When this Red-tailed Hawk actually took flight TOWARDS me, it was so unexpected that I almost panicked. I picked up the bird fairly early as it took flight (shots #1 and #2). Then I lost focus for a moment but was able to get it back again as the bird came closer (shots #3, #4, and #5). After shot #5, I lost focus again, but this time I think the bird may have been too close for my focus setting. Pretty exciting to get an opportunity like this and to not completely blow it!
I met up with Kyle Dudgeon this morning to try to photograph Peregrine Falcons. The lighting was tough, so with the exception of a few photos such as the one at the top of this post, we ended up having more success shooting video with the iPhone through my spotting scope. We ended up with what I think is some remarkable footage; I’ve included three short clips in this post. The first one shows the birds mating, which was incredible to see live and Kyle and I were flipping out:
The male left the area for a short while, successfully hunted, and then came back with prey. In this video he eats a portion of the prey and then takes off to share the remainder with the female:
and finally, here is a very short clip of the female finishing up preening and taking flight, flying out of view and then cutting right in front of the scope again.
After some uneventful early morning local birding, I drove up to Glasco, New York in Ulster Count to meet up with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris. We were going for the BARROW’S GOLDENEYE which had been reported at Glasco Mini Park in recent days. We located the bird fairly quickly far out in the Hudson River; it was keeping company with several Common Goldeneyes and a single scaup, which I’m pretty sure was a Greater Scaup. The birds were really quite distant, and additionally it was tough to get good looks because the water was quite choppy and the birds were diving regularly. But, we were patient and eventually we all got good looks in the scope and even managed to take some documentary photos, which was no small feat. One of us would look in the scope and call out when and where the Barrow’s surfaced while the others clicked away, hoping for the best. In spite of the distance and maybe because of the challenge of trying to get good looks, I really enjoyed going for this bird. The Barrow’s Goldeneye was life bird number 345 for me and my 259th New York State bird.
Linda and Maria continued north to do some Adirondack birding and I headed over to the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge to meet up with Kyle Dudgeon to try our luck with Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls. Unfortunately, it was a slow afternoon and the then the owls got up on the late side so we did not do very well with photos at all. Still, it was nice just to be out, especially for Kyle who has been away at school since January.
One of my first stops this morning was certainly the best of the day. I stopped to check out a group of approximately 500 Canada Geese located on Pierce Circle. I was not optimistic that I would find anything good among the Canadas, first of all because there were not very many birds, and second because the birds were close enough to sort through with binoculars (no scope needed!). I perked up when I located one, then two, then four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE! Then another – make it five! I put the word out, continued looking and found a sixth GWFG. Maria Loukeris must have been in the area because she joined me pretty quickly. Shortly after her arrival, I located the SEVENTH GWFG! Scanning left to right, a group of four, then a pair, and then a single Greater White-fronted Goose sitting in the field on its own. Also present was a single Cackling Goose, close enough for some decent, if backlit photos. It was very exciting, and I particularly enjoyed when the group of four flew into the next field calling the whole time. After a few minutes, they rejoined the flock. It was hard to tear myself away from such great birds, but eventually I did.
I spent the rest of my morning and early afternoon in southern Orange County, but I did not have any additional notable sightings. I will mention that there is a huge group of Common Mergansers at Wickham Lake – I estimate 900 birds. The forecast for the afternoon and evening was clear skies, so I decided to try my luck at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR…
…and I got lucky! The Short-eared Owls got up early (around 5:00), the light was fantastic, and the birds flew close enough for some decent photos. I’ve said it many times before, but you cannot beat photographing SEOWs from the photo blinds out at the Grasslands. I got there early and waited a good while with very few birds. There were several Northern Harriers foraging the throughout the reserve and once in a while they would get close enough for photos, but there were large chunks of time with no birds at all. It was all totally worth it, of course, when the owls got up and put on their show. I counted a total of 5 Short-eared Owls, 7 Northern Harriers, and 2 Red-tailed Hawks. And I also saw my first Eastern Meadowlarks of the year. What a great day of birding!
I’m not sure why I picked the coldest morning of the year to go out to the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR. Well, actually, I do; I knew the cold temperatures would likely keep many folks away, so I was looking forward to a peaceful morning photographing raptors. I also have been thinking that I haven’t gotten many quality harrier photos this year, so I was hoping to change that. I arrived just after sunrise and as I drove into the refuge I saw the one other person that I suspected might be there – Ed Frampton. Ed is an awesome photographer who spends most early mornings at the refuge. He was shooting an American Kestrel perched in a tree as I slowly drove past his vehicle, doing my best not to flush the bird (which I didn’t). I parked, gathered my gear and headed out to the north photo blind. It was a cold but beautiful morning so I took an iPhone shot of the sunrise:
I spent two and a half hours in the blind and the weather was all over the map. When I arrived it was cold with some clouds, as the morning progressed the with wind picked up and was whipping pretty good. There were long periods of sunshine with intermittent clouds. To the west the sky was very dark and hazy – I eventually found out why as snow flurries moved through the refuge, even while it remained sunny.
The wind was coming from the northwest, so the Northern Harriers were hunting primarily facing that direction. Which meant that for the most part, when the birds were facing me in the blind, they were backlit by the sun as it rose in the east. This can make for some interesting photos, but really it was not what I was hoping for. It was such a beautiful morning and I was hoping for more opportunities of the birds in good light, but they were few and far between.
At one point I counted six harriers in one scan, so there were at least that many out there, and probably more than that. The only other raptor I had for the morning was the American Kestrel as I drove in. I was pretty darn cold by the time I left the blind after two and a half hours. Then, when I headed back to the car, walking into that cold northwest wind really chilled me to the bone, so was quite a relief when I finally got back into my car.
I woke up early this morning and made it out to Port Jervis just after it started getting light out. I’ve spent nearly all my recent birding time in the black dirt, so I was looking for a change. I started at a spot just outside of Port Jervis that allows for a quiet walk with enough birds to keep it interesting. My first bird of the day was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, my first of the year in Orange County. One of the last birds I had was a Common Raven which was another to add to my Orange County list for 2016. I saw or heard 14 species on what ended up being a very cold walk; when I got back to my car and I was thinking it had finally warmed up, I looked at the temperature and it was only 19 degrees! I had an interesting experience with a group of maybe 8 White-breasted Nuthatches (it was hard to keep count!). I’ve never seen that many together at once, and they were calling and flying all around me, landing on nearby trees and on the road as well… it was pretty cool.
From there I made a couple of brief stops as I made my way into Port Jervis to bird Laurel Grove Cemetery. I parked at the far end and then made a loop to eventually end up back at my car. It was a birdy walk and I added another 3 birds to my Orange County 2016 list: Hairy Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, and Brown Creeper (a drastic improvement over last year, when it took me 11 months and 27 days to find a creeper!). I walked for just about an hour and had 19 species.
I headed home for lunch with Tricia, winding my way through the black dirt without any remarkable sitings. After lunch I headed up north to see if I could do any good with waterfowl. I made three stops: Tomahawk Lake, Brown’s Pond, and Lake Washington. I only had any luck at Lake Washington, where I had 42 distant Common Mergansers and 8 Mallards. My more notable sitings were not waterfowl, I had an American Kestrel on the way to Tomahawk Lake in Hamptonburgh, and then when I arrived, I added my sixth bird of the day to my Orange County list, a Northern Flicker.
I left the county at the end of the day and headed out to Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge to try for the Short-eared Owls. I had a Red-tailed Hawk as I entered the refuge, which was absolutely packed – it was the first time I’ve had to parallel park at the grasslands! I talked to Ralph and he said that three different groups had outings at the refuge that evening. I had 7 Northern Harriers including one Gray Ghost, and then, up pretty late in the fading light, I had 4 Short-eared Owls – which was a nice way to end a super day of birding.
**I’ve updated the Species Photos 2016 page. I now have 25 species on the page, I think I need to start focusing on this page a little more.**
QUICK POST: I was out of town visiting family, so the only birding I did over the weekend was this afternoon when I ran around the Black Dirt Region for a couple of hours. It wasn’t the most productive of outings; I had only 18 species for the afternoon, and all were expected birds. The highlight for me was two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS; it’s nice to see that RLHAs seem to have finally moved into the area in some numbers. They were too distant for photos but still nice to see. At any rate, here are few shots from the afternoon.
I met Kyle out in the Black Dirt this evening after work to try for some raptors – Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls were the goal. I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a large white bird fly over a field in the distance, being chased by crows – SNOWY OWL!!! We immediately jumped out of the car and got the bird in the scope to find it had perched on a distant small post in a field. We watched the bird as it was harassed by both Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls; it flew one time and found a new perch, but shortly after returned to its original perch. The bird was very distant, so pics were tough; the above is from the camera, and the shot below is with the iPhone through the scope. It was a super exciting night! Lifer Snowy for Kyle and my first one in a couple of years!
***If you go for this bird, please be respectful of the locals in the black dirt. Many roads are private and not public and shouldn’t be used without permission. Farmers are still working so please keep all roads clear and let them work. As a general rule, for me, if there is any sort of work going on I leave the area.***
Before I get to the wrap up, I wanted to mention that I created a new page for 2016 where I will post photos by species. Each time I take a photo that consider an improvement on the previous for any species, I will replace it on the list. As a starting point, I’ve typed out the list from the Edgar A. Mearns Bird Club Checklist of Birds for Orange County. As I was typing it out, I realized how daunting it can be to think about getting all these photos – there are over 265 birds on the list! It will be interesting to me to see how many of these I will get and also how many I might add to the list. Click here to check it out or on the page at the top right called Species Photos 2016.
The weekend started on a good note with a Friday evening trip to the Black Dirt where I was able to relocate the dark-morph Western Red-tailed Hawk, originally located by Steve Sachs the day before and relocated in the morning by Linda Scrima. Due to the distance and the trees, I was unable to get any photos, but Linda got some and gave me a couple to post here, see them below (thanks Linda!). It was a sort of strange experience seeing that bird – it was vocalizing constantly and moving from perch to perch to perch, never staying in one place for very long.
On Saturday, Kyle Dudgeon, Linda Scrima, and I headed to Piermont Pier to try for the WESTERN GREBE. The bird was located by some other birders shortly after our arrival; it was a little far out and backlit but we got decent scope views and Kyle and Linda got their lifer WEGRs. I was hoping for more waterfowl, but really we did not have a large list: Canada Goose, Mallard, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, and Double-crested Cormorant. We had some Buffleheads and Ruddies that were close enough for photos but the light was not very good. The highlight for me was a Merlin, perched in a tree and eating prey (which looked to be a Dark-eyed Junco). On our way home we made a stop at State Line Hawkwatch, but it was a bust as we had only two distant Red-tailed Hawks in the half hour we were there.
On Sunday morning I met Maria Loukeris out in the Black Dirt, we tried unsuccessfully to relocate the dark-morph Western Red-tailed Hawk. We did, however, see my first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK of 2016, hunting (successfully) over a distant field. This is only the second RLHA that I have seen this season. In a relatively short amount of time we had a good number of raptors: Maria had an American Kestrel before my arrival, and in addition to the RLHA we had 8 Red-tailed Hawks and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. From there I checked Glenmere and Tomahawk Lakes but neither had much waterfowl present; in fact Tomahawk was mostly frozen over, but I managed to see a high-flying Bald Eagle which was nice.
Kyle Dudgeon and I spent the afternoon in one of the photo blinds at Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge. Early on, it was very slow with only a few Northern Harriers being seen and none of them coming close to the blind. Several Red-tailed Hawks moved from perch to perch off in the distance. We had a Wilson’s Snipe do a flyover and then five Eastern Meadowlarks perched in tree. We didn’t have much excitement until later in the afternoon when the SHORT-EARED OWLS got up on the early side and put on quite a show. We had at least 4 owls and they were actively hunting and tangling with each other and a Northern Harrier as well. We spent over an hour watching and photographing the owls, which spent a lot of time around our blind but somehow never came in very close (all these images are pretty heavily cropped). I was happy to get lucky once again with these awesome birds.
