At the conclusion of a fun but relatively unremarkable morning of birding, I was lucky enough to spot this little beauty in a field on the side of the road. The fox was looking for a good place to take a nap. As I watched from a distance, the fox settled in, and when I left all that could be seen was the tips of its ears through the long grasses.
Category: Orange County
Orange County Short-billed Dowitchers, 7/5/16
I met Linda Scrima out at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s viewing platform; we were going to try for the Short-billed Dowitcher that Ken McDermott had located yesterday and Karen Miller had relocated earlier today. Shortly after arriving, Linda located a single bird straight out from the platform but just emerging from the grasses. Sure enough it was a Short-billed Dowitcher! The bird was distant, but we had decent looks in the scope. I went back to my car for a bottle of water when Linda located a second bird – we got on it with the scope and it was a second SBDO. We put the word out, but by the time Maria Loukeris joined us, the birds had disappeared behind the grasses. John Haas and Mark Spina came shortly after and still there was no sign of the birds. We changed our vantage point by walking 5o or so yards down the Liberty Loop Trail heading east, and that did the trick – the birds were back in view and were joined by a third SBDO. Everyone got good scope views and did their best to get photos. Since the birds were so distant, I ended up mostly shooting video with my phone through the scope, but took some photos too. Good birds and good birding!
Fourth of July Birding
This morning, I joined forces with John Haas and we birded the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area by kayak. We had a very enjoyable paddle with a decent number of birds (32 species), but we had no luck finding our target bird, the Least Bittern. I’m not sure at what point a bird becomes a nemesis bird, but I am certainly starting to think Least Bittern is officially a nemesis bird for me.
In spite of dipping on the LEBI, it was a fun morning of birding. It is awesome to bird with John, he is really great company and an absolute wealth of birding knowledge; every time I bird with him, I learn so much. Plus we did alright with some of the more expected birds: Eastern Kingbirds were numerous and seemed to be at every bend in the channel, we heard at least 10 Common Gallinules, saw 2 Belted Kingfishers, and we got really great looks at one adult and two young Bald Eagles.
In the afternoon, I received a call from Ken McDermott; he had a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER at the viewing platform at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I jumped into the car and made my way out there, but unfortunately the bird had flown north shortly before my arrival. Ken also had a Lesser Yellowlegs a little earlier, which had also moved on. So, I joined Ken and Maria Loukeris (who had also run for and missed the SBDO) for a while and we had an interesting afternoon/evening of birding. Shorebird highlights included Spotted Sandpiper (2), Solitary Sandpiper (2), Least Sandpiper (4), and many Killdeer, including 4 chicks. Other than shorebirds, we had many Great Blue Herons, several Green Herons, Cedar Waxwings, and one of the last birds of the day was an adult Bald Eagle that flew directly over the platform. The 2 Great Egrets that I had there earlier in the week were nowhere to be seen. All in all, a good day of birding, with the promise that shorebird migration is already underway! Huge thanks to Ken for the call.
Hiking at Sterling Forest State Park, 6/26/16
I woke up reasonably early and planned a fairly long hike to take at Sterling Forest State Park. I started at the trailhead for the Sterling Ridge Trail on Route 17A. The trail was birdy with many expected birds; the only ‘surprise’ came when I got to a power cut and I could first hear and then see a couple of Prairie Warblers.
After about two miles, I left the Sterling Ridge Trail (I would hook up with it again later), and I took the Bare Rock Trail for a short time before heading south on the West Valley Trail. I chose the West Valley Trail because it ran through a swampy area that runs along Jennings Creek. I was hoping this change of habitat would add some species to my list and it certainly did – I got my best bird of the day there, a calling ACADIAN FLYCATCHER just a couple hundred yards from the swamp. At the swamp I added more birds: Eastern Phoebes, Common Grackles, Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a beautiful family of Wood Ducks.
Just beyond the swamp, I jumped onto the Furnace Loop, which would eventually put me back onto the Sterling Ridge Trail. On the Furnace Loop I did well, getting good looks at several Hooded Warblers and a Worm-eating Warbler. Hooded Warblers remain my current photo-nemesis bird, and the Worm-eating made such a brief appearance that I didn’t have a chance. In the same area, I did manage to get a usable photo of a Black-and-white Warbler, so that was a decent consolation.
Shortly after I joined back up with the Sterling Ridge Trail, there was a fairly steep ascent which I scrambled up. Thats when I realized that the temperatures were rising and I was running out of water. AND that I was whooped. As I walked the portion of the Sterling Ridge Trail that I hadn’t previously been on, I was still actively birding even though in the heat the birds were more quiet than they had been all morning. Once I got back to where I had left the trail several hours earlier, I was in full zombie-hiker mode; one foot in front of the other, just determined to get back to my car. I drank the last of my water when I had maybe a mile left, fortunately I had more in the car which I guzzled upon arrival.
It was nice long hike (even if I was a little under prepared – bring more water, take rests!). I estimate that I hike around 8 miles or so, and it was fairly productive as I had 38 species for the morning.
Excellent Summer Birding, 6/23/16
Today after work I had a really great afternoon and evening of birding. I walked the Mongaup River Trail for the first time, and from beginning to end, the trail was very birdy, with many birds not only being heard, but seen as well. My best bird of the day was a Louisiana Thrush with a mouth full of bugs. I watched as the bird took the bugs to its nest and fed some hungry young ones. I ended up seeing 5 (!) Louisiana Waterthrush during my walk, which was really amazing. Three of them were actively feeding over the river. Another highlight was getting great looks at three Magnolia Warblers, a bird that I was really not expecting to see! I heard but did not get looks at a Blackburnian Warbler, a couple Black-and-White Warblers, and a couple distant Black-throated Green Warblers (another nice surprise). I was hoping I would see some mergansers and I did; four Common Mergansers on a rock in the river. Oh, and I had a couple of adult Bald Eagles too! It was a great afternoon of birding and I will going back again really soon. Huge thanks once again to Rob Stone, who gave me the heads up on this spot.
NYSDEC Winter Raptor Survey
This past winter I volunteered to participate in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Winter Raptor Survey, which was an interesting and fulfilling experience. The survey, which was well run by Malcolm Grant and Emily Underwood of the DEC, primarily focused on two species—the state endangered Short-eared Owl and the state threatened Northern Harrier. Surveys were conducted in the Black Dirt Region and the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge Area every other week from early December until mid April (all of the surveys I participated in were in the Black Dirt Region). Locations were assigned to volunteers; surveys started one half hour before sunset and concluded one half hour after sunset. All raptor activity observed was recorded on the forms and marked on a map which had been provided. It was fun and challenging to try and keep track of all the raptors in a given location, especially in the final minutes of the survey when temperatures would dive and the light was really low.
Over the 4 1/2 months that I participated in the surveys, much data was collected and given to the DEC. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what the information was to be used for, so I wrote to Malcolm, and he explained a little bit further:
The DEC’s surveying effort addresses several goals:
1. To develop and implement an effective methodology for surveying and documenting wintering raptors with a focus on Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers, to identify site occupancy and/or population changes over the long term to provide a complete picture of the status of these state listed species into the future. So, a part of this was just figuring out the methods, i.e. stationary survey half hour before to half hour after sunset, etc). These methods were finalized a few years ago.
2. To recruit volunteers to continue this effort in order to monitor the wintering population of raptors in NYS.
3. Determine critical winter habitat use by Short-eared owls at selected sites in New York
-Identify the extent of habitat used at each site.
-Characterize the type of habitat preferred by Short-eared owls in New York for both foraging and roosting.
4. To document areas that are important for wintering raptors (mainly Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers) and produce spatially explicit maps of observations and critical habitat use. These areas are added to the New York Natural Heritage Database. This database is used to screen development and construction projects so that impacts to endangered and threatened species can be avoided or minimized.
It’s really a great feeling to know that just doing something that I love this much can have a positive effect, and that it is time well spent which will ultimately benefit the birds.
Saturday 5/21/16
Early this morning, Kyle, Linda, Maria, and I went to Laurel Grove Cemetery, hoping that some new birds had moved in. Last night, the radar looked good and the winds were favorable, but this morning, the cemetery was very quiet. If we hadn’t run into Rob Stone while we were out there, it would have been pretty much a total bust. Rob had located a roosting Common Nighthawk, which is something I’ve never seen and that I’ve been dying to see. I think it was probably a first for everyone in the group. Photos were tough as the nighthawk’s great camouflage didn’t seem to allow my autofocus differentiate the bird from tree. At Kyle’s suggestion, I got my scope from the car and we all got really incredible looks. The only other notable bird was a trio of Blackpoll Warblers very high in a tree.
We decided to move on and try our luck at Pochuck Mountain State Forest. It was a little bit more birdy there, but really, nothing amazing. Highlights included really good looks at several Worm-eating Warblers and Scarlet Tanagers, and hearing and seeing several Yellow-billed Cuckoos. We had a modest 32 species at Pochuck; I’ve included my list of birds at the bottom of this post.
I’m also playing a little catch up with this post – I’ve included a shot of a Black-billed Cuckoo that Linda and I had at Wickham Lake on Thursday, as well as 3 shots from early in May that I somehow never posted. They were from Wickham Lake as well.
POCHUCK MOUNTAIN STATE FOREST, 5/21/16
Turkey Vulture
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Sunday Shots – More Good OC Birding
This morning I birded with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris. We hit two spots and did pretty well with warblers at both of them:
STERLING FOREST – IRONWOOD DRIVE
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Prairie Warbler
POCHUCK MOUNTAIN STATE FOREST
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Other notable birds included super looks at 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos (unfortunately, I blew the pics!), a Swainson’s Thrush, and several Scarlet Tanagers all of which were seen at Pochuck Mountain. The Golden-winged Warbler was a lifer for Linda, so congrats to her on that.
It’s really a great time of the year for birding, and I’m embracing warblers for the first time really, so it’s been very enjoyable. I’ve included photos from earlier this week, when I made visits to Sterling Forest and the Liberty Loop.
Break 100
QUICK POST: I’m totally exhausted tonight, but if I don’t post this now, I’m not sure when I will get to it. This Friday and Saturday, I participated in my first Edgar A. Mearns Club Orange County Break 100, a friendly competition where teams of birders spend 24 hours trying to see or hear 100 species of bird. I was finally persuaded to do the ‘Break’ because John Haas could not make it this year, and Jeff Goulding, Lisa O’Gorman and Karen Miller were looking for a fourth member of their team. The break starts at 4:00 pm on Friday and goes until 4:00pm Saturday. In that time we visited many birding spots in Orange County, nearly 20 by my count. We finally broke 100 at Knapp’s View in Chester New York, where we got our 100th bird (Bobolink) and 101st bird (Eastern Meadowlark) at around 1:35 on Saturday afternoon. We didn’t do much good after that (it wasn’t from a lack of trying!), only adding an additional 4 birds to finish with 105 species on the day, but I think everyone on the team was happy with the total (though the winning team finished with 124 species). We had way too many laughs and saw some really great birds, including hearing my first Whip-poor-will and getting my lifer GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. Huge thanks to everyone on my team, I think we all did a pretty great job to “Break 100”.
Orange County Warblers, 5/8/16
With south winds in the forecast for the first time in many days, it was looking like migration might be on. I was hoping that my good birding luck would continue today. I got out pretty early and it did not seem like a lucky day; it rained steadily for my entire trip out to Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis, NY. I donned my rain gear and left the camera in the car. The good news is that the cemetery was very birdy. The bad news is that I was, of course struggling with wet binoculars and finding tiny birds in the shadows. Then the good luck kicked in. The rain stopped. I went back for my camera. The birds continued, now in ever improving light. And then I turned around and saw Curt McDermott, bins to his eyes, looking up at a large evergreen. I birded the remainder of my time at the cemetery with Curt and he found me many birds, most notably, a BAY-BREASTED WARBLER which gave us great looks for over a half hour. This was my 3rd life bird of the weekend, now that’s something I never expected to happen! It was a great morning of birding and likely my best warbler outing ever. I left the cemetery with 15 species of warbler:
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat (FOY – Orange County)
American Redstart
Northern Parula (FOY)
Magnolia Warbler (FOY)
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER (LIFER!)
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler (FOY)
Blackpoll Warbler (FOY)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler (FOY)
I also had two additional first of year birds while at the cemetery – Least Flycatcher and Great-crested Flycatcher. Huge thanks to Curt for all his help this morning, I don’t even want to think about how many birds I would have missed without him.
Later in the morning, Tricia and I went to Pochuck Mountain State Forest and although it was a little bit late and not overwhelmingly birdy, we still got some good birds. I added my 16th warbler of the day with Ovenbird, and we got decent looks at two male Scarlet Tanagers. I added two more year birds too – Yellow-throated Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (of which we saw many). What a great weekend of birding for me, it was very satisfying for sure.
