photos – Page 17 – Orange Birding

Good Birding 04/10/21

I’ve enjoyed some good birding in recent days. I got out on both Thursday and Friday evenings after work and a couple of times today. In those three days I was able to add 10 species to my Orange County 2021 list:

Barn Swallow, 4/8 at Wickham Lake
Osprey, 4/8 at Wickham Lake
Palm Warbler, 4/9 at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary
Swamp Sparrow, 4/9 at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary
American Coot, 4/9 at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary
Virginia Rail, 4/9 at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary
Eastern Meadowlark, 4/10 at Wisner Road
Chipping Sparrow, 4/10 at Greenwood Lake
BONAPARTE’S GULL, 4/10 at Washington Lake
PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 4/10 at Lynch Road in the black dirt

~Beautiful bird. I almost forgot how jazzed I get about shorebirds. Pectoral Sandpiper at Lynch Avenue, 4/10/21.~

Other good birds included a distant Common Loon at Greenwood Lake this morning, and excellent looks at an immature ICELAND GULL at the Newburgh Waterfront. Huge thanks to Bruce Nott for reporting both the Bonaparte’s and the Iceland Gulls. Also thanks to Maria Loukeris for letting me know about the post regarding the Pectoral Sandpiper on the Mearns Facebook page – thanks to Amy Klein for posting it.

~My new lens (Canon 500m Mark I) is still a work in progress. I took all of my photos of the Iceland Gull with the 1.4x extender attached and they were all quite soft. I was also using a monopod with a gimbal head. That’s a lot of new things at once. I exchanged texts with Kyle Dudgeon and he advised that I leave the 1.4x for now and just get used to the lens/monopod/gimbal head. Good advice, I think. ICELAND GULL at the Newburgh Waterfront, 04/10/21.~

~Singing Eastern Meadowlark at Wisner Road, 04/10/21.~

~Boy, I never really thought about what a Wild Turkey actually looked like until today. Crazy looking bird.. Wisner Road 04/10/21.~

~Tree Swallow at Wisner Road, 04/10/21.~

Easter Sunday Shots, 04/04/21

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates. It’s been a quiet one here; hopefully the last quiet holiday of this rotten pandemic. This week was mostly uneventful as far as the birding goes. I got out often, but without many exciting birds nor good photo ops. On Wednesday I went out to Lynch Avenue in the black dirt to chase the Wilson’s Snipe that had been reported by Bruce Nott and Linda Scrima. It was nice to get a shorebird in Orange County that wasn’t a Killdeer. Yesterday I only had the early morning to bird and today I got out all morning. I spent both morning checking lakes and the Hudson River, mostly for ducks but also on the off chance of a Bonaparte’s Gull or a Caspian Tern (no luck on either). I added Ruddy Duck to my OC list yesterday morning at Glenmere, and I added Lesser Scaup (Orange Lake) and Common Loon (Greenwood Lake) to it this morning. Anyways, here’s some shots from the week.

~Tooling around in the backyard earlier this week – Northern Cardinal.~

*~Wilson’s Snipe in the black dirt, 04/02/21. I originally saw these birds on Wednesday, but went back for photos on Friday.~*

~Roadside Red-shouldered Hawk on a wire, Goshen NY 04/04/21.~

~Northern Flicker at Wickham Lake, 04/03/21.~

~There have been loads of American Robins around recently, but none as interesting as this individual. Wickham Lake, 04/03/21.~

Sunday Shots, 03/28/21

So I took the plunge this week. My buddy Kyle Dudgeon was looking to upgrade his equipment, so he offered me a great deal on his Canon 500mm f/4 Mark I lens. It was an offer couldn’t resist, especially since I know that this particular lens is capable of taking spectacular shots – you can check out some of the work Kyle did with it here. I never really pictured myself upgrading to such a large lens, but I have to say, a week into it and I’m hooked.

~Double-crested Cormorant at Round Lake this morning, 03/28/21.~

Kyle warned me that there would be a learning curve before getting optimal results with this lens, and that has certainly shown to be true; I’ve had a real mixed bag of results. But, I like where it is heading, and I’m looking forward to learning some new things. I’m also looking forward to getting some more decent opportunities with birds, because this week was sort of a dud for me with not many opportunities.

~Eastern Bluebird in the black dirt 03/27/21. This shot was taken with my 1.4 extender.~

~On Friday evening we sat out on the back deck to enjoy the warmer temperatures. The Turkey Vultures which normally roost in our yard did a fly-by before deciding to roost elsewhere; I’m thinking it was because of the high winds we had that night.~

~There was something weird about this Greater Scaup’s wing, I’m not sure if it was injured or not. There’s also something funky about this photo, I can’t put my finger on it but I’m not loving it. GRSC at Glenmere Lake, 03/22/21.~

~One more shot of the DCCO at Round Lake this morning in the rain.~

Immature Gulls, GBBG vs HERG

I’ve become more and more obsessed with gulls, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with my ‘Gulls Simplified’ book by Pete Dunne and Kevin T. Karlson, and on the Facebook page North American Gulls. It’s put me in the mind of just trying to get out and enjoy the gulls while I still can. Our “season” for good gulling is quickly coming to a close. So, I headed out to the Newburgh Waterfront this evening to see what was going on. Gull numbers are certainly down a bit, but there were still plenty of birds to enjoy.

~Immature Great Black-backed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 03/20/21.~

Unfortunately, most of the gulls were WAY out, and the heat shimmer was making it too difficult to sort through them. So instead, I focused on the nearby birds; they were mostly Ring-billed Gulls, but there was also a handful of immature Herring Gulls (HERG) and what I believe was a single immature Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG). I hope I am correct, otherwise this post will be a total embarrassing bust, lol. The bird (above) shows what Dunne and Karlson refer to as ‘piano keyed appearance’, it was slightly larger than nearby HERGs, and had a noticeable overall whiteness to it, compared to the more drab brown look of the HERG (below).

~Immature Herring Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 03/20/21.~

Both are good looking birds, but I have to say I’m partial to the GBBG, it’s a handsome beast. As the sun started to set and it cooled a bit, I was able to go through some of the distant gulls – nearly all Herring Gulls, with one adult Great Black-backed Gull and an Immature ICELAND GULL. Good gulling!

~GBBH in the foreground and HERG in the back. Newburgh 03/20/21.~

~GBBG in flight, Newburgh Waterfront 03/20/21.~

~One last pretty shot of the immature Great Black-backed Gull, Newburgh Waterfront 03/20/21.~

Ulster County Red Crossbills, 03/14/21

I headed up north to Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County this morning to try and catch up with the RED CROSSBILLS which have been reported there in recent days. On my way up I became convinced that I’d waited one day too many, but fortunately I was wrong and the birds continued. I got nice looks and just so-so photo ops of these fantastic birds. I also ran into Rick Hansen and PJ Singh; it was really good to see the two of them and enjoy the birds with them.

~I was happy these birds stuck around for me. Red Crossbill at Ashokan Reservoir this morning, 03/14/21.~

*~Lonely Red Crossbill on a branch, Ashokan Reservoir 03/14/21.~*

~Red Crossbill at Ashokan Reservoir, 03/14/21.~

I was out and about on Saturday too; it was mostly unremarkable birding but very pleasant to be out of the house and birding. Here’s a few shots from the day.

~Red-tailed Hawk just before sunset, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 03/13/21.~

~You know it’s a slow afternoon at the Newburgh Waterfront when I’m photographing Canada Geese landings. I enjoyed it. 03/13/21.~

~Ring-billed Gull in nice conditions, Newburgh Waterfront 02/13/21.~

~Turkey Vulture at the Camel Farm, 03/13/21.~

Sunday Shots, 03/07/21

I can remember, way back when, when I was just starting birding and I had just begun this blog (nearly 9 years ago now!), I always wanted to photograph male Hooded Mergansers. They are a fabulous looking bird, and while these days I’m not quite as enamored with them as I used to be, it was nice to happen upon one this morning at Greenwood Lake. The drake was accompanied by two females and I had some good timing and was able to get some decent shots.

~Male Hooded Merganser at Greenwood Lake, 03/07/21.~

~One of two female Hooded Mergs at Greenwood Lake, 03/07/21.~

Grasslands, 03/06/21

In spite of less than ideal conditions, I decided to head out to the Grasslands for sunrise this morning. By less than ideal conditions, I mean it was partly to mostly cloudy with a pretty strong northwest wind. Ideally I would prefer the steady morning sun and a south wind (so that the raptors hunt facing south, keeping the sun on their face and at my back). Anyways, I got there quite early and I was able to get into the only blind that’s open on the weekends (southernmost blind). While the strong winds seemed to keep the birds from flying quite as much as I would have liked, I had some decent opportunities and some nice birds. Raptors included Northern Harriers (4), Rough-legged Hawks (3), Red-tailed Hawks (3), a couple of Turkey Vultures, and a single American Kestrel. One other highlight was my first Eastern Meadowlark of the year.

~Male NOHA in flight with some snow flurries at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~Boy I wish this bird would have come closer – how beautiful is this beast?!? Rough-legged Hawk over horizon at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~American Kestrel at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~Gray Ghost over the trees. Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~One more of the Gray Ghost, Grasslands 03/06/21.~

~After the Grasslands, I headed up to Rhinebeck to chase the two BARROW’S GOLDENEYES which have been seen there. I dipped on the female, but did catch up with the male (above) on River Road, where I joined Karen Miller who got me on the bird shortly after my arrival.~

Sunday Shots, 02/21/21

It wasn’t the most exciting Sunday morning, especially after getting so many birds so easily yesterday in Rye. I tooled around the black for while first thing, highlights included my first two Merlins of the year and a Lapland Longspur in very nice plumage. Afterwards, I headed to Beacon to try for gulls, but it was too early in the day and gull numbers were down and I only had the three expected species. Anyways, here’s a handful shots from the morning.

~Lapland Longspur showing off its namesake. Black Dirt Region, 02/21/21.~

~LALO with a HOLA in the background, black dirt 02/21/21.~

~Horned Lark in the black dirt this morning, 02/21/21.~

~I never pass on an opportunity to shoot a Northern Mockingbird. Black dirt 02/21/21.~

Rye NY, 02/20/21

Last night I decided that I wanted to change it up a little bit this weekend. And I wanted to go to the beach. So, I headed to Rye, New York early this morning to bird the Playland and the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary. The weather was my favorite – cold and mostly sunny. This location is a great place to bird, because you are guaranteed to get birds, especially waterfowl. It was a pleasant morning of birding were I had 21 species of waterfowl. Suffice to say you won’t see that in Orange County this time of year. Noteworthy species included Surf Scoter, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Common Goldeneye, and Ruddy Duck. I finished the morning with 35 species on my list.

~Female Hooded Merganser at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Common Loon at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Always a favorite, Red-throated Loon at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Northern Shoveler. This one was in the lake at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Greater Scaup at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~In the afternoon I stopped by the Newburgh Waterfront on my way home. The adult Iceland (above) was present and not far from the boat launch. I also saw an immature Glaucous Gull in flight a few times. The bird was WAY out there.

Sunday Shots, 02/14/21

Well, it was another enjoyable weekend of winter birding. Yesterday was a home run gulling at the Hudson River, then this morning I did a quick cruise around the black dirt where I located a remarkable 8 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. I found 2 off of Route 12 in New Hampton, and an additional 6 on Ridgebury Road in Slate Hill. From there I headed over to the Bashakill to check to see if the large flock of Snow Buntings were still present. They were, and they were quite accommodating. I ran into Karen Miller while I was there and we located a distant Rough-legged Hawk, off of Haven Road; I don’t think they get them there very often. From there I called it a day a little on the early side, but it was a good morning.