Orange Birding

Bearfort Ridge & Surprise Lake Loop, 03/27/21

I met up with my brother-in-law Bill this morning and we hiked the Bearfort Ridge and Surprise Lake Loop, which is located just west of the southernmost point of Greenwood Lake. It’s an 8 mile loop, and AllTrails includes its rating as moderate. For someone in my shape, I think that means you only have a moderate cardiac event when you hike it. Actually, after the first mile, where we climbed approximately 700 feet, it wasn’t too bad. But, wow that first mile was a doozy.

The weather was perfect, mostly sunny and just cool enough. There are many good lookouts throughout the trail, and we could see New York City from several of them. As for the birds, Turkey Vulture was the bird of the day. They were often overhead and we had a pair of them perched looking over West Pond. Other raptors included at least a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks and a Red-tailed Hawk. The best bird of the day was a couple of Fox Sparrows which Bill spotted rooting around the leaf litter under some trees. A small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets were a close second place.

*~NYC off in the distance. Bearfort Ridge & Surprise Lake Loop, 03/27/21.~*

In the end, it took us approximately 5 hours to hike the 8 mile loop. That was with plenty of stops for rests, taking in the views, and some birding. When we got back to the cars, we dug into our lunches. Tuna on rye never tasted so good.

~Sleepy Turkey Vulture. Bearfort Ridge & Surprise Lake Loop, 03/27/21.~

~Me and a couple of perched Turkey Vultures at West Pond, 03/27/21. Photo by Bill Barrett.~

Immature Gulls, GBBG vs HERG

I’ve become more and more obsessed with gulls, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with my ‘Gulls Simplified’ book by Pete Dunne and Kevin T. Karlson, and on the Facebook page North American Gulls. It’s put me in the mind of just trying to get out and enjoy the gulls while I still can. Our “season” for good gulling is quickly coming to a close. So, I headed out to the Newburgh Waterfront this evening to see what was going on. Gull numbers are certainly down a bit, but there were still plenty of birds to enjoy.

~Immature Great Black-backed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 03/20/21.~

Unfortunately, most of the gulls were WAY out, and the heat shimmer was making it too difficult to sort through them. So instead, I focused on the nearby birds; they were mostly Ring-billed Gulls, but there was also a handful of immature Herring Gulls (HERG) and what I believe was a single immature Great Black-backed Gull (GBBG). I hope I am correct, otherwise this post will be a total embarrassing bust, lol. The bird (above) shows what Dunne and Karlson refer to as ‘piano keyed appearance’, it was slightly larger than nearby HERGs, and had a noticeable overall whiteness to it, compared to the more drab brown look of the HERG (below).

~Immature Herring Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 03/20/21.~

Both are good looking birds, but I have to say I’m partial to the GBBG, it’s a handsome beast. As the sun started to set and it cooled a bit, I was able to go through some of the distant gulls – nearly all Herring Gulls, with one adult Great Black-backed Gull and an Immature ICELAND GULL. Good gulling!

~GBBH in the foreground and HERG in the back. Newburgh 03/20/21.~

~GBBG in flight, Newburgh Waterfront 03/20/21.~

~One last pretty shot of the immature Great Black-backed Gull, Newburgh Waterfront 03/20/21.~

Ulster County Red Crossbills, 03/14/21

I headed up north to Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County this morning to try and catch up with the RED CROSSBILLS which have been reported there in recent days. On my way up I became convinced that I’d waited one day too many, but fortunately I was wrong and the birds continued. I got nice looks and just so-so photo ops of these fantastic birds. I also ran into Rick Hansen and PJ Singh; it was really good to see the two of them and enjoy the birds with them.

~I was happy these birds stuck around for me. Red Crossbill at Ashokan Reservoir this morning, 03/14/21.~

*~Lonely Red Crossbill on a branch, Ashokan Reservoir 03/14/21.~*

~Red Crossbill at Ashokan Reservoir, 03/14/21.~

I was out and about on Saturday too; it was mostly unremarkable birding but very pleasant to be out of the house and birding. Here’s a few shots from the day.

~Red-tailed Hawk just before sunset, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 03/13/21.~

~You know it’s a slow afternoon at the Newburgh Waterfront when I’m photographing Canada Geese landings. I enjoyed it. 03/13/21.~

~Ring-billed Gull in nice conditions, Newburgh Waterfront 02/13/21.~

~Turkey Vulture at the Camel Farm, 03/13/21.~

Sunday Shots, 03/07/21

I can remember, way back when, when I was just starting birding and I had just begun this blog (nearly 9 years ago now!), I always wanted to photograph male Hooded Mergansers. They are a fabulous looking bird, and while these days I’m not quite as enamored with them as I used to be, it was nice to happen upon one this morning at Greenwood Lake. The drake was accompanied by two females and I had some good timing and was able to get some decent shots.

~Male Hooded Merganser at Greenwood Lake, 03/07/21.~

~One of two female Hooded Mergs at Greenwood Lake, 03/07/21.~

Grasslands, 03/06/21

In spite of less than ideal conditions, I decided to head out to the Grasslands for sunrise this morning. By less than ideal conditions, I mean it was partly to mostly cloudy with a pretty strong northwest wind. Ideally I would prefer the steady morning sun and a south wind (so that the raptors hunt facing south, keeping the sun on their face and at my back). Anyways, I got there quite early and I was able to get into the only blind that’s open on the weekends (southernmost blind). While the strong winds seemed to keep the birds from flying quite as much as I would have liked, I had some decent opportunities and some nice birds. Raptors included Northern Harriers (4), Rough-legged Hawks (3), Red-tailed Hawks (3), a couple of Turkey Vultures, and a single American Kestrel. One other highlight was my first Eastern Meadowlark of the year.

~Male NOHA in flight with some snow flurries at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~Boy I wish this bird would have come closer – how beautiful is this beast?!? Rough-legged Hawk over horizon at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~American Kestrel at the Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~Gray Ghost over the trees. Grasslands, 03/06/21.~

~One more of the Gray Ghost, Grasslands 03/06/21.~

~After the Grasslands, I headed up to Rhinebeck to chase the two BARROW’S GOLDENEYES which have been seen there. I dipped on the female, but did catch up with the male (above) on River Road, where I joined Karen Miller who got me on the bird shortly after my arrival.~

Piermont Pier, 02/27/21

I looked at this morning’s forecast last night and it made me cranky. I’m sitting at my desk working all week with beautiful sunshine out the window, then on the weekend it’s snow, rain, and clouds. But then I took a different perspective on it. The rain would keep most folks home… so with that in mind I went to Piermont Pier, a location I’ve been avoiding because I figure especially during the pandemic, it’s likely to be loaded with people. I mostly had the place to myself, and while the rain made birding a little bit difficult, it was a good morning.

The highlight of the morning was relocating the pair of PURPLE SANDPIPERS which have been reported this winter. I was surprised to find them, because I looked on eBird last night and they hadn’t been reported in a couple of weeks. My main goal for the morning was to see what waterfowl were present; I was disappointed by the number of species (only 8), but I counted an impressive 288 Ruddy Ducks present. That’s by far the most Ruddies I’ve ever seen in one place.

~Two of the 288 Ruddy Ducks I counted at Piermont Pier this morning, 02/27/21.~

Afterwards, I birded the Hudson River, making my way all the way up to Newburgh. It wasn’t exciting, but it was enjoyable. My best bird was a Lesser Scaup at Plum Point, my first LESC in Orange County for the year.

~The always accommodating Ring-billed Gull. This bird was in Stony Point, 02/27/21.~

~Great Black-backed Gull, Piermont Pier 02/27/21.~

Sunday Shots, 02/21/21

It wasn’t the most exciting Sunday morning, especially after getting so many birds so easily yesterday in Rye. I tooled around the black for while first thing, highlights included my first two Merlins of the year and a Lapland Longspur in very nice plumage. Afterwards, I headed to Beacon to try for gulls, but it was too early in the day and gull numbers were down and I only had the three expected species. Anyways, here’s a handful shots from the morning.

~Lapland Longspur showing off its namesake. Black Dirt Region, 02/21/21.~

~LALO with a HOLA in the background, black dirt 02/21/21.~

~Horned Lark in the black dirt this morning, 02/21/21.~

~I never pass on an opportunity to shoot a Northern Mockingbird. Black dirt 02/21/21.~

Rye NY, 02/20/21

Last night I decided that I wanted to change it up a little bit this weekend. And I wanted to go to the beach. So, I headed to Rye, New York early this morning to bird the Playland and the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary. The weather was my favorite – cold and mostly sunny. This location is a great place to bird, because you are guaranteed to get birds, especially waterfowl. It was a pleasant morning of birding were I had 21 species of waterfowl. Suffice to say you won’t see that in Orange County this time of year. Noteworthy species included Surf Scoter, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Common Goldeneye, and Ruddy Duck. I finished the morning with 35 species on my list.

~Female Hooded Merganser at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Common Loon at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Always a favorite, Red-throated Loon at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Northern Shoveler. This one was in the lake at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~Greater Scaup at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 02/20/21.~

~In the afternoon I stopped by the Newburgh Waterfront on my way home. The adult Iceland (above) was present and not far from the boat launch. I also saw an immature Glaucous Gull in flight a few times. The bird was WAY out there.

Sunday Shots, 02/14/21

Well, it was another enjoyable weekend of winter birding. Yesterday was a home run gulling at the Hudson River, then this morning I did a quick cruise around the black dirt where I located a remarkable 8 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. I found 2 off of Route 12 in New Hampton, and an additional 6 on Ridgebury Road in Slate Hill. From there I headed over to the Bashakill to check to see if the large flock of Snow Buntings were still present. They were, and they were quite accommodating. I ran into Karen Miller while I was there and we located a distant Rough-legged Hawk, off of Haven Road; I don’t think they get them there very often. From there I called it a day a little on the early side, but it was a good morning.

~Snow Bunting – Haven Road at the Bashakill, 02/14/21.~

~THE THREE AMIGOS! Horned Lark, Snow Bunting, and Lapland Longspur sharing a snow drift, Slate Hill NY 02/14/21.~

~Lapland Longspur in the Black Dirt, 02/14/21.~

~Snow Buntings coming in for a landing on a wire, Bashakill 02/14/21.~

~A pair of Lapland Longspurs in the Black Dirt, 02/14/21.~

~Northern Mockingbird at Galeville Park, 02/13/21.!

Adult Iceland Gull, 02/13/21

I feel like I’ve been on a pretty good roll lately. Last night Bruce Nott, birding bud and fellow Larophile, emailed me some fabulous photos he took of an adult Iceland Gull. I was already planning to head to the river the next day, but this gorgeous bird got me really excited to head over – I’ve been saying for years that I’d love to get a look at an adult ICGU. So, I joined Bruce and Joe Chernek at the Newburgh Waterfront early this afternoon; Bruce had already relocated the bird and it wasn’t very far out. We enjoyed tremendous looks at this beautiful bird and, of course, took loads of photos. Karen Miller joined us and she got the bird as well.

~Beautiful Bird. Adult Iceland Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront this afternoon, 02/13/21.~

Joe and Karen left, but Bruce and lingered. More gulls were moving in, and we were hoping to see the immature Glaucous Gull. I located an interesting bird that was a little bit distant. It was definitely a white-winged gull that was showing some gray on its upper back and wings. Eventually the bird relocated and we got some better looks – it was a subadult Iceland Gull! We were both pretty jazzed about that bird, but also greedy… and it paid off as Bruce was able to locate the immature Glaucous Gull before we got too cold and wrapped things up. It was another great day of gulling; I can’t thank Bruce enough for all the work he’s been doing and for keeping everyone informed.