Rarities – Orange Birding

Lapland Longspurs, 04/26/26

It’s not necessarily very easy to see a Lapland Longspur in breeding plumage. You can travel during the breeding season to the arctic tundra across North America, Europe, and Asia – areas such as Alaska, northern Canada, northern Scandinavia, Russia, or coastal Greenland. See the pink highlights on the range map below.

Or you can stay local and head out to the black dirt in mid to late April and try to get really lucky. Readers of the blog know that Lapland Longspur is among my very favorite species; I search for them all winter long and in April I try to see them in their fabulous breeding plumage. And I’ve had some success over the years, and this weekend I got lucky again and found a handful of Lapland Longspurs associating with a flock of Horned Larks. Two of the birds were in beautiful breeding plumage, but unfortunately, in spite of my efforts on both days, I never had the birds close enough for quality photos. Here’s my best effort.

~Lapland Longspur in the Black Dirt Region, 04/26/26.~

It was back in April of 2023 when I got super lucky and finally got a decent shot. I was was very excited at the time; it was a great day for me. Here’s another look at that bird:

~A look back to 2023: Lapland Longspur in the Black Dirt Region on 04/23/23.~

On a separate note, I wanted to give a shout out to birding bud Silas Wareham. Silas is an excellent Orange County birder and photographer. He has an online photography newsletter, Raw Nature, that I encourage everyone to visit and subscribe if you like what you see (you will). Here is lovely shot that I pulled from Silas’ site.

~American Robin photo by Silas Wareham… see more good stuff like this here. ~

Excellent Sunday Birding, 04/29/26

When I looked at today’s forecast last night, I was hopeful that we might get some good birds. It called for rain starting before sunrise and continuing through the morning until the early afternoon. When I arrived at Wickham Lake this morning, it was a steady rain. I was initially viewing from under the pavilion, but then I saw some interesting ducks, so I had to venture out into the rain for a closer look from the shore. I was pretty excited when I got a better look – it was (4) SURF SCOTERS and (1) BLACK SCOTER, which was super exciting for me. Also of note was (4) Bonaparte’s Gulls, associating with about a half dozen Ring-billed Gulls. I checked a few more lakes in the area, and when I got to Walton Lake, I found (2) more Surf Scoters. The rain had stopped, and the birds were closer, so I was at least able to get a halfway decent photo of the birds.

~Surf Scoters at Walton Lake on 04/19/26. Why are they always on the other side of the lake?~

I checked a few more local lakes without anything noteworthy and then headed to the Hudson River. I’d seen on social media that route 218 (Storm King Highway) had finally reopened after being closed for I think over three years, so I wanted to drive that for the first time in ages. Unfortunately it was raining pretty good again when I went through, so the views weren’t so great, but I’m excited that it’s open again. I birded Cornwall Bay with hardly any birds. I went to the mouth of the Quassaic Creek, and I was happy to find that the Black-crowned Night Heron had returned! I snapped a few shots and sorted through some cormorants, hoping for the Neotropic Cormorant that had been reported this week, but no luck.

~Black-crowned Night Heron at the mouth of the Quassaic Creek, 04/19/26.~

I made my way up to the Newburgh Waterfront, where at first I didn’t have much. Then, to my surprise, while I was sorting through the gulls on the floating docks, a couple of LAUGHING GULLS flew in. They spent some time close to the shore for a while, but then eventually settled down way out on the river with a small flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls. I’d put the word out, and Silas, Bruce and Jeanne joined me with the birds. Later in the day, Ronnie reported that they had relocated to the parking lot at the boat launch; Bill Fiero was able to catch up with them there.

~One of two Laughing Gulls at the Newburgh Waterfront, 04/19/26.~

~Laughing in the rain, just laughing in the rain… sorry I couldn’t help myself. LAGU at Newburgh Waterfront, 04/19/26.~

~Laughing Gull in flight over the Hudson River at the Newburgh Waterfront, 04/19/26.~

~It was a wet day out there. Common Grackle, soaking wet at the Newburgh Waterfront, 04/19/26.~

~Eastern Meadowlark in the black dirt on Saturday, 04/18/26.~

~Savannah Sparrow in the black dirt, 04/18/26.~

Sunday Shots, 02/08/26

My goodness, it was a COLD weekend! Saturday, with the strong winds, may have been the coldest conditions I’ve ever birded in. Which is why I spent nearly every minute in the car, only getting out on a few occasions. Sunday started off pretty cold too, but did not have the same winds that we had on Saturday and was eventually borderline comfortable, as long as you were in the sun. I spent all morning Saturday in the black dirt and I got mostly the usuals. The best thing about the substantial snow cover is that it brought some of my favorite birds (Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs) into more accessible areas.

~Lapland Longspur in the black dirt on 02/07/26.~

On Sunday I started out in the black dirt again; I made my way out to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. I walked out to the fork and back – it was brutally cold, but it felt good to get out of the car and take a walk. Then I headed to the Newburgh Waterfront area. I made a quick stop at Kendridge Farm, where I enjoyed the company of a large flock of American Robins, probably north of a hundred individuals. At the waterfront, it was too early in the day for much gull action, but I was luck enough to find 17 Common Goldeneyes in the only open water I could find, straight out from Blu Pointe restaurant. They were eventually flushed by a US Coast Guard boat breaking through the ice and I watched as they flew down river.

~Common Goldeneyes in flight over the Hudson River at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/08/26.~

On my way home I started thinking about the TUNDRA SWAN that has been observed in the area in recent days. I’d tried for that bird on the Wallkill River on Celery Avenue four times already over the weekend, but something made me think I should try one more time. At the Celery Avenue location, I was unable to locate the bird, but I did meet Rick and MaryAnn Ronzoni. They had had similar poor luck with this bird; we commiserated and went our separate ways. I was headed home when my phone rang – it was the Ronzonis – they had found the bird in a field on Onion Avenue! I turned around and the bird was still there when I arrived – and what a beauty it was. Huge thanks to the Ronzonis, who went out of their way to make sure I got that bird.

~Tundra Swan siting in a snowy field in the black dirt region, 02/08/26.~

02/09/26 Update: I woke up in the middle of the night last night and remembered that I’d wanted to mention the impact that bird flu is having on our local birds. I generally try to keep the blog upbeat and mostly positive, but I would be remiss if I didn’t bring it up here. I’d seen reports on eBird and on the Mearns Birding App of larger numbers of Canada Geese that have died from the Avian Virus. But, personally, I’d only seen a small number of birds in my travels up until this weekend. The scene at the Wallkill River on Celery Avenue is downright shocking. The mostly frozen river is absolutely littered with dead geese – when I first saw them on Saturday morning it really had an effect on me. I didn’t do any counting, but just based on what I saw, I would estimate that there was at least 75-100 birds that had succumbed to the virus. According to reports on the Mearns App, the birds have been reported to the DEC. It’s very sad, but unfortunately that’s just the state of things right now. If I hear any additional information, I’ll try to post it in a timely manner.

~American Tree Sparrow in the black dirt, 02/08/26.~

~Snow Bunting in the black dirt, 02/07/26.~

~Lapland Longspur in the black dirt, 02/07/26.~

~Eastern Bluebird at Winding Waters Trail, 02/08/26.~

~American Robin at Kenridge Farm, 02/08/26.~

~A young Bald Eagle in the black dirt region, 02/08/26.~

~Young Bald Eagle on prey in the black dirt, 02/07/26.~

A Good Weekend, 12/21/25

On Saturday I participated in the Christmas Bird Count for the first time ever. I joined Jodi Brodsky and birded the Newburgh Waterfront for the full day. With some key contributions from Bruce Nott, we had a total of 48 species. I’m not sure how that measures up to previous years, but I thought it was pretty good. The best bird for Jodi and I was a Great Cormorant. Thanks to Jodi for inviting me, she was a pleasure to bird with, and it was nice to do some birding with a purpose – it’s pretty rewarding.

~Red-shouldered Hawk at Chadwick Lake Park, during the CBC on 12/20/25.~

Today I hit a lot of my usual Orange County spots and got a lot of the usuals. Then I got word from Bruce that he had the Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront. I ran for the bird, and it stuck around for me – I’ve included a documentary shot of the bird at the bottom of this post. Later in the day, when I was home with a cat on my lap and my feet up, Silas Wareham contacted me. He had two ROSS’S GEESE in the Black Dirt Region. I ran for the birds and joined Silas and Linda Scrima who were on the birds when I arrived. It’s an interesting couple of geese – there is a fairly obvious size difference between the two, but I believe that can be attributed to sexual dimorphism. I will be reporting both of these birds as Ross’s, and we will see if the report is accepted.

~Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~One more shot of the Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Northern Yellow Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

~A young Cooper’s Hawk, just after sunrise this morning in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

A Record Breaking Day, 12/06/25

First thing this morning I followed up on reports of seven Greater White-fronted Geese from the past couple of days. Unfortunately, the birds were not present at the reported location. I spent the morning birding and eventually ended up at a small pond in the outskirts of the Black Dirt Region. As I scanned, I found some Greater White-fronted Geese and thought, great I found the seven!… but, I kept scanning and the pond was loaded with GWFGs! I put the word out, and Linda Scrima joined me and we had a total count of 26 individuals! It blew the previous high count for the county out of the water. But it gets better! Linda went directly to the original location and found 2 more individuals. And then, later in the afternoon, Jeanne Cimorelli and Curt McDermott had a count of 27! Jeanne followed up by going to the second location and got 2 more for a total of 29 Greater White-fronted Geese for the day! Incredible birding!

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.~

Orange County Connecticut Warbler, 09/14/25

I went to Winding Waters Trail first thing this morning with CONNECTICUT WARBLER being my primary target bird. I was also hoping for Lincoln’s Sparrow, but I knew that bird wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to track down. I walked the trail; it was quite birdy on my way out, and I picked up a couple of Lincoln’s Sparrows. It wasn’t until I was on my way back in that I first heard and then saw my primary target. Unfortunately, the bird was severely backlit, so my photos aren’t great. But I think I’ve heard more than one person say that any photo of a Connecticut Warbler is a good photo. I was happy to get lucky with this bird it’s been several years since I’ve had one.

~Good bird for the county… Connecticut Warbler at Winding Waters Trail, 09/14/25.~

Later in the morning I headed to Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I wanted to try for some Broad-winged Hawks since I was out of commission on Saturday (see below). We had some early movement, including just over 40 Broadwings, a handful of Sharp-shinned Hawks, a young Bald Eagle, and a couple of Osprey. It slowed down mid-day, and I left. But it picked up again and they finished the day with over 500 Broad-winged Hawks!

On Saturday, I went on a fishing trip in the Long Island Sound with my work. It was a successful trip for those who were fishing – they were pulling up fish left and right. For me, I don’t fish, but I enjoyed birding and taking some photos as we went. All the birds I had were expected, including four species of gulls. It’s been a minute since I’ve posted any gull shots, so here’s all four species.

~American Herring Gull in flight over the Long Island Sound, 09/13/25.~

~Ring-billed Gull during Long Island Sound fishing trip, 09/13/25.~

~Laughing Gull taking off. Long Island Sound, 09/13/25.~

~A sharp looking young Great Black-backed Gull, Long Island Sound 09/13/25.~

Upland Sandpiper, 08/23/25

I didn’t get out this morning, so this evening I followed up on several reports of an UPLAND SANDPIPER from earlier in the day. I was hoping to get some better looks than I did a couple of weeks ago. Well, mission accomplished! I got super lucky with an Upland Sandpiper very close to the road. The bird flushed from some longer grasses as I approached in my car. It posed for a short time right in front of me, and then worked its way along the side of a turf field. It was probably the best/longest Uppy observation that I’ve had, and I was excited and thrilled.

~Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 08/23/25.~

~Upland Sandpiper in the black dirt, 08/23/25.

UPLAND SANDPIPER, 08/10/25

I finally got lucky and found an UPLAND SANDPIPER in the Black Dirt Region this morning. Unfortunately, the bird was absolutely miles out in a field, so pics were very tough (click here to see what an Uppy actually looks like). The bird was jumpy, and I felt like at any moment it might come closer, but, frustratingly, it kept taking short flights and getting further away instead. During one longer flight, the bird was calling while in flight, so that was pretty cool. Several folks came out for the bird; I know a few got it and a few were still trying to relocated it when I finally left.

~Terrible, distant photos, but what can you do? Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 08/10/25.~

~Upland Sandpiper in the black dirt, 08/10/25.~

Sussex County White Ibises, 07/12/25

As we know, not much has been happening lately, so I was pretty happy to have some exciting birds to try for this morning. I went to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Loop to try for the 2 WHITE IBISES that have been observed there in recent days. Fortunately the birds stuck around for me, and I was able to find them easily. I believe the only other time I’ve seen this species in our area was back in 2017, when Rob Stone found 5 of them at Wickham Lake.