I believe I had a Stilt Sandpiper out at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge between 5 and 6 o’clock this evening. I am feeling pretty good about this ID, but having only ever seen the bird once before, I am not totally convinced . If you have any thoughts on the identification of this bird please weigh in; you can make a comment here or email me at mattzeit@yahoo.com. Here are a few more photos: 
Month: September 2013
Morningside Park Photos 9/29/13
Every once in a while I just need to go do some birding in a location that is likely to provide plenty of photo opportunities. Morningside Park is perfect for this, as long as you are birding by kayak. I arrived at the park right after sunrise to take advantage of the beautiful early morning light; for me, you cannot beat early morning light for beautiful photos. There was a misty fog on the surface of the lake that I also find appealing but difficult to translate into photos. I was pleased with the results, there were plenty of birds to shoot and the fall colors were reflecting off the water wonderfully.
Mt. Peter Hawk Watch – 9/28/13
Well, I had another slow day for migrating raptors at Mt. Peter Hawk Watch today. Overall I think the numbers of migrating hawks at the watch have been good this season, but I only had 21 today. Visit Hawkcount.org to see all the data for the year. Here is my report from today:
Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2013
——————————————————————-
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 2 2
Osprey 1 101 101
Bald Eagle 1 71 71
Northern Harrier 2 26 26
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 362 362
Cooper’s Hawk 0 21 21
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 20 20
Broad-winged Hawk 8 7591 7591
Red-tailed Hawk 0 6 6
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 0 86 86
Merlin 0 5 5
Peregrine Falcon 0 6 6
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 3 3
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 0 16 16
Total: 21 8317 8317
———————————————————————-
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Matt Zeitler
Observers: Tom Millard
Visitors:
Steven Liss and family, several families eating their ice cream.
Weather:
A heavy fog rolled in from the valley shortly after my arrival to the
watch, but cleared up by the end of the first hour. It was a warm sunny day
with some clouds and a gentle NW breeze that shifted to NE during the fifth
hour of the watch. Temperatures ranged from 10 to 25 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations:
Migrating raptors included (1) Immature Bald Eagle, (2) unknown Northern
Harriers, and an immature Red-shouldered Hawk.
Non-migrating raptors: Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures were flying for
most of the day as was one local Red-tailed Hawk. Just before noon Eastern
Standard Time an immature Bald Eagle circled west of the viewing platform
but then headed north.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptor species: Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay (49), Black-throated Green
Warbler (2), Cedar Waxwing (18), Eastern Phoebe, Canada Goose (33), Chimney
Swift (5), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Palm Warbler.
Buff-breasted Sandpipers Continue – 9/25/13
I stopped by Missionland road tonight around 6:15 and the three Buff-breasted Sandpipers continue. Here’s one more noisy shot (both shots were taken at ISO 3200):
Buff-Breasted Sandpiper 9/23/13
This evening at around 5:50 pm I had three Buff-breasted Sandpipers on the west side of Missionland Road, right across from Gurda Street. This is a life bird for me, huge thanks go out once again to Rob Stone for locating and posting – it is appreciated!
Wallkill River NWR 9/22/13
Here’s a quick post from my outing on Sunday morning. I arrived at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge just after sunrise; the sunlight was beautiful and the birds were plentiful. Here’s my list for the day:
Canada Goose 45
Mallard 30
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 10
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 10
Green Heron 5
Turkey Vulture 2
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Killdeer 6
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 12
Pectoral Sandpiper 3
Wilson’s Snipe 2
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 10
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 40
Common Yellowthroat 4
Northern Parula 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Song Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal 1
Bobolink X
American Goldfinch 2
Mt. Peter 9/21/13
Wow, today was a slow day at the hawk watch. Just one day after having over 2,700 migrating raptors, I had only 23 today. The good news is that the birds were flying a little lower so I was able to snap a few photos. Here is my report for the day:
Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2013
——————————————————————-
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 81 81
Bald Eagle 0 46 46
Northern Harrier 0 11 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 208 208
Cooper’s Hawk 0 15 15
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 18 18
Broad-winged Hawk 4 7109 7109
Red-tailed Hawk 0 5 5
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 2 49 49
Merlin 0 4 4
Peregrine Falcon 0 3 3
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 3 3
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 0 13 13
Total: 23 7566 7566
———————————————————————-
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Matt Zeitler
Observers: Bill Connolly, Bill O’Keefe, Rob Stone
Visitors:
Lee Geiger, several families.
Weather:
It was a little cool and very cloudy in the morning but warm and partly
sunny in the afternoon. Temperatures ranged from 15 to 24 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations:
For migrating raptors we had one adult Red-shouldered Hawk, one male
American Kestrel, and one unknown American Kestrel. Non-migrating raptors
included Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks (2) and a low
flying Coopers Hawk that passed 50 yards to the west of the platform, below
eye level, and darted into the trees.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non Raptor Species: American Goldfinch (1), Cedar Waxwing (15), Blue Jay
(20+), Canada Goose (1), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1), and Chimney Swift
(13). Non-raptor highlight was a Common Loon to the west of the platform,
heading north.
9/18/13 and 9/19/13
Both yesterday and today I left work and spent an hour or so at Mt. Peter Hawk Watch. Yesterday I caught the tail end of a great day – over 1400 migrating raptors passed over. While I was there we had a large kettle of fly over, comprised of over 160 Broad-winged Hawks and one immature Bald Eagle. It was really so cool to see. Today, although over 500 raptors were counted migrating over the watch, I did not fair too well. By the time I got there, things had pretty much dried up. I got a decent look at an immature Bald Eagle that did not migrate, but headed north instead. I also took a shot of one of the local Turkey Vultures, which seem to be the only birds flying low this year:
On both days, after the watch, I headed over to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I mostly birded from the viewing platform both days, though I did walk west on the trail yesterday for a stretch. There were a good number of shorebirds present, including Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpipers, and a Solitary Sandpiper. Other favorites included Great Egrets, a Great Blue Heron, many Green Herons, a Northern Shoveler and a couple of Northern Harriers. But, the highlight for me was getting some good photo ops with this Belted Kingfisher:
Summitville Hawk Watch
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Mt. Peter Hawk Watch
Today was my first day counting out at Mt. Peter Hawk Watch. It was a good day for me, we had enough hawks to keep it interesting, but not too many to make it difficult for me as the counter. The birds were flying high, but we had 200 migrating hawks today. Here is my report from hawkcount.org:
Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 14, 2013
——————————————————————-
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 15 61 61
Bald Eagle 3 29 29
Northern Harrier 0 8 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 17 87 87
Cooper’s Hawk 1 7 7
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 6 6
Broad-winged Hawk 156 870 870
Red-tailed Hawk 0 4 4
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 3 36 36
Merlin 1 3 3
Peregrine Falcon 1 2 2
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 1 2 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 1 10 10
Total: 200 1126 1126
———————————————————————-
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Matt Zeitler
Observers: Ajit I. Antony, Beverly Robertson, Bill O’Keefe,
Judith C. Cinquina, Rob Stone, Scot Marchal
Visitors:
Penny Whitlick, Enid Hayflick, Mike Ipp., Jan Hesbon, Diane Brown
Weather:
Cool and cloudy for most of the day with a steady NW wind that was strong
at times. Temperatures ranged from 11 to 16 degrees Celsius.
Raptor Observations:
Raptors were flying high today even in the first hour of the watch. (3)
Adult Bald Eagles migrated and we had one adult Bald Eagle that headed
north. Also migrating were (1) Red-shouldered Hawk (unknown) and (3)
American Kestrels (2 unknown, 1 female).
Non-raptor Observations:
Bird Species identified: Tree Swallow (17), Canada Goose (34), Cedar
Waxwing (36), Common Raven (4), Chimney Swift (11), House Wren,
Black-capped Chickadee, American Crow (2), Blackburnian Warbler, Blackpoll
Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo,
and Magnolia Warbler. Non-raptor highlight was two Common Ravens flying
very close to one another and one of them doing a barrel roll.
After the hawk watch, I headed back to the Pine Island Turf Nursery to try for a better shot of the American Golden-Plovers:
