~EVENING GROSBEAK at the Woodard Road feeders in Sullivan County, 02/17/19.~
My plan for the day was to head up to Sullivan County to see if I could do any good with waterfowl at Rondout Reservoir. Before heading up north, I made an early stop at Glenmere Lake and met up with Kathy Ashman again. She had located 2 GREATER SCAUP and relocated the single LESSER SCAUP. I found the GRSCs easily enough, but never did locate the LESC.
From there, I headed to Rondout Reservoir. John Haas and Karen Miller have recently reported some good waterfowl there; I thought it would be fun to head up that way and see how I could do. It was a worthwhile stop as I had 8 species of waterfowl. The highlight for me was my first COMMON GOLDENEYES of the year. There were 9 present and they were actively feeding and displaying in the furthest corner of open water along with several Hooded Mergansers and 3 female Buffleheads. I would have loved to get some photos, but the birds were just too distant.
This bird was photographed at the Smith Road feeders, 02/17/19.~
I then headed towards Liberty, to visit the feeder stations in hopes of finding Evening Grosbeaks and any other interesting birds. I got lucky and had 12 EVGRs at the Woodard Road feeders and an additional 30 or so at the Smith Road feeders. At Smith Road, it was tough to get an accurate count, as the birds were here and there and coming and going; 30 is a conservative estimation. I tooled around the Liberty area a bit, but ended up heading home without any additional notable birds.
~Eastern Bluebird on a man made perch, Turtle Bay Road 02/09/19.~
I decided to stay local this morning. I cruised the black dirt, made a quick stop at Glenmere Lake, and took a walk at Wallkill River NWR’s Liberty Marsh. It was actually a pretty quiet morning bird-wise, but after a hectic work week it was just nice to be out and looking at whatever birds I could track down. It was on the cold side (19 degrees F when I headed out), with a whipping wind that made it very difficult to be outside for any extended period of time. I had a total of 27 species for the day and nearly all were the usuals. Noteworthy birds included 5 Ring-necked Ducks and a single Bufflehead at Glenmere Lake, as well as a pair of Common Mergansers at Skinner Lane. My best birds were found in the black dirt: 2 Rough-legged Hawks and 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. I initially had the longspurs at a distance in my spotting scope. I tried to digiscope them to document, but between the cold and the wind I didn’t have any success. Just as I was driving off, I heard LALO call to the left of my car and not too far out. I got on it and was able to get a shot of the bird, which made me happy.
~One of two LAPLAND LONGSPURS in the black dirt this morning, 02/09/19. The bird of the day for me.~~It’s not very often I get a decent shot of this bird – Common Merganser in the Wallkill River in the black dirt, 02/09/19.~ ~There’s a little heat shimmer from my car going on in this pic, but I like the way the bird is in the crosshairs of nearly every branch. White-throated Sparrow in the black dirt, 02/09/19.~ ~Great Blue Heron flyover at Wallkill River NWR, 02/09/19.~
~Here’s a beautiful bird – PACIFIC LOON at Manasquan Inlet in Ocean County, NJ 02/02/19.~
Early this morning, Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, and I headed to Manasquan Inlet to try for the PACIFIC LOON that has been seen there. This was definitely one of the easier rarities we’ve run for – we parked the car and the bird was in the channel right in front of us! And what a beautiful bird, a nice dark loon with a lovely chin strap. It was also very cooperative, swimming quite close and the light was pretty nice too. This bird alone was definitely worth the trip, but we also had some really nice photo ops with some Long-tailed Ducks (which are apparently a garbage bird around there!) and a gorgeous RED-THROATED LOON. We checked for gulls from Red’s Lobster Pot and got lucky with a 1st winter ICELAND GULL. Unfortunately that bird was just too far for pics. Then we walked out onto the jetty, where we enjoyed seeing many of the usuals – highlights included a Common Goldeneye flyby, a flock of Dunlin, and 2 Horned Grebes.
PACIFIC LOON at Manasquan Inlet, 02/02/19.~~The puppy dog of ducks, and one of my favorites, Long-tailed Duck at Manasquan Inlet, 02/02/19.~
~I know I write this a lot, but ANOTHER favorite of mine – Red-throated Loon at Manasquan Inlet, 02/02/19.~
We then headed to the Trenton Sewage Ponds in Mercer County to try for the TOWNSEND’S WARBLER that has been there. We were informed as soon as we arrived by other birders that the bird was still present, and we got on it not too long after that. It was a good looking warbler, but unfortunately the lighting was absolutely horrible and the bird was severely backlit from our vantage point. We tried for a while to get shots of the bird as it foraged around the pools, and eventually the bird perched in a nearby tree. It was still backlit, but closer to us and with a natural setting made the difference for me. Also present was a Eastern Phoebe, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, a handful of Ruby-crowned Warblers, and a Palm Warbler.
Both birds were lifers for all three of us – it’s not too often we get lifers these days, so it was AWESOME!
~Photos were tough, this was the best I could do – TOWNSEND’S WARBLER at the Trenton Sewage Ponds, 02/02/19.~ ~A nice look at a Palm Warbler at the Trenton Sewage Ponds, 02/02/19.~
~Rough-legged Hawk in flight, Black Dirt Region 01/27/19. One of my goals for 2019 is to look more closely at birds’ plumages. This bird looks to me like it might be an adult female, based on the dark trailing edge on the wings (adult), and the buffy underwing coverts with brown mottling (female).~
You know how certain birds just do it for you? That’s how it was today with this Rough-legged Hawk; it is the best looking bird I’ve seen in a long while. What I wouldn’t have done for a decent photograph of this bird. I had several fantastic scope views of this bird perched, and it just blew me a way; there’s just something about the bird’s pale, vanilla colored head that is just gorgeous to me. Who knows, maybe our paths will cross again and things will work out differently…
~This bird was perched right near the parking area when I pulled in just after sunrise, Shawangunk Grasslands, 01/26/19.~
As I drifted off to sleep on Friday night, I came up with a birding plan for Saturday. I would hit the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR at sunrise for some “sure thing” birding (with an outside shot at the Northern Shrike), then head up to Dutchess County to try for the Golden Eagles that have been reported there this winter, and finally, on my way home stop at the Newburgh Waterfront to try for gull (Glaucous and Iceland had both been reported earlier in the week.
I had a great stop at the grasslands, I spent some time in a blind which gave me a couple of nice photo ops (in addition to the accommodating Northern Harrier perched right near the parking area). NOHAs are still numerous, and I also had 2 Rough-legged Hawks (distant), and from the blind I watched approximately 10 Eastern Meadowlarks work their way around the refuge. I tried for the N. Shrike from the Galeville Park side, but had no luck.
~I was loving the marking on this bird. Northern Harrier at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 01/26/19.~
From there, I headed up to Dutchess County to try for the Golden Eagles. I was able to get views of two birds I believe were Goldens – a young bird (100%, see photo below), and a possible adult (totally silhouetted, but the head/neck size looked really good to me). Additionally, I had a handful of Red-tailed Hawks, a Cooper’s Hawk, and several Bald Eagles, including a young bird which was enjoying a meal in a tree right off the road:
~What a big, beautiful beast this bird was. Bald Eagle in Dutchess County, NY 01/26/19.~~I don’t think there is such thing as a bad photo of a Golden Eagle, but this is pretty distant – this bird was up there. Dutchess County, NY 01/26/19.~
My final stop at the Newburgh Waterfront was pretty much a bust, other than running into two of my favorite birding buds, Bruce Nott and Kathy Ashman. It was a beautiful night and while it was fun to sift through the gulls, we came up with nothing other than the expected three species: Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed. It was a good day of birding for me – some good birds, some decent photo ops, and a little bit of good camaraderie.
~Proof that I was at the waterfront, lol. Ring-billed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront 01/26/19.~~I feel like this photo was “this” close (holds fingers a quarter inch apart) to being a good one. NOHA at the Grasslands, 01/26/19.~
~Linda took this photo right after locating the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on Route 284 in Westtown, NY 01/19/19. I love this photo, it’s just rich and beautiful.
Today Linda Scrima and I participated in the Mearns Bird Club’s Orange County Waterfowl Count. Our area was the black dirt, which basically means searching for, counting, and sorting through Canada Geese for the most part. We decided to divide and conquer – Linda would take the western side while I took on the eastern black dirt. We ended up meeting up twice when we had located large collections of geese. The first time was at Skinner Lane, where among approximately 600 Canada Geese, I had 4 blue morph Snow Geese and 2 CACKLING GEESE. I tried to document the Cacklers, but photos were tough due to the distance and heat shimmer. The second time we met up was when Linda located a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE across from the pond on Route 284 in Westtown, NY. Shortly after I arrived, (and before I had a chance to see the GWFG), all the geese in the field lifted up. Thankfully, they just relocated to the pond across the street. It took us ages, but eventually we relocated the GWFG on the ice with its back to us. I felt like we had a pretty good waterfowl count for our area, with the biggest surprise being that we did not see one Mallard. Here’s our totals:
Canada Geese: 1,638
Common Mergansers: 2
Cackling Geese: 2
Mute Swans: 6
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE: 1
American Black Ducks: 7
Hours (collectively): 9
Miles: 116
~The bird of the day, in my opinion. Greater White-fronted Goose, Route 284 Pond in Westtown, NY, 01/19/19.~ ~Now this is a terrible photo. Cackling Goose among the Canada Geese at Skinners Lane, 01/19/19.~
~American Kestrel in the black dirt this morning, 01/06/19.~
I’m still not sure what my birding goals or focus will be this year. I know that I would like to reduce the importance of listing in Orange County and branch out a little bit more. I was feeling similarly last year at this time, and as fate would have it, I got on a roll with OC birds and ended up running with it. It’s still a work in progress, but here are some of the things I’d like to focus in 2019:
Do more birding out of Orange County, and even NYS for that matter. I love listing, especially in OC, but I’m going to try and take a year off. I’ll still report and keep my lists, it just won’t be the main focal point.
Focus more on bird behavior. Often when I run around for birds, I fail to take the time to observe and enjoy their behavior to any large extent.
Work on my photography. As I went through all my posts for 2019 (looking for top 10 photos), I felt like maybe I’d taken a step backwards. I didn’t have as many shots that I REALLY liked; maybe I’m getting more and more picky, but that can be a good thing.
So, those are my starting points. But, I’m curious to hear from you: what are your goals for your birding this year? What will you focus on? What is it about birding that makes you the most happy? Do you even think about it in these terms, or do you just go out birding? Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this… thanks!
~ If you’ve been in the black dirt any time recently, you know there have been loads of American Crows. In spite of that, I rarely ever get an opportunity to photograph them; I think it’s because they are too smart to let us get near enough. Today several stayed put in a tree while the heavy winds blew. American Crow in the black dirt, 01/06/19.~~You might have noticed that I tend to crop a large percentage of my photos as portraits or squares, as opposed to landscape. The reason for this is that those two crops read much better in this blog theme. I prefer this photo to the top one, but it did not lend itself to the crop I prefer. American Kestrel fighting a strong wind in the black dirt, 01/06/19.~
~This Least Bittern photo did not make my personal top 10 this year, but I felt like it deserved honorable mention. This was my first photo taken with my new Canon 7D Mark II. LIBI at the Liberty Loop, 06/28/18.~
Well, it was an interesting year for sure. I’d changed jobs at the end of 2017, so 2018 was my first full year of birding on a more restricted schedule where most of my birding had to be done on the weekends or in the evenings (and, I only had enough time in the evenings during Daylight Savings Time). I also got a promotion late in the summer, which also took some of my focus away from the birds. I felt like I was not as in touch with the birding world in our area as I had been in previous years; this was alleviated by my birding buds keeping me in the loop, as well as the Mearns Bird Club phone app, which kept the alerts rolling in, even while I was at work (a nice respite!). In spite of the time restrictions, 2018 proved to be my most productive ever in regards to Orange County birds. A lot of things just seemed to fall into place and I had a very lucky birding year and I finished with 228 species on my OC year list.
HIGHLIGHTS
~Wow, 3 of the 7 Black Terns flying over a tractor in a rain storm on Skinner’s Lane, 08/13/18.~
~SANDHILL CRANE shenanigans, 09/03/18.~ ~To me, this is one of the most inherently cool birds we see regularly – LAPLAND LONGSPUR in near breeding plumage, Black Dirt 03/11/18.~
THE YEAR OF THE MAMMAL
~Beautiful baby bobcat in Orange County, 10/18/18.~
I had some amazing luck when it came to mammals this year. I was fortunate enough to see and photograph BOBCATS on two occasions, one adult and one kitten. I also went through a time when I felt like I couldn’t walk out the front door without running into a bear. That got a little unnerving after a while. Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, and I had a wonderful experience seeing the seals in Sandy Hook back in March, during a pelagic trip in November, humpback whales, fin whales, and common dolphins put on quite a show, and late in November I played a hunch and took my camera to work; I found a red fox in the snow that morning.
~Bobcat in Orange County, 05/21/18. This was a BIG cat.~ ~I love this photo, what a big brute this bear was. Black bear in the rain at Black Rock Forrest, 06/24/18.~ ~Red fox in the snow, Garnerville, NY 11/16/18.~ ~A pile of seals at Sandy Hook, 03/24/18.~
TOP TEN PHOTOS OF 2018
Every year it’s tough for me to pick out my favorite photos. This year proved to be no different. Looking back over a year of posts, here are the ten photos that speak to me the most:
~Horned Grebe at Greenwood Lake, 04/07/18.~ ~Least Bittern at the Liberty Loop, 08/05/18.~ ~I think my love of this photo has more to do with the bird, which was my favorite from my trip to Ireland in July – Eurasian Skylark in Rossadillisk, Ireland 07/10/18.~ ~Northern Gannet close-up, See Life Paulagics Brooklyn Trip 11/04/18.~~Least Bittern at the Liberty Loop, 07/29/18. This is my 3rd Least Bittern in this post, but I should mention that the photos are from 3 different days, one in June, one in July, and one in August. ~ My luckiest shot of the year – Ruby-throated Hummingbird going for a snack at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge – Winding Waters Trail, 08/25/18. ~Baird’s Sandpiper at Apollo Plaza, 09/05/18.~ ~Black-and-white Warbler at Sterling Forest, 05/05/18.~~European Goldfinch, Rossadillisk Ireland, 07/09/18.~ ~I couldn’t have a top 10 without at least one Common Loon shot; they are one of the most accommodating birds I see on a regular basis, providing plenty of opportunities for close ups. COLO in the Adirondacks, 07/21/18.~
As always, I’d like to thank some folks at the end of the year. Thanks so much to everyone that reads the blog, and especially those of you that make comments – you have no idea how much they mean to me. And, huge thanks go to the contributors to the blog – Karen Miller, Bill Fiero, and Kent Warner; I hope they will all continue to contribute in 2019. I’d also like to thank all my birding friends out there, with special thanks going to Rob Stone, Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, Kyle Dudgeon, John Haas, Karen Miller, Ken McDermott, Kathy Ashman, and Judy Cinquina. Happy New Year everyone, here’s to an exciting and bird-filled 2019!
I had to break tradition this year on Black Friday. Due to the recent substantial snowfall, Wildlife Drive at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge was closed, so I decided to try a new spot. I headed to Onondaga Lake Park’s West Shore Trail to follow up on recent eBird reports of COMMON REDPOLLS there. I’d never been to the park; I found the parking area easily enough and as soon as I got out of my car, a local photographer named Tim was kind enough to give me the lay of the land. There is a network of trails that run along the shore of the lake and around the amphitheater. Tim went off on his own, but we met up not too much later and we ended up spending the rest of the day birding together. The trail was birdy with many of “the usuals”, with American Robins being the most prominent. Raptors were around in decent numbers; we had several Red-tailed Hawks, a couple of young Bald Eagles, and a Cooper’s Hawk (which I misidentified in the field as a Sharp-shinned Hawk) that did a very nice, close flyby. The lake didn’t have as much waterfowl as I’d hoped, but we did have six species, including a distant large flock of what looked to me like Scaup, but I’m not sure which one. We saw fresh Coyote tracks in the snow, as well as some scat; it would have been excellent to catch up with one of them!. The highlight of the day, however, was coming across a small flock of COMMON REDPOLLS just off the trail. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen them, back in 2013 at the Shawangunk Grasslands. I’ve seen one report this year already in Orange County, let’s hope they continue. It was a good day of birding, it was a cool, crisp day and we hiked maybe 5 miles and totaled 28 species.
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~Cooper’s Hawk in flight. This bird chased a mixed flock of American Robins and European Starlings across the trail right in front of us. Onondaga Lake Park, 11/23/18.~
~Red-tailed Hawk in flight, Onondaga Lake Park, 11/23/18.~
~COMMON REDPOLLS! Nice to see these birds, and nice to get my target species – it feels like a while since I’ve done that. Onondaga Lake Park, 11/23/18.~
~I got my first good looks at American Tree Sparrows for the season. Onondaga Lake Park, 11/23/18.~
~White-tailed Deer at Onondaga Lake Park, 11/23/18.~
~This was taken on my trip up, on Thanksgiving. Cooper’s Hawk perched somewhere outside of Cortland NY, 11/22/18.~
Since the times have changed, I have not taken my camera to and from work like I normally do. With it getting dark before I get out, it just isn’t worth dragging it back and forth. But, today I went in late because of the snow. As I made my way out the front door, the light was beautiful. And I had a hunch. So I played it smart and grabbed it, and it sure paid off when I saw a fox in a snow covered field not far from my work. As luck would have it, there was a good area to pull off and I was able to take some photos before continuing on to work. You never know where or when you’ll see something good!
