Orange County – Page 12 – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 12/17/23

I really enjoyed my birding this weekend. It’s that time of year when the days are just too short to fit any birding in during the week, so when I get out on the weekends it seems just that much better.

On Saturday I took an eight mile hike out at Black Rock Forest. My target species was Red Crossbill, but unfortunately I didn’t have any luck with them. It was a relatively birdy walk though; I had a total of 23 species with my highlight being a trio of Purple Finches. Afterwards, I went to the Newburgh Waterfront, thinking about gulls and waterfowl. Little did I know that I should have been thinking about warblers! On Watefront Trail, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Palm Warbler and then a little later, a Northern Parula. Bruce Nott later found a Tennessee Warbler! Not bad for December.

~A crazy looking shot of the Northern Parula at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/16/23.~

~Palm Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront, 123/16/23.~

On Sunday I stayed closer to home; I hit the black dirt early and then checked a few nearby lakes. In the black dirt, I enjoyed sifting through some large flocks of mixed blackbirds, looking unsuccessfully for a Yellow-headed Blackbird in the mix – a total long shot, but if you don’t look, you’ll never find one. The flocks consisted of nearly all Common Grackles, with a smattering European Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Red-winged Blackbirds as well.

Afterwards, I found a single Common Goldeneye loosely associating with a small flock of Buffleheads at the northernmost part of Greenwood Lake. At Wickham Lake, surprisingly the Common Loon that I found there back on December 1st was still present. I watched the bird for a good while – it was pretty far out, so I was just enjoying looking at it in my scope. Then the bird appeared to try to take flight – taking a long runway, flapping like mad, but it never got airborne. It did this 3 times, and I started to figure that this was probably why the bird was still present. I waited it out, because the bird still seemed itchy. On the fourth attempt, the bird got airborne! It took a few laps around the lake, only clearing the treetops a few times, before landing in the lake again. I’m choosing to believe that this was finally a successful test flight. Hopefully the bird will have enough strength and get over whatever is ailing it soon so it can continue its migration.

~Attempt #3, where this Common Loon did not get airborne. Wickham Lake, 12/17/23.~

~Northern Mocking bird with a bite to eat; Turtle Bay Road 12/17/23.~

~Not something you see every day in inland southern OC, dozens of Ring-billed Gulls literally on Bellvale Lakes Road, 12/17/23.

~A more conventional shot of the Northern Parula, Newburgh Waterfront 12/16/23.~

Excellent Day in OC, 12/09/23

Today was an unexpectedly good day of birding for me. My first stop was Reservoir #3 in Port Jervis. I have birded this location a lot over the years, and I think as far as fall/winter birding is concerned, today was the most productive day I’ve ever had out there. As soon as I got out of the car, a Pine Siskin flew over calling. Not long after that, I heard and saw my target bird of the morning: a small group of RED CROSSBILLS flew over. I recorded the call on the Merlin app, and I was able to get some documentary, mostly-silhouetted photos. I took a modest hike and I tallied 20 species; other highlights included a Red-breasted Nuthatch, several Brown Creepers, and three Golden-crowned Kinglets.

~Bald Eagle in the black dirt, 12/09/23.~

Afterwards, I made a short visit to the black dirt. I tracked down a flock of Horned Larks with 2 Snow Buntings and 1 Lapland Longspur among them. I also enjoyed a nice photo op with a Bald Eagle.

~Iceland Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/09/23.~

In the evening, I joined Bruce Nott at the Newburgh Waterfront. Bruce had informed me earlier in the week that he had a couple of ICELAND GULLS, so I was excited to get out and get the gulling season started. We were able to locate one first winter Iceland Gull among approximately 400 gulls of the expected species (Herring, Great Black-backed, and Ring-billed) on the river.

~Red Crossbill in flight at Reservoir #3, 12/09/23.~

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.~

Sunday Shots, 11/19/23

It was a relatively uneventful weekend of birding for me. There actually doesn’t seem to be all that much exciting going on in our area at the moment. I checked out a few lakes in southern Orange County on Saturday morning. Then, I spent this morning at the Hudson River. Both mornings were unproductive. The highlight of the weekend for me was in the black dirt later this morning, where, after weeks of trying, I was finally able to get my first Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting photos of the season.

~Always a favorite of mine, as readers of the blog know well – Lapland Longspur in the black dirt 11/19/23.~

~A Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by American Crows in the Black Dirt Region, 11/19/23.~

~European Starling flock at the Camel Farm, 11/18/23.~

~Stupid heat shimmer from my car did a number on this photo. But, it’s my first Snow Bunting shot of the year, so I wanted to include it. Black dirt 11/19/23.~

~A Great Blue Heron stalks prey on Missionland Road, 11/19/23.~

~One more European Starling image – I was enjoying photographing this flock. Camel Farm 11/18/23.~

Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/11/23

I wrapped up my hawkwatching 2023 season on Saturday, and it ended on a good note. I had 83 migrating raptors, which included our best Red-tailed Hawk count for the year (45 birds), and additionally, I enjoyed a good variety of other migrants: Turkey Vulture (10), Bald Eagles (8), Northern Harrier (3), Sharp-shinned Hawk (7), Cooper’s Hawk (1), Red-shouldered Hawk (8), and Peregrine Falcon (1). I’ve included my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointing season at Mount Peter. We never had a big day for Broad-winged Hawks. The weather worked against us more than for us. And our total year count is way down with only 3,680 migrants tallied for the season as of this evening. Compare that to nearly 5,000 last year and over 10,000 in 2021.

~~A Purple Finch takes pause at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/11/23.~

For me personally, it was mostly a subpar season. September was slow. October was basically a rainout; I was scheduled to count on three Saturdays, and between the three days the weather only allowed for a paltry 4 1/2 hours and 22 migrating raptors. I enjoyed my 2 Saturdays in November but they did not produce any special birds.

BUT, the few good days I did have at Mount Pete this season have somehow rejuvenated my love for hawkwatching. It’s been a few seasons since I’ve had that feeling – the joy and excitement of a day searching the skies for birds. Hawkwatching is how I started birding and it’s been nice getting back to it. I’m ending this season looking forward to next year; I didn’t see that coming.

~This Red-tailed Hawk perched on the cell tower in front of the platform for 15 minutes before zooming past us and into the valley. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 11/12/23.~

~Female Purple Finch at Mt. Pete, 11/11/23.~

Sunday Shots, 11/05/23

My best birding of the weekend occurred first thing on Saturday morning. I stopped in the black dirt before heading up to Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I was pleased to find a nice sized flock of Horned Larks, and even more so to find a handful of Snow Buntings and a couple Lapland Longspurs. The buntings and longspurs wouldn’t cooperate for photos, so I had to settle for some Horned Lark shots. I went back on Sunday morning, and I don’t know if they moved on or were just laying low, but I had very few larks and no buntings or longspurs.

~Horned Lark in the black dirt, 11/05/23.~

Hawkwatch at Mount Peter was a bust for me. I counted a measly 10 migrating raptors in just over 5 hours. Songbirds were out in force, particularly American Robins, which were moving through in groups of 10-20 birds. I have only one day left in the hawk watching season, next Saturday; I’m hoping for something special to happen on that day.

~Dark-eyed Junco at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch 11/04/23.~

~American Crow just after Sunrise in the black dirt, 11/04/23.~d

~One of 4 White-tailed Deer bucks that I saw over the weekend. Black Dirt Region 11/05/23.~

~Horned Lark with what looks like a very short bill to me. BDR 11/04/23.~

~This might be the winner for the species which is heard WAY more than it is seen. Carolina Wren in the black dirt, 11/05/23.~

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.~

A Good Day at Mt. Pete, 10/28/23

Based on the weather forecast, I had very low expectations going into today’s hawkwatch at Mount Peter. I was expecting it to be uncomfortably warm with a non-existent flight. But, there was a cool breeze all day which kept it very comfortable on the viewing platform and there were enough migrating raptors to keep it interesting. The highlight for me, however, was not raptor related. I had (4) skeins of BRANT fly over, with a total of approximately 450 birds. I always hope that I’m up at Mt. Pete when Brant come through, and today I was lucky. As always, I’ve included my full report at the bottom of this post.

~Palm Warbler at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/28/23.~

~One of (4) skeins of Brant at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/28/23.~

~One of these things is not like the other… Brant and an unidentified duck pass directly over the Mt. Peter viewing platform, 10/28/23.~

Sunday Shots, 10/22/23

It was an interesting weekend in local birding. On Friday afternoon, Linda Scrima located a NORTHERN WHEATEAR in the black dirt. On Saturday morning, it was raining (as usual this fall), so I was able to spend some time searching for the bird. Unfortunately I didn’t have any luck, but I enjoyed another rainy morning in the black dirt, seeing the absolutely massive numbers of American Pipits, and I also found an unlikely sparrow for this time of year – a late Grasshopper Sparrow.

~Grasshopper Sparrow in the Black Dirt Region, 10/21/23.~

I also enjoyed a nice look a Merlin:

~Merlin perched in the wind and rain. Black dirt, 10/21/23.

In the afternoon, when the rain stopped, I managed to squeeze in two and a half hours at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I had 15 migrating raptors, including another Merlin and a Peregrine Falcon. I’ve included my full report at the bottom of this post.

On Sunday morning, I found a Long-billed Dowitcher at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Marsh. This is a species which we don’t see all that regularly in Orange County; I believe that today was my just 4th siting in the 13 years I’ve birded OC.

~Long-billed Dowitcher at Liberty Marsh, 10/22/23.~

~Love these dudes. American Pipit in the black dirt in the rain, 10/21/23.~

~It’s always good to see our buddy the Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk in Warwick, NY 10/21/23.~

Vulturific Hawkwatch! 10/15/23

After an early morning of unremarkable birding at Winding Waters Trail, I headed up to Mount Peter to see if any raptors were flying. I was not prepared for what the mountain had in store for us today. When I arrived, Ken Witkowski informed that Turkey Vultures were moving in numbers. He wasn’t kidding; he had over 130 the hour before, and we topped that the next hour with 199! They were actually kettling up! Tom Millard joined us shortly after I arrived, and the three of us enjoyed some of the best hawk watching I can recall in recent years.

~Turkey Vultures directly over the viewing platform at Mount Peter, 10/15/23.~

I couldn’t help but think of the epic day we had at Mt. Pete in October of 2021, when we counted over 850 migrating Turkey Vultures in an afternoon. Today didn’t quite reach those heights, but a total of 636 migrating TUVUs were counted today. Plus, we also had loads of other migrating raptors; they came through in decent numbers and with an excellent variety (11 different migrating species counted). See Ken and Tom’s full report below for more details. What a great day – it was a cool fall day, with a beautiful sky, excellent company, and absolutely loads of migrating raptors.