Orange Birding

Orange County Caspian Terns, 08/15/21

Shorebird migration hitting its stride has really gotten my birding blood pumping. On Saturday and early Sunday morning I birded the black dirt and Liberty Marsh and had a total of 10 species of shorebirds (Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, and Solitary Sandpiper). If I add my mystery shorebirds from last Sunday, which turned out to be UPLAND SANDPIPERS, that’s 11 species of shorebirds in a week.

~Caspian Tern in flight above Cornwall Bay, 08/15/21.~

But, as much as I love shorebirds, the real excitement began later in the morning when Bruce Nott notified me that he had several CASPIAN TERNS at Cornwall Bay. I headed straight over and joined Bruce. Two of the terns had departed, heading south, but that still left six Caspian Terns present. We enjoyed watching as the 3 adult birds actively fished and periodically brought back their prey to feed the waiting and calling 3 juvenile birds. We also had some shorebirds fly in and stay on the sandbar briefly – by my count there were 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a single Least Sandpiper. Eventually the terns all settled in on the sand bar presumably content for the moment. We departed definitively content. Huge thanks for Bruce for the heads up and the awesome company.

~Caspian Tern at Cornwall Bay, 08/15/21.~

~Caspian Tern over the treetops, Cornwall Bay, 08/15/21.~

~CATE at Cornwall Bay 08/15/21.~

~Great Blue Heron at Beaver Pond on Friday evening, 08/13/21.~

~For all the shorebirds I’ve seen recently, decent photos are tough to come by as the birds are always so distant. I’ve looked at hundreds of Killdeer this week, here’s one at Skinners Lane, 08/12/21.~

~Sandhill Cranes in a ditch in the black dirt, 08/14/21.~

~House Wren in the black dirt, 08/14/21.~

~Red-tailed Hawk in the black dirt, 08/15/21.~

A Good Morning, 08/08/21

I toyed with the idea of heading back north to try for the Wood Stork again, but ultimately I decided to stay local. The bird was reported at the German Church Road location again yesterday evening, but I haven’t heard anything today.

My first stop was the Camel Farm for shorebirds; I found nearly a dozen Least Sandpipers and a couple of Semipalmated Sandpipers. Moving on, I went to the Liberty Loop. Again my main goal was shorebirds, but I also was hoping for the SNOWY EGRET and LITTLE BLUE HERON, both of which were present. I had a decent list of shorebirds: Semipalmated Plover (2), Killdeer (25+), Least Sandpiper (1), Semipalmated Sandpiper (1), Solitary Sandpiper (2), Greater Yellowlegs (1), and Lesser Yellowlegs (2). It’s great to be seeing shorebirds again.

~Little Blue Heron at Wallkill River Nation Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Marsh, 08/08/21.~

I made a couple more stops after that – I checked Beaver Pond but found poor conditions and no shorebirds. I also went to Skinners Lane, where I had a good number of Killdeer, as well as 3 mystery shorebirds which were rude enough to just do a flyover and not stop. Another exciting thing for me was a decent number of Horned Larks (20 or so), with many young birds in the mix.

~One Snowy Egret with 3 Great Egrets, a couple of Great Blue Herons, and some Mallards. Liberty Marsh, 08/08/21.~

~A messy looking Northern Mockingbird at the Camel Farm, 08/08/21.~

~Mystery shorebirds at Skinners Lane, 08/08/21.

A Painful Dip, 08/07/21

This morning I headed north to try for the WOOD STORK that has been seen in Columbia County. I’ll start off by saying I did not get out as early as I would have liked, and then, just as I was getting the drive started I missed my exit. I compounded my error by following the GPS as it re-routed me, instead of just getting off the next exit and turning around. Ultimately, missing that exit cost me about 10 minutes and a life bird.

~No offense to this bird, but close up looks at a Great Egret did not make up for missing the Wood Stork. German Church Road, Ghent NY 08/07/21.

On my way up, Scotty Baldinger was kind enough to report on the Mearns App that the Wood Stork was present. This got me anxious to get up there, but the trip is just over an hour and a half, so I had to just be patient. When I arrived on German Church Road in Ghent NY, about a quarter mile in I saw two birders on the side of the road. The Wood Stork is there! they reported and I continued just over a half mile to the location. Only the bird wasn’t there. The birders present let me know that it had flown across the road and back along the way I’d just come. We walked along the road looking through the trees to see if the bird had put down. Then, one of the two birders I’d seen earlier came and reported that they’d seen the bird; it flew over their location and over the main road (Union Turnpike). That means, in the two minute drive from where I’d seen them to the location, the bird flew over me and past me and I never saw it! Ugh!

~A painful illustration of how it went down, lol.~

I spent a couple of hours searching the area, checking back at the original location often, but I had no luck. So, I decided to head back to Orange County. I got about 25 minutes away, when I got a report that the Wood Stork was currently being seen again at German Church Road. I turned around, drove back the 25 minutes to find that once again the bird was not there! What?!? I checked my phone and there was a follow up to the report saying that it was a mistake, and the bird actually wasn’t there. Gah! What a morning! At that point, I packed it in and finally headed back to OC, this time all the way home.

~One of two Solitary Sandpipers, German Church Road, Ghent NY 08/07/21.~

Sunday Shots/Weekend Wrap-up, 08/01/21

I felt the summer doldrums lifting a little bit this weekend, which was nice. On Saturday morning I met Rob Stone out at Wisner Road in Warwick with the goal of trying to get an accurate count of the Sedge Wrens. We spent over an hour listening and walking the road and in the end we felt that there are a minimum of 7 birds, with possibly as many as 10. Which is pretty amazing. Afterwards, I birded 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, which was birdy but with usuals and no real photo ops. In the evening I went to the Camel Farm to check for shorebirds. I was pleasantly surprised to find good shorebird conditions and approximately a dozen shorebirds (Least Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, and Killdeer). I’m optimistic that we’ll see some good birds out there sometime soon.

~Common Yellowthroat near our vacation house in Prattsville, New York in the Catskills, 07/20/21.~

Today I checked the Camel Farm again; there seemed to be more birds and the same species with the addition of a Spotted Sandpiper. I also went out to Skinners Lane where there was a good number of swallows present (mostly Trees, with also a good number of Barns, and at least one Bank). I also got a nice scope view of a beautiful, dark Red-tailed Hawk which I believe was the subspecies Abieticola, with a dark chin with dribble marks and an extremely dark belly band. It was too distant for photos, but hopefully they will be in the cards in future visits.

~Barn Swallow at Skinners Lane, 08/01/21.~

~Song Sparrow in Prattsville, NY 07/20/21.~

~A recently fledged Common Yellowthroat in Prattsville, NY 07/20/21.~

~A messy muscat at 6 1/2 Station Road, 07/31/21.~

~Bald Eagle at Mine Kill State Park in the Catskills, 07/21/21.~

~It hasn’t been easy for me to confirm breeding for this species – American Goldfinch with nesting material at Winding Waters Trail, 07/31/21.~

Orange County Sedge Wrens, 07/27/21

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a life bird (over a year), but that’s what happened today. It was a bonus that the location was in Orange County and less than a 1/2 hour away. So, after work tonight I headed over to Lower Wisner Road, where up to 4 SEDGE WRENS have been reported in the last couple of days. As soon as I got out of the car, I could hear a SEWR calling from the north side of the road. As I got closer, I could hear a second bird, closer, calling from the south side of the road. I stayed still, listened and scanned, and eventually I located the bird, just about 30 yards out. I was pretty excited, it’s not every Tuesday evening you can get a lifer that easily; it was my 424th life bird.

IMPORTANT: *Please do not use tapes to try and get these birds closer for views or photos. They are pretty cooperative and patience will pay off. Use of tapes will likely disturb their attempts at breeding and ruin this great situation.* Thanks to John Haas for the above advice put forth on his blog Bashakill Birder.

Siblings

I was on vacation last week; we rented a large house up in the Catskills with members of Tricia’s family. I took the opportunity to mostly relax poolside and while I didn’t actually do all that much birding, I did get out a couple of times. I’ll go through my pics and put together a post in the next day or so. Meanwhile, here are some shots of Green Heron siblings in the pond near my house from before I left. I’ve been in the area for 10 years now, and I think this is the second time that Green Herons have bred in that little pond.

Sunday Shots, 07/11/21

It was a mostly uneventful weekend of birding for me. On Saturday I birded in my NYS Breeding Bird Atlas priority block and was able to confirm three additional species: Northern Mockingbird, Red-tailed Hawk, and House Sparrow. On Sunday I decided to change it up a little and I headed to Sullivan County, where I birded Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area. I was hoping for the outside chance at seeing/hearing Ruffed Grouse, but had to settle for seeing and hearing some species I don’t see very often in Orange County: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warble, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Magnolia Warbler.

~Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Hickok Brook MUA, 07/11/21.~

~Although most were heard, it’s always good to see a Hermit Thrush. Hickok Brook MUA, 07/11/21.~ .

~A recently fledged Red-tailed Hawk waits for a parent to bring a meal, Sugarloaf NY 07/10/21.~

~I initially thought this was a new species confirmed, but it turns out that Chipping Sparrow had already been confirmed in my priority block. Sugarloaf NY, 07/10/21.~

More Atlasing and a Photogenic Gray Catbird

I birded along the railroad tracks north of Sugarloaf again this morning – it’s turning out to be a very productive spot in my NYS Breeding Bird Atlas Priority Block (Warwick_CE). I confirmed (8) species this morning, (3) of which were new confirmations: Song Sparrow, House Finch, and Downy Woodpecker. Other highlights included watching a family of Barn Swallows during feeding time, and a rather charismatic Gray Catbird. I’ve actually always thought they were quite a photogenic species, I even included a shot of one in my top ten photos of the year back in 2016.

~Gray Catbird in Sugarloaf NY, 07/04/21.~

~A young Barn Swallow anticipating being fed by a parent…

~…and the parent doesn’t disappoint. Barn Swallow in Sugarloaf NY, 07/04/21.~

~A different Gray Catbird – this one is a newly fledged bird. Sugarloaf NY, 07/04/21.~

6 1/2 Station Road, 07/03/21

Just after sunrise this morning I was hitting the trail at Black Rock Forest. I was, of course, trying for Ruffed Grouse again; it was a total bust. The rain was relentless, the hike was difficult with slippery rocks, and there were hardly any birds – and no grouse.

Afterwards, I went home, dried off, got changed and went back out. This time to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary to try for Least Bittern. The rain had finally subsided, it was a cool, pleasant walk on level ground, and yes, I got a Least Bittern. It was actually a pretty productive visit; I had nearly 40 species. I got a decent look at the bittern, as well as a low flying Virginia Rail. I was also able to confirm breeding status for (4) species: Song Sparrow, Common Grackle, Wood Duck, and Common Gallinule.

~*Green Heron at 6 1/2 Station Road, 07/03/21.~*

~MODO at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 07/03/21.~

~Adult female Wood Duck with some sleepy ducklings. ^ 1/2 Station Road, 07/03/21.~

~Can you see the Least Bittern? It may have been distant, but it was still great to see. This bird was my 177th species in Orange County this year – I haven’t been really going for a big county list this year, and it shows – I’m 15 birds behind last year’s pace. LEBI at 6 1/2 Station Road, 07/03/21.~

Sunday Shots, 06/27/21

I did most of my birding this weekend in my NYS Breeding Bird Atlas priority block, Warwick_CE. I was able to confirm several species, but unfortunately only one new species for the block: Yellow Warbler. Yesterday was pretty much a dud of a morning, but today was much better. I made a quick stop by 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary to try for the Least Bitterns which have been reported there (I still need them for OC this year). I had no luck with the bitterns, but I did find a cooperative Swamp Sparrow, which was a nice treat.

~A singing Marsh Wren at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 06/27/21.~

Afterwards, I birded a new spot in my priority block. I walked along the train tracks in Sugarloaf, heading north. The block continues for nearly a mile along the tracks; the birding was pretty much non-stop and I had a total of 37 species in a one mile span, which I didn’t think was too bad at all. It was at this location that I confirmed Yellow Warbler, and I feel like it will be a good spot to confirm other species in the future.