I headed out this morning looking for waterfowl in Orange County. Well, it was pretty much a bust. I went to eight different locations and nearly all were disappointing, with few or no ducks present. My only waterfowl highlights included 3 Lesser Scaup at Wickham Lake and approximately 100 Common Mergansers at Tomahawk Lake. The real highlight of the day, however, was finding a pair of RIVER OTTERS at one location (I have heard that trappers will go for otters, so I am not giving details of their location. If you know me and are interested in going for them, shoot me an email). I have been dying to see River Otters, I’ve seen and heard of others seeing them several times this year, but I seemed to keep missing out. They were actively feeding – catching fish and just chomping them down. What a treat for me to witness this. What could make it better you ask? Oh yeah, the arrival of an adult Bald Eagle. I was floored, it was definitely the best outing I’ve had in quite a while!
~A happy looking River Otter, Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~~River Otter in Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~ ~Chomping down on a fish! River Otter in Orange County NY, 12/5/15.~~I only got a couple of shots of the two of them together. River Otters in Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~~And then a Bald Eagle arrived! A little icing on the cake.~~Orange County Bald Eagle coming in for a landing, 12/5/15.~~I hit the Black Dirt later in the day and shot this Northern Harrier, 12/5/15.~~One final otter shot, Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~
~I was very excited this afternoon to see this White-winged Scoter in the distance at Indian Kill Reservoir, 12/1/15.~
For the past couple of weeks I have been sort of playing a hunch and stopping by Indian Kill Reservoir on my way home from work. Today it paid off when I located a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER in the distance. The bird was distant and it was rainy and gray, but I was able to get some decent documentary shots of the bird, which made me happy. For those who don’t know, Indian Kill Reservoir is located at the intersection of Route 17A and Long Meadow Road (which is the road that leads to the Sterling Forest State Park Visitor’s Center). The best viewing is from the various pull offs on Long Meadow Road. White-winged Scoter is my 196th bird in Orange County this year… creeping towards 200 with less than a month left in the year.
It’s also worth mentioning that Wickham Lake has been decent lately as well – I had a Common Loon there last night, and a Common Goldeneye there on 11/25/15.
~American Coot at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, Liberty Loop 11/29/15.~
This afternoon, upon my arrival home after a fun but busy Thanksgiving weekend up in Syracuse, I headed out to do some birding and enjoy the beautiful weather. I was undecided on where to go, but excited to get out locally. I tooled around the black dirt to see what I could find; it was a birdy ride, and I hit many of my usual spots and I eventually made my way out to the Camel Farm, where I ran into Karen Miller. We caught up, trading Thanksgiving stories and we sorted through the nearly 1200 Canada Geese that were present. A Red-tailed Hawk flew right over us, calling the whole time. We did not locate anything different among the Canada Geese, and I kept moving eventually making brief stops at the Wallkill River NWR’s Winding Waters Trail and Liberty Loop. I was happy to find over a dozen American Coots in front of the viewing platform at the Liberty Loop, in very nice light so I took some photos. For the afternoon I had a total of 29 species, I’ll include my list below.
~A Red-tailed Hawk flyover at the Camel Farm, 11/29/15.~ ~I like the look on the the face of this Northern Cardinal, she does not seem entirely pleased. Black Dirt Region, 11/29/15.~
Black Dirt Region 11/29/15:
~Downy Woodpecker at Wallkill River NWR, Winding Waters Trail, 11/29/15.~
Canada Goose
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow
~Two more cute coots at Wallkill River NWR, Liberty Loop, 11/29/15.~
Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, my brother-in-law Bill and I went out to one of my favorite birding spots – Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. It was a terrible day for photos and tough for viewing distant birds as it was very gray and dark all day long. The refuge was loaded with waterfowl and we had 17 different types of water birds: Canada Geese, Tundra Swan, Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, and American Coot! We did not get a large number of raptor species, but we had plenty of individuals, with several Northern Harriers and over a half a dozen of both Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks. As I mentioned, it was a tough day for photos, but here are a few shots from the morning:
~Red-tailed Hawk at Montezuma NWR, 11/28/15.~~It was exciting to get close up looks at this young Bald Eagle, unfortunately it was tough light to photograph. Montezuma NWR, 11/28/15.~~A nice look at a Northern Shoveler at Montezuma NWR, 11/28/15.~
~A Red-tailed Hawk flies overhead at the Wallkill River NWR Liberty Loop Trail, 11/21/15.~
I’ve had a busy weekend, but I did get manage to get out and do some birding early Saturday morning. I met Maria Loukeris over at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, and we walked the Liberty Loop trail. It was a gorgeous morning, crisp with nice light and just a little bit of a breeze. We found plenty of birds to make the walk interesting, but I did not manage to see any of my target birds – Brown Creeper, Fox Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird, all three of which I need for Orange County for this year. The highlight of the morning for me was seeing hundreds of waterfowl (Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teals) pick up, circle around the refuge and then put back down again. We did alright with raptors with a Turkey Vulture, several Northern Harriers, an adult Bald Eagle, and 3 Red-tailed Hawks. My list for the day includes 26 species; nothing amazing, but it still made for a nice morning of birding that I was grateful to have.
~My first American Tree Sparrow shot of the season, Liberty Loop Trail, 11/21/15.~~Red-tailed Hawk at the Liberty Loop, 11/21/15.~
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Winter Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
European Starling
Ninety-one Green-winged Teal take a lap around the refuge, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge Liberty Loop Trail, 11/21/15.~~On the southern leg of the loop, we saw this tree that had been worked on pretty heavily by a beaver. Liberty Loop Trail, 11/21/15.~
~This made my morning; Snow Bunting in the Black Dirt, 11/15/15.~
Between the time change and just being very busy lately, today was the first time in a while that I’ve spent any amount of time birding in Orange County. I started out in the black dirt just after sunrise this morning, looking for the Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs. I found a flock of probably over 100 birds; they were mostly Horned Larks with over 20 Snow Buntings and I was happy to see a handful of American Pipits. I had no luck with longspurs. Two Northern Harriers, a male and a female were keeping the birds on their toes and moving around pretty good. I spent some time with the birds and eventually some landed close enough for some decent photos which made me happy. When falconer showed up and started to fly a Gyrfalcon in the next field, I figured it was a good time to move on.
~One of many Horned Larks in a mixed flock in the Black Dirt, 11/15/15.~~American Pipit in the Black Dirt, I first noticed this bird because it was pumping its tail up and down, 11/15/15.~
I was also hoping for some waterfowl today. I went to Glenmere Lake and struck out. There were a good number of boats out on the lake, so I figured that was the reason. I also stopped by Wickham Lake two times, which a little more productive:
Mallard (2)
American Black Duck (3)
Bufflehead (17)
Lesser Scaup (1)
Ruddy Duck (7)
~Seventeen Buffleheads at Wickham Lake, 11/15/15.~
Between the two Wickham Lake stops, I spent a couple of hours at Mount Peter helping official counter for the day, Tom Millard. It was the final day of the hawkwatch season, and although it was slow day for migrating hawks, I did manage to get some decent photos. Just after I arrived, a Sharp-shinned Hawk appeared just over the trees and continued directly over the viewing platform. Not long after that, a Cooper’s Hawk shot in front of the platform and disappeared into the woods. I wasn’t quick enough on the draw to get photos of the Coop, but when a young Red-Shouldered Hawk took the same line a little while later I was able to get a few shots. I should mention that Saturday’s count was super (of course it was, I was supposed to count but had to work!). They had a total of 160 migrating raptors, including 130 Red-tailed Hawks and an immature GOLDEN EAGLE, the final bird of the day.
On my way home, I made one final stop at the Citgo Pond. I had a hunch there might be some interesting waterfowl present, but my hunch did not come to fruition, as I only found: Mallard (9), Northern Shoveler (4), and Green-winged Teal (18). It felt good to back in action here in Orange County!
~A migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk flies directly over the view platform at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/15/15.~~An immature Red-shouldered Hawk found something interesting in the woods in front of the platform, and darted in! Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/15/15.~~And one final Turkey Vulture shot from the hawkwatch, Mount Peter 11/15/15.~~Nine Snow Buntings and one Horned Lark in flight, Black Dirt Region, 11/15/15.~
~The lighting was absolutely terrible for photos today, so this is a Red-tailed Hawk I shot earlier this week at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 11/1/15.~
Sadly, today was my final day of counting at Mount Peter for the season. Next Saturday was supposed to be my last day, but I unfortunately now have to go to work that day. I went out on a pretty good note – after a relatively slow week at Mt. Pete, I had good northwest winds and cooler temperatures, and a total of 61 migrating raptors for the day. Highlights included a Peregrine Falcon and two adult Bald Eagles. Red-tailed Hawks topped the numbers today with a total of 20 migrating birds and at least 4 locals. I had plenty of help up there today – thanks to Ajit Antony, Liza Antony, Carol Linguanti, and Rob Stone who all stopped by.
This was my third and certainly best season at Mount Peter. The Golden Eagle I had on October 17th was a personal highlight, and after my first week when I had only 17 birds, I had pretty good daily totals for the rest of the season. It was a great year for Mount Peter Hawkwatch too, with the highest ever season total of Broad-winged Hawks (11,256) and we are on track to have the second-highest season total of the watch’s 58 years in operation.
Here’s today’s report:
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter Matt Zeitler
Observers: Ajit I. Antony, Carol Linguanti, Liza Antony, Rob Stone
Weather:
Cloudy and cool with a northwest wind all day. Temperatures ranged from 11 to 13 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations:
Migrating Raptors: (2) Adult Bald Eagles, (3) Unknown Red-shouldered Hawks, and (3) Adult Red-shouldered Hawks. Non-migrating Raptors: (2) Additional adult Bald Eagles headed north. Poor lighting today silhouetted most birds, making identification that much more challenging.
Non-raptor Observations:
Blue Jay (22), American Crow (46), Downy Woodpecker (2), Common Raven (5), White-breasted Nuthatch (1), American Robin (26), Canada Goose (95), Eastern Bluebird (8), American Goldfinch (3), Red-bellied Woodpecker (1), Cedar Waxwing (18), Ring-billed Gull (11), Common Loon (1).
~This Red-shouldered Hawk flew directly over the platform. Horrible photo, great bird. Mount Peter Hawkwatch 11/7/15.~
~I got my first Dark-eyed Junco photos of the season today. I’m digging the orange background in this shot. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/31/15.~
My day of counting hawks at Mount Peter Hawkwatch definitely exceeded my expectations. With gentle southwest winds in the forecast, I was thinking it would be a long day with very few birds. Instead, it was a pretty good day with a total of 52 migrating raptors, which put the total number to over 13,000! It was a gorgeous day, sunny and cool with just enough clouds to help find birds in the sky. Huge thanks to the hawkwatch’s fearless leader, Judy Cinquina, for the company and the help on the mountain today. Here’s my report:
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter Matt Zeitler
Observers: Judith C. Cinquina
Visitors:
Amy Greher
Weather:
Sunny and cool with some clouds. Temperatures ranged from 2 to 15 degrees Celsius; there was a light wind primarily from the southwest all day.
Raptor Observations:
One female Northern Harrier, and Red-shouldered Hawks included 3 unknown, 2 adults, and one immature.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptor species: American Robin (57), Cedar Waxwing (23), Blue Jay (27), White-breasted Nuthatch (1), American Crow (13), Tufted Titmouse (5), Eastern Bluebird (4), Yellow-rumped Warbler (5), American Goldfinch (7), Mourning Dove (6), Common Raven (3), Red-bellied Woodpecker (1), Pileated Woodpecker (1), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1), Canada Goose (25), Dark-eyed Junco (15), Black-capped Chickadee (4).
~I haven’t posted a Mount Peter Turkey Vulture in a while, 10/31/15.~~I was torn between the two Dark-eyed Junco photos in this post, so I decided to include both of them. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/31/15.~~A Sharp-shinned Hawk flies over the platform, Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/31/15.~
~Dunlin feeding at 6 1/2 Station Road, Citgo Pond 10/25/15.~
I had an unproductive morning of birding today; I was hoping that perhaps some waterfowl had moved into the area. The I checked Glenmere Lake and Wickham Lake and only found a pair of Ruddy Ducks at Wickham and a single Greater Scaup at Glenmere. I went home disappointed and then headed back out in the afternoon, unsure where to go. I decided to check 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary – Citgo Pond for shorebirds, and I’m so glad I did. Upon my arrival to the pond, I immediately located a DUNLIN and what I thought were three Pectoral Sandpipers. I put the word out and took many photos, particularly of the Dunlin. Two of the “Pectorals” were not sitting right with me, but I couldn’t think what else they might be. I took some photos of the birds so that I could verify later, and it wasn’t until later in the evening when I looked at my photos that I saw that they might be RED KNOTS! I was so excited! I really wish I had been able to identify them in the field, but I was not expecting this at all, so I was happy to have gotten the photos. Great birding!
UPDATE 10/29/15: After receiving a couple of comments on this post questioning the identification of the two birds below, it was time to take another look and try to get it right. Both commenters believe that the birds are White-rumped Sandpipers rather than Red Knots. So last night I put my photos on the New York Birders Facebook page, where I only got one response, which also identified the birds as immature WRSAs (but importantly no comments disagreeing with this). I initially considered WRSA for these birds, but ruled them out based on size, so I was confused. I turned to The Shorebird Guide by Michael O’Brien, Richard Crossley, and Kevin Karlson. The last two pages of the book contain silhouettes which depict the relative sizes of shorebirds. Looking at the silhouettes, it became clear that I should have actually ruled out Red Knots, based on their size rather than the opposite. It’s, of course, no fun to be wrong, but I believe that White-rumped Sandpiper is an accurate ID, so I’m happy to hopefully get it right. Thanks to Rosemarie and Christopher for their comments which got this started.
~A pair of RED KNOTS White-rumped Sandpipers at 6 1/2 Station Road, Citgo Pond, 10/25/15.~
~Pectoral Sandpiper, Citgo Pond 10/25/15.~~Dunlin at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/2515.~~Dunlin at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, Citgo Pond 10/2515.~~RED KNOT White-rumped Sandpiper working at the Citgo Pond, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 10/25/15.~
~Kyle got his lifer Yellow-rumped Warbler today and took this amazing shot to prove it. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/24/14, photo by Kyle Dudgeon.~
Sharpies and sharp eyes were the story today at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I counted 41 migrating Sharp-shinned hawks, but I don’t know how many of them I would have missed without a little help. Many of the birds today were passing by to the east of the viewing platform. For those who have never been to Mount Pete, the view on that side is obstructed by a number of trees, so it can be difficult to pick up the birds as they pass through the smaller windows between the groups of trees. Kyle Dudgeon spent most of the day at the watch with me, and this guy can find and see hawks naked-eye better than I can with binoculars. Oh to have young eyes! Then, in the afternoon, Ryan MacLean, official counter at Quaker Ridge Hawkwatch joined me, finding several birds during the hour or so he was there. By the end of the day, I had totaled 62 migrating raptors – a pretty good day! Here’s my report:
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter Matt Zeitler
Observers:
Visitors:
Kyle Dudgeon, Karen Miller, Diane Bliss, Linda Scrima, and Ryan MacLean.
Weather:
Cloudy and cool with temperatures starting at 3 degrees Celsius and rising to 11 degrees. There was a northeast wind for most of the day, which shifted to southwest in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations:
Migrating Raptors: (2) Adult Bald Eagles. Red-shoulded Hawks included (2) adult, (1) immature, and (2) unknown. Non Migrating Raptors: (1) Adult Bald Eagle flew northeast.
Non-raptor Observations:
American Robin (25), Blue Jay (18), American Goldfinch (7), Black-capped Chickadee (5), Tufted Titmouse (2), Eastern Bluebird (3), American Crow (12), Yellow-rumped Warbler (12), Northern Cardinal (1), Common Raven (5), Dark-eyed Junco (10), Ring-billed Gull (2), Canada Goose (18), Pileated Woodpecker (1), Northern Flicker (1), and Rock Pigeon (3).
~VESPER SPARROW at Wickham Woodlands Town Park area, 10/20/15.~
As I left Mount Peter Hawkwatch this evening after work, I received a call from Rob Stone. He had several VESPER SPARROWS in the area near Wickham Woodlands Town Park earlier in the day. I was heading to the park already, so I went to check it out. After a little bit of searching, and just before the sun got too low for photos, I located one and then two Vesper Sparrows, skulking in the grass. The bold eyering was seen very easily, even without binoculars. In my photos, other identifying features can also be seen: white outer tail feathers on a fairly short tail, large bill, and pale-centered dark ear coverts. I mistakenly thought that this was a life bird, but when I got home I entered the observation into eBird and I saw that I had one when I was in Colorado back in 2013! I can barely remember that bird and I was unable to get photos, so today was much more fulfilling since I got such good looks and photographs too. Plus, it is nice to be able to add the bird to my Orange County year list and life list. Huge thanks to Rob Stone for the heads up!
~VESPER SPARROW, Wickham Woodlands Town Park area, 10/20/15.~
