Orange Birding

A Little Catch-up

Ahh, I finally got out and did some Orange County birding after work tonight – thank goodness for Daylight Saving Time. It was just a brief stop at Glenmere Lake, with the usuals, but it’s a sign of the start of spring for me. I wasn’t able to fit in as much birding as I normally do for the past couple of weekends due to traveling to visit family. Last weekend I went to the Poconos to visit my sister Aileen and her husband Bill. We had a nice breakfast and I headed out before noon. That left the rest of the weekend to try for birds, but it was just one of those weekends and I didn’t have any luck at all.

~This is the most dense Snow Goose shot I think I’ve ever taken. Knox Marsellus Marsh at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 03/08/20.~

Then, this past weekend Tricia and I headed up to Syracuse to meet up with her brother John, her sister Carolyn and Carolyn’s husband Bill. It was a work weekend, so I didn’t get out at all on Saturday, but I was able to get out for a few hours on Sunday. I headed to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. On the way, I called my ex-wife Stephanie Bane, who lives in the area and volunteers at the refuge, to see if she was free to meet me there. It had been several years since we’d seen each other, so birds or no, it would be good to catch up. We met at the visitor’s center, where we had several species of waterfowl (Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Canada Goose, and Mallard). Unfortunately Wildlife Drive was closed, so we headed over to East Road (Knox Marsellus Marsh; some folks call it the Mucklands too, I think). It was a good choice, we arrived to find what I estimate was 8,000 to 10,000 Snow Geese. It was certainly the most Snow Geese I’d ever seen at once. There were also plenty of Bald Eagles around; they kept flushing the geese which provided some good photo ops. I felt for the geese though – they didn’t barely get a moment of peace. At one point, two young Bald Eagles were just flying through a sea of Snow Geese, I swear they were just doing it because it was fun. I didn’t have much time to bird Montezuma, but we certainly made the best of it.

~A massive wave of Snow Geese makes its way across the marsh, being flushed by Bald Eagles. Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 03/08/20.~

~I photographed a total of 2 birds last weekend, this White-throated Sparrow made the cut. Black Dirt Region, 03/01/20.~

Good Birds, 02/23/20

I birded locally, and I got some good birds this weekend. On Saturday I added a few birds to my year list: I had a pair of Wood Ducks at Wickham Lake and I really scored with two excellent birds at Lockenhurst (284) Pond – a dozen REDHEADS and a VESPER SPARROW. On Sunday, I located a large flock of Snow Geese (approximately 3,000 birds) on Turtle Bay Road. They eventually moved to the pond on Breeze Hill Road, where they were terrorized by the subadult GOLDEN EAGLE that has been in the area. At one point, in the air just over the pond, the eagle had a Snow Goose in it’s clutches but was unable to hold on. About twenty minutes later I watched in the distance as the Golden Eagle, high in the air, in a steep dive, isolated a single Snow Goose and disappeared behind some trees. I assume that the GOEA was successful, because after pestering the geese all morning, it didn’t return after that.

~I still can’t believe we are getting repeated excellent looks at this GOLDEN EAGLE in the Black Dirt Region, 02/23/20.~

~VESPER SPARROW near the 284 Pond in Westown NY, 02/23/20.~

~I’m sparing everyone the mass Snow Goose photos this week. Here’s a blue morph instead, 02/23/20.~

~Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 02/23/20.~

~One more of the GOLDEN EAGLE, Breeze Hill Road 02/23/20.~

Weekend Wrap-up, 02/16/20

I had a pleasant, if uneventful weekend of birding. I spent time at the Hudson River, the Black Dirt, and in between, finding mostly the expected species. Highlights included the continuation of several thousand Snow Geese as well as three Rough-legged Hawks in the black dirt on Sunday. It’s been a slow winter for RLHAs, so that made me pretty happy. On Sunday afternoon I attended workshop on the 2020 New York State Breeding Bird Atlas, which I plan on participating in. I will write more about that in an upcoming post.

~Bald Eagle in flight at Wallkill River NWR, Winding Waters Trail 02/16/20.~

~I’m still obsessed with Gulls, so I spent Saturday afternoon at the Newburgh Waterfront. I had the three expected species: Herring, Great Black-backed, and Ring-billed (like this individual, stealing bread from a Mallard).~

~This shot is representative of how this winter has gone in regards to Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs – few and far between.

~Is everyone tired of Snow Goose pics? I’m not tired of seeing these birds, it’s always quite a scene. Black dirt 02/16/20.~

~Ring-billed Gulls loafing at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/116/20.~

Heckuva Day, 02/08/20

As I was heading out this morning, I drove along 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, and I saw in the distance a pair of Red-tailed Hawks perched in a tree. They were about 15 feet apart, and in the perfect early morning light the difference between the larger female and the smaller male was quite obvious. It was a beautiful image, and for some reason I took this as an omen that it was going to be a good day.

~ *It’s still hard for me to believe that we are getting to see a GOLDEN EAGLE on a somewhat regular basis right now. GOEA in the black dirt, 02/08/20.~*

Every once in a while you have a day where things fall into place. It started with a GREAT-HORNED OWL on a nice perch, sunning itself. Add to that several flocks of Snow Geese moving around the black dirt. The icing on the cake was a relatively low flyover by the GOLDEN EAGLE that has been in the area. Getting a better look and photos of this bird was my main goal today, so that was awesome. As the morning ended and crept into the afternoon, things slowed down, but still, I was happy to find a cooperative Red-tailed Hawk on a wire, a bunch of vultures on a deer carcass (not for everyone, but I love those birds and find them very photogenic), and a couple thousand Common Mergansers at Greenwood Lake. Heckuva day for sure.

~Snow Geese in the black dirt, 02/08/20.~

~Black Vulture enjoying a meal. Warwick NY, 02/08/20.~

~GREAT-HORNED OWL sunning itself at an undisclosed location, 02/08/20.~

~I’m not usually a big fan of birds on a wire, but it’s been a while since I’ve taken a Red-tailed Hawk photo. Black Dirt, 02/08/20.

~Beautifully ugly bird. Turkey Vulture in Warwick, 02/08/20.~

~One more shot of the GOLDEN EAGLE. I know I definitely shouldn’t complain, but the light was tough for pics of this bird. Black dirt, 02/08/20.~

Wow, Black Dirt GOLDEN EAGLE!

My plan for the morning was to get outside and take a hike without worrying too much about getting any birds. I walked the trails near Reservoir 3 in Port Jervis. It was predictably quiet, but it was a pleasant walk in the woods on a cool, partly cloudy day. It wasn’t until I was on my way back that I started to think about getting some birds. Earlier, while I was hiking, Joyce Depew reported thousands of Snow Geese in the black dirt. On my way home, Ken McDermott followed up with another report of SNGOs in the fields off Onion Avenue. I figured I would stop by and check them out, especially because it was on my way home. Then, it got interesting: Bruce Nott reported a GOLDEN EAGLE flying over the Snow Geese, heading east.

~GOLDEN EAGLE flyover in the black dirt, photograph by Linda Scrima, 02/02/20.~

I arrived at Onion Avenue convinced that I had missed any opportunity to see the Golden Eagle. But, as I got out of the car everyone was urging me to hurry up – I jumped on Bruce’s scope and sure enough there was the Golden Eagle circling in the distance! It wasn’t great timing (see Linda’s photos in this post), but it was pretty darn good! Another minute or so, and I would have completely missed the bird. Exciting birding!

~One more shot of the GOLDEN EAGLE by Linda Scrima, 02/02/20.~

~My documentary shot of the GOLDEN EAGLE in the black dirt this afternoon, 02/02/20.~

Down in the Dumps, 02/01/20

I’ve been down in the dumps for a couple of weeks. Literally. Well, not the whole time, just the past 2 Saturday mornings, chasing gulls at Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority. Last week Maria Loukeris and I had no luck, but today, Linda Scrima joined us and we had an excellent morning. We had two main targets: the GLAUCOUS and LESSER BLACK-BACKED Gulls that were reported earlier in the week.

~Now this is a beautiful bird! GLAUCOUS GULL in flight at SCMUA, 02/01/20.~

Our morning had a slow start due to the heavy fog. When we first arrived at SCMUA, it was totally fogged in and from what we could tell, there were very few gulls present. So, we went and grabbed some breakfast (french toast!), and when we got back some of the fog had lifted and there were plenty of gulls around.

We got lucky and located the GLAUCOUS GULL within minutes of our arrival. It took over an hour, but eventually Maria located the LESSER-BLACK-BACKED GULL. Both gulls were close enough for some pretty good documentary shots and at different times we were able to photograph each species in flight. We were hoping that we might locate an ICELAND GULL, that would have been the icing on the cake (sorry couldn’t resist), but alas it was not to be.

~LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in flight at SCMUA, 02/01/20.~

Other good birds included several Bald Eagles, and just as we were getting ready to leave, several skeins of SNOW GEESE totally approximately 2,000 birds. It was a great morning of birding at the dump, and for me, since I’ve been so into gulls this winter, it was especially satisfying.

~GLAUCOUS GULL with Herring Gulls, SCMUA 02/01/20.~

~LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at SCMUA, 02/01/20. I like this shot because it shows 3 separate species, the LBBG front and left, a single Ring-billed Gull front and right and the remaining gulls are Herring Gulls.~

OC Snow Geese, Short but Sweet

This morning I had some good luck and timing. I woke up to find that my car had a flat tire; I’d run over a screw presumably at the dump in Sussex County yesterday morning. I removed the tire and headed out to get it repaired in Tricia’s car. On my way, I received alerts from both Bruce Nott and Linda Scrima; they had approximately 3,000 SNOW GEESE on Onion Avenue. I wasn’t far, so I made a detour and headed over. My timing was excellent, I caught the birds about five minutes before they flew.

~Snow Geese in the black dirt this morning, 01/26/20.~

The birds headed south/southwest. I continued on to get my tire repaired, but Linda and Bruce followed the geese. They reported back to me later that the original group was joined by a second group, making the total number of Snow Geese in the neighborhood of 7,000 birds! Unfortunately the birds did not put down again, instead they continued south/southeast. I’m thankful that I got lucky this morning and huge thanks to Linda and Bruce for putting the word out.

~Definitely one of my favorite local birding sights – Snow Geese in flight over the black dirt, 01/26/20.~

~Snow Geese in the black dirt, 01/26/20.~

~The birds landed very briefly before lifting right back up again and eventually heading out. SNGO in the black dirt, 01/26/20.~

OC Greater White-fronted Goose, 01/25/20

After a week of beautiful weather, I can’t lie, I was ticked off this morning with rain being in the forecast for basically the entire day. I woke up early to get out a little before the rain; Maria Loukeris and I ran to try for the Glaucous Gull that has been reported at Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority. While we were there, it started raining. And, although I got on a larger white-winged gull in flight a couple of times, we we left without ever being able to locate the bird on the ground to confirm the ID (most gulls were landing on the other side of the hill and out of sight). Sigh.

~Awesome bird. Greater White-fronted Goose at Skinners Lane, 01/25/20.~

But, it’s amazing how one single bird can save a day of birding. After dropping off Maria, I stopped by Skinners Lane and found a good sized flock of Canada Geese. I started to sort through them and quickly located a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE; likely the same bird that has been reported intermittently in the area this winter. I went through the rest of the flock, hoping for a Cackling Goose, but no luck there. I’d put the word out, and Linda Scrima and Karen Miller both ran for and got the GWFG.

2020 Orange County Waterfowl Count

Today, for the second year running, Linda Scrima and I participated in the Mearn’s Bird Club’s Orange County Winter Waterfowl Count. Like last year, our sector was the Black Dirt Region. Which means more fields than bodies of water, so we spent the majority of the time searching for, counting, and sorting flocks of Canada Geese. We met at the Liberty Loop parking area at sunrise, and then made our way through the black dirt, hitting the usual spots as well as scouting some relatively unfamiliar territory.

~The bird of the day – blue morph Snow Goose viewed from Celery Avenue, 01/18/20.~

Last year we got lucky and located a couple of rare birds (Cackling and Greater White-fronted Goose). This year was a little less exciting; our best bird was a blue morph Snow Goose that we found on Celery Avenue. But, we did increase our number of species from 2019 to 2020 (6 to 7). Here’s our totals for the day:

Canada Goose: 1,755
Mallard: 48
American Black Duck: 2
Mute Swan: 5
Ring-necked Duck: 1
Common Merganser: 17
Snow Goose: 1

~One of three Great Blue Herons we had in the black dirt today, 01/19/20.~

We did have some notable other birds as we made our way around. Raptors top the list with: Red-tailed Hawk (6), Red-shouldered Hawk (1), Rough-legged Hawk (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk (1), and Bald Eagle (2). We also had a surprising (3) Great Blue Herons as well as an extremely large flock of blackbirds that passed in the far distance; it is hard to put a number on it, but there were probably north of 3,500 birds.

I enjoyed participating in the count – it was nice to have a defined purpose in our birding. I’m thinking this is a direction I’d like to take to a larger degree in my birding moving forward.

~A small flock of Canada Geese lift off from Skinners Lane with High Point in the distance.~

Sunday Shots 01/12/20

I enjoyed a pleasant weekend of birding. After the first full work week in a while, it just felt good to get out and see some birds. That being said, I didn’t come across anything too exciting, with the exception of one bird – Linda Scrima had an ICELAND GULL at the Newburgh Waterfront on Saturday evening. This is likely the same bird that Bruce Nott located in the same area on Friday. Unfortunately, while we were lucky to get the bird, we were a bit unlucky in that it flew south after only a couple of minutes and we were unable to relocate it. See poor photo of that bird at the bottom of this post.

~This bird actually flew in and landed right near me and started repeatedly diving. Bufflehead at Wickham Lake, 01/12/20.~

Aside from the Iceland Gull, the weekend was a bit hum-drum. Linda and I tried for the Storm King Golden Eagle, but didn’t have any luck. On Saturday morning, Linda relocated the Greater White-fronted Goose that has been hanging around the black dirt, but it flew before I could even think about running for it. I sorted through many geese on both days with nothing other than Canada Geese. Wickham Lake on Sunday morning was a pleasant stop; I had a couple of American Widgeon, a couple of Ring-necked Ducks, and a very accommodating Bufflehead. Still, it was great to get out, especially with the weather being so mild.