day, I feel like I got a good exposure on these, showing the details of the birds head pretty well. The bird made an icy landing, quite close to the pier, which I watched but didn’t photograph. I took some photos of the bird perched (one of which I posted on Saturday) and then got the following shots of the bird as she took off from the frozen Long Island Sound.
~This is the shot that I really like, the head is sharp enough while there is some good blurring beginning on the wings. Bufflehead at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/21/15.~~She is starting to get air born here and I love the position of her wings as she runs across the ice to pick up speed for the take off. Female Bufflehead at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/21/15.~~Here she looks cute and almost a little dainty as she continues her run to takeoff. Female Bufflehead at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, NY 2/21/15. ~
~A Gadwall stands on the frozen Long Island Sound at the Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, NY 2/21/15.~
This extended cold snap has made for some difficult birding. The obvious reason is that the cold has made it uncomfortable to be outside for extended periods of time, but this I can handle. What I can’t handle is staying out in this cold for extended periods of time and not getting birds. Birds have been pretty scarce at the spots I’ve visited in Orange County this week, so with that in mind, I headed to the coast this morning to see if I could do any better there. The answer is a resounding YES! I got an early start this morning and birded the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rye Town Park and Beach. I finished the morning having seen 44 species, which for me is pretty good at this time of the year. Highlights for me included a half dozen PURPLE SANDPIPERS and 14 different species of waterfowl including distant but good looks at one my favorites, Long-tailed Ducks, of which I saw close to a couple dozen. I also did better with raptors than I have in Rye in the past: I had a Red-tailed Hawk just as I was getting off the highway, and then an adult Bald Eagle, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks at the sanctuary, and finally, I had a Turkey Vulture as I was getting back onto the highway heading home.
~Female Bufflehead at the Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/21/15.~
It takes just over an hour to get to Rye from Goshen, which is really not too bad at all, and it’s definitely worth the trip.
Here’s my list for the morning:
~A Lesser Scaup gets all tucked in. Edith G Read WS, 2/21/15.~
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merg.
Great Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hk.
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Purple Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great B-b Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Wood.
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-cap. Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breast. Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
American Robin
European Starling
American Tree Sp.
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sp.
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
~Gadwall at the Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, NY 2/21/15.~Brant are expected at this location, but for some reason I have always missed them until today. Edith G Read WS, 2/21/15.~One of a pair of Red-tailed Hawks that flew over while I walked the trails of the Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/21/15.~~A pair of Lesser Scaup coming in for a landing. Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary, Rye NY 2/21/15.~
– Male Hooded Merganser at Edith G Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye NY, 1/3/15.
Karen Miller and I got an early start this morning and headed to the Edith G Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, New York. It was a cold morning, but also a productive one, as we had 36 species for the day:
One of many Buffleheads seen today at Edith G. Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Rye NY 1/3/15.
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Mourning Dove
Downy WP
Red-bellied WP
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
American Robin
European Starling
American Tree Sparrows
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Karen and I had an enjoyable morning, Rye is a super location that I would certainly recommend, especially at this time of year. One of the highlights of our day was running into John Haas and Lance Verderame, who joined us briefly before we headed our separate ways. John and Lance are both excellent birders and just nice guys to spend time with. I found out later in the day that it was John’s birthday, so Happy Birthday John!
-Lance Verderame and John Haas, prepared for both the cold weather and the birds at Edith G. Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, New York 1/3/15.
A pair of female Red-breasted Mergansers at Edith G Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, New York 1/3/15.
A nice close look at a drake Harlequin Duck, Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.
It was a crazy week at work which left me without much time for birding. On Saturday, however, things worked out pretty well for me. My sister was having a Christmas party at her place on Long Island, and also had to deliver a stained glass window to a residence in, of all places, Point Lookout NY. After making my delivery, Tricia and I stopped by Point Lookout Town Park for a brief visit before the party. Thanks to John Haas and Tom Reichert, both of which helped me out with the lay of the land. I did pretty well for a relatively quick stop, seeing 10 different species of swimming waterbirds:
Brant
Canada Goose
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
It was a less than ideal day for photos, very gray and overcast, but many of the birds were quite accessible so that helped. I will be back on the island for Christmas, I am hoping to maybe sneak out to Point Lookout again if the weather is better. I highly recommend this spot – you can get great looks at some super birds.
Common Eiders at the end of the first jetty. Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.This was certainly one of my best looks at a Red-throated Loon. Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.A Sanderling works the shoreline. Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.Female Harlequin Duck, Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.One of two male Harlequin Ducks located near the third jetty at Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.Red-breasted Merganser fly-by, Point Lookout Town Park, 12/20/14.
