Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 11/30/25

Winter birding is here, which I definitely enjoy – I love getting out in the cold weather and seeing what’s around. And was a long weekend, so I got out a decent amount and I covered a lot of ground in the county. The only real excitement was finding and photographing a lovely pair of River Otters, which is always a treat. Otherwise, it was mostly the usuals, with some modest highlights thrown in – I had some Purple Finches at Harriman Park, a couple of Cackling Geese in the pond on Carpenter Road, a single Snow Goose in with a large flock of Canadas flying over the black dirt, and I did pretty well with raptors over the weekend, with 9 species making a showing (Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, American Kestrel, and Merlin).

~One final shot – OC River Otter 11/29/25.~

~Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Sterling Forest, 11/29/25.~

~One of many, many Horned Larks in the black dirt these days. This one was taken 11/28/25.~

~A young Northern Harrier in flight in the Black Dirt Region, 11/28/25.~

~Cackling Goose in the black dirt, 11/28/25.~

~European Starlings in flight in the black dirt, 11/30/25.~

Sunday Shots, 11/23/25

This weekend’s birding was a little bit of a mixed bag. Saturday morning I checked some nearby lakes and then went to the Newburgh Waterfront. I was hoping for any sort of interesting waterfowl but unfortunately I came up completely empty. I stopped by Kendridge Farm on my way home, and was able to salvage the morning by finding a couple of Fox Sparrows – my first of year. It was my 210th species of the year in Orange County. In the afternoon, I went out to the black dirt for a little while. It was mostly quiet, but I did find (4) young Bald Eagles on Lynch Avenue.

~Rock Pigeon flock in flight out in the black dirt, 11/23/25.. I do not recall seeing this behavior by Rock Pigeons in the black dirt before – it was a sizable flock of approximately 50 birds and they kept flying and landing in an old corn field.~

Sunday was a better day for me. I took a nice hike at Reservoir 3 in Port Jervis first thing. It was a pleasant and birdy walk. Highlights included many Red-breasted Nuthatches and (4) Golden-crowned Kinglets. Noticeably, I did not hear any Red Crossbills flying over. Afterwards, I went to the black dirt and had a productive visit. I had a large flock of Snow Buntings (60+ birds); thank you to Karen Miller for the heads up. There were loads of Horned Larks flying around in loose flocks – I dipped on Lapland Longspur, but I was able to find a nice flock of American Pipits (approximately 30+ birds). My best bird of the day was a single Vesper Sparrow; it’s always nice to catch up with that species.

~Vesper Sparrow in the Black Dirt Region, 11/23/25.~

~I always enjoy a good flock of Snow Buntings. Black Dirt Region, 11/23/25.~

~Eastern Bluebird at Reservoir 3, 11/23/25.~

~One of four young Bald Eagles in the black dirt on Saturday afternoon, 11/22/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk in flight over the black dirt, 11/22/25.~

~Eastern Bluebird at Res 3 near Port Jervis, 11/23/25.~

~White-tailed Deer buck photographed during my travels through OC on Saturday morning, 11/22/25.~

Sunday Shots – Raptor Edition, 11/16/25

I had relative success at my first stop this morning – Reservoir 3 in Port Jervis. My target bird was RED CROSSBILLS, and, although I didn’t get good looks or photos, I did have Red Crossbills fly over on three occasions. I need to figure out where those birds hang out in the Res 3 area – that’s still the big mystery. While I was there, I had a nice encounter with an adult Bald Eagle, so that was a little bit of a consolation prize for no crossbill pics.

Afterwards, I spent a little bit of time in the black dirt region. There were plenty of Horned Larks around – in loose, jumpy flocks. Amongst them, I had one Lapland Longspur and several Snow Buntings. I would later come across a small flock of approximately 25 Snow Buntings and after that, a single American Pipit hanging in there. I didn’t get any pics of the passerines, but I did have an opportunity with a male Peregrine Falcon and a little later with a female Northern Harrier.

~Adult Bald Eagle at Reservoir 3, 11/16/25.~

~You know it’s windy when you see a big bird like this fighting the wind a little bit. Bald Eagle at Res 3, 11/16/25.~

~Peregrine Falcon in the black dirt region, 11/16/25.~

~One last shot of the Peregrine Falcon in the black dirt this morning, 11/16/25.~

~Northern Harrier in flight in the black dirt region, 11/16/25.~

Last Day of Hawkwatch 2025

Sadly, today was the last day of the season at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I was joined by fellow counters Judy Cinquina, Tom Millard, and Ken Witkowski, as well as birding buds Linda Scrima and Silas Wareham. For the day, we tallied a total of only 36 migrating raptors, but 16 of them were Red-shouldered Hawks, and that’s a pretty good flight of Red-shoulders for Mt. Pete. Other highlights included (3) Common Loons, several Ring-billed Gulls, and a single American Herring Gull. As always, I’ve included my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.

~The bird of the day – one of (16) migrating Red-shouldered Hawks at Mount Peter Hawkwatch 11/15/25.~

~There were loads of American Robins around today at Mount Peter, 11/15/25.~

~White-tailed Deer at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/15/25.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/08/25

I had a good day of birding today. I started off on the right foot by joining birding bud Kyle Knapp at Wickham Lake to enjoy a couple of LONG-TAILED DUCKS. They were my first sea ducks of fall migration, and Long-tailed Ducks have always been a favorite of mine – it’s hard to find a cuter duck out there; they are the puppy dogs of ducks as far as I am concerned.

~A couple of Long-tailed Ducks in flight at Wickham Lake, 11/08/25.~

From there, I headed up to Mount Peter Hawkwatch to count for the day. Moments after arriving, I had a nice photo op with a Pileated Woodpecker.

~Pileated Woodpecker at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 11/08/25.~

As for Hawkwatch, it was a busy enough day where I tallied over 60 migrating raptors with the help of fellow counter Rick Hansen, who joined me for a couple of hours. Raptor highlights included (3) Bald Eagles and nice flight of (9) Red-shouldered Hawks. Other highlights included numerous Common Ravens – I’d say I had at least thirty of them today. Also exciting was (2) Common Loons flying over – I always enjoy seeing them in migration. As always, I’m including my Hawk Migration Association report at the bottom of this post.

~A couple of local Red-tailed Hawks mixed it up directly above the viewing platform. Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 11/08/25.~

~Common Raven in flight at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/08/25.~

~A Common Raven and a Red-tailed Hawk getting into it at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/08/25.~

~Orange County White-tailed Deer buck, 11/08/25.~

Sunday Shots, 11/02/25

This morning I checked Wickham Lake and Glenmere Lake. There wasn’t much exciting going on at either lake, so I headed over to the Black Dirt Region, where I found my first Lapland Longspur, Snow Buntings, and Cackling Goose of the season. Other than that, I was just hoping to get some photos for the day – I finally got lucky with some American Pipits in the nice morning light, and I thought a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds in a field of dead sunflowers made for some interesting images.

~American Pipit in the black dirt, 11/02/25.~

~One more pipit image from the Black Dirt Region this morning, 11/02/25.~

~Red-winged Blackbirds in the black dirt, 11/02/25.~

~Mute Swans on a foggy morning at Wickham Lake, 11/02/25.~

~And finally, one more image of the Coyote I saw yesterday at Wickham Woodlands TP, 11/01/25.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/01/25

Today was my favorite type of day for hawk watching. It was cool with a very strong WNW wing all day long. It really feels like November, and it’s a day that’s just chock full of potential. And, while we didn’t get either of the sought after rarities (Golden Eagle, American Goshawk), I did enjoy a pretty good flight with over 90 migrating raptors coming through. Fellow counters Tom Millard and Ken Witkowski joined me and for the day we tallied (44) Turkey Vultures, (3) Black Vultures, (3) adult Bald Eagles, (33) Red-tailed Hawks, (8) Sharp-shinned Hawks, (1) Cooper’s Hawk, and (1) Red-shouldered Hawk. As usual, I’ve included my Hawk Migration Association report at the bottom of this post.

~The bird of the day for sure, Red-tailed Hawk over Mount Peter, 11/01/25.~

~Purple Finch at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 11/01/25.~

~At the end of the day, when I was alone, these dudes flew over. My impression was that they were ducks – the wingbeat seemed too quick for Brant, but I’m not sure. Please comment if you have any idea what species this might be. I can’t remember seeing any duck species fly in a skein like this.

~One more shot of my mystery waterfowl. Mt. Peter Hawkwatch 11/01/25.~

~This was my pre-hawkwatch highlight – Coyote at Wickham Woodlands Park, 11/01/25.~

A Double Dose of Hawkwatching

This weekend I counted at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch on Saturday, as usual. I also covered for another counter on Sunday, so I spent nearly 15 hours up at the mountain in two days. I tallied 161 migrating raptors over the two days, but he highlight, by far, was an immature GOLDEN EAGLE, which I located to the east of the platform during the second hour of Sunday’s watch. Unfortunately, the bird went behind the stand of trees to the on that side of the platform before I was able to even attempt a photo. Other noteworthy raptors included my first migrating Merlins of the year (three over the two days), and I enjoyed a substantial flight of Turkey Vultures during the final hour of the watch on Sunday, with over 75 migrants counted.

~Purple Finch at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/25/25.~

In non-raptor news, it was extremely birdy on Saturday, especially in the morning. Purple Finches were a favorite for me, and I was finally able to get a halfway decent shot of one. On Sunday, I had several skeins of BRANT fly over; my first for that species in 2025.

~Brant flying over Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/26/25.~

~American Robins were seemingly everywhere on Saturday morning. Mt. Pete, 10/25/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk flyover at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/25/25.~

~This little beast wandered out of the woods and spent a while feeding in the brush just to the right of the platform. Mount Pete, 10/26/25.~

~Yellow-rumped Warblers are still hanging in there. Mt. Pete, 10/25/25.~

~Migrating Turkey Vultures over Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/26/25.~

Sunday Shots, 10/19/25

First thing this morning I checked a few local lakes but didn’t have much luck so I switched gears and went the Liberty Loop and then continued birding through a bit of the black dirt region, and I finished up at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. It was a pleasant but mostly uneventful morning of birding. There were plenty of birds around, but nothing exciting. I did manage to get a few shots to share this evening. though.

~Black Vulture in the Black Dirt Region, 10/19/25.~

~I don’t photograph Mute Swans very often, but the light was pleasant first thing this morning at Wickham Lake, 10/19/25.~

~Eastern Bluebird at Wickham Lake, 10/19/25.~

~And one more Eastern Bluebird shot. I enjoyed a few minutes with a small flock at Wickham Lake before they moved on.~

GOLDEN EAGLE at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/18/25

It was an interesting day at Mount Peter Hawkwatch today. When I arrived, there were already two birders on the platform, Connery and John from Bergen County NJ. And, while we did not have all that many migrating raptors, we did enjoy viewing (3) adult Bald Eagles out to west of the platform; unfortunately none of the three migrated through. We were not bored, however. There were plenty of songbirds around. I was hoping for Purple Finch, and sure enough we had a small flock of Purple Finches.

~The final bird of the day! Golden Eagle at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/18/25.~

By the time I got to the final hour of the watch, I had only 16 migrating raptors counted. To keep myself focused, I made it a goal to try and finish the day with 20 or more. At the end of the final hour, I’d gotten to 19. I filled out the paperwork, and packed up my gear. I had my backpack on, camera over my shoulder. I took one last scan, and would you believe, directly in front of the platform, was an immature GOLDEN EAGLE. I was floored. The bird made some lazy circles and slowly passed through just to the west of the platform. It was exhilarating! What a day, I got my 20 birds, I got a Golden, I even got Purple Finches!