Black Dirt – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 09/20/26

I drove around the Black Dirt Region in the rain this morning. I was rewarded with my first decent look at the American Golden-Plovers that have been hanging around for a little while now. I also had a calling Black-bellied Plover; I heard it call, but I was unable to find the bird, so I’m assuming it was a flyover. It was my first BBPL of the year, so while it wasn’t a very rewarding experience, I was at least able to add it to my Orange County 2026 list (bird #196). Other than that, of note was a large number of sparrows around. They were predominantly Savannah Sparrows; my phone heard Lincoln’s a couple of times, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to locate any.

~American Golden-Plover with a worm in the black dirt, 09/20/26.~

~American Golden-Plover in the Black Dirt Region, 09/20/26.~

~This is from last weekend – 3 of 4 Sandhill Cranes in the black dirt, 09/13/26.~

~Cooper’s Hawk on a wire in the Black Dirt Region, 09/12/26.~

Sunday Shots, 08/30/26

I got out on Saturday morning and briefly on Sunday morning. My focus continues to be shorebirds, of course. Shorebirds continue to be relatively sparse in the black dirt, but I got lucky with a brief, distant look at an Upland Sandpiper on Saturday morning. While I was a happy to finally catch up with an Uppy, it was frustrating to have it fly less than 30 seconds later. A little bit later, I caught up with a Baird’s Sandpiper. Linda Scrima joined me, and we enjoyed nice, relatively close-up look at the bird. Then, on Sunday morning, I had a very distant look at a bird that I was pretty sure was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but the bird flew before I was able to be 100% on the ID.

~Baird’s Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 08/29/26. I was disappointed in all my shots of this bird – the light was a little bit harsh and I think there was some heat shimmer. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.~

~This is likely the same bird I photographed last week. Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/29/26.~

~Sandhill Cranes in the black dirt on 08/29/26.~

~This is not something you see every day. Osprey perched on a pole in the Black Dirt Region, 08/29/26.~

Sunday Shots, 08/23/26

Well, we finally had a little bit of shorebird action in the Black Dirt Region this weekend. Emphasis on a little bit. But it’s a start, and I enjoyed myself. On Saturday morning I had my first American Golden-Plover of the year. It was in a field with many Killdeer, a Least Sandpiper, and a single Semipalmated Plover. On Sunday, those birds continued and Jeanne Cimorelli also found a pair of DISTANT Baird’s Sandpipers. When I joined her, the birds were just inside the range where the heat shimmer wasn’t too awful, allowing for decent scope views. Later in the morning, at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, I had a similar cast of characters as last weekend – a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs and smattering of Least Sandpipers.

~Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/23/26.~

~Killdeer striking a pose in a puddle in the Black Dirt Region, 08/23/26.~

~Killdeer taking a bath in the black dirt, 08/23/26.~

~Terrible photo, but I wanted to include one shot of the American Golden-Plover in the Black Dirt Region, 08/22/26.~

~I’m loving the plumage on this European Starling. BDR, 08/22/26.~

~There is no shortage of Green Herons right now. This one was at the Liberty Loop, 08/22/26. I also had over half a dozen of them at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary on 08/23/26.~

Sunday Shots, 08/16/26

Well, another weekend has come and gone, and we still have not had any shorebird presence to speak of in the Black Dirt Region. I was out both mornings, but essentially came up empty. Outside of Killdeer, the only other birds I was able to locate were a couple of Least Sandpipers, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Lesser Yellowlegs. Jeanne Cimorelli was out this morning also, and she had a couple of Semipalmated Plovers. I also tried 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. Shorebird conditions have improved ever so slightly there, and I had about a dozen Least Sandpipers, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and 3 Lesser Yellowlegs.

The bird of the weekend, however, was Laughing Gull. Bruce Nott reported one at the Newburgh Waterfront on Saturday morning. When I arrived, it had been joined by another, so I had two juvenile Laughing Gulls. I thought they were pretty sharp looking birds; the lighting was terrible when I was there, but that didn’t stop me from taking a bunch of photos. On Sunday morning, Travis Rubio reported unfortunately that one of the LAGUs had been taken by a Peregrine Falcon.

~Laughing Gull in flight at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~

~LAGU at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~

~Laughing Gull on the docks at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~

~LAGU with a snack. Newburgh Waterfront 08/15/26.~

~I like this image. Mourning Doves in the black dirt, 08/16/26.~

~Cooper’s hawk on a footbridge in the black dirt, 08/16/26.~

~I believe this is an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Black Dirt Region on 08/11/26.~

Sunday Shots, 08/09/26

Well the big excitement for the weekend took place in Lafayette Township New Jersey on Saturday morning, when I caught up with the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE that had been reported there. I’m including a couple additional photos of that bird at the bottom of this post.

My focus for the weekend, however, was shorebirds. I checked the black dirt both mornings and also 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I came up mostly empty, finding only Killdeer (many), a single Solitary Sandpiper, and a couple of Semipalmated Plovers. In the black dirt I did enjoy spending some time with a family of Horned Larks – readers of the blog know that I love Horned Larks, especially the young birds. At 6 1/2 Station Road, birds of note included an Osprey, a Great Egret, and a couple of Green Herons (and, notably, not a single shorebird – conditions are not good for them).

~Young Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 08/08/26.~

~Handsome little devil. HOLA in the black dirt, 08/08/26.~

~Green Heron at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 08/09/26.~

~Osprey flying overhead at 6 1/2 Station Road, 08/09/26.~

~Swallow-tailed Kite eating on the wing, Lafayette Township NJ, 08/08/26.~

~STKI flying directly overhead in Lafayette Township, NJ 08/08/26.~

Sunday Shots, 06/21/26

Summer birding is in full swing, so there is not really all that much happening. On Saturday morning I spent some time in the Black Dirt Region, and then enjoyed a nice walk at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. I got my first look for the year at a Grasshopper Sparrow in the black dirt; otherwise it was just the usuals. At Winding Waters it was more of the usuals, but with loads of bugs – little tiny flying insects that were seemingly everywhere but somehow were not bothersome at all.

~American Goldfinch in the Black Dirt Region on Saturday morning, 06/20/26.~

On Sunday, I walked the Mongaup River Trail, which has always been a good summer birding location. Highlights included: a couple pairs of Louisiana Waterthrushes, a glimpse of a single Magnolia Warbler, and a frustrating experience with a calling Blackburnian Warbler – the bird called, and called, and called, but I was never able to locate it. Still, it was a pleasant walk on a cool morning along the river.

~Flying insects at Winding Waters Trail, 06/20/26.~

~My attempt at a close up – bugs at Winding Waters Trail, 06/20/26.~

~Singing Grasshopper Sparrow in the black dirt, 06/20/21.~

~Red-winged Blackbird in the BDR, 06/20/26.~

~Young Killdeer in the black dirt, 06/20/26.~

Lapland Longspurs, 04/26/26

It’s not necessarily very easy to see a Lapland Longspur in breeding plumage. You can travel during the breeding season to the arctic tundra across North America, Europe, and Asia – areas such as Alaska, northern Canada, northern Scandinavia, Russia, or coastal Greenland. See the pink highlights on the range map below.

Or you can stay local and head out to the black dirt in mid to late April and try to get really lucky. Readers of the blog know that Lapland Longspur is among my very favorite species; I search for them all winter long and in April I try to see them in their fabulous breeding plumage. And I’ve had some success over the years, and this weekend I got lucky again and found a handful of Lapland Longspurs associating with a flock of Horned Larks. Two of the birds were in beautiful breeding plumage, but unfortunately, in spite of my efforts on both days, I never had the birds close enough for quality photos. Here’s my best effort.

~Lapland Longspur in the Black Dirt Region, 04/26/26.~

It was back in April of 2023 when I got super lucky and finally got a decent shot. I was was very excited at the time; it was a great day for me. Here’s another look at that bird:

~A look back to 2023: Lapland Longspur in the Black Dirt Region on 04/23/23.~

On a separate note, I wanted to give a shout out to birding bud Silas Wareham. Silas is an excellent Orange County birder and photographer. He has an online photography newsletter, Raw Nature, that I encourage everyone to visit and subscribe if you like what you see (you will). Here is lovely shot that I pulled from Silas’ site.

~American Robin photo by Silas Wareham… see more good stuff like this here. ~

A Good Weekend, 12/21/25

On Saturday I participated in the Christmas Bird Count for the first time ever. I joined Jodi Brodsky and birded the Newburgh Waterfront for the full day. With some key contributions from Bruce Nott, we had a total of 48 species. I’m not sure how that measures up to previous years, but I thought it was pretty good. The best bird for Jodi and I was a Great Cormorant. Thanks to Jodi for inviting me, she was a pleasure to bird with, and it was nice to do some birding with a purpose – it’s pretty rewarding.

~Red-shouldered Hawk at Chadwick Lake Park, during the CBC on 12/20/25.~

Today I hit a lot of my usual Orange County spots and got a lot of the usuals. Then I got word from Bruce that he had the Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront. I ran for the bird, and it stuck around for me – I’ve included a documentary shot of the bird at the bottom of this post. Later in the day, when I was home with a cat on my lap and my feet up, Silas Wareham contacted me. He had two ROSS’S GEESE in the Black Dirt Region. I ran for the birds and joined Silas and Linda Scrima who were on the birds when I arrived. It’s an interesting couple of geese – there is a fairly obvious size difference between the two, but I believe that can be attributed to sexual dimorphism. I will be reporting both of these birds as Ross’s, and we will see if the report is accepted.

~Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~One more shot of the Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Northern Yellow Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

~A young Cooper’s Hawk, just after sunrise this morning in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

Sunday Shots, 09/07/25

Saturday was pretty much a dud for me. I started the day up at Mount Peter Hawkwatch; when I arrived it was socked in with fog. I counted for 4 1/2 hours when a big storm rolled through and I left (with 0 migrating raptors counted). Hopefully this is not an indication of how this season will go for me.

This morning was much better – at my first stop I found a nice collection of shorebirds. The highlight was a couple of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS. There was also a huge flock of American Golden-Plovers – probably between 40 and 50 birds. Additional species included Pectoral Sandpipers and, of course, plenty of Killdeer. Later at the Camel Farm, I had a couple of Wilson’s Snipe and a handful of Least Sandpipers. At the Liberty Loop platform, I had a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. And finally, at Winding Waters Trail, I had a Spotted Sandpiper and a Greater Yellowlegs. That’s a total of (9) species of shorebirds, not too shabby. And, in my travels, I found a pair of Sandhill Cranes in range for some photos.

As always, I took photos as I went; several of these were actually taken earlier this week, on Labor Day. Unfortunately all the shorebirds from today were just too distant for any good shots.

~American Goldfinch on Missionland Road, 09/01/25.~

~Sandhill Crane in the Black Dirt Region, 09/07/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk in the black dirt, 09/07/25.~

~Chestnut-sided Warbler at Winding Waters Trail, 09/01/25.~

~A second Sandhill Crane in the black dirt on 09/07/25.~

~Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Missionland Road, 09/01/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk on a pile of crates in the black dirt, 09/07/25.~

~Great Egret at Bullville Pond, 09/01/25.~

Sunday Shots, 08/31/25

I didn’t get out all that much over the past couple of days, but when I did, I got lucky and made the best of it. On Saturday evening (I didn’t get out in the morning), I birded the black dirt and had some shorebird success. I had (9) distant American Golden Plovers at my first location. Then, on my way to my second location, I saw a Black Bear on the road! Ant then, at my second and final location, I had an additional (29) American Golden Plovers. They were doing their flocking, whipping around the black dirt thing, which is so enjoyable to watch and photograph.

~American Golden-Plovers in the black dirt, 08/30/25.~

~AMGPs whipping around the Black Dirt Region, 08/30/25.~

~One more shot of the American Golden-Plovers in the Black Dirt Region on Saturday night, 08/30/25.~

~A Black Bear moseys down a dirt road in the Black Dirt Region, 08/30/25.~

This morning I went to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary first thing. I got lucky with a distant Sora that kept coming out into the opening. I only had my 400mm lens, so I tried to document by digiscoping with my phone; here is the result. Good bird, terrible photo. I was pretty happy to see a Sora; it’s been several years I believe, since I last saw one. Afterwards, I headed up to Mount Peter to participate in the annual cleanup. Hawkwatch starts this week; I have to say I’m pretty excited.