QUICK POST: I went to the Newburgh Waterfront this evening after work to look for gulls. I parked in the old Torches parking lot and just as I got out of the car an adult Bald Eagle flew over. I scanned a large number of gulls floating in the river with my scope because most birds were rather distant. I walked a couple hundred yards south where most of the gulls were located and saw a bird that I believe was a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Bruce Nott had arrived with his friend Rob, I walked back to get them to have a look at the bird. Meanwhile, they were looking at a first winter Iceland Gull, which I got a good look at through Bruce’s scope. We made our way back to my scope and relocated my bird. We kept walking south to keep up with the floating gulls. The bird had a slate gray back, gray smudging on the head and was slightly smaller than the Herring Gulls nearby. At one point I had the bird in the same scope view as a Great Black-backed Gull and the size difference was considerable. I am confident that it was a Lesser Black-backed Gull, but I would certainly like to go back for a better look and of course get some photos.
Category: Orange County
Black Dirt Snow Geese, 1/20/15
Tonight I spent some time at Pierce Circle in New Hampton, NY going through approximately 2,500 Canada Geese. I scanned the geese a bunch of times but was unable to find anything other than Canadas. I was just starting to pack it in when I saw another group of geese coming in – it was SNOW GEESE! Approximately 150 birds circled over the fields a couple of times and then settled in among the Canada Geese. It was awesome to see them, and to think I came so close to missing them!
Waterfowl Count, 1/18/15
Karen Miller and I attempted to participate in the Mearns Bird Club Waterfowl Count yesterday, but we were thwarted by the weather. We started out alright, covering a small part of the Black Dirt Region and counting nearly 3,000 Canada Geese, over two dozen Mallards, and 6 Common Mergansers. Then the rain began in earnest, and the roads quickly became very icy and downright treacherous. At the first sign of icy conditions, we called it and headed home, and I’m glad we did. We both made it home safely, thank goodness. The highlight of the day was seeing a male Ring-necked Pheasant on Pierce Circle and getting some photos.
Saturday 1/17/15
The big news this week was the eBird report of a Snowy Owl at the Liberty Marsh in Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday 1/14/15. I, of course, spent Thursday and Friday evenings after work going for the bird, but with no luck. I left the house this morning with the Snowy Owl being the most important bird on my mind. I did some running around in the Black Dirt and even followed a lead that took me to Chester, NY but had no luck with the Snowy. The Chester bird was likely a leucistic Red-tailed Hawk; I saw photos from the couple that had given me the lead, and I got a very distant look at the bird through my scope. I would like to get back there to get a better look one of these days.
In the afternoon I decide to just try for some photos, so I headed to the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR. The north blind that is furthest out was free, so I spent the afternoon shooting raptors. I love spending time in the blinds out there; you can get such great looks at the birds.
Sunday Shots, 1/11/15
QUICK POST: I made the rounds in southern Orange County this afternoon but I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary to report. It was a cold and gray one, but I still did my best to get some photos; here are a couple of shots from the day.
Saturday 1/10/15 – From Refuge to Refuge
I started my day off this morning heading out to the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge. I was meeting Wayne Hall out there, he wanted to talk to me about a column he is putting together about myself, birding, and bird photography. It was a very cold morning, but Wayne and I walked the trails a bit and talked. We took refuge from the wind in the south blind for a little while, continued our conversation and had a couple of nearby Northern Harriers. Back in the parking lot, I spotted, in the distance, our first Rough-legged Hawk of the day. Shortly after I first noticed the RLHA, it swooped down and flushed 10 Short-eared Owls. The owls did not stay up for long, but it was good to see them. Wayne and I sat in my car for a while and, as we talked, I had an adult Bald Eagle fly over in the distance. It was a pleasure to meet Wayne, and I will be curious to see how his column comes out. It was also nice that we did so well for birds while we were there. I should also mention that on my way out to the grasslands I made a quick stop by Lippincott where I was happy to find what I was looking for: Eleven Common Goldeneyes.
In the afternoon, I did a quick driving tour of parts of the Black Dirt Region. My main goal was to hopefully located a large group of geese to sort through, which I did on Onion Avenue in New Hampton, NY. Unfortunately, just as I started to look through them, in a large and loud wave, every last Canada Goose picked up. I estimate that there were approximately 2000 birds present. Most of the geese seemed to relocate to the Wallkill River, right along Celery Avenue; I did not follow them over there, I will try my luck with them again tomorrow.
I ended up with 23 species in the black dirt, all expected species, and I took photos along the way. I was particularly happy to run into this young Cooper’s Hawk:
My final stop of the night was the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I met up with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris by the Liberty Loop platform where we enjoyed the White-crowned Sparrows that have been hanging out there. Maria headed home, Linda and I walked out on Liberty Lane. We had a super surprise when we came upon a large flock of American Tree Sparrows; I estimate that there were close to 60 birds present. They would perch on the trees and bushes along Liberty Lane, then fly off into the refuge and disappear into the grasses. Then they would all return and perch briefly before heading back out to the refuge. They did this at least a half a dozen times before we headed back to the parking lot.
It was 4:40 and the light was getting low when the Short-eared Owls got up. There was just enough light to get some grainy photos; it was a great way to end a super day of birding from one National Wildlife Refuge to another.
Good Birding in Orange County, 1/2/15
I was lucky enough to have the day off today, and the weather was perfect, so it made for a great day of birding. I started the morning by taking a tour of the black dirt region, where I had 23 species. Highlights include a MERLIN on a wire seen on Onion Avenue and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in a large flock of Horned Larks on Mission Land Road in Pine Island.
I also made quick stops at Glenmere Lake and Warwick Lake – I added 5 species to my list, and I had a pair of adult Bald Eagles at both locations. My final stop was the Newburgh Waterfront; I stopped first at the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry parking; Fish Crows were calling from the trees as I sorted through the gulls there but found only Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls present. From there I went to the parking lot of the old Torches. Immediately, as I got out of the car, I saw a first winter ICELAND GULL on the edge of the parking lot among the other gulls and Rock Pigeons. I was able to get much better photos than I did earlier in the week, but I failed to get any flight photos. Once the gulls picked up, it was very chaotic and difficult to follow where the the Iceland Gull went. I eventually relocated the bird on a piling in the water, but just as I located it, all the gulls picked up again. Ken McDermott joined me shortly after that, but when I decided to head home, we still had not relocated the bird. I added an additional 5 species to my list for the day, giving me a total of 33 species for the day.
Orange County Iceland Gull, 12/29/14
I decided to head up to Newburgh, NY after work tonight to look for gulls. Ken McDermott had reported an Iceland Gull there a week or so ago, so I figured I would try my luck. I tried first from where the ferry goes out. I located a distant floating “white winged gull” almost immediately, but soon lost the bird among all the other gulls while trying to switch between scope and camera. Luckily, I was able to get the above shot from that location. The gulls were also floating steadily north on the Hudson River and out of my view. I jumped in my car and moved to the parking lot near what used to be Torches Restaurant. I relocated the bird from that position, but it was getting dark and the bird was even further out. I gave Ken McDermott a call and he walked me through the ID: a white winged gull that is smaller than a Herring Gull but larger than a Ring-billed. The nearly all black bill indicates that this is likely a first winter bird. Thanks Ken for your help, it is greatly appreciated!
Orange County Cackling Goose 12/28/14
I made the rounds in southern Orange County on this gray, drizzly, Sunday morning. I was a little cranky due to the poor weather and not sleeping well, so I was pretty happy to find a single Cackling Goose among approximately 500 Canada Geese at the Camel Farm in Orange County, NY. I put the word out, and luckily both Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris were close by and ran for the bird. It was a lifer for both of them, so that was exciting. Another highlight was 8 Snow Buntings in with a large flock of Horned Larks in the Black Dirt Region. Aside from that, I had 34 species for the morning, all birds you would expect to see.
I was eating my lunch, contemplating my next move, when I I received a text from Maria -She had located a Barred Owl in Vernon NJ! I hustled down and got super looks at the bird and some photos too (in spite of large number of branches in the way). I have no idea how she located this bird, the pics don’t do justice to how well it was hidden. Huge thanks to Maria for the heads up.
Sunday 12/14/14
So, as I mentioned in my post yesterday, I had a full day of birding in before the Short-eared Owl extravaganza at the Shawangunk Grasslands. In the morning I did a tour of the Black Dirt Region, mostly hoping to find a Snowy Owl or perhaps an interesting goose. I failed to locate either, but instead had an interesting morning with a good number of passerines at various locations. I had nearly 30 species in the black dirt, and for me the hightlight was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker which was seen on Onion Avenue in Goshen.
BLACK DIRT REGION 12/14/14
Canada Goose
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
In the early afternoon I headed over the Newburgh Waterfront to try and pick up a couple of county birds that I needed – with the end of the year looming, I am trying to maximize my Orange County species list. I was looking for a Great Black-backed Gull and a Great Cormorant (both of which Bruce Nott had reported being there earlier in the week), and I was successful on both counts:
After Newburgh, I headed over to the Shawangunk Grasslands as I wrote about in yesterday’s post. I stopped at Blue Chip Farms long enough to get this shot of a European Starling:
And finally, here are a few more shots of the Short-eared Owls at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, all on 12/14/14:
