photos – Page 14 – Orange Birding

Liberty Loop 07/16/22

I arrived at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Loop just after sunrise this morning, with hopes to catch up with the American Bittern Ronnie DiLorenzo reported on Thursday. Shortly after my arrival, Kyle Knapp joined me with the same target bird. As he was preparing to hike the loop, I spotted an AMERICAN BITTERN flying across the marsh. I couldn’t see where it put down, but Kyle did and we walked the trail to the approximate area.

After a good while of searching, I finally found the bird, feeding in a little wet area behind some dense vegetation. We enjoyed spectacular views in my scope, and tried to find any angle where we could get photos. As I was watching the bittern, a SORA walked into my view, feeding just in front of the bittern. I got Kyle on the Sora, and in his bins he saw that there were actually 2 Soras present. It was fantastic to get pretty good looks at such a secretive bird.

Afterwards, we headed to the back pond of the Liberty Loop. We were hoping for shorebirds and Least Bitterns. We totally dipped on the Least Bitterns, but we did have a smattering of shorebirds – 3 Least Sandpipers, 3 or 4 Solitary Sandpipers, several Killdeer, and a couple of Spotted Sandpipers. The highlight, however, was finding the 2 local Sandhill Cranes feeding just 20 or so feet off the trail. We snapped some photos as we passed, shocked to be so close to them, and left them feeding in the same spot as we continued on our way.

~American Bittern shot through the grasses. Liberty Loop, 07/16/22.~

~This is what approximately 20 feet at 500mm looks like. Sandhill Crane at the Liberty Loop, 07/16/22.~

Black Rock Forest, 07/10/22

I took advantage of the relatively cool weather this morning and took an 8 mile hike at Black Rock Forest. It was a pleasant and relatively birdy hike, especially the first half of it, which provided a variety of habitats and most of the nearly 50 bird species I identified for the morning. Bird highlights included two Broad-winged Hawks (2 separate encounters), recently fledged Worm-eating Warblers, and recently fledged Prairie Warblers, neither of which I’d ever seen before. Non-avian highlights included a cooperative family of Beavers at Upper Reservoir.

I’ve included my full list of birds species as well as a screenshot of my All Trails tracking information at the bottom of this post.

~One of 3 beavers at Black Rock Forest, 07/10/22.~

~A recently fledged Prairie Warbler at Black Rock Forest, 07/10/22.~

I did get out locally yesterday evening and on Thursday night as well. Both days I went to the Camel Farm to check on shorebird progress, and it’s not bad at all with a decent species list: Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Least Sandpiper. I also made it out to the Liberty Loop on Thursday and finally caught up with a Least Bittern in Orange County.

~Eastern Kingbirds at Liberty Marsh, 07/07/22.~

~There are loads of Wood Duck ducklings at the Liberty Marsh right now.~

~Willow Flycatcher at Liberty Marsh, 07/07/22.~

~One more shot of the Eastern Kingbirds at Liberty Marsh, 07/07/22.~

Beautiful Black Bear, 06/26/22

This morning I hiked the Sterling Ridge Trail at Sterling Forest State Park. I tallied just under 50 species of birds; all of them were expected species (the usuals). I did have a little bit of excitement, however, with two separate Black Bear sitings. One bear was up on a hillside, about 150 yards off the trail, and took absolutely no notice of me. The other was just on the other side of a small pond. That bear was definitely aware of my presence; it most likely heard the camera shutter. It had been a couple years since I’d seen a bear, so today was a treat.

~Black Bear at Sterling Forest State Park, 06/26/22.~

Sunday Shots, 06/19/22

I went out late Saturday morning with Upland Sandpiper on my mind. I spent some time at the Orange County Airport, and then headed to Ulster County and tried Blue Chip Farm and the Grasslands. While I had no luck with Uppies (it was always a long shot), I did spend some time with a Killdeer family at the airport, as well as a very cooperative Eastern Meadowlark at the Grasslands.

~One of four Killdeer chicks present at the Orange County Airport, 06/18/22.~

~Eastern Meadowlark in flight with prey, Grasslands 06/18/22.~

This morning I wanted to take a hike, so I went to Black Rock Forest and hiked out past Jupiter’s Boulder, which I chose in hopes of seeing or hearing a Ruffed Grouse (another long shot!). No luck with the grouse, but it was a fairly productive hike with over 40 species observed. The only sort of unusual siting was a young Hooded Merganser; I was happy to see and record this bird. As a bonus, it was close enough for decent photos.

~Young Hooded Merganser at Black Rock Forest, 06/19/22.~

Yard Birds 2022: Still stuck at (49); I didn’t add any new birds this week.

~Red-winged Blackbird at Blue Chip Farms, 06/18/22.~

~Eastern Meadowlark at the Grasslands, 06/18/22.~

~Killdeer chick at Orange County Airport, 06/18/22.~

~Eastern Bluebird at Black Rock Forest, 06/19/22.~

~One more of the Eastern Meadowlark in flight at the Grasslands, 06/18/22.~

Sunday Shots, 06/05/22

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.~

Orange County NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, 05/30/22

I spent my birding time over the past couple of days trying to catch up with the NEOTROPIC CORMORANT that Bruce Nott and Ken McDermott found at the Newburgh Rowing Club on Saturday evening. I was in Newburgh twice yesterday and had some rotten luck, missing the bird by less than 10 minutes. Today was a different story and I finally connected with the bird thanks to two birders up from the city (Heydi & Ryan maybe? Sorry I’m so bad with names). I connected with them when they first arrived, and not to long after that, they contacted me to let me know they had found the bird by the Newburgh Ferry. The bird was cooperative until birding bud Rob Stone arrived and got it, but shortly after that it was flushed by a pair of jet skis.

~Wow! NEOTROPIC CORMORANT on the Hudson River near the Newburgh Ferry 05/30/22. From what I understand, this is only the 6th NECO record in NYS .~

The NECO wasn’t the only excitement I had this week. I was focusing on breaking 200 birds in Sullivan this week. On Thursday I joined Karen Miller out at Haven Road and we heard a solitary Eastern Whip-poor-will (#199) calling. On Saturday I went to the Neversink Reservoir and got Bobolink (200) and Savannah Sparrow (201). Afterwards, I birded Hurleyville Swamp and was able to clearly hear an Alder Flycatcher (202) calling away. I was going to head home at that point, having cleaned up pretty good, but John Haas contacted me to let me know he had a Mourning Warbler calling near Cooley Bog. I ran for that bird, and although I didn’t ever lay eyes on it, I heard it well. The Mourning Warbler bumped my Sullivan County total to 203 and it was also a life bird for me (4 in a week! Craziness!).

~A wet and bedraggled looking Bobolink was my 200th bird in Sullivan County. Neversink Reservoir, 05/28/22.~

Yard Birds 2022: (49) For all the good luck I had this week, it didn’t come home with me; I didn’t add any new birds to my yard list.

~Bald Eagle at the Newburgh Rowing Club, 05/29/22.~

~Now this was crazy. When I arrived at the Newburgh Rowing Club this morning, Matt Klein was there. He immediately got me on this white-tailed deer swimming across the river! The deer must have realized it was longer than it thought, and just under halfway across it turned back and made it back to Orange County unscathed.

~Cuteness. Killdeer and chick at Hurleyville Swamp 05/28/22.~

~Yellow Warbler at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/28/22.~

24 Hour Pelagic, 05/23/22

Last Sunday night, after a 2 1/2 hour drive to Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, I set sail on the American Princess, embarking on a 24 hour pelagic birding trip. It was my third true pelagic (not counting the several whale watching excursions I’ve been on), and my first 24 hour/overnight experience. Unfortunately, winds had shifted from south to north that evening, leading to waves that were quite disorganized, which made for a rough journey. I stayed up for a couple of hours, enjoying the fresh air and the views, before lying down on my sleeping mat to try and get some sleep. I thought I might finally be able to relax once I reclined, but that was not the case. The boat was pitching front to back and side to side severely enough to make it hard to keep from rolling over, regardless of the position I tried.

So it was a long, restless night and I got barely any sleep; I don’t think many people slept. Folks started to get up at first light, and I got up, packed up my sleeping gear, and joined them shortly after. It was the start of a long but productive day of pelagic birding. It’s not very often that I actually bird for a complete day – during this trip I was pretty actively birding from around 5:00 am until 7 or 7:30 pm. There are some times which are exciting and there are loads of birds and cetaceans, but most of the time there isn’t much going on and you’re just scanning and searching.

~One of my 3 life birds from the day – Black-capped Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

Here’s a list of what I consider ‘pelagic’ birds that we saw:

Red Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (this was an observation by one of the trip leaders – I did not see this bird)
Black-capped Petrel
Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Atlantic Puffin
Dovekie

The Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, and Black-capped Petrel were all life birds for me. It’s not too often these days that I get a lifer, not to mention 3 in a single day. The 2 Atlantic Puffins and 1 Dovekie were the biggest surprise of the day; no one knew what they were doing out there at this time of the year. Other interesting birds included several Common Loons, loads of Common Terns, a single Northern Gannet, and a pair of beautiful young Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

~Beautiful bird. Lesser Black-backed Gull following the boat on the way back to Brooklyn. APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~

We also did pretty well with cetaceans. We had 3 species of dolphin (Common, Risso’s, and Striped) and 3 species of whale (Minke, Humpback, and Fin). We also had several Ocean Sunfish (folks were referring to them as Mola Mola); this was the first time I’d ever seen them.

~I’m not sure why these Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were always flying away from the boat. I usually don’t like pics of birds going away, but these are a little interesting to me. APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

The trip back to Brooklyn was a lot smoother than the trip out, and it was a beautiful evening to enjoy the journey and any sitings along the way. We got back to the dock just after 9:00; by the time I walked to my car and drove home, it was nearly midnight. I was exhausted, to say the least, but happy about a day well spent and to be home in one piece.

~Manx Shearwater, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~Cool bird. Sooty Shearwater; APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~Top view of the Black-capped Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~

~I screamed “puffin!” when I saw this bird, lol. Atlantic puffin on the water, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~Common Dolphin showing off, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~For as many Common Terns as we saw, photo ops were rare. APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~

~Put this in the category of ‘cool birds’. Red-necked Phalarope during the APC 24 hour pelagic trip 05/23/22.~

~One more ass end of a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~

~Striped Dolphins; APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~

~Common Dolphins; APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~

Sunday Shots, 05/22/22

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.~

Sunday Shots, 05/15/22

After Friday night’s Arctic Tern excitement, the weekend of birding felt a little hum-drum for me – looking for small birds in the treetops doesn’t always do it for me. But, since I was away last weekend, and I didn’t get out much this week, I was well behind my normal pace. I started the weekend with my lowest number of species in Orange County (at this date), in over 5 years. Because of that, many of the birds I heard and saw over the past couple of days were new birds for the year. I added a good number of new species over the weekend – 35 to be exact. Exciting birds for me included Blackburnian Warble, Worm-eating Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush, and Semipalmated Plover. I’ve included a list of all my new birds at the bottom of this post.

~Worm-eating Warbler singing at Pochuck State Forest, 05/15/22.~

Yard Birds 2022: (47) – I added 4 species since I last reported: Chimney Swift, European Starling, Northern Parula, and Great Crested Flycatcher.

~Swainson’s Thrush at Pochuck State Forest, 05/15/22.~

~Ruby-throated Hummingbird in our yard, 05/12/22.~

~My FOY Eastern Kingbird, at the Liberty Loop 05/15/22.~

~Great Blue Heron coming in to land at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 05/15/22.~

~A species that I see and hear all the time, but don’t photograph that often – House Wren at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/15/22.~

Cape Cod 2022

I really enjoyed my birding time in Cape Cod over the weekend. It was an extended weekend for me, as I took Thursday and Friday off work. Birding bud Rob Stone does a lot of birding on the cape, so he provided me with some good intel prior to the trip. Based on this information, the primo spot from my perspective is Race Point, so I went there first thing Friday morning and then, as fate would have it, Rob was also on the cape over the weekend, and we joined up to bird Race Point again on Saturday morning.

~Black Scoters in flight at Race Point, 05/06/22. I believe the fifth bird from the back might be a Surf Scoter with them.~

I really enjoy birding at the shore, and the highlight of the 2 days was getting eight species of gull: Herring, Ring-billed, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Laughing Gull, Iceland Gull, and Glaucous Gull. The only real disappointment was not also getting Black-legged Kittiwake, which is apparently expected at this time of year at Race Point. We also had plenty of Common Terns, but were unable to locate any Roseate Terns which would also be expected.

~Two Bonaparte’s Gulls lead the larger Laughing Gull into the wind at Race Point, 05/07/22.~

I was also impressed with the high numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers – there were hundreds present on both days. Other waterfowl included large numbers of White-winged Scoters, loads of Double-crested Cormorants, plenty of Common and Red-throated Loons, some Common Eiders, and possibly one Surf Scoter.

Other than several Piping Plovers each day, shorebirds were a disappointment with only a few Willets and a single Spotted Sandpiper observed. Northern Gannets were nearly a no-show on Friday, but Saturday were plentiful.

~Two White-winged Scoters cruise by at Race Point, 05/06/22.~

The weather was another big factor. Friday was calm, with the sun trying to poke out all day; the ocean was like a lake, smooth as glass for the most part. On Saturday, the winds really picked up as the morning progressed. On our way back from the point we were walking into 25 mph winds with gusts which we estimated in the 40 mph range. The sand, which is very course, was up and flying, pelting our faces as we walked into it.

~I saw whales both days. I think this is likely a Humpback Whale, if anyone out there knows please comment. Race Point 05/06/22.~

Yard Birds 2022: (43) – I added 4 new species since last weekend: Nashville Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Yellow Warbler.