Orange County – Page 23 – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 11/06/22

To be honest, this week was a little bit of a dud for me as far as birding goes. There was one clear highlight – after seeing reports from elsewhere in the region, on Wednesday evening I went to Wickham Lake hoping for and finding BLACK SCOTERS. Seven to be exact. It was remarkable to me how quickly it was getting dark, so I was happy to quickly document them before photos wouldn’t be an option.

Black Scoters on Wickham Lake on 11/02/22.~

On Saturday I was the counter at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. It was a terrible week for the watch – I think with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having, raptors are just not moving. It was no different for me on Saturday – I woke up to temperatures in the low 60’s (in early November!), and it only got warmer. I recorded only 3 species of migrants for the day – (4) adult Bald Eagles and a handful each of Turkey and Black Vultures. As usual, my report is at the bottom of this post.

~White-crowned Sparrow at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 11/06/22.~

Later in the day on Saturday, and on Sunday, I tried for more waterfowl. Wickham Lake has been a good spot, as has been Liberty Marsh. Most waterfowl has been the usual suspects, but I was happy to add American Coot to my Orange County 2022 list. And today at Wickham I had 4 scaup, way out there. I suspect Lesser Scaup, but they were too far to be sure.

~Mute Swans coming in for a landing at Wickham Lake, 11/05/22.~

~Double-crested Cormorant cruising by at Wickham Lake, 11/06/22.~

~One more White-crowned Sparrow shot, Liberty Loop 11/06/22.~

Sunday Shots 10/30/22 – Catch Up

The highlight of my week was going to Wickham Lake on Thursday evening, where I had a total of 13 species of waterfowl, including one exciting bird, a SURF SCOTER. On Friday I joined Karen Miller at the lake again, where there were still loads of waterfowl. I increased my total waterfowl species for the two days to 15:

Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Am. Wigeon
Mallard
Am. Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
SURF SCOTER
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant

~Ring-necked Ducks in flight at Wickham Lake, 10/28/22.~

Kyle Knapp joined me on Thursday to get the Surf Scoter, a lifter for him (congrats!). We also saw (4) adult Bald Eagles across the lake, just after sunset. One was perched, but the other three were tangling in the skies just above the tree line.

~Bald Eagles mixing it up at Wickham Lake, 10/27/22.~

On Saturday I was the official counter at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch. I feel a little bit snake bit this season as I had another day of negligible winds and a cloudless blue sky of death. I counted a total of 29 migrating raptors in 6 1/2 hours; my Hawkcount report is at the bottom of this post. Afterwards, I went to the black dirt hoping for some new birds, maybe a Lapland Longspur or some Snow Buntings. No luck with either of those species, but Horned Lark numbers were up, if only slightly. American Pipits were still present in large numbers too.

~Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 10/29/22.~

~Am. Pipit in the black dirt last Saturday 10/22/22.~

~Horned Lark in the black dirt, 10/29/22.~

~One of two Pectoral Sandpipers in the black dirt on Monday, 10/24/22.~

~Mt. Peter Turkey Vulture flyover, 10/29/22.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/22/22

Today I faced the blue sky of death for nearly 7 hours at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch. Fortunately there were some hawks flying early in the day; low enough to not get lost in the vast sea of blue. The afternoon was not as productive; I’ll never know if I just missed all the birds in the blue sky or if the flight slowed down. Regardless, I totaled 66 migrating raptors, just enough to keep me busy enough. Highlights included a half dozen Red-shouldered Hawks and an unexpected (to me) flight of nearly 40 Turkey Vultures. I’ve included my HawkCount report at the bottom of this post.

~One of six Red-shouldered Hawks counted today at Mt. Peter, 10/22/22.~

Sunday Shots, 10/16/22

Yesterday was much more productive, but I did get out this morning as well. I didn’t have much of a plan, so I pretty much just wandered the black dirt in hopes of shorebirds or large collections of geese. I pretty much got neither, lol. The only shorebirds of the day were a half dozen Pectoral Sandpipers and 2 Killdeer at the Camel Farm. And, in spite of seeing flock after flock fly over, I never tracked down any large groups of geese. I always like to check in on Sundays regardless, so here’s a few shots from the past couple of days. I hope you are not sick of pipits yet – they are all over the black dirt and I can’t seem to resist photographing them.

~Euroopean Starling with a snack in the black dirt, 10/15/22.~

~White-crowned Sparrow in the black dirt, 10/16/22.~

~American Pipit in the black dirt, 10/16/22.~

~One more shot of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the black dirt yesterday, 10/15/22.~

~Yellow-rumped Warbler in the black dirt, 10/16/22.~

~I thought the posture on this Pectoral Sandpiper was different than normal – to me they show more neck than this. This bird stumped me for a little while because of this. PESA in the black dirt 10/15/22.~

Shorebirds and Sharpies, 10/15/22

I woke up early this morning and birded the black dirt before heading to Mt. Peter, where I was scheduled to be the official counter. It was a gorgeous morning, and I was happy just to be out and about and not working. I didn’t have high expectations, so I was especially happy to find another nice collection of shorebirds. In one field I had loads of Killdeer, a Wilson’s Snipe, a Pectoral Sandpiper, and a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. The birds were close, the light was nice; it was a lovely start to my Saturday.

~Ahhhh, beautiful bird. Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the black dirt, 10/15/22.~

~Buff-breasted Sandpiper with a blurry Pectoral Sandpiper in the background. Black dir, 10/15/22.~

~Pectoral Sandpiper, this time in focus. Black dirt 10/15/22.~

~Wilson’s Snipe in the black dirt, 10/15/22.~

Afterwards, I headed up to Mt. Peter to spend the day counting hawks on the mountain. It was an interesting flight today; I don’t know if it was due to the a substantial south wind we had today, but nearly all the migrating raptors I counted today were low birds, just above the treetops. I had a modest 30 migrants today, 20 of which where Sharp-shinned Hawks. As usual, I’ve included my Hawkcount report below.

~One of the 20 Sharp-shinned Hawks counted today at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/15/22.~

Good Shorebirding in the Black Dirt, 10/06/22

The first week back at work after vacation is always a doozy, but this one has been especially rough. This seemed to make it that much sweeter when I finally got out to do some birding tonight and found a nice collection of shorebirds in the black dirt. The highlight was (6) WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, which are always a favorite. Also in the same field was over 100 Killdeer, (3) Least Sandpipers, and a single Pectoral Sandpiper. It was a nice break from the grind.

~White-rumped Sandpipers in the black dirt, 10/06/22.~

~White-rumped Sandpiper in the black dirt, 10/06/22.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 09/17/22

We had a respectable flight at Mount Peter Hawkwatch today, with a total of 470 migrating raptors. It’s the time of year when Broad-winged Hawks are moving in huge numbers, so while I enjoyed my biggest day of counting in years, Mt. Pete still needs a couple of big days before the Broad-winged Hawk migration is over.

I was lucky enough to have some help up on the mountian today. Fellow counter Tom Millard, Kyle Knapp, Bruce Christiansen, and Bob & Linda Pasak all spent considerable time at the watch, lending the extra eyes. Highlights included 421 Broad-winged Hawks, 7 Bald Eagles, and 3 Ospreys. We enjoyed one triple digit kettle of BWHAs, with a total of 103 birds. See my report at the bottom of this post for more details on the day.

~A local Red-tailed Hawk flying by the platform, Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 09/17/22.~

~A small kettle of Broad-winged Hawks with an adult Bald Eagle crashing the party. Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 09/17/22.~

Sunday Shots, 09/11/22

My first bird of the weekend was a new yard bird for me – Common Raven. It was just after sunrise on Saturday morning and the bird landed on one of the evergreens in the backyard and was calling repeatedly. I grabbed my camera and the sun was just barely over the trees and casting the bird in warm light as I snapped some shots. The bird was species number 55 in my yard for 2022; I thought that was a nice way to start the weekend’s birding.

I was the official counter at Mount Peter Hawkwatch on Saturday. I got out early and birded the black dirt for a little while before heading up to the mountain. I was rewarded with a couple of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS. There were also hundreds (thousands?) of Tree Swallows around. When I saw them, in a few separate fields, they were on the ground and periodically picking up and taking flight. It was the most Tree Swallows I’ve ever seen.

~A favorite of mine and so many other birders, Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the Black Dirt on Sunday 09/11/22.~

~Tree Swallows in the black dirt on 9/10/22.~

Tree Swallows would prove to be the theme of the day; when I got to Mount Peter there were just loads of them migrating through. Again, I witness hundreds and hundreds of Tree Swallows as I searched the skies for migrating raptors.

The raptor flight was weak, and I only had 14 migrating birds for the day. I did count another Osprey (always cool to see in migration), and I counted my first migrating Bald Eagle of the year. For more details, see my report for the day at the bottom of this post.

~American Kestrel in the black dirt, 09/10/22.~

This morning I birded the Black Dirt Region again – I was able to locate three Buff-breasted Sandpipers, but no other shorebirds (other than the expected loads of Killdeer). I’m coming across loads of American Kestrels in the black dirt recently; I saw ten just this morning.

~BBSA striking a pose in the black dirt, 09/11/22.~

~And one final shot of a BBSA in the black dirt, 09/11/22.~

Shorebird Sunday Shots, 08/28/22

This morning I headed to Sullivan County to follow up on some of the shorebird action John Haas and others have had there recently. I was hoping for some good photo ops, or that maybe I might see something special. I also thought that I still needed Greater Yellowlegs for the county, but I checked eBird when I got home and I’d had one in Hurleyville back in May; it was not a memorable siting as you can tell.

My first stop was Morningside Park, where I didn’t have a large variety of shorebirds (Killdeer and Least, Semipalmated, & Spotted Sandpipers), but as always the photo ops were incredible, in spite of the overcast, low light conditions. I enjoyed spending time up-close with the Leasts and the Semisandpipers; while the Spotteds kept their distance and the Killdeer were flyovers.

~Semipalmated Sandpiper at Morningside Park, 08/28/22.~

While I was at Morningside, I spoke with John and he suggested my next stops should be Swan Lake and Lake Jefferson. Swan Lake didn’t have all that many birds present, but there was some decent variety: Least Sandpipers, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper. Lake Jefferson proved to be my most productive stop; I had (7) species of shorebirds there (Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Lesser Yellowlegs).

~Least Sandpiper at Morningside Park, 08/28/22.~

Back in Orange County, I stopped at Bullville Pond to check out conditions there. The pond is mostly dried up, but there was a good number of shorebirds still present (KILL, LESA, SPSA, SOSA, LEYE). Also of note, on Friday evening I found (4) American Golden-Plovers in the black dirt. They were a little distant for good photos, but it was nice to see them and to document.

~American Golden-Plover in the black dirt, 08/26/22.~

~One more Semisandpiper shot, Morningside Park this morning.

~Two of four American Golden-Plovers in the black dirt on Friday evening.~

~Not a shorebird. Red-winged Blackbird this morning at Morningside Park, 08/28/22.~

Orange County Bird #270, 08/25/22

As I was winding down at work today, Bruce Nott contacted me to let me know he had a RUDDY TURNSTONE at the Moodna Creek sandbar in Newburgh Bay on the Hudson River. I have long wanted to kayak this area, and tonight I took the opportunity to do so. The turnstone hung in there for me, and the lighting was nice, so it made for yet another fabulous shore birding experience this season. The RUTU was my 270th species in Orange County. As a bonus (as if I needed one), there were (7) Caspian Terns also present on the sandbar, making a racket and being generally beautiful and entertaining. Huge thanks to Bruce for a great evening!