On Saturday morning I birded locally. I was hoping for maybe some late shorebirds, but I came up empty at both the Camel Farm and Beaver Pond. I spent some time early at Liberty Marsh, hoping maybe a calling Sora or Least Bittern, but no such luck. I did have my first Orchard Oriole of the year, so that was good. And finally, I ended up late in the morning at Goosepond Mountain, where I was able to confirm breeding status for Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
~I spent some time with a pair of cooperative Northern Mockingbirds in the black dirt, 06/04/22.~
We spent the night at my sister Aileen’s house in the Poconos. Her place historically hasn’t been extremely birdy, but on this Sunday morning her backyard was full of birds, including a low flying Red-shouldered Hawk, a Red-eyed Vireo, as well as several Ovenbirds and American Redstarts. My brother-in-law Bill and my sister are interested in knowing about the birds, so I enjoyed telling them about the birds we were hearing and seeing. The Lehigh River cuts through the back of their yard; I enjoyed taking a brisk dip in the river and there was also a teasing Louisiana Waterthrush which called often but only gave a few fleeting glimpses and no photo ops. On the way out of their community, we stopped at Big Bass Lake to check out the beach, and had an adult Bald Eagle fly right overhead. The beach was loaded with people and not one person noticed the eagle, in spite of me shooting away taking pics.
~Male Bobolink at Knapp’s View, 06/04/22.~~Northern Mockingbird in the black dirt, 06/04/22.~~Eastern Kingbird at Liberty Marsh, 06/04/22.~~One more Bobolink at Knapp’s View, 06/04/22.~~Bald Eagle flyover at Big Bass Lake in PA, 06/05/22.~
I split my time this weekend between Orange and Sullivan Counties. One of my goals this year is to get to 200 birds in Sullivan County, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to add any new species this weekend. I tried two times for the Mourning Warbler(s) which were reported at the Bashakill; I had a near miss (15 minutes or so) on Saturday and no luck on Sunday. I also tried for the Black-bellied Plover that was at Hurleyville Swamp – I missed it on Thursday evening and then by Saturday morning most of the shorebirds had moved on from that location.
Hopefully my luck will change for the better tomorrow; I’m heading out on a 24 hour pelagic tonight through tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it will be a productive trip.
Yard Birds 2022: (49) – I added 2 species this week: Eastern Wood-Pewee and Baltimore Oriole.
~Warbling Vireo at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/19/22.~ ~Willow Flycatcher on a foggy Saturday Morning, 05/21/22.~Red-eyed Vireo at the Bashakill, 05/21/22.~ ~Crappy photo of a good bird. Wilson’s Warbler at the Bashakill, 05/21/22.~
Today was my final day of counting at Mount Peter Hawkwatch for the year. Tomorrow is the last day of the season; it always seems to go by so quickly. The season ended with a dud for me, as I had (8) countable birds in six hours. Of note, I had a Common Loon fly nearly directly over the viewing platform and my penultimate bird of the season was a young Bald Eagle with tail plumage that made my heart race for a split second. It was a good season for me; I enjoyed it much more than last season and it’s got me excited to do it all over next year. I’ve included today’s report summary at the bottom of this post; I will also do a future post which will include Judy Cinquina’s end of season report.
~This is one mean looking Rusty Blackbird! Wickham Lake, 11/06/21.~ ~Canada Geese on a foggy morning at Wickham Lake, 11/06/21.~~I love this bird! Purple Finch at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch this morning, 11/14/21.~ ~I posted a different photo of this same bird last week, but I just love the markings and I thought this shot was pretty cool too. Northern Harrier at Beaver Pond, 11/06/21.~ ~Check out this Bald Eagle! Mt. Peter Hawkwatch 11/14/21.~~American Pipit in the black dirt, 11/07/21.~
On Saturday morning, my phone let me know that it was eBird’s October Big Day. I certainly wasn’t doing a bid day, but it did make me curious to know how many birds I would get on a normal day out in early October. So, I eBirded more locations than I normally would, and I kept track of the birds that I saw en route to get a total for the day. I spent the early morning in the black dirt, where my highlight was a sizable flock of American Pipits, always a favorite of mine. From there I went to Wallkill River National Wildlife refuge. I walked Winding Waters Trail for about a mile or so, and then I spent some time at the viewing platform at the Liberty Loop. I didn’t have any exciting birds, but it was busy enough to add a good number of birds to my tally.
~Black-throated Green Warbler at Mount Peter Hawkwatch on Saturday 10/09/21.~
My next stop was Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, where I joined Tom Millard and Judy Cinquina for about an hour and a half. The flight was slow but steady, and with a good variety of migrants. My raptor highlight was a Peregrine Falcon which flew, very high, directly over the platform. For non-raptors, we had a migrating Common Loon fly close enough for a photo, a first for me at Mt. Pete. My final stop was Wickham Lake, where my best bird was a Greater Scaup. I finished the day with 57 species; I’ve included a complete list at the bottom of this post.
~Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Mount Peter on Sunday, 10/10/21.~
On Sunday I was the official counter at Mount Peter. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, with a combination of clouds, fog, and light rain making the flight practically non-existent. I had a total of 4 migrating raptors, 2 Cooper’s Hawks and 2 Northern Harriers, before I called it at 1:30 when the fog had really rolled in and the rain was starting up again.
~Yellow-rumped Warbler with a snack at Wickham Lake, 10/09/21.~ ~Blackpoll Warbler at Mt. Peter 10/10/21.~~Black-throated Green Warbler at Mt. Peter 10/09/21.~~This got me really pumped – Common Loon flying over Mount Peter, 10/09/21.~~A subadult Bald Eagle flushes some Mallards at Wallkill River NWR’s Liberty Loop, 10/09/21.~~Love these dudes! Cedar Waxwings at Mt. Pete, 10/10/21.~
Canada Goose (Wallkill River NWR, Mount Peter, Black Dirt, Wickham Lake)
Mute Swan (Glenmere Lake, Wickham Lake)
American Wigeon (WR NWR)
American Black Duck (WR NWR)
Mallard (WR NWR)
Greater Scaup (Wickham Lake)
Common Loon (Mt. Peter)
Double-crested Cormorant (Wickham Lake)
Ring-necked Pheasant (Black Dirt)
Great Blue Heron (WR NWR)
Great Egret (WR NWR)
Black Vulture (Mt. Peter)
Turkey Vulture (Mt. Peter, WR NWR)
Bald Eagle (Black Dirt, WR NWR)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (WR NWR, Mt. Peter)
Northern Harrier (WR NWR, Mt. Peter)
Cooper’s Hawk (Mt. Peter)
Red-shouldered Hawk (WR NWR, Mt. Peter)
Red-tailed Hawk (Black Dirt, Mt. Peter)
American Kestrel (Black Dirt, Mt. Peter)
Peregrine Falcon (Black Dirt)
Common Gallinule (WR NWR)
Killdeer (CVS Goshen)
Ring-billed Gull (Wickham Lake)
Rock Pigeon (Wickham Lake)
Chimney Swift (Mt. Peter)
Belted Kingfisher (Beaver Pond)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (WR NWR)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Wickham Lake)
Downy Woodpecker (Wickham Lake)
Northern Flicker (WR NWR)
Eastern Phoebe (Black Dirt, WR NWR)
Blue Jay (Mt Peter, WR NWR, Black Dirt, Wickham Lake)
I went out to the black dirt first thing Saturday morning. I was counting at Mount Peter in the afternoon, so I wanted to get an early start. As always, I was looking for shorebirds – any new species or some better looks and photos of some of the birds we’ve been seeing. Well, I didn’t see any new species, and the best I could do for photos was a decent shot of a Greater Yellowlegs. But it was still a decent morning with 6 species of shorebirds: Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Pectoral Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Greater Yellowlegs.
~Greataer Yellowlegs at the Camel Farm, 09/25/21.~ ~Fogbow at Skinners Lane Saturday morning 09/25/21. According to Wikipedia, “a fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow, is a similar phenomenon to a rainbow; however, as its name suggest, it appears as a bow in fog rather than rain.”~
MOUNT PETER HAWKWATCH
In the afternoon I was the official counter at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, taking over for BA McGrath who, unfortunately had a terribly slow morning. The afternoon, in general, wasn’t much busier but ultimately, I counted a total of 67 migrating raptors. A surprise kettle of 39 Broad-winged Hawks accounted for most of that number. I had (3) migrating Bald Eagles, and there were several Common Ravens putting on a show on the cell tower and in the air over the platform. You can see my report for HMANA at the bottom of this post.
~~ The Common Ravens helped pass the time when it was slow at Mt. Peter on Saturday, 09/25/21.~ ~Broad-winged Hawk directly over the viewing platform, Mt. Peter 09/25/21.~
RESERVOIR #3
This morning I decided it was finally time to give the shorebirds a break. So I headed to Port Jervis and I birded Reservoir #3. It was just what the doctor ordered, birdy, peaceful, perfect weather, and some good photo ops. I tallied 30 species for the morning, with highlights of Brown Creeper (Res 3 is money for that bird!), several Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a pair of Blue-headed Vireos. Actually the real highlight for me came afterwards – after shooting distant shorebirds and raptors, it felt good to look at some decent photos of songbirds.
~Always a favorite of mine – Brown Creeper at Reservoir #3, 09/26/21.~ ~Pine Warbler at Res 3, 09/26/21.~~ I am generally not to quick to ID silent flycatchers, but I’m thinking this bird is a juvenile Eastern Wood-Pewee due to the buffy wing bars.~ ~Eastern Phoebe at Reservoir #3, 09/26/21.~~One more of the Brown Creeper, Res 3 09/26/21.~~One of several Yellow-rumped Warblers at Reservoir #3, 09/26/21.~~And, one more Pine Warbler shot. Res 3 09/26/21.~ ~I was struck by how beautiful Beaver Pond looked on Saturday morning, so I took a photo with my phone.~
It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a life bird (over a year), but that’s what happened today. It was a bonus that the location was in Orange County and less than a 1/2 hour away. So, after work tonight I headed over to Lower Wisner Road, where up to 4 SEDGE WRENS have been reported in the last couple of days. As soon as I got out of the car, I could hear a SEWR calling from the north side of the road. As I got closer, I could hear a second bird, closer, calling from the south side of the road. I stayed still, listened and scanned, and eventually I located the bird, just about 30 yards out. I was pretty excited, it’s not every Tuesday evening you can get a lifer that easily; it was my 424th life bird.
IMPORTANT: *Please do not use tapes to try and get these birds closer for views or photos. They are pretty cooperative and patience will pay off. Use of tapes will likely disturb their attempts at breeding and ruin this great situation.* Thanks to John Haas for the above advice put forth on his blog Bashakill Birder.
It’s the time of year when birds are heard more often than seen. It’s also the time of year, especially now that things are opening up on the tail end of the pandemic, when there are things going on that are not birding. I know, it’s true sometimes I do things other than work and bird, lol. Anyways, last weekend was a bust in spite of a full morning of birding the Port Jervis area on Saturday, hence no post. This weekend was only slightly better in terms of photos. I spent Saturday morning birding my NYSBBS priority block Warwick CE; I was able to confirm Cedar Waxwing and Common Grackle. The block now has 29 confirmed species; I have to thank Jarvis Shirky who has been birding the block often and has confirmed 10 species. Photo ops were few, thank goodness for the Bobolinks at Knapp’s View, otherwise this weekend would have been another photo bust.
~Male Bobolink at Knapp’s View in Chester, 06/11/21.~ ~A female Bobolink with a mouthful. Knapp’s View 06/11/21.~ ~BOBO at Knapp’s View, 06/11/21.~ ~Female BOBO going for it. Knapp’s View, 06/11/21.~ ~Mute Swan Cygnet learning the ropes. Beaver Pond, 06/12/21.~ ~The Great Blue Heron Rookery in Central Valley NY, just east of the Woodbury Commons, is active again this year. You can see the rookery from the Route 6 rest area lookout. I counted at least a dozen herons in the above photo, taken this afternoon, 06/13/21.~
This weekend had a very different feel compared to last weekend. Last weekend it was cool and birds seemed to be everywhere, including many migrants. This weekend the heat moved in, that jump that we seem to have in our area from spring to summer at a moment’s notice. The trees were that much more leafed out, and while it was birdy, I found fewer migrants and the birding experience had the beginnings of a summery feel to me.
~A recently fledged Common Grackle clings to a tree at Kendridge Farm, 05/22/21.~
I had an interesting experience on Friday evening. I went to the Beaver Pond near Glenmere Lake to try for shorebirds (I found Least Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpiper, and Killdeer). While I was there, a man and his daughter pulled over and the man got out of his car and was listening to the pond with his hands cupped over his ears. We eventually started chatting, his name was Jay, and he was listening for Northern Cricket Frogs. I’d heard them the night before and thought they must be insects (hence the name!). He explained to me that these little frogs are endangered in New York State, and the “Glenmere Lake” population and another small population at Little Dam Lake are among the few that can be found in the state. Check out the DEC write up on Northern Cricket Frogs here.
~A stunned Cedar Waxwing at Sterling Forest, 05/22/21.~
I had another interesting experience on Saturday evening. After birding Kendridge Farm in the morning, where it was birdy but nothing noteworthy, I went home during the heat of the day and then headed back out in the evening. My goal was to try for Eastern Whip-poor-wills at Sterling Forest, so I knew I would be out past sunset. I birded Ironwood Road and eventually ended up at the power cut at the end of the road, where I birded and waited for Whip-poor-wills.
While I was waiting, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a small flock of birds flying across the power cut, and then something dropping like a stone to the ground. It was a flock of Cedar Waxwings, I found 5 of them perched in the trees. I went to check out where I’d seen something fall – I couldn’t find anything so I was baffled. Then, deep in the vegetation, I found a single Cedar Waxwing. I’m guessing that the bird hit one of the wires and stunned itself. I let the bird be and gave it plenty of distance; checking on it from time to time. It took a good while, but eventually the bird picked up and off it flew! I was relieved, I didn’t necessarily want to rescue another Cedar Waxwing.
~Eastern Towhee at Goosepond Mountain, 05/23/21.~
A little after sunset, the Eastern Whip-poor-wills started calling; I counted three and headed home. On Ironwood Drive, on my way out, I was driving very slowly and I saw one single glowing eye, glowing super bright. I stopped and tried to figure out what it was in my bins; just as I lifted them up it flew and landed in a nearby tree and started calling – it was another Whip-poor-will!
Sunday morning was mostly uneventful – I walked Goosepond Mountain and had the usuals plus one good bird – Canada Warbler! That’s not a bird that I do well with, so I was pretty happy about that. Then, Linda Scrima called me. She had 2 Short-billed Dowitchers at the Camel Farm. I ran for the birds, and had some decent scope views. It’s super hard, especially at that distance, to tell Short from Long-billed Dowitchers, but they looked good to me. I checked eBird bar graphs when I got home and there are no reports of LBDO in the spring in Orange County, so I’m pretty happy with SBDO. I’ve included a distant shot at the bottom of this post. Thanks to Linda for heads up.
~There are plenty of Blue-winged Warblers at Goosepond Mountain this year, 05/23/21.~ ~A couple of Short-billed Dowitchers at the Camel Farm, 05/23/21.~
I’m going to keep it short this evening. I’m absolutely exhausted after a seriously hectic work week and a busy but excellent weekend. I stayed local all weekend, birding primarily in south/southwest Orange County with a couple trips to the Sussex County side of the Liberty Loop for shorebirds. Birds were certainly plentiful, it’s that time of year, and I added 15 species to my OC year list. It was a weekend of near misses for me – I seemed to be slightly off my game and missed some really nice opportunities for photos. Fortunately the birds were abundant and so were the photo ops. Enjoy the pics.
~A pair of Spotted Sandpipers at Wickham Lake earlier this week, 05/12/21.~ ~Great Crested Flycatcher at Elks Brox, 05/15/21.~ ~Baltimore Oriole at the Liberty Loop, 05/15/21.~ ~Prairie Warbler at Elks Brox, 05/15/21.~ ~Orchard Oriole at Winding Waters Trail, 05/16/21.~~This Broad-winged Hawk was being relentlessly bothered by a flock of American Robins. Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/15/21.~ ~Female Scarlet Tanager at Elks Brox, 05/15/21.~ ~Typical Ovenbird shot under the green lights of the nearby leaves. Pochuck Mountain, 05/15/21.~
I woke up early this morning and headed to Port Jervis. I stopped at the Camel Farm on my way, to check for shorebirds. I got lucky and along with several Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and a Killdeer, I found a single DUNLIN. Definitely worth the stop.
In Port Jervis, my first and most productive stop was at Laurel Grove Cemetery. I enjoyed 9 species of warbler, several of which, including a single Cape May, were accommodating for photos. The cemetery was birdy, and I had 38 types of birds, mostly expected species.
~A single singing Cape May Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/09/21.~
From there I headed over to Elks Brox Memorial Park, which was less birdy, but I did get some fantastic looks at one of my favorite warblers – BLACKBURNIAN. The bird actually seemed very aware of my presence, and never really allowed for any close photos. I also watched a Black-capped Chickadee with presumed nesting material (see below), and a Pine Warbler with nesting material, so that was helpful for the NYS Breeding Bird Atlas.
~Yellow-rumped Warbler at LGC, 05/09/21.~~Black-and-white Warbler at LGC, 05/09/21.~ ~Blackburnian Warbler at Elks Brox Park, 05/09/21.~~Black-capped Chickadee with a mouthful, Elks Brox 05/09/21.~~Chestnut-sided Warbler at LGC, 05/09/21.~~Peregrine Falcon in flight, Port Jervis NY 05/09/21.~
