Swimming Waterbirds – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 10/27/24

I birded Wickham Lake both mornings this weekend. It was birdy both mornings, but on Sunday morning there was a nice collection of mostly new waterfowl present. The highlight was a single Red-necked Grebe (too far out for photos unfortunately); that’s a bird I alway enjoy seeing. Other waterfowl species included: Canada Geese, Mallards, Northern Pintails, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, and Double-crested Cormorants. Both mornings were beautiful, and really I didn’t do as well with photos as maybe I should have, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Wickham Lake, 10/26/24.~

~Double-crested Cormorant in flight at Wickham Lake, 10/27/24.~

~This Belted Kingfisher was chased across the lake by a Northern Harrier, of all things. I’ve never seen anything like that before. BEKI at Wickham Lake, 10/27/24.~

OC Red-necked Grebe, 04/18/24

Question: Is it pathetic or is it awesome that a single bird can make my week? Regardless of your answer to that question, that’s what happened tonight. I’d been having a rotten week; heavy with work stress and deficient in joy. But that changed tonight when I rolled up to Greenwood Lake and found a gorgeous RED-NECKED GREBE on the water. The bird was a little bit distant at first, but it was slowly making its way towards the shore. I put the word out, and Kyle Knapp joined on the beach. We enjoyed some good looks, but the bird remained tucked in most of the time.

~Beautiful bird! Red-necked Grebe at Greenwood Lake, 04/18/24.~

The bird was drifting further out, so we decided to leave. Just before we got in our cars, Kyle took one more look – at first he didn’t see the bird, but then we found it, it was very close to shore. We slowly made our way closer; the bird stayed put and we enjoyed fantastic looks and photos ops of this beautiful bird. What a night, what a way to melt the stress away. What a great hobby.

~One more shot of the Red-necked Grebe at Greenwood Lake, 04/18/24.~

Loony Evening, 04/11/24

The old adage ‘bad weather = good birds’ held true once again this evening. I’d like to add to that and say bad weather = good birds = terrible photos. But it also makes for a very happy birder. I headed out directly after work today, and I spent a rainy evening checking out a couple of local lakes. At my first stop, Wickham Lake, I was pleased to find 9 (!) Common Loons on the water. Eight of the birds were in a tight group, with one bird that was only loosely associating with them:

~Exciting stuff – nine Common Loons at Wickham Lake, 04/11/24.~

My next stop was Glenmere Lake. At first I thought it was a bust, but then I saw 2 distant birds in my binoculars. I got the scope on them, and sure enough, it was a pair of RED-THROATED LOONS! Always a favorite and seemingly more difficult to get in the county in recent years, this sighting made my night.

~Good bird for the county – A pair of RED-THROATED LOONS on Glenmere Lake, 04/11/24.~

Ring-necked Duck, 03/17/24

Looking at field guides, and from my own personal experience, Ring-necked Ducks do not show off their namesake very often. Even today, when I photographed this drake, I didn’t take notice of it. But, when I reviewed my photos, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I’ve never seen a maroon/brown neck-ring this distinctive. I’m not sure if this is the effect of particular lighting condition, or if this is this individual’s current plumage. Regardless, I didn’t much luck otherwise with photos today, but I definitely wanted to share a couple shots of this good-looking bird, which I photographed at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary this morning.

~Male Ring-necked Duck at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 03/17/24.~

~One more shot of the drake Ring-necked Duck at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 03/17/24.~

Birding Around the County, 03/16/24

I was up super early this morning, so I was able to enjoy one of my favorite things – the Black Dirt Region at sunrise. I was hoping I might catch a glimpse of a Coyote at that hour, but it wasn’t to be. I was, however, rewarded by finding and photographing three Lapland Longspurs just after sunrise. It’s been several weeks since I’ve found any LALOs, so it was good to catch up with those birds. Unfortunately, not long after seeing the longspurs, I found a recently deceased Short-eared Owl. The field where I found the bird had been recently cleared; sadly it appeared to me that the bird had been killed by a run-in with some farm machinery.

~Red-tailed Hawk perched on a limp wind sock at sunrise in the black dirt, 03/16/24.~

~One of three Lapland Longspurs in the black dirt on 03/16/24.~

Later in the morning, I checked some of the lakes in southern Orange County. I didn’t find much, but I was happy to find a Common Loon at Wickham Lake in beautiful plumage:

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 03/16/24.~

My final destination on this Saturday was the Hudson River near Newburgh. The big excitement for me was finding a single Lesser Black-backed Gull on the sandbar in Cornwall Bay. Also of note was a trio of Red-breasted Mergansers. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Great Cormorants which have been in the area recently.

~Lesser Black-backed Gull waaaaay out there. It’s the bird on the far right. I kind of like having the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in the background for this shot. Cornwall Bay, 03/16/24.~

12 Hour Pelagic, 02/10/24

This past Saturday, I left my house just before 3 am to board American Princess Cruise’s Special 12 Hour Pelagic Bird and Wildlife Trip at 5:30 am. It was a long and tiring day, but I felt like it was very successful. We did very well with our target Alcid species, Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Dovekie, and Common Murre, getting good numbers of each. I’ve included an Excel sheet below, reflective of all the species we had as recorded in (16) eBird reports compiled by the trip leaders. I think it is pretty cool, because it tells the story of the day numerically, showing the birds observed closer to shore as we left in the morning, then the species found further out, and finally the birds closer to shore again, as we returned in the evening.

As for gulls, we did pretty well, with (6) species observed, but noticeably absent was Black-legged Kittiwake, which unfortunately was probably the expected species I most wanted to see.

~This was an absolutely beautiful bird. ICELAND GULL during the American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

Two of the more exciting gull species, Iceland and Lesser Black-backed really put on a show an provided many photo ops. The Iceland was a beautiful first cycle bird, and it followed the boat for quite some time. We had (3) Lesser Black-backed Gulls – one 1st cycle, one 2nd cycle, and one non-adult that was more advanced than the 2nd cycle.

~Lesser Blackbacked Gull APC 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~It’s a BIG ocean. Bonaparte’s Gull, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~This sharp looking Herring Gull wasn’t going to be outdone by the more rare gulls. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

As I’ve seen on other pelagic trips, we got fantastic looks and plenty of photo ops of Northern Gannets.

~Northern Gannet coming right at me. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Subadult Northern Gannet, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Northern Gannet, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

The Alcids are super exciting to see, but they are far less photogenic. It’s hard to believe how small a Dovekie actually is; the Audubon app lists the bird at 8″, but seeing them out in the ocean they barely seem that big – they are tiny! Ironically, in regards to photos, I did best with them of all the alcids.

It was an excellent, if exhausting trip. They do a great job at American Princes Cruises and I am looking forward to the next one.

~Dovekie cuteness, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Common Murre catching a wave, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~It’s always good to see an Atlantic Puffin. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Cool guys. Razorbills were numerous, but I didn’t do very well with photos, mostly due to the timing – too early, too late, so not much light. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~ICGU closeup, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Lesser Black-backed Gull, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Iceland Gull out in front of a couple of Herring Gulls, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~LBBG, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~I believe these are mostly Black Scoters. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~ICGU, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~NOGA, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~The only mammals we saw all day – one of two Gray Seals, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~Calling NOGA, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~It’s not very often you get to see an ICELAND GULL this closely. American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

~I know, it’s ICGU overkill, but when will I get an opportunity like this again? Iceland Gull, American Princess Cruise 12-HR Pelagic, 02/10/24.~

Winter Waterfowl Count, 01/13/24

Today Linda Scrima and I participated in the Mearns Bird Club’s Orange County Winter Waterfowl Count. For the sixth straight year, the two of us covered the Black Dirt Region for the survey. This year was particularly interesting. Typically in mid January there isn’t much open water, but with this year’s recent warm temperatures, all bodies of water were open. Additionally, with all the rain we’ve had recently, the black dirt had much flooding, creating waterfowl habitat where typically there wouldn’t be (I had a pair of Northern Pintails and a Green-winged Teal in the middle of a flooded corn field!). And finally, a bit of luck is always helpful. Linda had a large group of Snow Geese fly over (2,500+ birds!), and then we both found a decent sized flock (approximately 700 birds), which had put down at the Camel Farm. The one disappointment was, that in spite of the large number of Canada and Snow Geese located, we were unable to locate any rare geese. Not even a Cackling Goose. Thanks to Linda for coordinating and for the good company. It was probably the most enjoyable Winter Waterfowl Survey I’ve done yet.

Snow Goose: 3,200
Canada Goose: 2,566
Mute Swan: 1
Mallard: 124
American Black Duck: 9
Green-winged Teal: 5
Northern Pintail: 4
American Wigeon: 3
Bufflehead: 2
Common Merganser: 4

~Three of approximately 700 Snow Geese at the Camel Farm, 01/13/24.~

~Snow Geese in flight over Route 1 in the Black Dirt Region, 01/13/24.~

Sunday Shots, 12/03/23

I spent a good amount of my birding time this weekend trying for waterfowl. One bird in particular was on my mind: Red-throated Loon. I tried Wickham Lake on Saturday morning; I found a Common Loon that was close enough to shore for some decent shots, but no RTLO. This morning, I met up with birding bud Bruce Nott at Plum Point, where there was not much happening BUT we did locate a single, distant Red-throated Loon. The RT Loon was definitely my best bird of the weekend, all the other waterfowl I observed were expected species for this time of the year.

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 12/01/23.~

I’m also playing a little catch up today, I’m including several photos from last weekend that I did not post, due to my excitement over my Sunday at the Grasslands.

~An assortment of waterfowl at the Liberty Loop, 12/02/23.~

~Three of five American Coots at the Liberty Loop. This shot is from last weekend, however these birds were still present on Saturday morning.~

~American Kestrel at Missionland Road, 11/24.23.~

~Lapland Longspur in the black dirt, from last weekend, 11/24/23.~

~Five American Black Ducks surround a male Mallard. Liberty Loop, 12/02/23.~

Plum Point, 10/29/23

I enjoyed an excellent morning/early afternoon of birding at Kowawese Unique Area at Plum Point. Birding bud Bruce Nott let me know he had some good birds on the Hudson River earlier in the morning, so I went over to check it out. Looking out onto the rainy and foggy river from the shelter of the park’s pavilion, it was a slow start, but over approximately three hours of birding I accumulated some good birds:

At least 15 Common Loons
A fly-by of nearly 20 Bonaparte’s Gulls,
(5) Long-tailed Ducks
A GREAT CORMORANT
A Skein of approximately 175 Brant
A fly-by of (14) Northern Pintails
A flock Scaup (species) see photo below
And the usuals: Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, (3) Bald Eagles, Double-crested Cormorants, and American Black Ducks.

~Great Cormorant at Plum Point, 10/29/23.~

~Bald Eagle in flight over the Hudson River, Plum Point, 10/29/23.~

~Scaup species, Kowawese Unique Area at Plum Point, 10/29/23.~

Monhegan Island 2023 Teaser

Tricia and I spent the week on Monhegan Island, a small island in Lincoln County Maine, approximately 12 nautical miles off the coast. We went to the island last year at this same time; click here to see my blog post from that visit. It’s a perfect vacation for us, as it’s an established artist’s retreat as well as a fabulous birding destination. It was a great week, but I have loads of photos to get through before I’ll be able to post. Here’s a look at one of the many Black Guillemots I saw over the week… stayed tuned for a full report.