Category: Uncategorized

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:

Tricia and I met Karen Miller out at Linear Park this evening. We were having a tough night of birding – we were hearing plenty of birds but not seeing much of anything. To make matters worse the mosquitoes were positively vicious. We were getting eaten alive in spite of putting on plenty of repellent. It was all worth it when Tricia spotted a GREAT HORNED OWL while looking at some Black-capped Chickadees across a field. The owl flew seconds later deep into the woods. We looked desperately through binoculars into the woods for the bird but with no luck. Eventually I saw a large bird fly across the path a couple hundred yards in front of us and I actually ran to try and see where it would end up. Tricia found it again perched in a tree in the field on the other side of the path. We got decent looks in our binoculars and I managed to get some photos. What an exciting experience! What an incredible bird!

 

I made it out to the Basha Kill yesterday to do some birding, which of course includes stopping by the main boat launch to check on the Bald Eagle and Osprey nests that can be seen from there. It is good to get out there on  the weekend because on Saturdays and Sundays from late April until the end of June, the Basha Kill Area Association (in cooperation with The Eagle Institute & The NYS Department of Environ. Conservation) runs their Nature Watch Program. Volunteers are on site from 10 am until 4 pm with spotting scopes aimed at both the Bald eagle nest and the Osprey nest. According to the Nature Watch Volunteer Handbook, the goals and objectives of this program are:

• To provide education and heighten awareness of Bald Eagles, while encouraging the need to protect these birds, as well as the other resources of the Basha Kill.
• To ensure that visitors practice “eagle etiquette,” or the safest and least intrusive viewing of Bald Eagles, while viewing eagles at the Basha Kill and elsewhere.
• To provide data and anecdotal information to the DEC about the eagle and other wildlife activity and visitation.

I love to go out there while the program is running because you can get a fantastic view of the Bald Eagles and the nest in the spotting scopes, and I love interacting with the volunteers who will answer any questions about the Bald Eagles, the Basha Kill and the local businesses. I particularly like getting out there on Saturdays because Ed is there with his own spotting scope. Ed knows EVERYTHING about the Basha Kill, he monitors the eagles very closely and talking with Ed is always interesting and entertaining, and informative.

When I arrived at boat launch yesterday, Ed immediately informed me that the Eastern Bluebirds were once again active in the nesting box located there. He also told me that the eaglet was out of the nest – it had moved down onto a branch maybe 15 feet from the nest. The eaglet is now almost 12 weeks old and should fly any day now. I looked in one of the scopes and I could see both adults up by the nest and the eaglet down below, flapping its wings like mad, getting ready for that first flight. I stayed at the boat launch for over an hour in hopes to see the eaglet fly but it was not to be. Once the eaglet flies, it will stay close to the nest and its parents for one to two months, which will make for some exciting viewing at the Nature Watch for sure. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Maryallison Farley and Patricia Diness who do everything to keep the Nature Watch Program vibrant and running smoothly – they both do such an amazing job.  I would also like to thank Linda Lou Bartle for her great photos of the Basha Kill eagles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from the main boat launch, I spent some time at Haven Road, the stop sign trail, and the deli fields. It was a productive day – I identified 33 species and got a few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday I went out to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge to meet up with Karen Miller. Karen is good company and I really enjoy birding with her. We are both at a similar level with our birding and we are both really into it. We decided to walk just the eastern side of the Liberty Loop, out and back. We both agreed – that section of the trail is  where we have each had the most luck.

Well, luck certainly was with us, we had a very productive evening. We had over thirty species in just over an hour and a half and with not much effort. The birds just seemed to be revealing themselves to us. Here’s our list:

• Canada Goose
• Mute Swan
• Wood Duck (heard)
• Great Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Turkey Vulture
• Peregrine Falcon
• Killdeer
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Rock Pigeon
• Mourning Dove
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (heard)
• Northern Flicker (heard)
• Eastern Kingbird
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Tree Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• American Robin
• Gray Catbird
• Brown Thrasher
• Yellow Warbler
• Song Sparrow
• Indigo Bunting
• Bobolink
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Baltimore Oriole
• American Goldfinch

Karen messaged me that the Brown Thrasher, Peregrine, and Bobolink were here favorites, and don’t forget the Indigo Bunting! I was very excited to see the Bobolink also because it was a life bird for me, but my best bird of the day was the Peregrine Falcon. I will never get tired of seeing that bird! Here’s a couple more photos:

What the heck is Orange Birding? It’s my new blog dedicated to my birding adventures in  Orange County, New York and the surrounding areas. I am a novice birder- I have been into birds for years, but it is only in the last year or so that I have started to consider myself a birder. Now, in addition to enjoying finding and looking at birds, I am really trying to learn all I can about birds. It has been truly fascinating and I know that I am just scratching the surface.

I have also been trying to learn a little bit about digital bird photography. I feel like I have had some good results and I have some photos that I am really happy with, but boy is there a lot to figure out. First you have to get out there and try to find the species of bird you want to shoot, then you want to try and get close enough (without bothering or stressing the bird!), and ultimately you have to be able to use the camera properly to get a quality photo.  What a challenge!

Matt Zeitler