August 2012 – Orange Birding

Upstate NY – 8/26/12

I had an amazing Sunday morning of bird photography!

_MG_5022-001 — Red-headed Woodpecker in Upstate NY.

_MG_5088 — Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker in Upstate NY

_MG_5062 — Early on I was taking some really long distance photos of this Sharp-shinned Hawk. While I was taking other photos, the hawk flew closer and landed on this perch right in front of me! UPDATE 3/19/14: Thanks to Ryan J Bass who commented and pointed out that this is likely a Red-shouldered Hawk, not a Sharpie. I think he is right – any other opinions?

_MG_5073 — I really wanted to get a shot of this hawk in flight, but he flew away from me and I got this photo just as he was landing on another dead tree.

_MG_5173 — There was a pair of Green Herons about 25 in front of me. I didn’t take any photos of them because they were all in shadows…until they started hunting.

_MG_5253 — A happy, full Green Heron in upstate NY.

_MG_5258 — A Northern Flicker landed right above my head.

_MG_5334 — American Goldfinch in upstate NY.

_MG_5327 — Here’s a brighter male American Goldfinch.

_MG_5159 — Ruby-throated Hummingbird in upstate NY..

_MG_5237 — This pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers seemed to be striking a pose for me.

_MG_5271 — One last one of a Red-headed Woodpecker. What a treat to see these birds.

Wallkill River NWR – A decidedly different feel

_MG_4737 — A rather elegant looking Lesser Yellowlegs at Wallkill River NWR.

I walked the Liberty Loop at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday evening. I have been doing some reading and working on shorebird identification lately, so my primary goal was to see if my work would pay off. The Liberty Loop trail had a different feel on this day for sure. As soon as I got out of the car I heard birds overhead. To me they sounded like they were saying “me…me………me…me”. Karen Miller and I had heard the same call the day before out at the Shawangunk Grasslands. I managed to get some good looks and some photos and when I got home I figured out it was a flock of Bobolinks – at least 40 birds. From the viewing platform several shorebirds could be seen as well as a couple dozen Canada Geese, a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret. A Northern Harrier cruised the marsh looking for prey. There was a conspicuous lack of Red-winged Blackbirds. Fall migration sure seemed to be underway.

_MG_4680 — One of the Bobolinks that were flocking at the Liberty Loop.

I walked quickly to the southern end of the loop to look for shorebirds. There were a good many present and as usual I struggled to identify them. I took some time with it and determined that there were no out of the ordinary shorebirds present. Here’s my count:

(4) Killdeer
(2) Solitary Sandpiper
(3) Lesser Yellowlegs
(24) Least Sandpiper

_MG_4719 — Lesser Yellowlegs at the Wallkill River NWR

I was pleasantly surprised to find several types of ducks in the back pond:

Mallard
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Blue-winged Teals
Green-winged Teals

It was nice to see a variety of ducks again!

_MG_4694 — I think this is a mix of Green-winged Teals and Blue-winged Teals found in the back pond at Wallkill River NWR. For some reason I didn’t manage to get any good shots of ducks.

On my way out, I found this juvenile Black-Crowned Night-heron:

_MG_4780 — This summer I was looking for a BCNH for so long with no luck and now it seems like I see one every time I go out!

As you can see from the above photo, this heron was well aware of my presence, but did not seem to be bothered by me in the least. I walked slowly down the trail until I was in a good position for a photo and then snapped away. When I moved on, this young heron was still sitting in the same spot.

I was happy with my work with the camera – it was nearly dark, but I still managed to get some good photos. I am getting better with both my settings and with keeping the camera stead with a slow shutter speed (1/50th of a second!). Here’s one more of the BCNH:

_MG_4834 — Black-Crowned Night-heron at Wallkill River NWR.

Dennings Point State Park – Heron Triple Play

_MG_4245 — A young Black-Crowned Night-heron out during the day at Dennings Point in Beacon NY.

Yesterday evening I was supposed to meet Karen Miller at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR. I was running early, so I decided to head over to Dennings Point State Park in Beacon NY. I had birded there one other time – it was a really nice hike but I did not see or hear very many birds. I figured I would give it another shot and it really paid off. About ten minutes into the hike I reached the first view of the water. As I got close to the shore, I flushed three Green Herons by tripping on a root! I looked out over the water and a along the shore and saw:

7 Green Herons
3 Black-Crowned Night-herons
2 Great Blue Herons
4 Great Egrets
Canada Geese
Ring-billed Gulls

Wow! What a great start! I talked to Karen and we decided to save the Shawangunk Grasslands for another day, she would join me at Dennings Point instead. It was a great day of birding! I had 29 species for the day and I got many good looks at both the Green Herons and Black-Crowned Night-herons. At one point, at a point in the trail a little deeper in the woods, we had close to ten species of song birds in just a few minutes. This was Karen’s highlight of the day. Here’s some photos from the day:

_MG_4231 — A pair of Green Herons ignore each other.

_MG_4255 — A Great Blue Heron in the distance.

_MG_4234 — I took this photo through the branches. A young Black-Crowned Night-heron and a a Green Heron hang out together at Dennings Point in Beacon NY.

_MG_4247 — This Blue Jay chased off two Green Herons and one Black-Crowned Night-heron. One Green Heron put up a fight, but the jay won in the end. To the victor go the spoils I guess.

Skinner Lane – 8/14/12

_MG_4167 — One of over a hundred Killdeer I saw out at Skinner Lane

I went out to Skinner Lane in Goshen today after work. Last fall Skinner Lane was a really good spot for shorebirds, so I figured I would swing by and see what I could find. There were many Killdeer present, I counted at least 100, but they were the only shorebirds to be found. I wasn’t there long when many of the Killdeer suddenly flew. That is when I noticed a Northern Harrier cruising above the fields. I checked my eBird checklists – this was the first Northern Harrier I had seen since the end of March! I watched in my binoculars for a short while until it dropped into one of the fields and disappeared in the crops. I waited but I never did see the hawk again.

The highlight of the day was seeing a group of approximately 15 Horned Larks. This is a life bird for me, so it was very exciting. They landed not very far away from me, but there was a car coming so I had to snap a few pictures as quickly as I could before they flew. I did the best I could, but I was not very happy with the results:

_MG_4182 — I believe this is a female Horned Lark – Skinner Lane 8/14/12

_MG_4183 — This photo is blurry but shows the markings a little better.

On my way out I spotted an American Kestrel with a fresh kill. He was dining on the top of a power line pole.

_MG_4202 — After several photos of just a silhouette of this bird, I over-exposed this shot to get the details to show.

_MG_4153 — Here’s another of the many Killdeer at Skinner Lane – 8/14/12

Wallkill River NWR – Looking For Black-crowned Night-Herons

_MG_3719 — Black-crowned Night-Heron at Walllkill River WR

I made it out to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge before sunrise THREE times this week in hopes of finally getting some Black-crowned Night-Heron photos. I identified 37 species of birds (and one really cute mammal) in those three days. Here’s a short list of favorites:

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Herons(many!)
Great Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Bald Eagle
Cooper’s Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Pectoral Sandpiper
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink

I finally got a pretty good look at both an adult and a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron this morning, and it is thanks to John – a fellow birder I met out at the refuge this morning. He told me when he first arrived that he had never had any luck finding BCNH at this site. Moments later one flew right over our heads! He later found three BCNH in a couple of trees just off of the east side of the trail and he made sure I knew exactly where to find them. Thanks John!