Raptors – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots 03/07/26 – More Shorties

I’m feeling pretty under the weather today, so, in spite of reports of some very good birds, I’ve stayed home all day to rest and recuperate. Reported birds included: 11 Tundra Swans at the Liberty Loop, 4 Tundra Swans at the Bashakill, Snow Geese and Tundra Swans near Winding Hills Park, and a Greater White-fronted Goose at the Camel Farm. It’s good to see some things are happening.

Luckily, I still have some photos to post this evening. Yesterday afternoon I was driving in the black dirt when I inadvertently flushed a pair of Short-eared Owls. They were roosting in the taller roadside grasses, and they flushed as I approached in my car. One bird didn’t go very far when it flushed; it was the best look I’ve gotten of a Short-eared Owl in quite some time.

~Short-eared Owl in the Black Dirt Region, 03/07/26.~

~Shorty in the black dirt on Saturday 03/07/26.~

~One final Shorty shot, black dirt, 03/07/26.~

Sunday Shots – Short-eared Owl Edition, 01/25/26

In the early days of this blog, I used to spend a fair amount of time observing and photographing Short-eared Owls (click here or here for examples). But in recent years, readers of the blog may have noticed that for the most part, I’ve stopped photographing SEOWs (other than the odd bird that I might run into from time to time). Back in the day, it was a peaceful endeavor for me, with very few other birders or photographers around. But things changed and all the owl hotspots became jammed with folks who also wanted to see and photograph the owls. This wasn’t for me, so I’ve mostly stayed away and turned my attention to other species. But, this Saturday evening I gave it another shot and went out to the Black Dirt Region to try for Short-eared Owls for the first time in a long while. I got lucky; the owls got up early and it made for excellent evening with plenty of action. There were a few other folks there as well, but it wasn’t loaded. It was an enjoyable evening, and I was happy to get my first decent SEOW shots in quite a while, but I don’t imagine I’ll get back into it like I was back in the day.

~Short-eared Owl in the Black Dirt Region, 01/24/26.~

~Northern Harrier in the Black Dirt Region, 01/24/26.~

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.~

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.~

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!

~One more shot of the Golden Eagle – what a beauty! Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/18/25.~

~There was still a good number of Yellow-rumped Warblers around today at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/18/25.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/27/25

I enjoyed a modest flight of 43 migrating raptors today at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, but the most exciting moment of the day was not raptor related. I’d been scanning behind the view platform in the beginning of the second hour of the watch. When I turned around, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Black Bear! I grabbed my camera and was able to grab a few shots before the bear headed off into the vegetation. Fellow counters Bev and Rich joined me for a couple of hours and found A LOT of birds; I was thankful for that. See my Hawk Migration Association report at the bottom of this post.

~One of many young Cedar Waxwings at Mount Peter today, 09/27/25.~

~Sharp-shinned Hawk migrates through. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/27/25.~

Great Day at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 09/20/25

In spite of a very difficult, nearly all blue sky, it was a really great day of counting migrating raptors at Mount Peter Hawkwatch today. It was a lot of work, but but thanks to the help of many of our observers (other counters) and guests, we were able to tally over 640 birds for the day. Entering into the day, I was wondering if we would get many more Broad-winged Hawks coming through this season; I am happy to report we counted over 600 today. We also had a decent variety, with Osprey, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, and Peregrine Falcon all also getting in on the act. I’ve included my Hawk Migration Association report at the bottom of this post.