Raptors – Orange Birding

Christmas Eve Birding 2024

I can’t remember if I’ve ever had the opportunity to bird on Christmas Eve since I started seriously birding over 12 years ago. But this year, circumstances were such that I was able to get out for a couple hours in the evening. I went out to the black dirt region and drove around. Slowly, an interesting and enjoyable evening of birding began to unfold. I was seeing a fair number of Red-tailed Hawks around, which is pretty normal. But then one flew over my car with what looked like a snake in its talons. I saw where the hawk perched and got closer to explore. Sure enough, the raptor had a live snake and was starting to consume it. Where does a Red-tailed Hawk find a snake in the dead of winter?

~Red-tailed Hawk enjoying a meal in the black dirt, 12/24/24.~

I started seeing more and more raptors; mostly Red-tails (~10) and Northern Harriers (~8), but I also had a Peregrine Falcon and 4 Adult Bald Eagles. The icing on the cake was finding 3 Short-eared Owls. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a shorty, so I really enjoyed it.

~Short-eared Owl in the Black Dirt Region, 12/24/24.~

I saw and heard many, many Horned Larks flying around, and I heard at least 2 Lapland Longspurs among them, but no Snow Buntings. As the sun was setting, many, many Canada Geese were flying in, looking for a place to roost for the night. I had a small flock of 7 Snow Geese with them. I had a brief moment t of excitement- in a distant field I spotted a lone swan. I figured for sure it would be either a Tundra or a Trumpeter, but unfortunately it turned out to be a Mute Swan! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mute Swan sitting out in a field before. I guess you just never know what you will find if you get out and go birding.

~Mute Swan in a field!?! What the heck? Black dirt region, 12/24/24.~

Sunday Shots 12/01/24

Regular readers of the blog may remember that I am a big fan of winter birding. While this weekend didn’t offer up anything too exciting, there were plenty of birds around to enjoy. My favorite moments included a decent sized flock of Snow Buntings in the black dirt on Friday afternoon (approximately 65 birds or so). On Saturday afternoon I enjoyed watching and photographing one of the tightest packed large flock of mixed blackbirds that I’ve ever seen. It was so much fun to see, and I find the photos fascinating to examine. As far as I can tell, three different species were present (mostly Red-winged Blackbirds, with some Brown-headed Cowbirds and European Starlings sprinkled throughout), and the images vary wildly depending on species present, orientation of the birds, and the light (among other variables). And finally, I had a brief but productive experience with an American Kestrel; usually a skittish species, this male was super focused on hunting something in the vegetation roadside, which allowed for some good photo ops.

~American Kestrel in the black dirt, 12/01/24.~

~Snow Buntings in the black dirt, 11/29/24.~

~More Snow Buntings. Black Dirt Region 11/30/24.~

~Living up to their name, Red-winged Blackbirds predominate this image. Blackbird flock in the black dirt, 11/30/24.~

~Now that’s a lot of blackbirds! Mixed flock in the black dirt, 11/30/24.~

~Blackbird flock in action, Black Dirt Region 11/30/24.~

~Mixed flock of blackbirds in the black dirt, 11/30/24.~

~I love this shot. It was a mostly gloomy afternoon, but the sun did poke out from time to time. Blackbirds in the black dirt 11/30/24.~

~American Kestrel hunting roadside in the Black Dirt Region, 12/01/24.~

~In hover mode – AMKE in the BDR 12/01/24.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/09/24

I made a brief visit to the Black Dirt Region this morning before heading up to hawkwatch. I was lucky enough to find my target bird – Lapland Longspur. I found a sizable flock of Horned Larks; among them was at least 3 longspurs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more like 5 or 6, as I was hearing them quite a bit. Photos didn’t happen; that’ll be something to work towards.

As for hawkwatch, today was my last day of the season at Mount Peter. I can hardly believe how quickly time is going by these days. I had an enjoyable 2024 season; I feel like I got more than my share of good days during a season that did not seem to produce all that many good days. My ultimate highlight, of course, was the Golden Eagle that migrated through on 10/19/24, but I also enjoyed counting nearly a thousand Broad-winged Hawks on 09/21/24. While the official counting season will end this coming Friday, I feel like I might want to try it for a couple hours next Saturday, since it will be prime time for Goldens.

~Turkey Vulture at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch 11/09/24. TUVUs were the big mover today, with 53 migrants counted.~

I went out on a decent note, counting 76 migrating raptors today. It was a tough go, since there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and than makes finding the birds quite difficult. And, while the official counting season will end this coming Friday, I feel like I might want to try it for a couple hours next Saturday, since it will be prime time for Goldens. As always, I’ve included my Hawcount.org report at the bottom of this post.

~Red-tailed Hawks came in 2nd place with 15 migrating birds counted. This bird was not moving through and was not counted. Mt Peter Hawkwatch 11/09/24.~

A Good Day at Mt. Pete

I enjoyed a really good flight today at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, with 143 migrating raptors counted. Winds were strong and from the northwest, there was a nice mix of sun and clouds, and temperatures were nice and cool – perfect hawk watching conditions. I had a lot of help up there today too, with veteran counters Judy Cinquina, Tom Millard, and Ken Witkowski all joining me for a good long while. When you have really good help like that, I can’t help but wonder what the count would have been if I was up there on my own. The highlights of the day included a flight of (14) Red-shouldered Hawks and (40) Red-tailed Hawks; I believe that is our high day count for both species so far this year. As a bonus, today’s count pushed our year count over the 3,000 bird mark. See my full Hawkcount report at the bottom of this post.

~Red-tailed Hawk at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/26/24.~

~And the obligatory Turkey Vulture shot, Mt. Pete 10/26/24.~

GOLDEN EAGLE at Mt. Pete!

It was a strange day at Mount Peter. Between the warm temperatures, the very light winds, and a completely cloudless sky, I did not have very high expectations for today’s flight. And for the most part, my low expectations were met. BUT! Just after 1:00, the day was saved. I picked up a dark/silhouetted bird south of the platform; it was heading south. It had a slight dihedral, so I was thinking Turkey Vulture. But then it flapped and I knew it was not a vulture… I picked up some white on the tail and then the bird started to circle and I could clearly see the white on the underside of the wings – GOLDEN EAGLE! This was probably the most unexpected Golden Eagle I’ve ever seen – this bird was a little early for GOEA, and conditions were less than ideal. But I’ll take it, lol, it certainly saved a day where I had only 13 additional migrating raptors.

~Golden Eagle just south of Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/19/24.~

~There was a small flock of Purple Finches present when I arrived at Mt. Pete. I thought they would be the highlight of day, but I was wrong. PUFI at Mount Peter Hawkwatch 10/19/24.~

~One more shot of the Golden Eagle at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/19/24.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/05/24

I was optimistic going into today’s Hawkwatch; not many hawks seemed to have moved through this week, and winds were forecasted out of the north, so I was hoping for a good flight. I was feeling good after the first two hours of the watch – I had tallied 25 migrating raptors already. Unfortunately, over the next four hours I was only able to add 18 additional birds for a total of 43 migrants for the day. Not the day I’d hoped for, but still, not too bad. As always, I’ve included my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.

~Cooper’s Hawk coming in hot! Mount Peter Hawkwatch 10/05/24.~

~And when it’s possible, I alway like to include the obligatory Turkey Vulture shot, Mt. Pete 10/05/24.~

~The first bird of the day, an Osprey shot through some low cloud cover. Mount Peter Hawkwatch 10/05/24.~

Saturday 09/28/24

I spent most of the day up at Mount Peter counting migrating raptors. It was a modest flight of only 21 migrating hawks counted, but I enjoyed my time up on the mountain. There are certain raptors that I really enjoy seeing migrate, Northern Harrier and Osprey among them, and I enjoyed seeing two of each fly over the viewing platform today. There was also a very large flock of Cedar Waxwings hanging around; it was fun to see them and to get some photos. It was drizzling intermittently for most of the watch, and finally, during the 6th hour, the drizzle became pretty steady and visibility was an issue, so I called it. I’ve included my report at the bottom of this post.

~One of many Cedar Waxwings at Mount Peter today, 09/28/24.~

Before going up to the mountain, I toured the black dirt, starting just after sunrise. It was mostly uneventful, but at my last stop -the fields just north of Scenic Farms Golf Course, I was lucky enough to located (3) American Golden-plovers. It’s been an absolutely dismal shorebird season in the black dirt, so I was happy to see these birds.

~American Golden-plover in the black dirt, 09/28/24.~

~Cedar Waxwing getting tricky with a snack. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/28/24.~

~Yellow-rumped Warbler at Mt. Peter 09/28/24.~

~One more Cedar Waxwing shot. Mount Peter 09/28/24.~

Excellent Day at Mt. Pete Hawkwatch

We finally got some Broad-winged Hawks at Mount Peter Hawkwatch! I tallied a total of 961 BWHAs today, which is more than twice as many as we’ve had all season to this point. Linda Scrima and Marty Hayes were there for the first 10 birds, but unfortunately they each had to leave, so I was mostly on my own trying to get a good count as high numbers of Broad-wings streamed by (nearly no kettling, just streaming, streaming, streaming!). I also had some variety, with seven additional species counted: Bald Eagle, Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, and American Kestrel.

~Interesting bird at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch today, 09/21/24. I’m trying to find out if this might be a Peale’s Peregrine Falcon, which originates in the Pacific Northwest.~

The Peregrine Falcon was my first bird of the day, and it is an interesting looking bird. Looking at the Crossley Raptor Guide, to me it looks very much like a Peale’s PEFA, which originates in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve put some feelers out to see if I can get it confirmed (or confuted).

~A young Bald Eagle circles over the platform at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/21/24.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/14/24

Hawkwatch at Mount Peter actually started last weekend for me, but I only spent 3 hours on the mountain and had just a single migrating American Kestrel. So today was my first full day. It used to be that mid September was peak time for Broad-winged Hawk migration, but to me, it seems like in recent years it’s moved to closer to the third week of September. If that holds true, we should be looking for a big day or days at the end of the coming week.

It was hot, like a summer day at Mt. Pete today. In spite of that, there were still some raptors moving through on the light breeze which started from the WNW and eventually shifted to the NE. I had a total of (60) migrating raptors ; most were Broad-winged Hawks, but I did have some variety with an additional five species counted. The highlight for me was picking up young Northern Harrier way out and watching as it steadily migrated over, just west of the viewing platform. As usual, you can find my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.

~Ever present at Mount Peter – a Common Raven shoots over the viewing platform, 09/14/24.~

~And the obligatory local Turkey Vulture pic. Mt. Peter 09/14/24.~

More Catch-up, 01/25/24

With all the GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL excitement from last Sunday, I did not have time to do my usual end-0f-weekend post.

On Saturday morning, Karen Miller and I left Goshen before Sunrise and headed to Rye, New York. We birded the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary as well as the Rye Town Park. It was bitterly cold out, with a strong cold wind which made it even worse, but still we had an enjoyable morning. I felt good about our total of 37 species for the morning. Highlights included a giant flock of Long-tailed Ducks way out in the LI Sound – perhaps 65 birds or even more. Other highlights included a single Horned Lark and a couple of Purple Sandpipers.

~White-throated Sparrow at Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/24.~

On Sunday morning, I knew it was too early to try for gulls, so I made the rounds in the black dirt. I found only the usuals, but I had some really good photo ops, and the light was really nice. It was another cold morning of birding, even though I was in the car for the most part.