Waterfowl Weekend

~A Common Loon enjoys what looks like a small crab. Five Islands Park, Westchester County, 02/24/18.~

Well, it was an interesting birding weekend, that’s for sure. Things are happening and birds are on the move, particularly waterfowl. Things got started on Friday afternoon, when Rob Stone located over 60(!) REDHEADS in a small pond on Breeze Hill Road in New Hampton. I was unable to get there before sundown, but apparently several local birders were able to.  I’ve only had Redheads one time in Orange County, and to get over sixty must have been amazing.

~Common Mergansers shifting around the lake, Wickham Lake 02/24/18.~

On Saturday, I was at Breeze Hill Road at sunrise but the birds had already moved on (there was just one lonely Ring-necked Duck left!). I made the rounds hitting several OC ponds and lakes; I had a total of 12 different species of waterfowl:

GLENMERE LAKE & POND: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Mallard, Amer. Black Duck, GREATER SCAUP, Bufflehead, and Hooded Merganser.

WICKHAM LAKE: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Gadwall, American Wigeon, GREATER SCAUP, Ring-necked Duck, and Common Merganser.

GREENWOOD LAKE: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Amer. Wigeon, and Common Merganser.

INDIAN KILL RESERVOIR: Canada Goose and Common Merganser.

Common Mergansers were the bird of the day; there were easily over 200 at Wickham Lake and maybe another hundred or so at Greenwood Lake. Sterling Lake was nearly 100% still frozen over, which was surprising to me.

~Ring-billed Gull at Five Island Park in Westchester County, 02/24/18.~ 

In the afternoon, I decided to try for the Black-headed Gull that has been reported at Five Island Park in Westchester County. I had no luck with the gull, but I did well with waterfowl, tallying 14 species: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Mallard, Amer. Black Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, RED-THROATED LOON, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, and a skein of over 100 TUNDRA SWANS! I had pulled off the road to get a look at a falcon in flight (by the time I pulled over the bird was out of view). Searching for the falcon, I saw a large skein of birds. I first figured Canada Geese – but no, they were white. My mind went immediately to Snow Geese and I took a few quick pics and jumped back in my car; I was blocking someone in where I had stopped. It wasn’t until I got home an looked at the pics that I realized they were swans. I reached out to John Haas and Rob Stone and both indicated Tundra were likely. Then I put it on NY Birders/Facebook and learned through that post that there was huge Tundra Swan movement yesterday.

~Now that’s a lot of swans! And that’s not even the entire skein! TUNDRA SWANS in flight, New Rochelle, NY 02/24/18. 

On Sunday morning I made the rounds in the black dirt, hoping that maybe some Tundra Swans had put down there. Unfortunately, I did not have any luck with the TUSWs. I did have four swans fly and land out in Liberty Marsh, which prompted me to walk the Liberty Loop in the rain. I only found Mute Swans, but the refuge is full of ducks right now and most seem to be Northern Pintails. I checked Glenmere and Wickham but there were no new birds at either location. On my way out of Wickham, I had over 500 gulls in a field. I sorted through them, hoping for something good, I found 494 Ring-billed Gulls and 6 Herring Gulls. Interestingly, one of the RBGUs that I photographed had been banded with a silver band. In my pics I could only make out part of the writing: WH…. LAUR… 794…. I can’t remember seeing a gull banded before, so I thought that was interesting.

~Banded Ring-billed Gull, Warwick NY, 01/25/18.~ 
~Not something you see every day, a Ring-billed Gull with cattle in the background. I had a really nice conversation with the farmer that owns this land and he was telling me that he has always used birds and bird behavior in correlation to weather patterns/season changes. He also said that he convinced a local hunting club to stop hunting coyotes and ever since they have noticed a decline in the “local” Canada Goose population, which apparently can be a problem.~ 

On a final note, I want to mention that Kathy Ashman had a pair of Northern Goshawks at what I call Glenmere Pond (the small pond just up the road from Glenmere Lake). Heartbreakingly, I was with her at the pond but left just a few minutes too soon and missed the birds. Congrats to Kathy, that’s a great OC bird, I look forward to getting one someday…

Weekend Report, 02/18/18

~Northern Harrier hunting over a field in the Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~

Until I started writing this post, I was feeling like my weekend of birding was a little bit on the hum-drum side. But looking back, I actually had some pretty good birds over the weekend, even if it wasn’t overly exciting. On Saturday morning, I made a quick stop at Glenmere Lake, following up on a report from Kathy Ashman of a Cackling Goose on the lake. When I arrived, nearly all the geese, including the Cackler, had already flown. The stop was still worthwhile, however, since I was able to see my first Green-winged Teals, Wood Duck, and Northern Pintails of the year. Then, I ventured back to the Hudson River, spending most of the day working my way from the Bear Mountain Bridge up to Newburgh and getting mostly the usuals. I went to Storm King State Park again, hoping the Golden Eagle would be present, but unfortunately it was not. I walked the trail for a good while, hoping that the bird might make an appearance; if it did I, missed it. There were many raptors in flight over the mountain, however; I had several Bald Eagles, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, nearly 2 dozen Black Vultures and a couple of Turkey Vultures. I ended the day in the Newburgh Waterfront area, hoping for any interesting gulls. I struck out with the gulls, but thanks to birding bud Bruce Nott, I did get my first Orange County RED-BREASTED MERGANSER of 2018.

~An adult Bald Eagle did a relatively low flyover in the Black Dirt on 02/18/18.~ 

I got out a little later than I should have on Sunday morning and missed the majority of the geese at Glenmere Lake once again. It was a good stop though, I picked up my first OC Ring-necked Ducks of the year and also had a female Red-breasted Merganser. I cruised the black dirt afterwards, hoping that the overnight snow would push some larks and buntings out to the roads.  This proved not to be the case and I actually had very few Horned Larks in my travel (just 2 flocks totaling approximately 70 birds). The highlight of my morning was watching the large flocks of mixed blackbirds (Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Common Grackles). There is something about large flocks of birds, watching them and hearing them is just fascinating. I tried for some pics, but mostly I was disappointed with the results. I ended the day with a nice, low-flying Bald Eagle which provided a decent photo op.

~Close-up of a flock of mixed blackbirds in the Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~ 
~Eleven Ring-necked Ducks at Glenmere Lake, 02/18/18.~ 
~One more shot of one of the mixed blackbird flocks. It was so much fun watching these birds. Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~

Back to Birding the OC

~A Rough-legged Hawk flexes its wings in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~ 

I was looking at the blog the other day and I noticed that for the past 3 weeks, all my posts were at locations outside of Orange County, so I decided to keep it local this weekend. I’m glad that I did, as it was a good weekend of birding. I almost called this post “Crappy Weather = Good Birding”. Yesterday was foggy and misty for a large part of the day, and then in the afternoon it gave way to rain; today was a steady rain, all day.

I spent the day yesterday birding the Hudson River, which was iced over in spots and full of ice floes.  I started at Fort Montgomery and Mine Dock Park where I had my first Orange County Fish Crow of the year and I would see my first 9 Bald Eagles of the day. My next stop was my main objective of the day – I went to the parking area on 9W North, which is a trailhead for and looks out  over Storm King State Park. I immediately took my scope out and scanned the left side of the valley, looking for my target bird –  the GOLDEN EAGLE that has wintered at this spot for the past several years (there are many eBird reports going back to 2013 and a single report in 2010). The bird was present and on it’s usual perch. I took some distant photos and tried to digiscope it, but the fog was a bit too heavy for good results. I walked the trail for a while and got just the usuals, including a nice photo op with a White-breasted Nuthatch, a bird that I don’t photograph very often these days.

~Golden Eagle on its usual perch at Storm King State Park, 02/10/18.~

I ended the day at Cornwall Bay and the Newburgh Waterfront. I was hoping for some interesting ducks and maybe an unexpected gull. At Donahue Memorial Park, I had my best ducks of the day – 4 Common Goldeneyes (the only other waterfowl I had all day were Common Mergansers and Mallards). There were many gulls at the waterfront, but unfortunately I only found the three expected species: Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed. I also had nearly a dozen Bald Eagles there; my total for the day was just under 30 Bald Eagles.

~There were loads of Bald Eagles on the Hudson River this weekend. These two adults were cruising the ice floes at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/10/18.~

The weather for Sunday was bumming me out; rain all day was not what I was imagining while sitting at my desk at work all week. But, I broke out the rain gear and headed out to the Black Dirt this morning. My main goal was to find some geese. I’ve had rotten luck with them locally all winter long, but today was a different story. Geese were abundant in the Black Dirt, and early on I was able to locate a pair of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. I got lucky with these birds – I was scanning a flock of Canada Geese and two birds flew in. I put my bins on them and immediately saw their speckled bellies. Although the birds were not very far out, I immediately lost them in the flock when they landed. I set up my scope,  that did the trick and I was able to relocate. The problem was not only the number of geese, but they were located among old corn stalks. I put the word out and Linda Scrima joined me and was able to get the birds as well.

~These dudes made my weekend – 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~

The rest of the morning was mostly the usuals – I was happy to see a flock of 29 SNOW BUNTINGS as well as a decent sized flock of mixed blackbirds, consisting of mostly Common Grackles, with Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, and European Starlings as well. All but the starlings were my first of 2018 in Orange County.  I did fairly well with raptors and was happy to get a couple of decent photo ops: a wet Rough-legged Hawk that was flexing it’s wings, and also a wet, very light-colored, Red-tailed Hawk as well. It was an excellent weekend of birding here in Orange County and just what I needed after a long work week.

~A wet, very lightly colored Red-tailed Hawk in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18. I thought this bird was interesting and I think it looked light than these photos came out…
~…I didn’t get photos of the bird in flight, but the topside was also very light as you can see in this perched shot.~
~I heard them before I saw them – Snow Buntings in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~ 
~Upside down White-breasted Nuthatch at Storm King State Park, 02/11/18.~ 
~Common Grackle in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~ 

Westchester County Barnacle Goose, 02/04/18

~BARNACLE GOOSE!!! With a Cackling Goose just to the left. Rye, New York 02/04/18.~ 

I remember a blog post from a few years back on 10,000 Birds where Corey Finger referred to the BARNACLE GOOSE as “inherently cool”. That struck a chord with me at the time because I felt the same way. To me, of all all the geese we get in our area, the Barnacle Goose is definitely the coolest and by far my favorite. I finally got my lifer back in December of 2014 in Ramsey, New Jersey, after dipping several times on the one that was in Orange County in 2012 (I think) and also missing out on the one at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx (I ran for the bird after work one day, which happened to be the first day it hadn’t been seen in ages).

So, I knew that if the bird was still being reported, I would run this weekend for the Barnacle Goose that had been reported all week at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, New York. When I arrived in the morning, the bird was not on the pond at the sanctuary, where it has mostly been seen. Luckily, I ran into Tom Burke and Gail Benson while I was there; an hour or so after seeing them they called to say they had located the bird on private property. I raced over to join them and got excellent scope views of the bird. I was pretty excited to see the bird, first just because it’s a Barnacle (see paragraph above), and secondly because I was convinced at that point that I was not going to get it. The BAGO’s  Cackling Goose buddy was right by its side, it was my first Cackler of 2018. The birds were a little distant for good photos, but I was happy to document my first Barnacle in New York State. Huge thanks to Tom and Gail; I never would have gotten the bird without them, not a chance.

~A Barnacle Goose and a nice photo op with a Peregrine Falcon make for a darn good day of birding. This PEFA was perched in a tree on the boardwalk at Rye Playland and did not seem to mind the many folks and dogs that were passing below.~ 

Awesome Birding in New Jersey, 01/27/18

~A Merlin posed nicely for us in good light at Round Valley Reservoir, 01/27/18.~

This morning Maria Loukeris, Linda Scrima, and I headed to Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County, NJ. Our target bird was an EARED GREBE that has been reported there recently. Initially it did not look good – the bird was reportedly keeping company with several Horned Grebes; we located the group of birds, but they were miles out and terribly backlit. One certainly looked different and was presumable the Eared Grebe, but the birds were just too distant to be sure. We decided to bird the reservoir in hopes that we would get better looks, and eventually we did. The Eared Grebe was with 8 Horned Grebes; we enjoyed good scope looks and took distant, backlit, documentary photos. It was a life bird for all 3 of us, so that was exciting. Other highlights included 3 Red-necked Grebes, nearly a dozen Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a good photo op with a Merlin as we were leaving.

~A pair of American Coots at Round Valley Reservoir, 01/27/18.~
~The EARED GREBE is the bird farthest to the left; with 8 Horned Grebes, Round Valley Reservoir, 01/27/18.~

As we were leaving, Maria checked her phone and saw that a GYRFALCON (!!!) had been reported at (location removed, see post update below)! We rushed over, stopping at 2 wrong spots before finally finding the right location. The place was loaded with birders and photographers, and thankfully, the Gyrfalcon was still present, sitting in the sun on a distant dead snag perch in the reservoir. The bird was a dark morph Gyrfalcon, and scope views of this big, beautiful bird were excellent but photos were again on the documentary side. Not long after our arrival, the bird took off and we did not see it again.

~Maria got the best shot of the GYRFALCON,  Warren County NJ, 01/27/18. Photo by Maria Loukeris.~

Meanwhile, in the water there was a vast array of waterfowl, including an estimated 5,000 Snow Geese. We started looking through the birds and I was able to locate 4 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE! I was stoked to find them and we got the other birders present on them. Shortly after that, another birder located a GLAUCOUS GULL! That would be a lifer for me, so I rushed over to his scope to view. I then got the bird in my scope and was able to take some digiscoped shots with Linda and Maria’s phones (my phone had a meltdown for some reason and was completely dead). I couldn’t believe and big, white, and beautiful that gull was, it really was some bird. It’s not very often these days that I can get a single life bird, not to mention two in one day. The GLGU was life bird #390 for me.

~Wow! Big, beautiful bird! GLAUCOUS GULL, Warren County NJ , 01/27/18. Digiscoped pic, using Maria’s iPhone.~

A ROSS’S GOOSE was located by other birders a couple different times in the mass of Snow Geese; unfortunately none of us were able to get on that bird and it seemed that the bird was being lost almost as soon as it was found. There were plenty of other waterfowl present, including: Canada Geese, Mallards, American Black Ducks, Northern Pintails, Canvasbacks, Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, and a single Common Goldeneye. The flock of Snow Geese put on a nice show, picking up and putting back down several time while were there. Huge thanks to Maria for suggesting we take the trip down, it was truly an incredible day of birding with good friends, beautiful weather, and amazing birds.

POST UPDATE: When I entered my lists to eBird, the Gyrfalcon came up as a sensitive species, so reports won’t be made public. With that in mind, I have removed the location from this post, I figure it’s best to err on the side of caution with these things.  Also, after looking at our photos, it looks like we had a TUNDRA SWAN at Round Valley Reservoir; thanks to Maria for digging in and figuring it out.  I’ve included a photo at the bottom of this post. 

~Four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE  in Warren County, NJ  01/27/18. Digiscoped image using Linda’s iPhone.~
~Snow Geese putting on a show, Warren County, NJ 01/27/18.~
~A female Bufflehead takes a dive at Round Valley Reservoir, 01/27/18.~
~Tundra Swan following a Mute Swan, Round Valley Reservoir, 01/27/18.~

Plan B

~A female Bufflehead looking cute at the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/18.~

Unfortunately, today’s Brooklyn Pelagic was cancelled due to what they described as a “horrendous forecast”. They are trying to reschedule it for February 4th; hopefully it will fill up and I will be able to make it.

I resorted to ‘Plan B’, which I came up with on my commute home last night: I’d take a trip to the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye, New York. It’s been a while since I’ve been there and I thought it would be fun to see how well I could do with waterfowl. Afterwards, I ended up also going to the Marshlands Conservancy, which is also in Rye, and then stopping at Piermont Pier on my way home. For the day I had 19 species of waterfowl; here’s my list by location:

The biggest surprise for me was the number of Common Goldeneyes at the sanctuary. My count of 22 is very conservative and I don’t remember ever having nearly that many there in the past. I was also hoping to see my first shorebirds of 2018, but it was not to be (in the past, I have had Purple Sandpipers at E.G. Read Sanctuary and back in December of 2013, I had 13 Dunlin at the Marshlands Conservancy). As for songbirds, I feel like I’ve done better at the sanctuary and the conservancy in the past. My best songbird of the day was a fleeting look at a FOX SPARROW at the Marshlands Conservancy. Here’s some more shots from the day:

~A Greater Scaup enjoys a snack at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/18.~
~Song Sparrow at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/18.~
~A male Bufflehead at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/18.~
~This Black-capped Chickadee was waiting its turn at the feeder station at the Marshlands Conservancy, 01/20/18.~

Weekend Wrap Up, 01/14/18

~Red-shouldered Hawk Route 207, Goshen NY 01/13/18.~

I got out both days this weekend, but the birding was relatively uneventful with a lot of the usuals being seen. Highlights for me included seeing a nice-sized mixed flock (maybe 200 birds) of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and at least a single LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the black dirt. Saturday evening the nice light had me headed to the Shawangunk Grasslands; on my way there a Red-shouldered Hawk flew across the road and perched on the roadside. At the grasslands, I had a single young Bald Eagle, 7 Northern Harriers (including 4 Gray Ghosts!), and although they got up too late for photos, 5 Short-eared Owls made a nice end to the day.

~I was surprised that this pic turned halfway decent – this bird was DISTANT! To get a brown bird on a brown background relatively in focus at that distance made me happy. Probably my best bird of the weekend – LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the black dirt, 01/13/18.~
~A backlit Gray Ghost, (adult male Northern Harrier) at Shawangunks Grasslands NWR, 01/13/18.~

Sunday morning I headed to Port Jervis and walked the trails at Reservoir #1. It was a nice, cold, walk and it was birdy, but with just the usuals. I headed to Laurel Grove Cemetery afterwards, where I had my first Hooded Mergansers of 2018 and my best bird of the day, a young COMMON GOLDENEYE. I photographed Eastern Bluebirds on the tombstones, by coincidence my second day in a row getting EABLs on tombstones (I had them at a small cemetery in Florida, NY on Saturday). It was a pretty good, if not exciting, weekend of local birding. Next weekend might be a little more exciting as I am going on a pelagic trip out of Brooklyn on Saturday; something to look forward to!

~A male Eastern Bluebird at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 01/14/18…~ 
~And a female Eastern Bluebird at a small Cemetery in Florida, NY 01/13/18.~
~There were plenty of crows in the black dirt on Saturday. Here’s 3 of them picking some bones clean,  01/13/18.~

Around the County, 01/06/17

~I can’t get enough of this bird – ICELAND GULL at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/06/18.~

I was up and out early this morning, looking to add some of the good birds currently being seen to my 2018 list. At Glenmere Lake, I relocated the Red-headed Woodpecker that I’d originally located the day after Christmas. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker stole the show, however, giving me super looks as I birded from the area right around the parking lot.

~A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes its way up a tree trunk at Glenmere Lake, 01/06/18.~

I cruised through the black dirt briefly, finding just the usuals. After meeting Tricia for lunch at the Goshen Diner, I headed to Johnson Road in Chester, hoping for the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE that John Haas had located earlier in the week. When I arrived, there were not many geese present; I sorted through them quickly without finding the GWFG and then made my way towards the Newburgh Waterfront.

~A male Common Merganser at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/06/18.~

I had two target birds at the waterfront: the continuing Iceland Gull (at least I hoped it was continuing), and a pair of Canvasbacks that Ken McDermott had reported there, just yesterday. I met Linda Scrima there and at first it did not look good for getting either bird. Gulls were relatively scarce and there was no sign of the Canvasbacks. We put in some time, which was tough because of how cold it was today, and eventually we located the Iceland Gull. The bird was incredibly cooperative and swam quite close, allowing for some nice photos in the waning light. Bill and Jayne Fiero showed up with impeccable timing and got the gull as well. The Canvasbacks did not make an appearance; other notable birds included a decent number of Common Mergansers (75+) and 4 adult Bald Eagles. All in all, a VERY cold but fun and productive day of birding.

~Bald Eagle in flight over the Hudson River, 01/06/18.~
~Young Red-headed Woodpecker at Glenmere Lake, 01/06/18.~

Excellent Birding at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18

~What a little cutie – Golden-crowned Kinglet at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~

I really didn’t have much in the way of expectations for my first day of birding in 2018. I knew I wanted to get up early to try for the two ROSS’S GEESE at Glenmere Lake, but beyond that I didn’t have a plan. It was zero degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up, but I managed to rustle myself out of bed and get to the lake before the geese left. When I arrived, there were several other birders that had the same idea as me: Karen Miller, Diane Bliss, Mike Mallon, Rick Hansen, and Kathy Ashman were all present, getting their Orange County Ross’s Goose for the new year. I waited with Karen, Diane, and Mike for the geese to pick up, since the 2 Ross’s spent most of the time with their heads tucked in. On my way out, I was talking to Kathy in the parking lot and we decided to walk the trail. Kathy had already walked it earlier with Rick, but was game for some more birding.

~I have to say I was definitely surprised to see Yellow-rumped Warblers on the trail today. Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~

I haven’t spent much time birding the trail at Glenmere, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We ended up having an incredible morning with nice variety of songbirds and some close encounters. How’s this for some good birds on January 1st: Golden-crowned Kinglet (many!), Yellow-rumped Warbler (7), Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Bluebird (12), and six different species of woodpecker! (Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied, N. Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Pileated). Of the likely woodpeckers, we only missed the Red-headed Woodpecker (which is still present, Judy Cinquina, Tom Millard, and Maria Loukeris all saw it today).

~Hermit Thrush at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~

At one point, I had a Golden-crowned Kinglet feeding just inches from my right shoulder! I stayed completely still and just enjoyed it; I couldn’t believe how close the bird was, nor could I believe how very tiny they are when you see them that close – they are just little peanuts! We walked the trail until it opens up to a field. The field was very active and we weren’t sure where to look for the next bird. Then a Pileated Woodpecker flew out of the trees right towards us, banking right over our heads before landing on a nearby tree. It really was a super morning of birding and in the end we tallied 28 species for the morning. I’ve not birded one on one with Kathy much before this, and I have to say it was a joy and she is really good – always a step ahead of me picking up birds all around us. Good birding for sure and a great way to start the year.

~One of my favorites! Brown Creeper at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~
~Big, dinosaur like bird – Pileated Woodpecker at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~
~The 2 ROSS’S GEESE take off from the lake just after 8 am. Glenmere Lake, 01/o1/18.~
~Mike Mallon picked up two coyotes crossing the lake in the distance. Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~
~One more butter-butt. Yellow-rumped Warbler with a snack at Glenmere Lake, 01/01/18.~
~In the afternoon, I headed back out. I met up with Kyle Dudgeon and we cruised the black dirt. Kyle picked up his lifer Lapland Longspur, and we both got shots of this awesome Merlin. Black Dirt Region 01/01/18.~