Orange County – Page 53 – Orange Birding

Excellent OC Evening Birding, 05/01/17

~I’ve seen plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers this spring. I’m still working on getting a good shot. Wickham Lake, 05/01/17.~

After work today I headed straight to Glenmere Lake to follow up on a lead from Rob Stone – he had two WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS there earlier in the day. And I just can’t get enough of sea ducks in Orange County, I find it fascinating. When I arrived, the birds were still present. I had distant but excellent looks in my scope and I managed to digiscope a few halfway decent shots with my phone. While I was there, I also had a remarkable 4 Ospreys flying over the lake and 2 Bald Eagles; one adult and one immature.

~Digiscoped WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, one of 2 at Glenmere Lake, 05/o1/17.~

From there, I headed over to Wickham Lake, following up on another tip from Rob; he let me know about a Northern Waterthrush that was near the parking area at Wickham Woodlands Town Park. At first I was having no luck, but after a while I heard the bird. I really wanted to see the bird, so I waited a long time… and eventually I caught just the briefest look. While I was waiting, the area was birdy and I had several other warblers: Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, and my first of the year American Redstart.

~Yellow Warbler at Wickham Lake, 05/01/17.~

I finally went to the shore of the lake to scan for waterfowl. I was not optimistic, but wanted to check before heading home. I was pleasantly surprised to first hear and then see a Common Loon out in the distance. What a great sound and sight! But that was just the beginning – I continued scanning and…wait let me count them… one, two, three, four RED-NECKED GREBES! They were in the company of 4 Ruddy Ducks. Again the birds were quite distant – I took some shots with my camera and I digiscoped some as well and got enough just to document. What a super night of birding, you just never know what you’ll find when you get out there!

~Two of the 4 RED-NECKED GREBES at Wickham Lake, 05/01/17.~

~Four Red-necked Grebes, all tucked in. Digiscoped at Wickham Lake, 05/01/17.~

It’s On!

~On Friday evening, this bird made my day. Black-throated Blue Warbler at Goosepond Mountain State Park, 04/28/17.~

As we all know, it’s a great time of the year for birding. Migration is on and new birds are showing up on a regular basis. I had a relatively busy week, so I didn’t get out birding as often as I usually do, but I still had 19 new birds in Orange County. This morning I birded Pochuck Mountain State Park with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris; it was the most productive outing of the week, with 7 FOY birds and nearly 40 total species being identified. Here’s my list of new OC birds for the past week, in chronological order and locations:

I love this time of year! And, what’s really exciting is that things are just getting started.

~Ovenbirds were plentiful at Pochuck Mountain SP this morning, 04/29/17.~

~Thursday 04/27/17 after work, I walked the Sterling Lake Loop at Sterling Forest SP. I had several Black-and-white Warblers, this one was most cooperative.~

~I had my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the year last weekend at Glenmere Lake, 4/22/17.~

~I guess the Worm-eating Warblers at Pochuck Mountain are on the early side – they came up as a rare bird when entered into eBird. One of 3 WEWAs at Pochuck Mountain SP, 04/29/17.~

Newburgh Bonaparte’s Gull, 04/20/17

~What a beauty! BONAPARTE’S GULL in flight over the Hudson River, Newburgh NY 04/20/17.~

I got my absolute best look at an Orange County BONAPARTE’S GULL this evening at the Newburgh waterfront. Every BOGU I’ve ever had in Orange County prior to this one has been just miles out. This bird, on the other hand, actually flew closer to me as I started to take photographs. It was a minor birding miracle : )

~Bonaparte’s Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 04/20/17.~

~BOGU coming in for a landing, Newburgh waterfront, 04/20/17.~

Good Birding at Wallkill River NWR, 4/18/17

~I got my Orange County FOY Savannah Sparrow this afternoon at Wallkill River NWR, 04/18/17.~

(ANOTHER) QUICK POST: I had an excellent evening of birding at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I ran for four VESPER SPARROWS that Rob Stone had located earlier in the day and miraculously the birds were still present and I was able to relocate them. When I returned to the platform at Oil City Road, I met up with Karen Miller and we birded from there for a while. The next good bird to come in was a pair of LESSER YELLOWLEGS, my first of the year. They seemed to fly over the entire marsh before settling in out of sight about 100 yards in front of the platform. Then Karen Miller saw a bird emerge from the grasses in the pool right in front of the platform – it was a COMMON GALLINULE!!! I snapped a few quick photos, and I’m glad that I did, because the bird stashed itself in the grasses soon afterwards and could only be seen through the scope. What an unexpectedly excellent night of birding!

~Super exciting bird! One of four VESPER SPARROWS at Wallkill River NWR, 04/18/17.~

~Another OC first of the year – one of two Lesser Yellowlegs flying over the platform at Wallkill River NWR, 04/18/17.~

~And one final FOY Orange County bird – COMMON GALLINULE. I’ve never had a COGA at Wallkill River NWR before today, 04/18/17.~

OC Red-throated Loons!

~A pair of RED-THROATED LOONS at Wickham Lake, 04/06/17. I was thrilled to see these two birds. In the scope I had excellent views and they were just gorgeous as they worked their way around the far end of the lake, sticking close together the entire time.~

QUICK POST: I stopped by Wickham Lake after work this evening to try for the Red-throated Loon that Rob Stone had located earlier in the day. I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment and only had a few minutes, plus the rain was coming down pretty hard. I got to the lake, set up my scope, looked in and had not one, but two (!) RED-THROATED LOONS. As I was enjoying seeing the birds, it started to thunder and lightning. I high-tailed it to my car and went to my appointment soaking wet. Afterwards, I went back to the lake. The rain had stopped and the sun even came out briefly. I enjoyed much better looks of the RTLOs as well as a pair of Common Loons and a single Long-tailed Duck. Excellent birds!

~One more shot of the 2 Red-throated Loons at Wickham Lake, 04/06/17.~

Good Local Birding, 04/05/17

~CASPIAN TERN at the Bashakill today, 04/05/17. Photo by Linda Scrima.~

There was some good birding to be had in Orange and Sullivan Counties today. I, of course, was not only working, but working late two hours away in New Milford, Connecticut. Early in the day I got a report from Linda Scrima that there was a CASPIAN TERN at the Bashakill; the bird was originally located by Scotty Baldinger. John Haas also had several other good birds in Sullivan County, including HORNED GREBE, AMERICAN PIPITS, and LONG-TAILED DUCK. Click here to see his blog post from today.

~A Beautiful shot of a LONG-TAILED DUCK at Wickham Lake, 04/05/17. Photo by Linda Scrima.~

In Orange County birding news, I got word from Bruce Nott that he had a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON at Masterson Park (next to Washington Lake). And Rob Stone reported RED-NECKED GREBE, HORNED GREBE, and LONG-TAILED DUCK at Wickham Lake. I made it back to OC in the late evening and joined Linda Scrima at Wickham and we were able to relocate all three of these birds. We had good scope looks of the HOGR, very distant but decent scope views of the RNGR, and the LTDU was right by the shore! I wanted to cry because in my haste to leave the studio for my appointment in Connecticut, I had forgotten my camera. The one time there is actually a close good duck at Wickham Lake and there I was camera-less! Thankfully, Linda got good shots of the bird and shared them with me for this post. This is an exciting time of year, things are happening!

~I’m not even sure if this qualifies as a documentary photo. Red-necked Grebe digiscoped at GREAT distance, Wickham Lake 04/05/17.~

Orange County Waterfowl Fallout, 03/27/17

~I spotted this Lesser Scaup in a small pond as I neared Wickham Lake – it was a small taste of what was to come! LESC in Warwick, 03/27/17.~

Last night’s rain must have had some good timing – it grounded a fair amount of waterfowl in Orange County. My first indication that it was going to be a good day was when I received a text around noon from Bruce Nott. He had a RED-THROATED LOON at Orange Lake. Which was followed shortly afterwards with a text that he had 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS and a Common Loon at Washington Lake. Then, a half hour before quitting time I got word from Rob Stone that he had a slew of birds at Wickham Lake. I joined Bruce Nott, Kathy Ashman, and Linda Scrima at the lake to enjoy this waterfowl bonanza. Including the Canada Geese I had as I drove in, we had 17 (!) species of waterfowl!

Canada Goose 45
Wood Duck 1
Gadwall 3
American Wigeon 10
Mallard 6
Northern Pintail 20
Green-winged Teal 2
REDHEAD 17
Ring-necked Duck 7
GREATER SCAUP 9
LESSER SCAUP 75
Bufflehead 12
Hooded Merganser 4
Common Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 6
Pied-billed Grebe 2
HORNED GREBE 3

How’s that for a waterfowl list?!? I was particularly happy to see Redheads in Orange County for the first time ever. This is the sort of day, as a birder, that I get really jazzed about, and Bruce, Kathy, and Linda all seemed equally excited about it. Another good bird we had while were there was a single BONAPARTE’S GULL, always a favorite of mine. The only downside was that, of course, the birds were quite distant. Scope views were pretty amazing but photos were nearly impossible. Huge thanks to Rob and Bruce, great birding for sure!

~Can you spot the Bonaparte’s Gull? A nice assortment of waterfowl at Wickham Lake, 03/27/17.~

OC Waterfowl Survey, Take 2

~One of my few photo ops today – Merlin with prey at Wickham Lake, 03/25/17.~

Three weeks ago I did a waterfowl survey of 9 locations not too far from my home in Goshen. Today I repeated this survey, hitting the same 9 locations in the same order. The overall number of birds was down from over 950 to under 700 birds, but I had a little more variety today with 16 species of waterfowl (up from 14). I’ve included species lists by location below.

I was hoping for some more interesting birds, but all 16 species were what I consider the usuals. Things were better in that regard earlier in the week, when I had a trio of Long-tailed Ducks at Glenmere Lake, and yesterday when I had a single Common Loon at Wickham Lake:

~My FOY Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 03/24/17.~

TOMAHAWK LAKE:

Wood Duck 9
Mallard 2
Bufflehead 3
Hooded Merganser 4
Common Merganser 148
Ruddy Duck 5

BROWN’S POND:

Canada Goose 2
Gadwall 1
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 2
Northern Shoveler 1
Green-winged Teal 12
Ring-necked Duck 32
Bufflehead 6
Ruddy Duck 8
Pied-billed Grebe 1

I did not have many close up looks at ducks today, so not too many photo ops. This Bufflehead was near the shore of Round Lake as I pulled up, but it move out pretty quickly.

ORANGE & ROCKLAND LAKE:

Canada Goose 2
Mute Swan 2
Hooded Merganser 4

ROUND LAKE:

Canada Goose 4
Ring-necked Duck 25
Bufflehead 14
Hooded Merganser 5
Common Merganser 6
Ruddy Duck 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1

WALTON LAKE: No waterfowl present.

WICKHAM LAKE:

Canada Goose 12
Ring-necked Duck 7
Common Merganser 169
Ruddy Duck 6
Double-crested Cormorant 1

WARWICK TOWN HALL:

Canada Goose 4
Gadwall 4
Mallard 1
Ring-necked Duck 64

GLENMERE POND:

Canada Goose 4
Mute Swan 2
Gadwall 4
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 6
Green-winged Teal 4
Ring-necked Duck 4
Hooded Merganser 1

GLENMERE LAKE:

Mute Swan 3
Wood Duck 2
Ring-necked Duck 45
Bufflehead 4
Common Merganser 6
Ruddy Duck 2

Orange County Long-tailed Ducks, 03/21/17

~Excellent birds! Three LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Glenmere Lake this afternoon, 03/21/17.~

QUICK POST: I was doing some lazy birding after work this afternoon. I stopped by Glenmere Lake and I was scanning the lake from my car and getting ready to leave, having seen just the usuals. But, then 3 ducks caught my attention; I half-thought they might be LONG-TAILED DUCKS, but it wasn’t until I got out of the car and put the scope on them that I really believed it. The birds were very distant, too distant for even documentary photos, so I walked the snowy trail that heads southwest along the shore of the lake to get a little bit closer. This did allow me to get some documentary photographs and some great looks at the bird, which were in beautiful light. I put the word out and although I had to leave, Karen Miller reported back that she too had gotten the ducks. Good (if lazy) birding!

Beautiful Buntings, 03/16/17

~ Orange County Snow Bunting in the snow, 03/16/17.~

QUICK POST: For the second consecutive time, on my way to participate in a DEC Raptor Survey, I had a really nice photo op. Two weeks ago I had a large group of confiding Ring-necked Ducks. Last night, it was Six Snow Buntings on the side of the road. They seemed uncooperative at first and flushed, but then came back to land very close to my car, posing nicely on the tops of the piles of plowed snow. Good birds for sure!