This morning Maria Loukeris and I headed to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County, NJ. Maria had some business to attend to in the area and we birded the refuge beforehand. We mostly drove around from spot to spot, but we did walk the trails briefly as well. We had a total of 25 species during our visit; four were first of year (FOY) birds for me: Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Towhee, Tree Swallow, and my favorite bird of the morning, RUSTY BLACKBIRD.
~I got lucky with this bird – HORNED GREBE close to the shore at Wickham Lake, 03/16/19.~
In the afternoon I birded three local lakes: Greenwood Lake, Wickham Lake, and Glenmere Lake. Wickham was far and away the best stop; I had 8 species of waterfowl, including over 200 Common Mergansers, a single Red-breasted Merganser drake, and an up close look at a beautiful little HORNED GREBE. At Glenmere, the RED-NECKED GREBE continues but was so far out I didn’t even take documentary photos. For the day I had a total of 37 species. I’ve included a list of all the birds with locations at the bottom of this post.
~I had my FOY Eastern Phoebe at Great Swamp NWR, 03/16/19.~~Roadside Red-tailed Hawk in Sussex County, NY 03/16/19.~
Here’s my list of species for the day, with locations (Great Swamp = GS. Wickham Lake = WL, Greenwood Lake = GRL, and Glenmere Lake = GLL).
Canada Goose (all locations)
Mute Swan (WL, GRL, GLL)
Wood Duck (GS, WL)
Mallard (GS, GLL)
Gadwall (GLL – small pond up the road)
American Black Duck (GS, GLL)
Bufflehead (GRL, WL, GLL)
Ring-necked Duck (WL, GLL)
Hooded Merganser (GRL, WL, GLL)
Common Merganser (GRL, WL, GLL)
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (WL)
HORNED GREBE (WL)
RED-NECKED GREBE (GLL)
Ring-billed Gull (GRL, WL, GLL)
Herring Gull (WL)
Turkey Vulture (GS, WL)
Bald Eagle (GS, WL)
Red-tailed Hawk (GS, WL)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (on the road, Sussex Co.)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (GS)
Blue Jay (GS, GLL)
American Crow (GS, WL)
Fish Crow (GRL)
Common Raven (WL)
Tree Swallow (GS)
White-breasted Nuthatch (GS)
Tufted Titmouse (GS)
Eastern Bluebird (GS)
American Robin (GS, WL)
European Starling (GS)
Dark-eyed Junco (GS)
Song Sparrow (GS)
Eastern Towhee (GS)
American Tree Sparrow (WL)
Red-winged Blackbird (GS, WL, GLL)
RUSTY BLACKBIRD (GS)
Common Grackle (GS, WL)
~Bald Eagle fishing at Great Swamp NWR, 03/16/19.~
With the beginning of Daylight Savings Time over the weekend, I’ve finally been able to get some after work evening birding in this week. Tonight I stopped at Greenwood Lake and had a really great night of birding. I did really well with waterfowl, with 9 species:
Mallard
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
~Lesser Black-backed Gull at Greenwood Lake, 03/13/19.~
The real highlight came when I located a gull with darker gray coloring. The bird was out on the ice and quite distant, but I was thinking it looked good for a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. At the distance and the low light (it was getting late), I could not pick up the coloring on the legs. But, the size looked good to me and the head was smudgy. Rob Stone ran to join me, but as fate would have it, the bird flew literally just as he put his eye to my spotting scope. When I got home, I reviewed my pics and became more convinced that is was a Lesser Black-backed Gull; it looked to me like it might be a 2nd year with a dark bill tip as seen in The Crossley Guide. I emailed the photos to John Haas, he reviewed them and agreed with my ID! That’s a good bird for the county! And it’s great to be out during the week again!
~Lesser Black-backed Gull with its back to me. Picture included to give a sense of the size of the bird. Greenwood Lake, 03/13/19.~~Another good bird for OC – Common Goldeneye at Greenwood Lake, 03/13/19.~
There were some good birds reported locally this week, so that gave me some targets for today. At first light I headed over to Glenmere Lake to try for the Red-necked Grebe that Kathy Ashman located yesterday, and fortunately bird was still present. Kathy also showed up, and the bird put on a pretty good show as it tried to swallow a fish that was just way too large. Eventually a Ring-billed Gull swooped in and stole the fish, putting a halt to the grebes attempts. Glenmere is one of the few lakes with open water in the county, and including the grebe, I had 10 species of waterfowl: Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, American Wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks, and 2 COMMON GOLDENEYES.
-A distant shot of the Red-necked Grebe with two Canada Geese at Glenmere Lake, 03/09/19. I sort of like this shot because to me it shows the profile of the RNGR well.~
I then cruised the black dirt for a while – I had several large groups of Canada Geese, maybe around 5,000 total, I sifted through them all and unfortunately did not located any other species. I did alright for raptors; I had my first Sharp-shinned Hawk in the count for the year, several Red-tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, an American Kestrel on a wire, and I got some decent shots of a Rough-legged Hawk.
~Perched Rough-legged Hawk in the black dirt this morning, 03/09/19.~ ~Common Merganser on the Wallkill River in the black dirt, 03/09/19. These birds have such varying looks depending on the light.~
My next move was to head north to Ulster County to try for the Ross’s Goose that had been reported all week. I tried Bates Lane at Blue Chip Farms first, and I got lucky as another birder, Neil from the Schenectady was already on the bird when I arrived. He gave me a look in his scope, as the bird was at quite a distance, and I tried to get some documentary shots of the bird. It’s always good to see a Ross’s, and this bird is just the perfect beautiful example of the species. I made a quick stop at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, since I was so close, in spite of the parking lot being full of cars (at just after noon!) there were not many birds flying and I had only a single Turkey Vulture in the distance.
I had planned to head over to Cornwall to try for the Lesser Black-backed Gull that Bruce Nott found yesterday, but I ran out of time. I may try for that bird tomorrow. What a satisfying day of birding, I feel like we are on the verge of some really good birding in our area.
~I love this little bird. Ross’s Goose at Bates Lane in Ulster County, NY 03/09/19. I’d have loved to get a better look at this bird, but unfortunately it was miles out.~ ~Red-necked Grebe trying to choke down a massive fish at Glenmere Lake, 03/09/19~ ~Canada Geese in flight at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 03/09/19~
I got a good look at several Ring-necked Ducks at Glenmere Lake just after sunrise this morning. Glenmere is not typically a good place for photographing waterfowl from the shore, especially first thing in the morning as the view generally looks southeast, creating a severely backlit situation if there is a clear sunrise. This morning, however, these Ring-necked Ducks were located in a little cove of sorts along the shore. I positioned myself behind a tree and shot them with the sun just off my left shoulder; it was nice surprise to get some decent shots with nice light.
~CACKLING GOOSE at Lockenhurst Pond in Westtown, NY 02/16/19.~
Regular readers of this blog may remember that it took me 51 weeks in 2018 to get a CACKLING GOOSE in Orange County. Well, today I potentially had three. Which just shows you how crazy birding can be. First thing this morning I headed to Glenmere Lake, hoping for the ROSS’S GOOSE that Kathy Ashman had seen there earlier in the week. The Ross’s wasn’t present, but I did run into Kathy and we had some good birds, including one bird that looked to us like a sure Cackler and a second bird that looked pretty good, but was slightly larger with a slightly longer bill. See photo below, I’d love to hear any opinions on these birds. The birds stuck together the entire time we were there, a cute tiny couple. Other waterfowl present: Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Canada Geese, Mute Swans, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Gadwalls, and a single LESSER SCAUP.
~I’ll be interested to hear opinions on the bigger of these 2 birds – both birds were significantly smaller than the surrounding Canadas, and although the photo doesn’t show it that well, both had a lighter, frosty look to them. CACKLING GEESE (GOOSE?) at Glenmere Lake, 02/16/19.~
I tooled around the black dirt and then took a walk at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Marsh; it was actually pretty quiet and I had mostly the usuals including White-crowned Sparrows at two locations. On Onion Avenue there was a large flock of mixed blackbirds – perhaps 1,000 birds or so, nearly all Red-winged Blackbirds with a sprinkling of Brown-headed Cowbirds, Common Grackles, and European Starlings thrown in.
~Mixed blackbird flock – mostly Red-winged Blackbirds, but I also see Brown-headed Cowbirds, E. Starlings, and a single Common Grackle.~
My final stop in southern OC was at Lockenhurst Pond. This is the small pond on Route 284 in Westtown, NY; I just looked it up to see what it was actually called. While I was there I sifted through the flock of approximately 400 Canada Geese and eventually located another CACKLING GOOSE. This bird looks good to me, see top photo as well as below.
~CACKLING GOOSE at Lockenhurst Pond in Westtown NY, 02/16/19.~
After a late lunch, I headed up to the Newburgh Waterfront to try for more waterfowl and gulls. I had only the 3 expected species of gull, and for waterfowl the only noteworthy species was 9 Northern Pintails. I can only remember one other time having NOPIs on the Hudson River. Just as it was starting to get dark and I was thinking about heading home, I saw something I’ve not seen before. A group nearly 60 Canada Geese flew in and landed on the river. I don’t know if they were out in the fields all day, or if they just finished a long flight, but as soon at they landed all the birds were drinking from the river. I found it sweet to see 60 Canadas sipping away as the sun set.
~Ring-billed Gull in flight over the Hudson River, Newburgh Waterfront 02/16/19.~
~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.~
~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…
~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.~
~Northern Harrier coming right at the blind, Shawangunk Grasslands, 01/13/19.~
QUICK POST: I got out this morning into the early afternoon. I started at sunrise in a blind at the Shawangunk Grasslands, ran for the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in Wallkill, and then ended up in the black dirt. It was cold but for the most part the light was great for photos and the birds were pretty cooperative, which made for a nice day.
~Northern Harrier at the Grasslands, 01/13/19.~ ~Northern Harrier at the Grasslands, 01/13/19.~ ~Northern Harrier at the Grasslands, 01/13/19.~ ~This is one of the reasons I wanted to get a 1.4x extender – these geese are always so darn far away, and this helps to document them. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on the Wallkill River near Wallkill NY, 01/13/19.~ ~Not always a cooperative bird, I watched this Northern Flicker feed on something deep under the leaf litter for a good 10 minutes. NOFL in the black dirt, 01/13/19.~ ~This is not a bird I photograph very often. Northern Cardinal in the black dirt, 01/13/19. I took this with my 1.4 extender – I think you can tell, but the results aren’t too bad in my opinion. I wouldn’t normally use it for this kind of shot, but I had it on from the Greater White-fronted Goose.~
~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!
