This is a couple of days late, but on Sunday I filled in for John Haas at the Summitville Hawk Watch. It was a slow day which I will attribute to a SSW wind for most of the day. Ideal winds would come from the NW. Here’s my report for the day as it appears at hawkcount.org:
| 2013-09-15 Observation Start Time: 08:00 End Time: 16:00 Observer Hours: 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I birded the Basha Kill WMA by kayak this foggy morning. The highlight of the outing was this Blue-winged Teal:
The sun finally broke through in time to get a few raptor photos:
Here’s my list for the day:
Canada Goose 5
Wood Duck X
Blue-winged Teal 1
Great Blue Heron 5
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 1
Common Gallinule 6
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Ruby-thr. Hummingbird 5
Belted Kingfisher 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 6
Tree Swallow 30
Barn Swallow 2
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-br. Nuthatch 1
House Wren 1
Veery 1 heard
Gray Catbird 10
Cedar Waxwing 28
Common Yellowthroat 1
Song Sparrow 8
Northern Cardinal 1
Red-winged Blackbird X
American Goldfinch 1
I took my kayak out to have a paddle out at Morningside Park this morning. John Haas reported a Baird’s Sandpiper there yesterday in his blog, and I was hoping it would still be around. It was a really great morning of birding for a few reasons. First of all, I got to see some really great shorebirds:
The second reason it was such a terrific morning of birding is how close you can get to the birds there. By moving slowly and smoothly in the kayak, you can get REALLY close to these birds. In fact, it kind of messed with me at first – I never get this close so my sense of size and scale was out of sync. I got fantastic looks at all the above species, and this also was a big help with getting some photos.
The third reason is that after I was there for about 40 minutes, John showed up in his kayak. It is always enjoyable to bird with John and I learned a great deal by both talking with him and by watching him as he systematically went through all the islands to make sure he did not miss a bird. His thoroughness and his dedication are inspiring to me.
All these shots are from Morningside Park on 8/17/13.
I woke up early and took my kayak out to the Basha Kill for a paddle. Due to the heavy rains from earlier this week, the water level was really high, causing Haven Road to become flooded. The high water made an impact on my birding in a few ways. The first is that it made for a very easy paddle with no vegetation to slow me down in the channels. It also allowed me to explore the Bash outside the channels, where vegetation was present but it was still a relatively effortless paddle. Another effect of the high water level was also helpful. One of my target birds for the day was the Common Gallinule, which has been, for me, one of the tougher birds to get a good look at. Today I got several good looks and actually managed to get some decent photos. I believe that with the water up, there was less vegetation to hide these birds. Conversely, the final effect was not helpful at all. Great Blue Herons were out in numbers today, I saw probably 15 or so, but I never got close enough for a photo! Not one! I think that the GBHs were more easily aware of my presence without the vegetation to hide my approach.
I was feeling a bit uninspired when trying to figure out where to bird this morning. With migration long over and the summer kicking in, I was looking to do something a little bit different. It was right about this time last year that I started birding by kayak out at the Basha Kill, so I figured I would give it a shot. I put my kayak in the water at the route 209 boat launch just before 7 am. I paddled to Haven Road without seeing very much at all – a huge difference from last year when I had Wood Ducks and duckling at just about every turn, Pied-billed Grebes, and no shortage of Great Blue Herons. I was hearing plenty of birds on the perimeter of the kill, and I also was enjoying watching the Tree Swallows hunt and then perform an apparent mid-air food exchange. I tried to get a photo of this behavior, but I was unsuccessful.
At Haven Road I could see an adult Bald Eagle perched on the other side of the bridge. The water level is still very high, so I had to walk my kayak over Haven Road to continue. I moved very slowly and eventually got in good position to take some photos. This was clearly the highlight of my outing, I snapped away until the Red-winged Blackbirds and Eastern Kingbirds became too bothersome for the eagle and it flew.
I took a quick cruise over to the Nature Trail when I finished my paddle, and picked up my best bird of the day by far: a pair of NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES. This was a life bird for me, giving me two life birds this weekend – not too bad! They were splashing around in a puddle in the parking lot when I arrived, pumping their tails repeatedly. I tried to move closer for a photo and flushed them; I never did see them again. I had a nice photo opportunity at the end of the trail, where I stumbled upon about 10 Wood Duck ducklings. I think they are so sweet.
It ended up being a great morning for birding and for bird photography. Here’s my species list for the day:
Canada Goose 10
Wood Duck 25
Mallard 6
Great Blue Heron 5
Turkey Vulture 1
Bald Eagle 1
Virginia Rail 1
Common Gallinule 2
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Eastern Phoebe 2
Eastern Kingbird 10
Yellow-throated Vireo 4
Warbling Vireo 3
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 25
Barn Swallow 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Veery 2
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 6
Yellow Warbler 10
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 1
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle 8
This post includes three birds that I enjoyed watching an photographing this week. They are also birds that I would not have been nearly as likely to find without the generosity of my fellow birders. I have wanted to write a post about this for a while now, when I think back on all the posts I have made over the last year or so, how often am I thanking another birder? Very often! I am continually impressed by how kind and giving birders are; my experiences with other birders here in Orange County and the surrounding areas have been overwhelmingly positive. I have yet to come across a birder that is secretive or keeping any sort of “birding hotspot” to themselves. Rather, it is much more common to run into other birders out in the field, where they will give me the most detailed directions to get a good look or photograph of the latest bird that I am seeking.
Additionally, birders will take the time and energy to share their observations by texting, emailing or posting online. Again, this usually includes accurate and very detailed descriptions of where and when the bird had been seen.
The birding community is an extremely nice group of people, one that I feel I have slowly become a part of over the past couple of years. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the generous birders out there – I hope I can repay you all at one time or another.
Karen Miller and I went out to the Basha Kill WMA this morning and spent five and a half hours enjoying some fabulous birding. We started at Haven Road where we heard but did not see the American Bittern. We could hear a lot of bird activity at the Stop Sign Trail, so we headed there next. Right off the bat we got a good look at a Great Crested Flycatcher, which we had been hearing from the bridge on Haven Road. After that we got a good look at a Yellow-throated Vireo, a bird that I hear all the time but almost never get a look at. Moments later we had a Chestnut-sided Warbler, a beautiful little bird and a life bird for Karen. We walked all the way out to Moosehead Cove where we saw an Osprey cruising for prey. We heard and saw many birds along the way, with the highlight being this cooperative Veery:
Our next stop was the Main Boat Launch to see how the Nature Watch folks were doing. It was really windy there, but we enjoyed some good conversation with Maura and Bob Muller who were volunteering for the morning shift and saw one adult Bald Eagle and we watched the young Bald Eagles on the nest jumping and flapping their wings like mad, getting in as much practice as possible for that first flight that should happen in about a month or so.
Our final destination of the day was the Nature Trail, where we saw plenty of Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, American Redstarts, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Baltimore Orioles.
We also got very good looks at a Cerulean Warbler and a mediocre photo too:
The highlight of the day for me, though, was certainly the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. This was the bird I went out looking for today, and to actually see it AND be able to get a photo was amazing.
At the end of the day we had identified 40 species. What an awesome day of birding, honestly, it brings me great joy!
In a brave move, I went out to the Basha Kill solo this morning. As you probably know, I do plenty of birding alone, but in this case I say it is brave because it is warbler season, and this being only my second year of looking for warblers, it still does not come very easily to me. I find both aspects of looking for warblers a challenge: 1. birding by ear, and 2. finding these littlest of birds in the vastness of the rapidly growing foliage. I felt pretty good about it when I was out, I was really enjoying myself. But by the end of the morning, I had only totaled 6 species of warblers, which is not exactly spectacular. Even though I did not get many warblers, I was seeing, hearing and identifying many birds. I ended the morning with 41 species, which a very nice total for me. Here’s my list for the day:
Canada Goose X
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 5
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 10
Green Heron 1
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 2
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 7
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
Eastern Kingbird 4
Yellow-throated Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo X
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 8
Veery 1
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Brown Thrasher 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat X
American Redstart 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler X
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Baltimore Oriole X
American Goldfinch 6
In spite of the cold and windy weather, yesterday morning I attended John Haas’ waterfowl walk along with 18 other hardy souls. We were not disappointed, as there were many bird species present, waterfowl and otherwise. Visit John’s blog, The Basha Kill Birder to see his post which contains his account and a list of all species. Normally for me the highlight of any birding outing has to do with seeing and identifying a particular species, or maybe seeing some sort of new behavior. In this case it was being able to spend a few hours with John, who has a wealth of bird knowledge that is incredible. He is a fantastic teacher; he touched on basics for the beginners in the group, but also got more in depth for some of the more experienced birders in the group. On top of all this, John is a “bird magnet”. We were not on Haven Road for very long when he spotted an accipiter flying overhead…could it be? Yes! A NORTHERN GOSHAWK!
We got good looks at most of the waterfowl, but only because John and several other people brought scopes. Most of what we saw was quite distant, making it tough for photos. Here are a couple of Common Goldeneyes, a life bird for me on a visit to the Basha Kill earlier in the week:
Huge thanks to John for a very enjoyable and rewarding outing, and also thanks to my birding buddy Karen Miller for the group shots. Here’s a shot of me and the rest of group:
Later in the day I spent some time out at the Shawangunk Grasslands in the south blind. It was my first time in that blind and it paid off as I got many good looks at the “Gray Ghost”:
