Orange County – Page 4 – Orange Birding

Orange County Kentucky Warbler, 06/01/24

While I was at work on Wednesday afternoon, birding bud Bruce Nott called me to let me know he had a KENTUCKY WARBLER at Mine Road. I was unable to make it out to try for the bird until this morning, but fortunately the bird hung in there and was still present. This was far and away the best experience I’ve ever had with this species – I’ve only ever had poor/distant looks previously, with no photos. The bird mostly stayed in the shadows while I was there, which made it a little bit difficult for photos – here are my results. Congrats to Bruce for yet another great find.

~Wow! Kentucky Warbler at Mine Road, 06/01/24.~

Excellent Morning, 05/27/24

I woke up late and with low birding exceptions. Things started out pretty well when I ran into Kyle Knapp in the black dirt and we enjoyed photographing one of the most confiding Grasshopper Sparrows I’ve ever come across (see photos below). But, it wasn’t until I went to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary afterwards, that things got really good. I arrived and almost immediately found an adult LITTLE BLUE HERON. I was really surprised by this, as we have only had an adult in Orange County one other time that I know of. I took some quick photos, and put the word out. At some point, when I was looking at my phone or camera, the bird had just disappeared…

Enter Dave Hultgren. We had never met before today, but I saw him further up the trail, so I went to him to see if he saw the bird fly. He did not just then, but he informed me that earlier, he had TWO adult Little Blue Herons! I walked further up the trail trying to relocate the birds, and sure enough, when I found one, I found two! It was pretty cool. Several other birders came to see the herons; Bruce Nott found a couple of Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Least Sandpiper. Then, John Haas found a slightly larger sandpiper – it was a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER! What a great morning!

~Little Blue Heron at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 05/27/24.~

~Make that TWO Little Blue Herons! 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 05/27/24.~

~Grasshopper Sparrow in the Black Dirt, belting it out! 05/27/24.

~Grasshopper Sparrow in the Black Dirt Region, 05/27/24.~

Sunday Shots, 05/26/24

With songbird migration winding down, and no real weather moving through, my expectations for this weekend were relatively low. And maybe because of that, I really enjoyed the past couple of days. In addition to several songbird locations, I tried for shorebirds in the county – in primarily three locations:

6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary: Conditions are quite good at this location right now, but unfortunately I haven’t had much variety. Shorebirds included Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, and Spotted Sandpiper.
Camel Farm: Conditions are not great (water is a little high), but I was thinking it might still be good for phalarope species. I had no luck with phalaropes, in fact on Saturday I had no shorebirds at all. On Sunday I faired a tiny bit better and had Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Sandpiper (my first of the year).
Hudson River Near Newburgh: I arrived at Plum Point right at low tide on Sunday morning and scanned the sandbar. I came up empty at first, but then the highlight of my weekend, a pair of CASPIAN TERNS flew in and landed. I joined up with birding bud Bruce Nott and we checked the sandbar at the mouth of the Quassaick Creek, where we found a single Killdeer and a Least Sandpiper. Afterwards, Bruce relocated the NEOTROPIC CORMORANT near the ferry, so I went over and enjoyed excellent looks but battled a backlit situation for photos.

~Neotropic Cormorant continues at the Newburgh Waterfront, 05/26/24.~

As we’ve come to expect, good photos for shorebirds in Orange County are tough to come by. But, I did take a lot of other photos, and I’m also playing a little catch up with some photos that I never got to last weekend.

~Belted Kingfisher at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 05/18/24.~

~American Redstart at Pochuck Mountain. I haven’t birded this location much in recent years, so I decided to spend some time there on Saturday morning. It was birdy enough to keep me interested, but really there was not much too exciting. Four Yellow-billed Cuckoos was a highlight.

~Ruby-throated Hummingbird, our yard, 05/18/24.~

~This pair is kind of cracking me up. I keep seeing them way out in the same field in the black dirt region. I took this shot on 05/18/24.~

~Great Blue Heron at Beaver Pond on 05/21/24. I was trying for the Tricolored Heron, but I had no luck.

~A pair of Snapping Turtles (yes there is another one under the water), presumably mating at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 0/26/24.~

~Gray Squirrel with a nut in our yard earlier this week.~

Wow! Orange County Tricolored Heron, 05/13/24

Towards the end of the work day today, Karen Miller reported a Glossy Ibis at Beaver Pond, near Glenmere Lake. Linda Scrima ran for the bird, and not only did she get the ibis, she also located a TRICOLORED HERON! I ran for the bird after work, and fortunately it was still present. The bird was a little bit distant, but views in my scope were spectacular. It was actually a little jarring to see this beautiful bird right here in Orange County. Unfortunately, the bird flew, heading south, right around 6:30. Some of the birders present were going to go to the Liberty Loop to see if it showed up there, but as of this writing, I haven’t heard anything. This is the second documented siting of this species in OC, the previous was found by Ken McDermott in Cornwall Bay, way back in 1982! Congratulations to Linda on another great find.

All images taken at Beaver Pond in Florida, NY on 05/13/24.

Making Up For Lost Time

Wow, it was a very birdy weekend for me. Being away, there were plenty of birds that moved into the area that I hadn’t gotten yet for the year, so when I finally got back to it this weekend, I added a remarkable 34 new species to my Orange County 2024 year list. This put my year total at 167 (see my list of all the birds I added this weekend below). My birdiest spot was Elks Brox Memorial Park in Port Jervis, where I added 16 species in just about an hour’s time.

My most exciting bird was tracking down the NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, which has recently returned to the Newburgh Waterfront area (thanks to Bruce Nott for the heads up). Unfortunately, as birdy as it was, I did not have many photo ops, so here is a distant shot of the Neotropic Cormorant doing a nice wing flap.

~NEOTROPIC CORMORANT returns to Newburgh! Taken just south of Quassaick Creek, 05/12/24.~

Sunday Shots, 04/28/24

I did my usual running around the county this weekend, looking for birds. It’s a good time of year, as there are plenty of new birds around. I added 11 new species to my Orange County year list; most were the usuals and not entirely exciting, but on Saturday morning, I was able to see a Black-crowned Night Heron at the mouth of Quassaick Creek just south of Newburgh. These days that’s a pretty good bird for the county, and it’s been seen in that location now for several years. Warblers and other songbirds are starting to trickle in, but I haven’t been in the right place / right time just yet. I added Yellow Warble, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, and Warbling Vireo over the weekend. For shorebirds, I only added Solitary Sandpiper, but I was happy to see that 6 1/2 Station Road has good shorebird conditions and a number both Yellowlegs present – thanks to Linda Scrima for the heads up.

Next weekend we are heading to Cap Cod, so I’m looking forward to birding there for a few days and sharing my experiences here on the blog.

~Black-crowned Night Heron at Quassaick Creek, 04/27/24.~

~Red-winged Blackbird at Beaver Pond on Friday evening, 04/26/24.~

~Tree Swallow at Quassaick Creek, 04/27/24.~

~Wild Turkey at Cedar Hill Cemetery, 04/27/24. Is this a crazy looking bird or what?!?

~Great Blue Heron with a nice catch. 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 04/28/24.~

~Another Tree Swallow, this one at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 04/28/24.~

Sunday Shots, 04/21/24

It was definitely an exciting week of birding for me; you can read about yesterday’s LITTLE GULL here, and Thursday’s Red-necked Grebe here. Meanwhile, I’ve also enjoyed some less exciting but still good birding as well this week. On Tuesday evening I went to Wickham Lake – I enjoyed some decent looks at a Common Loon and tried my hand at photographing swallows in flight, which is always fun. This morning I checked a few lakes out before heading to the black dirt to try for Lapland Longspur in breeding plumage (no luck!). At Wickham Lake, I had another (very distant) Red-necked Grebe, and I got my first Spotted Sandpiper of the year.

~iPhone shot of Beaver Pond first thing this morning, 04/21/24.~

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake on 04/16/24.~

~A Northern Rough-winged Swallow on the verge of grabbing a bite to eat. Wickham Lake, 04/16/21.~

~Northern Rough-winged Swallow in flight at Wickham Lake, 04/16/24.~

~My first Spotted Sandpiper of the year – at Wickham Lake on 04/21/24.~

~After being out all morning, I came home to find this Cooper’s Hawk on my neighbor’s hedge. Goshen, NY 04/21/24.~

~In spite of the low temps today, spring is here and things are changing. American Goldfinch in the black dirt, 04/21/24.~

~One more shot of the Common Loon at Wickham on 04/16/21.~

Wow! Orange County LITTLE GULL!

I was on the golf course this morning when Jeanne Cimorelli reported that she briefly had a LITTLE GULL at Washington Lake. Fortunately, larophile extraordinaire Bruce Nott relocated the bird a little later at Plum Point. After golf, I ran for the bird, convinced that I had only a very slim chance of getting it. Fortunately the bird stuck around, associating with a large flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls on the Hudson River just north of Plum Point. I was thrilled to get on the bird on the water – at first it was a challenge to find it among the 70 or so Bonies, but then it got a little easier. Then the flock took flight, and that’s when finding the bird was easy, its dark underwings showing up very well. I believe this is the first county record of Little Gull; the bird was a life bird for me.

~It was really exciting to see this bird – LITTLE GULL at Plum Point 04/20/24. I would have loved to get closer looks and pics, but this could very well end up being a once in a lifetime occurrence, so I’m just thrilled to have gotten the bird.~

LITTLE GULL in flight amongst 70 or so Bonaparte’s Gulls, Plum Point, 04/20/24.~

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.~

A Good Weekend, 04/14/24

I didn’t do a post last weekend because I did not have any noteworthy sightings nor any photos that I felt justified a post. This weekend it’s a different story. I enjoyed two mornings of really good birding where I added several new birds to my Orange County year list. I also finally caught up with a couple of birds which had been eluding me – on Saturday morning, I finally got a Great Cormorant for the county (I’d seen one across the river in Dutchess County earlier in the year). Then on Sunday morning, thanks to birding bud Bruce Nott, I finally saw the Eurasian Green-winged Teal which has been in the area for some time. It was in the big pond at the Camel Farm, which made finding it much easier than scanning through hundreds of Green-winged Teals at Winding Waters Trail, as I did a couple of weeks ago.

~I kind of like this photo because it’s cool to see the size comparison of the Great versus the much smaller Double-crested Cormorant. Newburgh Waterfront, 04/13/24.~

And things are starting to happen. Including the couple of evenings I got out earlier this week, I added 12 species to my OC year list:

Gadwall (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
Osprey (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
Barn Swallow (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
Chipping Sparrow (Goshen, 4/10/24)
RED-THROATED LOON (Wickham Lake 4/11/24)
GREAT CORMORANT (Newburgh Waterfront 4/13/24)
Greater Yellowlegs (Camel Farm 4/13/24)
Lesser Yellowlegs (Camel Farm 4/13/24)
DUNLIN (Winding Waters Trail, 4/14/24)
Broad-winged Hawk (Winding Waters Trail 4/14/24)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Winding Waters Trail, 4/14/24)