Rarities – Page 13 – Orange Birding

Orange County CANVASBACK, 12/14/18

~Bad pic of a good bird. CANVASBACK at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/14/18.~

On Thursday, Bruce Nott found a CANVASBACK at the Newburgh Waterfront. Fortunately the bird stuck around and I saw reports of it while at work on Friday. And even more fortunately, Friday was my work’s Christmas Party, so we got out early. I ran for the bird and it was still present – woohoo! Orange County life bird #254 and OC year bird #223! The bird spent most of it’s time tucked in, but finally, just as it was getting dark, a bunch of gulls made a raucous and the bird finally looked up and I was able to get some grain pics. It made me think – it was this time last year I was trying hard for Canvasback in OC because we had so many just downriver in Rockland County near my work. The bird appeared to be settling in for the night as I left – hopefully it will stick around for a little while so more folks get to see it.

~This was my view of the bird for 99% of my time at the Newburgh Waterfront.~

Successful Birding in Sullivan County, 12/09/18

~A male EVENING GROSBEAK takes a break from the feeding platform. Woodard Road in Sullivan County NY 12/09/18.~

This morning I headed up to Sullivan County. All week John Haas and others had been reporting some really good birds in the Liberty area of SC. I was especially ready for some good birding after a pretty disappointing Saturday birding locally in Orange County. The day was saved by a single bird – a PINE SISKIN at Linda Scrima’s feeding station – thanks so much Linda!

I connected early with John and he met me at Rayano’s feeder station, where I was able to briefly get on a single EVENING GROSBEAK. It was my lifer EVGR, so I was pretty pumped (#415). I snapped a few distant, documentary shots before the bird flushed. And then, while we waited hoping the bird would return, Karen Miller called John to report that she had COMMON REDPOLLS on Clements Road. We raced over (and when I say raced, I mean it – I didn’t know the way and I was trying to keep up with John, who was on a mission! Let’s just say I’m glad I recently got new tires.). Fortunately the birds were still present. We had great looks and I tried for pics but they were just a bit out of range for good ones.

~Female EVENING GROSBEAK on a nice perch, Sullivan County NY 12/09/18.~

Afterwards, I headed back to Rayano’s, hoping for a better look and maybe some photos of the grosbeaks. Karen joined me, as did a trio of birders from Rockland County as well as Ken McDermott and Lisa O’Gorman. We all waited for a good while and I was the first to leave. I figured I’d check the feeders at Woodard Road before heading back, and I’m glad I did. When I arrived there were nearly a dozen EVENING GROSBEAKS at the feeder station. I put out the word and then took photos. The whole crew from Rayano’s joined me, but unfortunately the birds flushed just as they pulled up. I couldn’t believe it! I waited a little while, but the birds did not seem like they were coming back any time soon so I left. Ken notified me later that 16 EVGRs showed up not too long after I left and everyone got them. Excellent day of birding!

~COMMON REDPOLLS! This is a sharp looking bird, in my opinion. Clements Road 12/09/18~

~Female Evening Grosbeak at Woodard Road, 12/09/18.~

~How about that!?! It was really excellent to see these birds today – hard to beat a life bird! EVENING GROSBEAKS at Woodard Road, 12/09/18.~

OC Greater White-fronted Goose, 12/01/18

~A perched Red-shouldered Hawk at Wisner Avenue early this morning, 12/01/18.~

I ran around southern Orange County this morning and into the early afternoon. It felt really good to be out in the field after a long week of all work and no birding; this time of year is rough for me. The highlight of my travels was locating one of my favorites: a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at the Camel Farm. Linda Scrima and her husband Artie met me out there and got on the bird as well. The bird was not exactly cooperative; it was quite distant and seemed to prefer spending time down in a ditch. Still, it was a great bird to see and I’ve included a documentary shot below. Other good birds for the day included 4 Blue Morph Snow Geese ( also in the black dirt – one adult with 3 juveniles), a young Red-shouldered Hawk at Wisner Avenue, and a nice sized flock of mixed blackbirds on Lynch Avenue (probably 200 birds – Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and European Starlings).

~The bird of the day, Greater White-fronted Goose at the Camel Farm, 12/01/18.~

~Canada Goose, Adult Blue Morph Snow Goose and Juvenile Blue Morph Snow Goose in the black dirt, 12/01/18.~

~I had a nice photo op with a couple of White-throated Sparrows on Lynch Avenue, 12/01/18.~

~I made the trip to Port Jervis and walked around Reservoir 3 for a while without coming up with many birds. On my way out I stopped at Laurel Grove Cemetery and found this Red-tailed Hawk.~

Sunday Shots, 10/28/18

~Dunlin with who-knows-what in its bill. Glenmere Lake, 10/28/18.~

I went to Glenmere Lake again today, and it was awesome! I had 7 species of shorebirds: Dunlin (15+), WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (at least 3), Semipalmated Sandpiper (9), Lesser Yellowlegs (1), Greater Yellowlegs (1), Killdeer (2), and Pectoral Sandpiper (3). The water was much calmer, and the sun actually was peeking out from time to time. I had rare occurrence of getting home and liking my photos more than I had anticipated, so that’s always a good thing.

The other excitement of the day was when I found a CATTLE EGRET in the parking area of the Liberty Loop. I pulled in and was eating my breakfast. It wasn’t until I got out of my car that I noticed the CAEA just 30 feet or so from my car! John Haas ran for the bird, and apparently the bird stuck around because I got word from several birders that they got it later in the day. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for CAEA photos.

~WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER coming at you. Glenmere Lake, 10/28/18.~

~Lesser Yellowlegs making its move. Glenmere 10/28/18.~

~I never seemed to get a good look at any of the Pecs – this was the best shot I got of one. Glenmere Lake, 10/28/18.~

~WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, Glenmere Lake, 10/28/18.~

~Bathing Dunlin, Glenmere Lake 10/28/18.~

~CATTLE EGRET at the Liberty Loop, 10/28/18.~

~A photographer pulled up, took some pics from by his car, and then walked out and flushed the bird. Sheesh. CAEG in flight, Liberty Loop 10/28/18.~

~Cattle Egret minding its own business. Liberty Loop, 10/28/18.~

Golden Day at Mt. Peter, 10/20/18

~A Beautiful Red-Shouldered Hawk passes through, Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/20/18.~

Yesterday was an excellent day at Mount Pete. The flight was steady and and on the low side, with most birds being able to be seen naked-eye. The highlight of the day, however, came pretty early, during the first hour of the watch. I spotted an eagle just over the treetops to the north of the platform. I got the bird in the scope, in perfect light, and sure enough it was a GOLDEN EAGLE! I was flipping out, and of course that early I was up there all alone. I made an adjustment to my scope, and when I tried to relocate the bird, it was gone! It presumably had dropped below the tree line; I looked for was seemed like ages right and left to see if I could catch the bird passing through, but I had no luck. I was disappointed – I was really thinking I’d get better looks at this bird! Nearly ten minutes passed, and I picked up another eagle rising up north of the watch – sure enough it was the Golden, and it eventually passed relatively high up and west of the platform, allowing for documentary pics and the extended look that I was hoping for:

~Wow! GOLDEN EAGLE at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/20/18.~

The rest of the day was less exciting, but still good. The flight was relatively low and consisted mostly Sharp-shinned Hawks but also had good variety – of the expected species we missed only Broad-winged Hawk and Northern Goshawk. As usual, I’m including my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post. Today (Sunday) could be a good day for hawk watching, so if you are so inclined, head out to your local hawkwatch.

~A local Red-tailed Hawk hunts for a meal, Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/20/18.~

~One more docu-shot of the Golden Eagle, 10/20/18.~

Sandhill Crane Shenanigans

~SANDHILL CRANES interacting in the black dirt.~

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to catch up with the two SANDHILL CRANES that have been spending some time in our area. Not only that, I watched from my car as the two birds interacted for approximately 5 minutes. They were very vocal while this was going on; you can see in nearly every photo, one or both of their bills are open. I did some research on the internet and found out that SACRs mate for life, choosing their partners based on dancing displays. But, the timing doesn’t seem right for this, so I kept looking and found a passage on the National Geographic website that indicated that they “also dance, run, leap high in the air and otherwise cavort around—not only during mating but all year long”. It was awesome to see it; here are a number of photos from that five minutes.

Orange County Little Blue Heron, 08/30/18

~LITTLE BLUE HERON at Stewart Forest State Park, 08/30/18.~

QUICK POST: After work today, I ran for the LITTLE BLUE HERON at Stewart Forest SP, that was located and reported by Bill Fiero earlier in the day. I had an event to attend in the evening, so I made a quick pit stop for the LBHE (which was super cooperative – out in the open and close enough to get some decent shots). The bird was in the Maple Lane wetland, which is about 1/4 mile down from the Ridge Road North parking lot. Go left down the paved road and the wetland is on the right. Huge thanks to Bill for finding and reporting.

~Little Blue Heron at Stewart Forest, 08/30/18.~

BLACK TERNS in the Black Dirt!

~Three of the 7 BLACK TERNS in the pouring rain at Skinner Lane this evening, 08/13/18. Usually I’m not a fan of farm machinery in my shots, but in this case it seems perfect.~

Wow, what a crazy evening of birding I had tonight! I was feeling optimistic as I headed out to the Black Dirt Region after work. Severe storms had moved through the area and appeared to have dropped a lot of water; I was hoping this would make for some interesting birding. I was planning on covering a fair amount of territory, but my first stop – Skinner’s Lane – ended up being so good, I never left until it was dark. It was raining pretty hard. In fact, it rained pretty good for almost the entire evening, only letting up when I was getting ready to leave. When I arrived, there was a pretty good collection of shorebirds present: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS (3), Semipalmated Plovers (4), Least Sandpipers (3), Killdeer (many), and one bird that I initially thought was a Semipalmated Sandpiper but for the moment I’m leaving unidentified (see below).

~Photos were tough, but this one turned out halfway decent. Black Terns at Skinner Lane, 08/13/18.~

I was just about to leave when I noticed a group of peeps had flown in without my seeing them. It was a group of what I’m pretty sure were Semipalmated Sandpipers. Then things got crazy. A small flock of larger birds flew in – they circled the field once and then flew to the south and out of sight. By this time, all my gear was wet and really, I had now idea what the birds were because I just couldn’t get a good look. But, then they came back – I jumped into my car and grabbed my camera to get some shots. They circled the field 3 more times and then headed northeast and did not return. I must have been a little frazzled because I looked at the pics and still couldn’t ID them… I shot a quick photo to Rob Stone who identified them as BLACK TERNS! I was freaking out! I looked at my photos to get a count – I had a single shot with 7 in it!

~BLACK TERNS in the black dirt, 08/13/18.~

More shorebirds arrived after the terns had departed – I added 2 Wilson’s Snipe, 7 Pectoral Sandpipers, and another group of Semipalmated Sandpipers to my list for the evening. What a great night of birding; once again, bad weather=good birds.

~I like this shot because you can really see the rain coming down. It’s a grainy, rainy shot of BLACK TERNS at Skinner Lane, 08/13/18.~

~BLACK TERNS at Skinner Lane, 08/13/18.~

~I’m not sure what this bird is. I’m wondering if it’s a Sanderling – I’m not sure if you can see it in the photo, but the bird had hints of rufous on its head and back, and the size seems possibly good for Sanderling (see photo below with Killdeer as reference). Any thoughts on this bird, please leave a comment – thanks! ~

08/04/18 – Orange County WHIMBREL!

~Wow! Whimbrel in the rain at Skinner Lane, 08/04/18.~

Last night and this morning I was having a feeling we might get a good bird in the county today. For some reason I was thinking it would happen at Turtle Bay, but instead it was at Skinner Lane, where I located a WHIMBREL in the rain around 7:30 this morning. I was super pumped; I put the word out and several birders were able to run for the bird. Rob Stone, John Haas, Karen Miller, Kathy Ashman, and Bruce Nott all saw the bird while I was still there; it was a lifer for both Kathy and Bruce. Clay Spencer reported the bird in the late morning as well. Whimbrel is a bird I have daydreamed of finding in our area for a while, and it is the 252nd bird on my Orange County life list.

~WHIMBREL at Skinner Lane, 08/01/18. Other shorebirds present include: approximately 40 Killdeer, 1 Least Sandpiper, 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs.~

~I, of course, ran around the area looking for more shorebirds but did not come up with much. Pine Island Turf Nursery had several Killdeer and a Spotted Sandpiper. Camel Farm had several Killdeer. Turtle Bay had 8 Least Sandpipers and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers (as well as several Killdeer). This Killdeer was at PITN, 08/04/18.~

ROSEATE SPOONBILL Visits Orange County… Briefly, 07/29/18

~ROSEATE SPOONBILL continues, Wallkill River National Wildlife Reguge’s Liberty Loop, 07/29/18.~

I was thinking that the best chance to see the Liberty Loop’s ROSEATE SPOONBILL enter Orange County was to wait until just before night fall and hope it flew into New York on its way to roost. Rob Stone had a different idea. His idea was to get up early and watch as the birds (the ROSP and the Great Egrets) returned to the marsh after a night at of roosting. He tried it on Saturday morning, but arrived too late. We agreed to try on Sunday; Rob thought if we arrived just after 5:00 am, the timing would be good. Well, I struggled to get out of bed and ended up rolling in at 5:40 am. Rob was on the viewing platform, his bins were up and he was on something. I hustled to the platform and he got me on the spoonbill. It was heading north along the west side of the marsh. I kept thinking it would put down in New Jersey, but it held on and flew over the berm an into Orange County! We hustled down the path to try for a better look, running, jogging, and then fast walking, the whole time keeping our eyes pinned on the area where the bird went down. When we were nearly at the northwest corner, we watched as the spoonbill took flight, went back over the berm, and into Sussex County once again. I couldn’t believe it stayed in OC for such a short visit – it could only have been 4 or 5 minutes tops! Still, we were pumped to have seen it, and who knows, this could be the start of some new behavior for the bird where it starts to spend some time in OC?

~LEAST BITTERN doing the splits. Liberty Loop, 07/29/18.~

Rob and I decided to continue and walk the entire Liberty Loop. We eventually relocated the Roseate Spoonbill, it was in the general vicinity of where it was first seen last week. We also had a Glossy Ibis among a large crew of Great Egrets. Green Herons are numerous at the refuge right now, and we also located two BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS perched in a tree on the west side of the loop. My best photo op occurred at the south end of the loop, where we had several LEAST BITTERNS flying around and perching out in the open. It was awesome, Rob enjoyed seeing them and I enjoyed getting more photos of one of my favorite birds.

~Well, two Least Bitterns in flight together. Put that on the list of photos I didn’t think I’d ever take. Liberty Loop, 07/29/18.~

Afterwards, I went to the black dirt to try for shorebirds. I did alright, with a Solitary Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs at the Camel Farm, as well as a Least Sandpiper and 3 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS at Turtle Bay. I was heading to Pine Island Turf Nursery when I got a notification that John Haas had relocated the ANHINGA at Morningside Park in Sullivan County. I rushed over, but unfortunately arrived after the bird had already flown. The Anhinga was first seen and considered a one-hit-wonder six days ago! Where has it been all this time? When will it show up again? I really hope I get another shot at that bird, that would be exciting. Great day of birding!