~One of the 25 Red-throated Loons ventured close enough for a decent photo. Wickham Lake, 04/04/18.~
At first I thought it must be a joke. I really did. But, that’s not Rob’s style. The text read 25 RED-THROATED LOONS at Wickham Lake. Really? You’ve got to be kidding me. I was pessimistic about them sticking around until I got out of work, but somehow they did. I arrived just after 6 pm and I have to say that they did not disappoint. I enjoyed an amazing evening watching these beautiful birds make their way around the lake. They must have been quite comfortable since, with the high winds, the water was extremely rough. I was really curious to see what they would do as the sun started to set, and at 7:10, all but six of the RTLOs took flight. After several laps around the lake, gradually getting higher and higher, they departed, heading west-northwest. Shortly after, I headed out, leaving the lake to the remaining 6 Red-throated Loons. I wonder if they will spend the night?
~Red-throated Loons at Wickham Lake, 04/04/18.~ ~Departing Red-throated Loons, Wickham Lake 04/04/18.~ ~RTLOs in flight over Wickham Lake, 04/04/18.~
~This is a beautiful goose – Blue Morph Snow Goose in flight in the Black Dirt Region, 03/30/18.~
There was an awful lot of birding action in Orange County today. I was at work, but my phone was blowing up with reports: Kathy Ashman had 8 HORNED GREBES, a Red-breasted Merganser, and a Pine Warbler at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. Bill Fiero had a Wilson’s Snipe and 3 Eastern Phoebes at Stewart Forest, and then Kathy had 7 more Horned Grebes, 3 Greater Scaup, and an 80 Snow Geese fly-over at Glenmere Lake. Ken McDermott had Ruddy Ducks, 7 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, and 2 Horned Grebes at Orange Lake. In the black dirt, Maria Loukeris reported 4 Eastern Meadowlarks and 200+ Snow Geese. Rob Stone had 6 Long-tailed Ducks at Wickham Lake. Phew! That’s a lot of good birds!
~Snow Geese taking off in the black dirt, 03/30/18.~
Luckily, I got out of work a little bit early, so I was able to run for some birds. And, maybe even luckier still, ALL the birds I ran for stuck for me! I went to Wickham Lake first and got the 6 Long-tailed Ducks as well as a Red-breasted Merganser and a Ruddy Duck. At Glenmere Lake I relocated the Horned Grebes, the Greater Scaup, and also had a single Ruddy Duck there. At the pond near Glenmere, I made a quick stop and had my first Northern Shoveler of the year in Orange County. From there I went to the black dirt and did well with Snow Geese (200++) and also managed to relocate 2 of the Eastern Meadowlarks. And finally, my last stop was at 6 1/2 Station Road where the Horned Grebes were kind enough to stick around and were close enough for some documentary photos. Not a bad haul for a work day! Excellent birding, thanks so much to everyone that reported!
~Five of the 8 Horned Grebes at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 03/30/18.~~Snow Geese in the black dirt earlier this week, 03/27/18.~ ~Also earlier this week – Wood Duck in the black dirt, 03/27/18.~ ~Red-shouldered Hawk at Glenmere Lake, 03/27/18.~ ~One last shot of the Snow Geese in the dying light. Black Dirt Region, 03/30/18.~
~One of two Brown Creepers at Reservoir 3 in Port Jervis, NY, 03/17/18.~
I headed to Port Jervis early this morning to hit some of my usual spots in that area: Laurel Grove Cemetery, Reservoir 1, Reservoir 3, and Eagle’s Nest. It was a nice morning to be out: it was blustery, cold, and sunny; my eyes watered throughout the morning; fogging up my binoculars regularly and by morning’s end, my crow’s feet to become salty and crusty. It was a birdy morning, with enough activity at each spot to keep me busy. My best stop was at Reservoir 3, where I had a pair of Brown Creepers and three Golden-crowned Kinglets. I struggled with a somewhat accommodating kinglet, but I was happy to get a halfway decent creeper shot; that’s a bird that I’ve struggled to get good pics. For the morning I had a total of 33 species. I haven’t included a full species list in a while, so see today’s list below.
~A young Bald Eagle flying over at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 03/17/18.~ ~Friday night, 03/16/18, at Wickham Lake – Eastern Bluebird.~
The Lapland Longspur is another bird that, to me, has an inherent coolness factor. Even the name is cool. I can remember when I first began birding, looking in a guide at the Lapland Longspur and thinking: Now THIS is a bird I would like to see. Of course, I was looking in the book at the bird in breeding plumage- rather than the more muted winter plumage we see them in here in Orange County. I hadn’t had much luck photographing LALOs this winter until today in the black dirt, where I located approximately a half dozen amongst flock of horned larks. The snow cover was forcing the birds to feed at the roadside, so I finally got my photo op. And, at this late date in the winter, some of the birds were just starting to get their summer colors – it’s the first time I’ve ever had LALOs showing any significant amount of breeding plumage – I think they look awesome!
~Not the sharpest image, but I included this shot because it shows bird’s namesake, the longspur (elongated claw of the hind toe). LALO in the Black Dirt, 03/11/18.~
~Turkey Vultures in my backyard, Goshen NY, 03/07/18.~
I was pretty psyched when recently the Turkey Vultures began roosting in our backyard again. It’s so exciting to get home from work in the evenings and have a tree full of vultures on the property. Even better, today came home early to find them all hunkered down to get through the snow storm. I’m not sure how excited others would get at having them in their yard, but I love it. They made my day today.
~This tree is good for them because they are mostly hidden. These birds are up towards the top; I estimate that there is another dozen or so below them but the view is blocked out by trees in front. TUVUs in Goshen NY, 03/07/18.~
~Fish Crow with a Ring-billed Gull silhouette, Beacon Waterfront 03/03/18.~
For the most part, I birded Orange County this weekend (the exception being a brief excursion to Dutchess County for a beautiful ICELAND GULL). I was optimistic about the possibility of some interesting waterfowl on Saturday morning after the Nor’easter came through on Friday. I was mostly disappointed, I ran around much of southern Orange County and my best birds were 5 Common Goldeneye at Glenmere Lake. But, then birding bud Bruce Nott saved the day; he had located three RED-NECKED GREBES at Orange Lake. I ran for the birds, joining Ken McDermott who had just arrived. We got on the birds relatively quickly in our scopes, first a single bird, then two, and finally three RNGR in a single scope view! Unfortunately, the birds were positively miles out. Technically, I was able to get photos of them, but they are horrible, barely identifiable. On that same note, you can probably tell from this post, it was a terrible weekend for photos (with the wonderful exception of the ICGU in Beacon).
~Northern Mockingbird at Citgo Pond, 03/04/18.~
On Sunday morning I checked Glenmere and Wickham Lakes but had nothing of note. I then decided to walk the Liberty Loop to try and relocate the Eurasian Wigeon that had been reported there. I had no luck with the wigeon, but the refuge is still loaded with waterfowl. Pintails stole the show; they were numerous and flying to and fro for the duration of my walk. Other waterfowl present included: Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Amer. Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, and my first Northern Shovelers of the year. It was a pleasant walk with plenty of birds around, but mostly the usuals. Winter raptors are still hanging in; I saw several Northern Harriers and a had single Rough-legged Hawk hover-hunting in the distance. The only other bird of note was a pair of Swamp Sparrows, my first of the year. I made one final stop at the Citgo Pond; it was relatively uneventful with approximately 30 Ring-necked Ducks being the highlight.
~My first Swamp Sparrow of the year, on the south end of the Liberty Loop, 03/04/18.~~Last year I had many photo ops with American Tree Sparows. This year, not so much. ATSP at Wickham Lake, 03/04/18.~ ~How about this for some good camouflage? Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Plum Point, 03/03/18.~
~Northern Harrier hunting over a field in the Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~
Until I started writing this post, I was feeling like my weekend of birding was a little bit on the hum-drum side. But looking back, I actually had some pretty good birds over the weekend, even if it wasn’t overly exciting. On Saturday morning, I made a quick stop at Glenmere Lake, following up on a report from Kathy Ashman of a Cackling Goose on the lake. When I arrived, nearly all the geese, including the Cackler, had already flown. The stop was still worthwhile, however, since I was able to see my first Green-winged Teals, Wood Duck, and Northern Pintails of the year. Then, I ventured back to the Hudson River, spending most of the day working my way from the Bear Mountain Bridge up to Newburgh and getting mostly the usuals. I went to Storm King State Park again, hoping the Golden Eagle would be present, but unfortunately it was not. I walked the trail for a good while, hoping that the bird might make an appearance; if it did I, missed it. There were many raptors in flight over the mountain, however; I had several Bald Eagles, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, nearly 2 dozen Black Vultures and a couple of Turkey Vultures. I ended the day in the Newburgh Waterfront area, hoping for any interesting gulls. I struck out with the gulls, but thanks to birding bud Bruce Nott, I did get my first Orange County RED-BREASTED MERGANSER of 2018.
~An adult Bald Eagle did a relatively low flyover in the Black Dirt on 02/18/18.~
I got out a little later than I should have on Sunday morning and missed the majority of the geese at Glenmere Lake once again. It was a good stop though, I picked up my first OC Ring-necked Ducks of the year and also had a female Red-breasted Merganser. I cruised the black dirt afterwards, hoping that the overnight snow would push some larks and buntings out to the roads. This proved not to be the case and I actually had very few Horned Larks in my travel (just 2 flocks totaling approximately 70 birds). The highlight of my morning was watching the large flocks of mixed blackbirds (Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Common Grackles). There is something about large flocks of birds, watching them and hearing them is just fascinating. I tried for some pics, but mostly I was disappointed with the results. I ended the day with a nice, low-flying Bald Eagle which provided a decent photo op.
~Close-up of a flock of mixed blackbirds in the Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~ ~Eleven Ring-necked Ducks at Glenmere Lake, 02/18/18.~ ~One more shot of one of the mixed blackbird flocks. It was so much fun watching these birds. Black Dirt, 02/18/18.~
~A Rough-legged Hawk flexes its wings in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~
I was looking at the blog the other day and I noticed that for the past 3 weeks, all my posts were at locations outside of Orange County, so I decided to keep it local this weekend. I’m glad that I did, as it was a good weekend of birding. I almost called this post “Crappy Weather = Good Birding”. Yesterday was foggy and misty for a large part of the day, and then in the afternoon it gave way to rain; today was a steady rain, all day.
I spent the day yesterday birding the Hudson River, which was iced over in spots and full of ice floes. I started at Fort Montgomery and Mine Dock Park where I had my first Orange County Fish Crow of the year and I would see my first 9 Bald Eagles of the day. My next stop was my main objective of the day – I went to the parking area on 9W North, which is a trailhead for and looks out over Storm King State Park. I immediately took my scope out and scanned the left side of the valley, looking for my target bird – the GOLDEN EAGLE that has wintered at this spot for the past several years (there are many eBird reports going back to 2013 and a single report in 2010). The bird was present and on it’s usual perch. I took some distant photos and tried to digiscope it, but the fog was a bit too heavy for good results. I walked the trail for a while and got just the usuals, including a nice photo op with a White-breasted Nuthatch, a bird that I don’t photograph very often these days.
~Golden Eagle on its usual perch at Storm King State Park, 02/10/18.~
I ended the day at Cornwall Bay and the Newburgh Waterfront. I was hoping for some interesting ducks and maybe an unexpected gull. At Donahue Memorial Park, I had my best ducks of the day – 4 Common Goldeneyes (the only other waterfowl I had all day were Common Mergansers and Mallards). There were many gulls at the waterfront, but unfortunately I only found the three expected species: Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed. I also had nearly a dozen Bald Eagles there; my total for the day was just under 30 Bald Eagles.
~There were loads of Bald Eagles on the Hudson River this weekend. These two adults were cruising the ice floes at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/10/18.~
The weather for Sunday was bumming me out; rain all day was not what I was imagining while sitting at my desk at work all week. But, I broke out the rain gear and headed out to the Black Dirt this morning. My main goal was to find some geese. I’ve had rotten luck with them locally all winter long, but today was a different story. Geese were abundant in the Black Dirt, and early on I was able to locate a pair of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. I got lucky with these birds – I was scanning a flock of Canada Geese and two birds flew in. I put my bins on them and immediately saw their speckled bellies. Although the birds were not very far out, I immediately lost them in the flock when they landed. I set up my scope, that did the trick and I was able to relocate. The problem was not only the number of geese, but they were located among old corn stalks. I put the word out and Linda Scrima joined me and was able to get the birds as well.
~These dudes made my weekend – 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~
The rest of the morning was mostly the usuals – I was happy to see a flock of 29 SNOW BUNTINGS as well as a decent sized flock of mixed blackbirds, consisting of mostly Common Grackles, with Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, and European Starlings as well. All but the starlings were my first of 2018 in Orange County. I did fairly well with raptors and was happy to get a couple of decent photo ops: a wet Rough-legged Hawk that was flexing it’s wings, and also a wet, very light-colored, Red-tailed Hawk as well. It was an excellent weekend of birding here in Orange County and just what I needed after a long work week.
~A wet, very lightly colored Red-tailed Hawk in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18. I thought this bird was interesting and I think it looked light than these photos came out…~…I didn’t get photos of the bird in flight, but the topside was also very light as you can see in this perched shot.~~I heard them before I saw them – Snow Buntings in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~ ~Upside down White-breasted Nuthatch at Storm King State Park, 02/11/18.~ ~Common Grackle in the Black Dirt, 02/11/18.~
~Red-shouldered Hawk Route 207, Goshen NY 01/13/18.~
I got out both days this weekend, but the birding was relatively uneventful with a lot of the usuals being seen. Highlights for me included seeing a nice-sized mixed flock (maybe 200 birds) of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and at least a single LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the black dirt. Saturday evening the nice light had me headed to the Shawangunk Grasslands; on my way there a Red-shouldered Hawk flew across the road and perched on the roadside. At the grasslands, I had a single young Bald Eagle, 7 Northern Harriers (including 4 Gray Ghosts!), and although they got up too late for photos, 5 Short-eared Owls made a nice end to the day.
~I was surprised that this pic turned halfway decent – this bird was DISTANT! To get a brown bird on a brown background relatively in focus at that distance made me happy. Probably my best bird of the weekend – LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the black dirt, 01/13/18.~~A backlit Gray Ghost, (adult male Northern Harrier) at Shawangunks Grasslands NWR, 01/13/18.~
Sunday morning I headed to Port Jervis and walked the trails at Reservoir #1. It was a nice, cold, walk and it was birdy, but with just the usuals. I headed to Laurel Grove Cemetery afterwards, where I had my first Hooded Mergansers of 2018 and my best bird of the day, a young COMMON GOLDENEYE. I photographed Eastern Bluebirds on the tombstones, by coincidence my second day in a row getting EABLs on tombstones (I had them at a small cemetery in Florida, NY on Saturday). It was a pretty good, if not exciting, weekend of local birding. Next weekend might be a little more exciting as I am going on a pelagic trip out of Brooklyn on Saturday; something to look forward to!
~A male Eastern Bluebird at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 01/14/18…~ ~And a female Eastern Bluebird at a small Cemetery in Florida, NY 01/13/18.~~There were plenty of crows in the black dirt on Saturday. Here’s 3 of them picking some bones clean, 01/13/18.~
~I can’t get enough of this bird – ICELAND GULL at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/06/18.~
I was up and out early this morning, looking to add some of the good birds currently being seen to my 2018 list. At Glenmere Lake, I relocated the Red-headed Woodpecker that I’d originally located the day after Christmas. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker stole the show, however, giving me super looks as I birded from the area right around the parking lot.
~A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes its way up a tree trunk at Glenmere Lake, 01/06/18.~
I cruised through the black dirt briefly, finding just the usuals. After meeting Tricia for lunch at the Goshen Diner, I headed to Johnson Road in Chester, hoping for the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE that John Haas had located earlier in the week. When I arrived, there were not many geese present; I sorted through them quickly without finding the GWFG and then made my way towards the Newburgh Waterfront.
~A male Common Merganser at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/06/18.~
I had two target birds at the waterfront: the continuing Iceland Gull (at least I hoped it was continuing), and a pair of Canvasbacks that Ken McDermott had reported there, just yesterday. I met Linda Scrima there and at first it did not look good for getting either bird. Gulls were relatively scarce and there was no sign of the Canvasbacks. We put in some time, which was tough because of how cold it was today, and eventually we located the Iceland Gull. The bird was incredibly cooperative and swam quite close, allowing for some nice photos in the waning light. Bill and Jayne Fiero showed up with impeccable timing and got the gull as well. The Canvasbacks did not make an appearance; other notable birds included a decent number of Common Mergansers (75+) and 4 adult Bald Eagles. All in all, a VERY cold but fun and productive day of birding.
~Bald Eagle in flight over the Hudson River, 01/06/18.~~Young Red-headed Woodpecker at Glenmere Lake, 01/06/18.~
