I woke up this morning on a mission: To relocate the PINK-FOOTED GOOSE that Bruce Nott had found the day before. I met Linda Scrima out at the Camel Farm just after sunrise, and we were joined shortly afterwards by Walter Eberz. It was very cold and windy, but the three of us sorted through approximately 1200 Canada Geese without any luck. We decided to divide and conquer and I headed over to Turtle Bay, where I found a group of approximately 800 Canada Geese out in a field. I quickly found a Cackling Goose, and then not long after that I got on a bird that looked good… Yes, it was the PINK-FOOTED GOOSE! I put the word out and both Linda and Walter joined me and we enjoyed the bird for nearly an hour before all the birds picked up, circled overhead, and then headed north. What a bird, not only is the PFGO a genuine rarity, it is also just a beautiful goose – wonderfully proportioned and I just love the wrinkles in the bird’s neck. The bird was a lifer for Walter and it was my 214th bird in Orange County this year. Also of note, we located at least 2 Cackling Geese and a single Snow Goose. Super exciting birding!
~The PFGO feeding in the field off of Turtle Bay, 12/3/16. It was interesting looking at my photos of the bird because, although not seen in this photo, the bird twists its head around while feeding in the grass, nearly 180 degrees. ~I’m including this shot of one of the Cackling Geese because I actually managed to get a catchlight on the eye. The photo below better illustrates the birds small bill. Turtle Bay, 12/3/16.~ ~Cackling Goose, looking tiny next the Canada Geese. Turtle Bay 12/3/16.~ ~A stop at Wisner Road afterwards produced 3 White-crowned Sparrows, 12/3/16.~
~I contemplated whether or not this photo was even worth posting. Red-throated Loon at Orange Lake, 11/28/16.~
QUICK POST: Huge thanks to Bruce Nott, who contacted me earlier today to let me know he had a RED-THROATED LOON at Orange Lake. Not only that, he came back out in the evening and was present with his scope on the bird when I arrived! You can’t ask for any more than that! It was a beautiful bird, we had distant (of course), but good looks in our scopes. I tried for photos but they came out terribly; the bird was just too darn far. I was pretty excited as it was my 213th bird in Orange County this year and also a county life bird (#236). Excellent birding!
~One of two young Bald Eagles perched along Wildlife Drive at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 11/25/16~
My Thanksgiving tradition of visiting Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge continued this year, in spite of the gray skies and intermittent rain. My brother-in-law, Bill and I were happy to learn that Wildlife Drive was open in spite of the recent snow fall. We had a productive day where the ducks were numerous but VERY distant. It was hard to even contemplate any sort of accurate count and I’m sure my eBird report numbers are a bit too much on the conservative side. We had 17 species of waterfowl:
~A mix of waterfowl in flight and on the ice at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 11/25/16.~
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
The highlight of the day was, undoubtedly, locating first one and eventually three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS at the refuge. It was my first time getting them there, and Bill was very excited, as it was a life bird for him. All in all we had a really good day but struggled like crazy for decent photos. In case I haven’t said it enough on this blog: Go to Montezuma NWR! It’s a really great spot.
~ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK in flight at Montezuma NWR, 11/25/16.~~In the parking lot of the visitor’s center at Montezuma NWR, Eastern Bluebird 11/25/16.
On Sunday, I hooked up with Kyle Dudgeon early in the morning and we birded southern Orange County pretty much by car, trying for photos for the most part. It was good to see Kyle and catch up (he has been away at college), and we had some decent birds for the day. Notably, we had 8 raptor species for the morning: Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. The highlight for me was seeing a good sized flock of Snow Buntings, perhaps over 100 birds. Good Birding!
~Snow Buntings in flight, Orange County, NY 11/17/16.~~Awesome to see this Merlin perched on a pole. New Hampton, NY 11/27/16.~~White-crowned Sparrow at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 11/27/16.~~This Northern Harrier found what I thought was a strange perch. Pine Island NY, 11/27/16.~~It’s always a little sad to see these Ring-necked Pheasants. I could hear hunters not too far off so I flushed this bird in the opposite direction. Orange County NY, 11/27/16.~~I love, love, love these dudes. Snow Bunting flock in flight, Orange County NY 11/27/16.~
~A distant documentary photo of 5 LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Wickham Lake this afternoon, 11/22/16.~
QUICK POST: There’s nothing like a quintet of LONG-TAILED DUCKS to give me a lift after a rough night of insomnia and subsequent brutal work day. These 5 beautiful birds were at Wickham Lake this evening after work and they lifted my spirits considerably. Also present were 6 Hooded Mergansers, 41 Buffleheads, and 1 Greater Scaup. Huge thanks for Rob Stone for the heads up.
~I’m enjoying Dark-eyed Juncos with their subtle colors this year. They were plentiful as I walked the trails of the Port Jervis Watershed Park and Recreational Area, 11/20/16.~
QUICK POST: I spent a pleasant morning birding in the snowy conditions at Port Jervis Watershed Park and Recreational Area. I walked the trails there for over four hours; it was quite birdy at times, but with all expected species. I did not have any luck with my 2 target birds – Pine Siskins and Crossbills. My best birds for the morning were: a Hooded Merganser (my first of the season), a Fox Sparrow, and couple of Hermit Thrushes.
~Tufted Titmouse in a snowy setting. Port Jervis Watershed PRA, 11/20/16.~ ~It’s always nice to see a Hairy Woodpecker. Port Jervis Watershed PRA, 11/20/16.~ ~Safety first, ha ha. Selfie on the trail at Port Jervis Watershed Park and Recreational Area 11/20/16.~~Another sweet looking DEJU at Port Jervis Watershed PRA, 11/20/16.~ ~I missed a VERY good opportunity to shoot a Hermit Thrush earlier in the morning. I managed to get this one through the obstructions later on. Port Jervis Watershed PRA, 11/20/16.~ ~I know, it’s a pretty bad pic. BUT, it’s a FOX SPARROW! Port Jervis Watershed PRA, 11/20/16.~
~A male American Kestrel keeps an eye on me from his perch at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 11/19/16.~
I got a relatively early start and arrived at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge at 7 am. I had a couple of goals for the morning. The first was to try for some photographs; it felt like ages since I’ve gotten a decent shot. The shortened days have really limited my ability to photograph in any sort of good light, plus I just feel a little snakebite lately when it comes to photos. My second goal was to relocated the Northern Shrike that has been hanging around out there, on and off. On this past Thursday evening, I made a brief stop and viewed the refuge from the Galeville Park and was lucky enough to find the shrike and get a couple of distant, brief looks at the bird in my scope before I lost track of it.
As for my first goal, I did get some post-able photos this morning, however they are nothing to write home about. But, still it was great fun to be out on such a gorgeous morning and have some good birds in beautiful early morning light. As for the shrike, it was a no show. I spent most of my time in the area where I had seen the bird on Thursday, but I was unable to relocate it.
~Northern Harrier in flight just over the grasses at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 11/19/16.~
It was an enjoyable morning of birding, if not amazing. One bird I was hoping to see but did not was Rough-legged Hawk. It leaves something to look forward to for next time, I guess. I’ve include my species list at the bottom of this post.
~A big, beautiful, mean-looking Red-tailed Hawk at the Shawangunk Grasslands, 11/19/16. Good looking bird.~~While I was shooting the kestrel in the top photo, this dude walked across the trail just off to my right. I saw three bucks while I was at the refuge today.~ ~This is, in my opinion, a photogenic bird. Northern Mockingbird at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 11/19/16.~
Canada Goose 300
Turkey Vulture 4
Northern Harrier 6
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Rock Pigeon 15
Mourning Dove 8
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 5
American Kestrel 1
Blue Jay 75
American Crow 45
Common Raven 2
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
American Robin 18
Northern Mockingbird 1
American Tree Sparrow 16
Dark-eyed Junco 12
Northern Cardinal 5
Common Grackle 25
blackbird sp. 200 Distant flock in flight
House Finch 14
American Goldfinch 24
~I was trying to remember taking this photo, I’m pretty sure this is a local Red-tailed Hawk rather than one of the 19 migrants we had at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch today, 11/12/16.~
Well, sadly today was my final day as official counter at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch for the 2016 season. It was a gorgeous day to be on the mountain; sunny and cold with a moderate northwest wind. Judy Cinquina joined me for most of the day, and although the conversation was more plentiful than migrating raptors, we still had a pretty good flight, with 31 birds which included a pretty good variety. Highlights for me included good looks at two adult Bald Eagles, two adult Red-shouldered Hawks, and a brief look at a bird that always seems to be on a mission – a Merlin. Photos were tough to come by, even the vultures and passerines seemed to keep their distance today.
It was another excellent season for me at Mt. Pete; I had decent flights every Saturday except the two where I was rained out. And, I feel like I continued to learn and improve my hawk watching skills. It’s sad to think it’s another 10 1/2 months until I’ll be at it again. I should mention that you still have a few days to go to the watch – official counters will continue to be there until Tuesday November 15th.
Here’s my report for the day:
Official Counter: Matt Zeitler
Observers: B.A. McGrath, Judith C. Cinquina
Visitors: Paul Skonberg
Weather:
Sunny with very few clouds and a moderate northwest wind. Temperatures ranged from 0 to 8 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations:
Two adult Bald Eagles and 2 adult Red-shouldered hawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptor Species: European Starling (22), American Robin (24), Canada Goose (15), American Crow (18), Black-capped Chickadee (7), Tufted Titmouse (4), Ring-billed Gull (8), Herring Gull (1), Common Raven (2), Blue Jay (21), Cedar Waxwing (3), Dark-eyed Junco (2), White-breasted Nuthatch (2).
~This bird was MUCH better in person. An adult Red-shouldered Hawk migrates directly over the viewing platform at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 11/12/16.~
~This Northern Harrier is NOT from Mt. Peter Hawkwatch; I stopped by the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR on Wednesday afternoon 11/2/16 to try for the Northern Shrike that had been seen there but didn’t have any luck. But, I did enjoy a nice walk on the trails of the reserve with Mary B. and photographed this NOHA.~
My Saturday shift counting at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch was steady but not exactly exciting. WNW winds provided me with 47 migrating raptors, consisting of mostly Red-tailed Hawks (22). Raptor highlights for me were decent looks at 3 adult Red-shouldered Hawks, and a distant look at a migrating ‘Gray Ghost’, an adult male Northern Harrier. My non-raptor highlight was 6 Common Loons – one group of four, and two singles. Photos were scarce for the day, but thankfully visitors were not. I enjoyed the company of Linda Scrima, Judy Cinquina, Maria Loukerisk, and Rob Pirie. Huge thanks to all four for their help spotting birds too. Here’s my report for the day:
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter Matt Zeitler
Observers: Judith C. Cinquina
Visitors:
Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, and Rob Pirie.
Weather:
Cloudy and cool with a WNW wind. Temperatures ranged from 5 to 13 degrees Celsius
Raptor Observations:
One adult Bald Eagle, one male Northern Harrier, and three adult Red-shouldered Hawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-Raptor Species: Dark-eyed Junco (15), Black-capped Chickadee (9), American Robin (168), American Goldfinch (4), Common Raven (2), Eastern Bluebird (2), White-breasted Nuthatch (3), Tufted Titmouse (2), Cedar Waxwing (18), Red-bellied Woodpecker (1), Purple Finch (1), Canada Goose (14), Common Loon (6)
~My only decent photo op of the day was this low flying Turkey Vulture. I am grateful to the TUVUs for the photo ops, as well as their help in locating other migrating raptors. Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 11/5/16.~ ~American Pipit in the Black Dirt on 11/1/16. This was a fabulous night as I had my first Snow Buntings of the season and my first LAPLAND LONGSPUR of the year. The LALO was bird #210 on my 2016 Orange County year list.~~I should have done better with this bird, but it just didn’t happen. One of 2 very cooperative Golden-crowned Kinglets at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch on Friday evening, 11/4/16.~
~GOLDEN EAGLE at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~
I was pretty sure that hawkwatch would be a dud this past Saturday. Southwest winds were in the forecast and the previous day’s count was on the low side (with a northwest wind!). Early on, it seemed like I was right; the watch got off to a very slow start, and I have to say, I was super cranky about it. I did not have a raptor of any sort for the first two hours and fifteen minutes, when I finally had a local Red-tailed Hawk hunting over the valley. Migrating birds started to trickle through shortly after that, but really, it was a slow day.
~GOEA at Mt. Pete, 10/29/16.~
Things started looking up when I got a visit from Gerhard and Tracy Patsch. We had some interesting conversations, and they seemed to have brought one of the local Red-tails along with them. It was the first time that I’ve had a local “tail” perch and hunt in the viewing platform area. And then bird put on a final show for us, hanging in the air directly above the platform and not very high up. The three of us really enjoyed great looks and I took many photos.
~Golden Eagle, apparently looking right at me? Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~
The highlight of the day came at 3:45 pm, when I counted just my 20th migrating raptor of the day, which was the GOLDEN EAGLE. I picked it up due north of the platform; it was distant but I knew immediately that it was an eagle and very shortly after that, that it was a Golden. As luck would have it, the bird flew slowly closer and passed at a nice easy pace right over the platform, circling several times before continuing due south. What a thrill it was, I am still freaking out about it a day later. The Golden Eagle is the 209th bird that I’ve had in Orange County this year. Here’s my report for the day:
Official Counter: Matt Zeitler
Visitors: Gerhard and Tracy Patsch, Tricia Zeitler, Carrie and Cruz Craigmyle, Bill, Carolyn, Cameron, and Mackenzie Martocci.
Weather: Partly cloudy with a southwest wind. Temperatures ranged from 4 to 18 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations: It was a slow start; the first raptor observed was a local Red-tailed Hawk over 2 hours and 15 minutes into the watch. One female Northern Harrier and at 3:45 one immature Golden Eagle passed through, circling right over the view platform, giving amazing views.
Non Raptor Species: American Crow (28), Blue Jay (24), White-breasted Nuthatch (2), Black-capped Chickadee (9), American Robin (32), Common Raven (2), Cedar Waxwing (25), Tufted Titmouse (1), Downy Woodpecker (1), Pileated Woodpecker (1), Ring-billed Gull (1), Red-bellied Woodpecker (1), Eastern Bluebird (5), Canada Goose (6), European Starling (20).
~GOEA at Mt. Pete Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~~I know, a lot of Golden Eagle shots, but when will I get this opportunity again? GOEA at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~ ~This young Red-tailed Hawk put on quite a show. Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~ ~Going in for the kill, RTHA at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16. Unfortunately the bird came up empty on this attempt. ~Local Red-tailed Hawk cruising by, Mt. Pete Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~ ~And, the local Tail checking out the situation from directly above the platform, Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~ ~RTHA at Mt. Pete 10/29/16.~ And, finally, the obligatory Turkey Vulture photo. Even the vultures were sparse on this day at Mt. Pete, 10/29/16.~
~GOLDEN EAGLE!!!! at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/29/16.~
SUPER QUICK POST: We have family visiting for the weekend, so no time for a real post, but I had an immature GOLDEN EAGLE at Mount Peter Hawkwatch this afternoon! The bird made a relatively low pass over the viewing platform, allowing for incredible views and and decent photos. Full hawkwatch report to follow tomorrow!
