~Very exciting! BAIRD’S SANDPIPER at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary’s Citgo Pond, 8/25/16.~
I ran into Karen Miller and Diane Bliss this afternoon – we were all heading in to check out 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary’s Citgo Pond. We arrived at the pond and set up our scopes, and as luck would have it, the first bird in my scope was a beautiful BAIRD’S SANDPIPER! We were all super excited and enjoyed great looks in our scopes as we put the word out. John Haas, Bruce Nott, and Kathy Ashman all ran for the bird, which ended up being very confiding, allowing for great looks and some decent photos too. Shorebirds were numerous at the pond, here is our count:
What an excellent afternoon/evening of birding! I love this time of year!
~One more shot of the BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, Citgo Pond 8/25/16.~ ~Look at all those scopes! These birders come prepared! Checking out the shorebirds at the Citgo Pond, 8/25/16.~
~Love, love, loved this bird! WILSON’S PHALAROPE at DeKorte Park, 8/15/16.~
Okay, so at what point do I change the name of this blog to Bergen Birding? Over the weekend, another GREAT bird – a WILSON’S PHALAROPE, was located at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. I didn’t go for it then, I but today after work, I ran for the bird and luckily the bird not only stuck around, it was very accommodating for photos. I was talking with Chris Takacs while viewing the bird, and he indicated that this was likely a young bird. The bird is absolutely beautiful, white as white can be with a long very thin and pointy bill. It fed nearly the entire time I was there, only stopping to preen and then relax for a short time. This is the second time I’ve seen a Wilson’s Phalarope, my lifer was at the Liberty Loop back in April of 2013.
Huge thanks to both Maria Loukeris and Denise Farrel, who kept me posted with the alerts for this bird today.
~Beautiful bird. Wilson’s Phalarope at DeKorte Park, 8/15/16.~~WIPH at DeKorte, 8/15/16.~~I had to include at least one water flick shot. Wilson’s Phalarope at DeKorte Park, 8/15/16.~~There were many other shorebirds close by too, but I barely paused to take their photos. Lesser Yellowlegs at DeKorte Park, 8/15/16. ~~And for comparison, a Greater Yellowlegs at DeKorte Park 8/15/16.~~This is not a bird I’ve been this close to before. Short-billed Dowitcher at DeKorte, 8/15/16.
~Semipalmated Sandpiper in the mud on one of the islands at Morningside Park, 8/13/16.~
In an effort to beat the heat and catch the good light, Kyle picked me up at my house at 5:30 this morning. We loaded up the kayaks and headed for Morningside Park, which is undoubtedly the best local spot to photograph shorebirds. We arrived just after 6:30 and the air was relatively cool and the light was perfect. We paddled out to the islands where throughout the morning we had 5 species of shorebird:
As usual, the peeps were super cooperative for photos. The other birds not so much, although I was able to get one shot of the snipe. We spent some time shooting the peeps and also just paddling around the lake to see what other birds might be around – we totaled 27 species on the lake for the morning.
~Least Sandpiper with reflection, Morningside Park 8/13/16.~~We weren’t sure if this Wilson’s Snipe would stay like the peeps do or flush. It flushed. WISN at Morningside Park, 8/13/16.~~Least Sandpiper on a nice perch, Morningside Park, 8/13/16.~~Semipalmated Sandpiper at Morningside Park, 8/13/16.~~Semipalmated Sandpiper on the move. Morningside Park, 8/13/16.~
On our way back we stopped at the Bashakill; I had to meet up with Linda Lou Bartle and we figured we’d do some quick birding while we were there. Surprisingly, it was a great morning for raptors there, we had:
~Least Sandpiper at Wallkill River NWR, 7/31/16. I’m loving the markings on this bird.~
After running for a trio of Little Blue Herons that were reported at Riverfront Park in Montgomery and coming up empty, I spent a good portion of the day searching for shorebirds in southern Orange County. I stopped at Turtle Bay Road on my way to Wallkill River NWR and, although conditions looked good with muddy puddles present, I only had Killdeer there. At Wallkill River NWR, the pool in front of the viewing platform at the Liberty Loop had water levels that seemed to high for shorebirds and I did not locate any. I walked out Liberty Lane and in spite of the high water levels there, I had one Killdeer, (3) Solitary Sandpipers, and (2) Lesser Yellowlegs. On my way back, I had a single Least Sandpiper foraging on the puddles on Liberty Lane, which allowed for a good photo op. A walk to the west side of the loop did not result in much – I had another Solitary Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper, a couple of Great Blue Herons, and only a single Great Egret.
~Lesser Yellowlegs at Wallkill River NWR, down Liberty Lane, 7/31/16.~
I made my way back to Goshen, checking some areas of the black dirt, where conditions were good with plenty of puddles. I had many Killdeer on Skinner Lane. The Old Warren Sod Farm was the most productive spot; aside from many Killdeer, I also had one Solitary Sandpiper, one Semipalmated Sandpiper, and my most exciting bird of the day, a Semipalmated Plover. Unfortunately all of these birds were too far out for photos.
~One more of the Least Sandpiper at Wallkill River NWR, 7/31/16.~
The rain started to fall pretty heavily, so I headed home and took a break. I waited for the rain to subside (it never really did!) before heading back out to the Citgo Pond in the evening. I was curious to see how the water levels would be there, normally they would be very high with all the recent rain, but a during quick check on Friday afternoon I saw that the water level was lower than I’ve ever seen it (by the way I had several LEYE and KILL, many LESA, and two likely SESA on Friday). Well, when I got out there, not only was the water level high at the pond, the trail itself was flooded as well. Needless to say, I had no additional shorebirds there. With all the rain that is falling, the black dirt looks to be the best spot in OC for shorebirds for the next few days at least.
~Killdeer at Skinner Lane, 7/31/16.~ ~A nice size comparison – Lesser Yellowlegs on the left and Solitary Sandpiper on the right, Wallkill River NWR, 7/31/16.~
~Excellent, excellent bird. LEAST BITTERN at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, NJ 7/24/16.~
Maria Loukeris and I got an early start and headed south to Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, New Jersey; we were trying for the Ruff that had been reported there. We were not the only ones with that idea, as the park was absolutely loaded with birders. We met up with Marianne O., as planned, met some other birders for the first time, and also ran into Denise Farrel, who is also a hawk counter at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. Ultimately, we left and the Ruff had not been relocated. Meanwhile, we had some great birds at the park, including several LEAST BITTERNS. I was hoping when I finally got my lifer LEBI, it would not be a speck in a scope, or a fleeting glimpse of a bird, and I was not disappointed. The first one we had was only 50 feet away or so. It was in the shadows and partially hidden by phragmites reeds, but it looked absolutely incredible in the scope, and we worked hard to get some decent photos (I was not at all optimistic about these shots, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got home and saw them on the computer).
~These photos do not tell the truth. This bird was tough to see, even though it was not all that far away (50 feet?). Naked eye, you would lose the bird every time. It was even tough to locate in the camera view, I kept having to relocate with my binoculars or scope. Least Bittern at DeKorte Park, 7/24/16.~
DeKorte is absolutely loaded with shorebirds. There were too many Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers to count, the same goes for Lesser Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers. We also had a handful of Semipalmated Plovers and also several Greater Yellowlegs. A Peregrine Falcon came through a couple of times and lifted up all the shorebirds (I somehow missed it both times!?). Also of note was a Sora that was seen well by Marianne and others but would not re-emerge when Maria and I made our way back to where it was being seen.
I had always been intimidated to go to DeKorte; mostly because of the driving and traffic, but also because I didn’t know the lay of the land. I admit that we did get a little bit lost on the way in, but really the driving wasn’t a problem at all especially since it was early on a Sunday with little traffic. And the park is very inviting, you don’t really have to know anything going into it; just arrive an enjoy some good birding.
~Least Sandpiper close up at DeKorte Park, 7/24/16. You could spend all day just shooting shorebirds if you wanted to.~This bird was a messy eater, ha ha. Semipalmated Sandpiper with a face full of mud, DeKorte Park, 7/24/16.~~This Marsh Wren was one of the first birds of the morning. It put on a nice show and allowed for some decent shots, in fact I am posting 2 because I couldn’t decide which I liked better. Richard W. DeKorte Park, 7/24/16.~~MAWR at DeKorte Park, 7/24/16. Cutie.~~One final shot of another Least Bittern. This was a nice scene, too bad the bird was mostly backlit. Richard W. DeKorte Park, 7/24/16.~
~Two of the three SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS at Wallkill River NWR, 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!
~Dunlin feeding at 6 1/2 Station Road, Citgo Pond 10/25/15.~
I had an unproductive morning of birding today; I was hoping that perhaps some waterfowl had moved into the area. The I checked Glenmere Lake and Wickham Lake and only found a pair of Ruddy Ducks at Wickham and a single Greater Scaup at Glenmere. I went home disappointed and then headed back out in the afternoon, unsure where to go. I decided to check 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary – Citgo Pond for shorebirds, and I’m so glad I did. Upon my arrival to the pond, I immediately located a DUNLIN and what I thought were three Pectoral Sandpipers. I put the word out and took many photos, particularly of the Dunlin. Two of the “Pectorals” were not sitting right with me, but I couldn’t think what else they might be. I took some photos of the birds so that I could verify later, and it wasn’t until later in the evening when I looked at my photos that I saw that they might be RED KNOTS! I was so excited! I really wish I had been able to identify them in the field, but I was not expecting this at all, so I was happy to have gotten the photos. Great birding!
UPDATE 10/29/15: After receiving a couple of comments on this post questioning the identification of the two birds below, it was time to take another look and try to get it right. Both commenters believe that the birds are White-rumped Sandpipers rather than Red Knots. So last night I put my photos on the New York Birders Facebook page, where I only got one response, which also identified the birds as immature WRSAs (but importantly no comments disagreeing with this). I initially considered WRSA for these birds, but ruled them out based on size, so I was confused. I turned to The Shorebird Guide by Michael O’Brien, Richard Crossley, and Kevin Karlson. The last two pages of the book contain silhouettes which depict the relative sizes of shorebirds. Looking at the silhouettes, it became clear that I should have actually ruled out Red Knots, based on their size rather than the opposite. It’s, of course, no fun to be wrong, but I believe that White-rumped Sandpiper is an accurate ID, so I’m happy to hopefully get it right. Thanks to Rosemarie and Christopher for their comments which got this started.
~A pair of RED KNOTS White-rumped Sandpipers at 6 1/2 Station Road, Citgo Pond, 10/25/15.~
~Pectoral Sandpiper, Citgo Pond 10/25/15.~~Dunlin at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/2515.~~Dunlin at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, Citgo Pond 10/2515.~~RED KNOT White-rumped Sandpiper working at the Citgo Pond, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 10/25/15.~
~This made Kyle Dudgeon happy – Northern Harrier in flight in the Black Dirt, 10/3/15.~
It was a rainy, wet and cold day for starters. I woke up early with the plan to get out early before heading up to Mt. Peter for my Saturday hawkwatch. I wanted to go to Owens Station Crossing to try for the tern I saw last night and also to try for the Red-necked Phalarope that Ken Witkowski had reported seeing in the back pool of the Liberty Loop. As I drove through a pretty steady rain, I was surprised to get a call from Maria Loukeris; she and Linda Scrima were already at Owens Station Crossing and wanted to try for the phalarope. And Marianne O. was on her way. Four birders out on the worst rainy morning in recent memory? Sounds good to me!
Shortly after arriving at Owens Station Crossing, I relocated the tern in the distance, perched on a stump in the lake. The tern flew for us one time (before I even had my camera out!!), but it gave us some good looks, coming closer in decent light. We were in agreement that the bird was likely a COMMON TERN. Perched, the bird did not stand tall and appeared to have a short neck, a hint of a dark carpal bar could be seen, dark primary/wing edges were very apparent, and the tail did not extending past wingtips. In flight, the wings were strongly angled back, and showed a dark trailing edge on the primaries.
We headed down the trail that leads to the back pond of the Liberty Loop. Shortly after arriving, Marianne located a Short-billed Dowitcher. Linda was the only one with a camera out due to the steady, continuing rain and she provided me with a photo of the bird. We continued to scan for quite a while, getting very wet and cold. Eventually, I located the RED-NECKED PHALAROPE in my scope! Marianne got on it quickly with her scope and Linda got a quick look in my scope, but unfortunately the bird disappeared into some grasses before Maria got her turn on a scope. It took a while to relocate the bird; when Marianne finally did, Maria got a look and we all got some better looks, but they were by no means good looks, through wet lenses and the bird coming and going through the vegetation. This was a life bird for both Maria and Linda, congrats to them both!
When we got back to the Owens Station Crossing parking lot, we could not relocate the Common Tern; had it moved on already? The weather was trying to break at this point, but the rain continued, just a little lighter than before.
~Short-billed Dowitcher at the Liberty Loop Trail, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 10/3/15. Photo by Linda Scrima.~
I went home and changed into some dry clothes. It appeared that the rain might stop, so I was going to head to Mt. Peter. Once on the road, it became clear that it was still raining pretty good. Kyle Dudgeon was home from college for the weekend, we exchanged texts and decided to try to get the phalarope for him. We tried for a while at the back pond of the Liberty Loop, but we were unable to relocate the bird, even with the help of a Sussex County birder named Kevin who was out for the bird as well. Kyle and I decided to hit the black dirt to try for shorebirds (me) and raptors (Kyle). We were successful in both searches. American Kestrels were extremely numerous, we didn’t keep count but figured by the evening that we had seen over 30 kestrels! We also saw several Northern Harriers including one Gray Ghost, and we had one immature Bald Eagle fly over. For shorebirds we struggled for the most part with not many being seen, but eventually Kyle’s young eyes located three birds I am thinking might have been BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS; I’ve included a photo of one them below. And then a little later, way out in a field he spotted 23 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS! (Several of these birds lifted their wings to show wing pits that were not dark). What a day of birding! Crazy weather and awesome birds; it’s usually a good combination.
~I have this as a Black-bellied Plover – the bill and head look large enough to me? I’m not sure why I struggle so much to differentiate the plovers?! Any thoughts on this bird would certainly be appreciated. Black Dirt Region, 10/3/15.~
~This shot is actually from last week, a Lesser Yellowlegs at the Citgo Pond, 9/22/15.~
It feel like ages since I’ve last posted. There was not much going on birding-wise for me at the end of last week and then I went away for a long weekend to New Hope, Pennsylvania where Tricia had a booth for her pottery at the New Hope Craft Fair. This week I have gotten out birding briefly on a few days, and being shorebird obsessed, I went looking for shorebirds each day. On Tuesday I went out to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary – Citgo Pond, to see if the Long-billed Dowitcher was still around. I was unable to relocate the dowitcher, but the pond had a decent showing of shorebirds:
On Wednesday I drove around the black dirt, much of which had puddles in the fields due to the recent rainfall. Only a couple of stops were good for shorebirds. At Turtle Bay I had many Killdeer (30+) and then at Skinner Lane I had more Killdeer, a Wilson’s Snipe, two Pectoral Sandpipers, and a single long billed shorebird which I was, unfortunately, unable to identify due to the distance and darkness.
Today I went back to Skinner Lane to try for the unidentified shorebird, but it was not to be seen. I did, however, locate two Buff-breasted Sandpipers in a distant field with a dozen or so Killdeer.
ALSO: I should mention that I stopped at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch on both Monday and Tuesday and though both days were quite slow, they came right on the heels of a very good weekend where the all time record for migrating Broad-winged Hawks at the watch was broken. The old record was 11,044 and as of today we have counted 11,255 at Mt. Peter so far this year. Pretty exciting stuff!
~Least Sandpipers in flight over the murk and amongst the Mute Swans and Canada Geese at Citgo Pond, 9/22/15.~
~Broad-winged Hawks kettling over the Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 9/21/15.~
I got out of work late today, but not too late to get up to Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I arrived just after 4:00 pm and joined official counter Ajit Antony, Judy Cinquina, Tom Millard, Denise Farrell, and Gerhard and Tracy Patsch on the viewing platform. Apparently, I had missed several large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks! I was bummed, but not for long. About twenty minutes later, we had a huge group of Broad-winged Hawks coming in, just to the west of the platform. Many streamed straight through, very high up. Then two kettles formed over the valley at the same time just a few binocular fields apart. One of them was low enough and large enough to be seen naked eye. In all, over 750 BWHAs had just passed over! I was able to fire off a few photos, but really the photos don’t come close to doing the experience justice. It was so AWESOME! It was a really good day at the watch with a total of 1,887 migrating hawks!
We had a steady number of migrating hawks until right around 5:30, when the skies seemed to empty. At that point, I headed to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. I was following a lead from Bruce Nott – he told me that a dowitcher had been reported there the day before. When I arrived, I was already losing the light. I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly located the dowitcher. I took a bunch of photos and then called John Haas, who had recently had a Long-billed Dowitcher in Sullivan County. I remembered from his post that for LBDO, the tail typically would have thicker black bands than white, which this bird appeared to have. John had me look to see if the tertials had pale edging, which to my eye was the case with this bird. When I got home, knowing how difficult it can be to identify birds with just photos, I emailed several to John. The birds were a little bit distant and of course the light was low, which made for less than ideal pictures, but looking at them, he indicated he could not see any rufous on the edge of the tertials, and that the scapulars which haven’t been molted yet appear to have totally black centers (no rufous ribbing up the middle). Also, the feeding shot I sent over shows a hunch-backed appearance. All of these indicate LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER! Back in October of 2013, I had a pair of LBDOs in this same location, so it is certainly not out of the question. I will submit to eBird and see if the reviewer agrees with this assessment. Any thoughts on this bird please feel free to comment.
~A likely Long-billed Dowitcher at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 9/21/15.~~The dowitcher along with a Lesser Yellowlegs, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 9/21/15.~~Possible Long-billed Dowitcher, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 9/21/15.~
