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Last weekend Tricia and I made it out Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge while visiting her family just outside Syracuse, New York. As we pulled into the refuge, we immediately saw a group of large white birds fly over…I was hoping and expecting to see some Snow Geese, but these birds did not have black wing tips. I remembered that we had seen a Trumpeter Swan the last time we were at Montezuma NWR in early September. What I forgot though, was that we spent some time trying to determine whether it was a Trumpeter Swan or the more common Tundra Swan. From what I have read, Montezuma NWR is one of the relatively few places where both species occur. So we spent the day at the refuge and saw many swans and at the time I was thinking they were all Trumpeter Swans. It wasn’t until we were back at the house that I realized that what we were seeing could have been either Trumpeter Swans or Tundra Swans (or both!)

So I looked over my photos and did some reading, and it seems like even for experienced birders, it is not very easy to tell the two species apart. One of the best guides that I found for identifying the two species can be found on the Sibley Guides website. I particularly like the drawing on this page that compares the head of the Trumpeter to that of the Tundra. David Sibley focuses on what he calls “bill-shape field marks”, and this certainly what was most helpful for me as I went through my photos and tried to identify them. I also spent a lot of time on the Trumpeter Swan Society‘s page. They have a Swan and Goose Identification Brochure that is very informative and it is printable.

TUNDRA SWAN:

• There is a small yellow spot on the bill, in front of the eye for 90% of Tundra Swans. In the above picture you can see this on the front bird (looking left), while it can’t easily be seen in the back bird (in other photos of the back bird, it can be seen but only very faintly). The remaining 10% percent have all black bills – just like Trumpeter Swans.
• When seen in profile, the bill has a slight curve to it and the connection from the bill to the eye is slight; it almost comes to a point. The bird on the left in the above photo illustrates both aspects nicely.
• When viewed head-on or top-down, where the bill meets the head and connects the eyes is rounded. I did not get a photo from this angle, so click here for photos by Mike Cooper that illustrate this view.
• The shape of the head – the Tundra has a more rounded head that rises up a bit at the crown. The slope of Trumpeter crown more closely matches bill slope.

TRUMPETER SWAN:

• All black bill that is a bit larger in proportion the head as compared to the Tundra Swan.
• When seen in profile, the bill appears pretty straight and where the bill meets the eye is a heavier connection. Most of my photos are in profile and for me this was very helpful.
• When viewed head-on or top-down, where the bill meets the head and connects the eyes is pointed. You can see this a bit in my photo below, or you can click here for the photos by Mike Cooper that illustrate this view.
• The shape of the head – the crown of the Trumpeter Swan’s head more closely matches the slope of the bill. The back of the head is not rounded like the Tundra’s, rather it drops off more sharply.

• Identifying these birds in flight is another matter! If I had to guess for the above birds, I would say they are Trumpeter Swans – for two reasons. 1 – if I zoom in on the heads of these birds it looks like there is a substantial connection between the bill and the eye. 2 – I read somewhere in the past couple of days that you are more likely to see Trumpeters in small groups like this and Tundra Swans are likely to be in larger groups of 20 or so birds.

Oh, and we did also get to see some Snow Geese. All were at a great distance, but they were so beautiful to see:

Sources:

The Trumpeter Swan Society – Website

The Sibley Guide – Website

The Crossley Guide

iBird Pro – iPhone Application

 

 

On Sunday afternoon, Tricia and I made an impromptu visit to Jones Beach. We were heading back to Goshen after celebrating my little sister’s 40th birthday at the Irish Times Pub in Holbrook, Long Island the night before. A skein of Brant flying over changed our plans in a hurry – I was really itching to do some birding. Tricia was on the phone with her sister at the time and she told us how to get to Jones Beach.

We had a really good afternoon of birding. We saw many species and were able to identify the following:

• Canada Goose
• Brant
• Mallard
• Greater Scaup
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Red-throated Loon
• Common Loon
• Norther Harrier
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• American Kestrel
• Merlin
• Black-bellied Plover
• Oystercatcher
• Dunlin
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Mourning Dove
• Norther Flicker
• American Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• American Robin
• Northern Mocking Bird
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Savannah Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal
• Red Crossbills
• White-winged Crossbills
• American Goldfinch

I had a pretty good day with the camera – I managed to get pretty good exposures on almost all my photographs. I have thought about it and I think there are a couple of reasons. The first is that the light was pretty steady, there were no clouds moving through or anything else to change the light significantly. The second is that I think I am getting better at making the proper adjustments. I was also making adjustments as I photographed certain birds, getting several shots that were lighter as well as some darker ones.

It really was a very exciting day of birding, I am having trouble deciding on my highlight.  It was a lot of fun to bird in a different location because we got to see so many birds that we don’t normally get to see. I am pretty sure that it is not anything special to see loons at Jones Beach, but it was a thrill for me. Same for the Brant. The Crossbills were very exciting too – life birds for me, but I think getting such a close look at the Merlin was probably my favorite part of the afternoon. Because we don’t get to see them very often,  Tricia’s highlight was seeing all the shorebirds as we walked along the beach.

I have spent most of my birding time this week looking for waterfowl and swimming waterbirds. I made three visits out to 61/2 Station Road Sanctuary here in Goshen early in the week and did pretty well:

• Canada Goose
• Gadwall
• Mallard
• Northern Shoveler
• Green-winged Teal
• Bufflehead
• Ruddy Duck
• Pied-billed Grebe
• American Coot

Most of these birds were located in the small pond located south of the Heritage Trail. It is pretty difficult to get any good looks on this pond – there are many branches and brush blocking the view, plus the birds are pretty far away. I used my scope to get some good looks, but taking photos is tough.

I also made it out to the Celery Farm a couple days after work. I did pretty well there, seeing more Canada Geese and Mallards, my first Hooded Mergansers of the fall, a Ruddy duck and Northern Shoveler. I also scored with a Double-crested Cormorant that posed nicely for me.

Also located near my work in Bergen County NJ,  The Franklin Lakes Nature Preserve seemed like a good place to search for waterbirds moving through. I made it out there two afternoons after work and I was not disappointed:

 

• Canada Goose
• Gadwall
• Mallard
• American Wigeon
• Hooded Merganser
• Double-crested Cormorant
• American Coot

 

 

I had a little bonus while I was out there – a GREEN HERON! It is definitely unusual to see a Green Heron in Bergen county at this time of the year, and eBird considers it a rare bird right now. It certainly caught me by surprise but I was able to snap a photo as it flew off:

Finally, on Saturday I went out to Swan Lake in Sullivan County NY with my birding buddy Karen Miller. I want to thank John Haas for giving us the lay of the land – it really helped out and we had a great morning of birding. Highlights for me were several Lesser Scaup which is a life bird for me (thanks John for help with the ID!) and also seeing over 100 Common Mergansers (my first of the fall). I was finally able to get some waterfowl photos:

It was a rainy and foggy afternoon so I decided to go to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary to see if any new ducks were present. I did pretty well with waterfowl, I saw many Canada Geese, several Mallards, around 20 Green-winged Teals,  5 Mute Swans, and  3 Ruddy Ducks. Unfortunately, the 2 Pied-billed Grebes that I have been see out there recently were not to be found.

The sanctuary had a lot of bird activity, here’s my species list:

• Canada Goose
• Mute Swan
• Mallard
• Green-winged Teal
• Ruddy Duck
• Great Blue Heron
• Red-tail Hawk ?
• Ring-billed Gull
• Eastern Phoebe
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Carolina Wren
• American Robin
• European Starling
• Field Sparrow

• White-throated Sparrow

• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle

The highlight of the day was not even bird related. I saw a BOBCAT slink alongside the creek and then into the brush! It was very exciting and my heart was racing for quite a while after that.

I went out to the Wallkill River NWR on Saturday morning, planning on walking the Liberty Loop. It was a gray rainy morning, but I was still  hoping to get some flight photos of the Northern Harriers that have been cruising the loop lately and I also had 3 Pied-billed Grebes out there on Thursday evening and I wanted to see if they were still at the refuge. When I arrived I took a quick look around from the viewing platform and noticed a Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree north of Oil City Road. I decided to walk up Liberty Lane and check it out and leave the Liberty Loop for another day. I was not disappointed, especially in the raptor department:

• 5 (!) American Kestrels
• 2 Northern Harriers
• 1 Red-tail Hawk
• 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

There was a complete absence of shore birds, but there were 6 Great Egrets and 2 Great Blue Herons in the pond to the left of Liberty Lane. There was a good showing of songbirds – I got a nice look at a Red-bellied Woodpecker, there were many American Goldfinches, and I had a couple of Palm Warblers too. I saw many sparrows which I struggled to identify as usual. I really have to put more time into it, but I haven’t made it happen yet. I had several Song Sparrows and I believe I also had a number of Savannah Sparrows, which I identified with my photos once I got home:

I had an amazing Sunday morning of bird photography!

I walked the Liberty Loop at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday evening. I have been doing some reading and working on shorebird identification lately, so my primary goal was to see if my work would pay off. The Liberty Loop trail had a different feel on this day for sure. As soon as I got out of the car I heard birds overhead. To me they sounded like they were saying “me…me………me…me”. Karen Miller and I had heard the same call the day before out at the Shawangunk Grasslands. I managed to get some good looks and some photos and when I got home I figured out it was a flock of Bobolinks – at least 40 birds. From the viewing platform several shorebirds could be seen as well as a couple dozen Canada Geese, a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret. A Northern Harrier cruised the marsh looking for prey. There was a conspicuous lack of Red-winged Blackbirds. Fall migration sure seemed to be underway.

I walked quickly to the southern end of the loop to look for shorebirds. There were a good many present and as usual I struggled to identify them. I took some time with it and determined that there were no out of the ordinary shorebirds present. Here’s my count:

• (4) Killdeer
• (2) Solitary Sandpiper
• (3) Lesser Yellowlegs
• (24) Least Sandpiper

I was pleasantly surprised to find several types of ducks in the back pond:

• Mallard
• Wood Duck
• American Black Duck
• Blue-winged Teals
• Green-winged Teals

It was nice to see a variety of ducks again!

On my way out, I found this juvenile Black-Crowned Night-heron:

As you can see from the above photo, this heron was well aware of my presence, but did not seem to be bothered by me in the least. I walked slowly down the trail until I was in a good position for a photo and then snapped away. When I moved on, this young heron was still sitting in the same spot.

I was happy with my work with the camera – it was nearly dark, but I still managed to get some good photos. I am getting better with both my settings and with keeping the camera stead with a slow shutter speed (1/50th of a second!). Here’s one more of the BCNH:

Yesterday evening I was supposed to meet Karen Miller at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR.  I was running early, so I decided to head over to Dennings Point State Park in Beacon NY. I had birded there one other time – it was a really nice hike but I did not see or hear very many birds. I figured I would give it another shot and it really paid off. About ten minutes into the hike I reached the first view of the water. As I got close to the shore, I flushed three Green Herons by tripping on a root! I looked out over the water and a along the shore and saw:

• 7 Green Herons
• 3 Black-Crowned Night-herons
• 2 Great Blue Herons
• 4 Great Egrets
• Canada Geese
• Ring-billed Gulls

Wow! What a great start! I talked to Karen and we decided to save the Shawangunk Grasslands for another day, she would join me at Dennings Point instead. It was a great day of birding! I had 29 species for the day and I got many good looks at both the Green Herons and Black-Crowned Night-herons. At one point, at a point in the trail a little deeper in the woods, we had close to ten species of song birds in just a few minutes. This was Karen’s highlight of the day. Here’s some photos from the day:

I went out to Skinner Lane in Goshen today after work. Last fall Skinner Lane was a really good spot for shorebirds, so I figured I would swing by and see what I could find. There were many Killdeer present, I counted at least 100, but they were the only shorebirds to be found. I wasn’t there long when many of the Killdeer suddenly flew. That is when I noticed a Northern Harrier cruising above the fields. I checked my eBird checklists – this was the first Northern Harrier I had seen since the end of March! I watched in my binoculars for a short while until it dropped into one of the fields and disappeared in the crops. I waited but I never did see the hawk again.

The highlight of the day was seeing a group of approximately 15 Horned Larks. This is a life bird for me, so it was very exciting. They landed not very far away from me, but there was a car coming so I had to snap a few pictures as quickly as I could before they flew. I did the best I could, but I was not very happy with the results:

On my way out I spotted an American Kestrel with a fresh kill. He was dining on the top of a power line pole.

Tuesday after work I put in some serious birding time. I started right around 4:00 in the afternoon and I drove home in the dark at around 9:30. I started at the Appalachian Trail Pochuck Creek Section. I wasn’t sure if I would ever go back there because last time there was SO much foot traffic and as a result very few birds. On Tuesday it was very hot and muggy and I was hoping that the heat would keep people off the trail – which it did. I had a productive afternoon where I identified 21 species. I caught a couple glimpses of a Marsh Wren which was pretty exciting and I got a really good look at two Great Egrets that were not very far off the trail. My best moment was finding FOUR Green Herons in the trees and bushes alongside the creek. At one point I had all four herons in my binoculars at one time.

I headed over to the Wallkill River Wildlife Refuge to meet up with Karen Miller around 6:00. Despite the recent rains the water levels were still very low and there were many shore birds present. I struggle with the shore birds, but since  Karen hadn’t arrived yet  I took the opportunity to take out my Sibley guide and try to figure out what birds I was seeing. I used the numerous Killdeer as a gauge for size and also watched their behavior and this is what I came up with: (1) Greater Yellowlegs, (10) Killdeer, (2) Least Sandpipers, (3) Solitary Sandpipers, and (2) Spotted Sandpipers.

Karen arrived and we watched the shore birds for a while and then decided to walk the east side of the trail, the side we always like. We had a great evening of birding – we had 29 species. There were many Great Blue Herons (probably over 40) and they were very active. They were often in flight and many of them were vocalizing. We also talked about the high numbers of Canada Geese and Mallards that were present – many more than I have seen out there lately. A highlight for both of us was seeing an Orchard Oriole (thanks to John Haas for help with the ID).

A final highlight came at the end of the walk. It was getting pretty dark but we could see that there were some bigger birds in the water in front of the viewing platform. Karen asked me if I wanted to see a Green Heron. I wasn’t convinced, but when I looked where she told me there sure was a bird that had the general shape of a Green Heron. It looked too big to me so I started thinking it could be a Black-crowned Night Heron. It was just too dark to make out the bird from where we stood, so we made our way closer – to the viewing platform. Unfortunately, as we were trying to get a look a car pulled up and the bird flew.

I was pretty sure that it was a Black-crowned Night Heron, so I went back the next night right before Sunset. Just as it got dark FIVE Black-crowned Night Herons arrived and started to hunt in the water in front of the viewing platform. It was incredible! I tried to take some photos but did not have great results: