May 2016 – Orange Birding

Playing Catch Up, 5/30/16

~Love this bird. Black-billed Cuckoo at Wickham Lake, 5/23/16.~

It’s Monday, but with the holiday weekend it feels like a Sunday to me, so I’m finally getting around to posting. I went out several times during the week, but without many noteworthy sitings or photos. The above Black-billed Cuckoo was an exception; it was taken last Monday at Wickham Lake.

On Friday Tricia and I went up north to Watertown, New York, where I made a site visit at a church to examine their stained glass. We took the opportunity to visit Tricia’s parents near Syracuse, which meant that on Saturday morning I got to go to one of my favorite birding spots: Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. I got a little bit of a late start and arrived at the refuge just after 9:30. I have never birded the refuge at this time of year, and I have to say with the hot temperatures and the amount of car birding one has to do at the refuge, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do. I had 54 species for the day, but most of my looks seemed to be on the distant side. The best spot for birds was Knox-Marcellus Marsh, which I viewed from East Road, but the distance and the heat shimmer made identifying birds a real challenge. I saw reports later in the day from Towpath Road, which runs along the south end of the marsh. I haven’t birded there in years, and it seems like folks may have gotten better looks from there. Best birds of the day: Sandhill Cranes, Trumpeter Swans (with cygnets!), Common Gallinules (many!), several pairs of Blue-winged Teal, and a Caspian Tern.

~On my way back to Tricia’s mom’s place from Montezuma, I stopped at Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area and took a short walk. Red-eyed Vireo, 7/28/16.

~I got a nice look at a pair of Northern Shovelers from Wildlife Drive at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 5/28/16.~

~I learned something when I did my eBird report – This is likely a Bronzed Common Grackle. From eBird: Common Grackles… “breed largely east of the Rockies, and winter throughout the eastern half of the Lower 48. It is the only truly migratory grackle, abandoning the northern portions of its range from Nov-Feb, and augmenting resident breeders across the Southeast. It occurs only as a vagrant in the Pacific states, where it is often confused with the Brewer’s Blackbird. There are two types of Common Grackles that can generally be told apart by plumage. **The ‘Bronzed Grackle’ (available in eBird as ‘Common Grackle (Bronzed)’)** breeds throughout the northern and western portions of the species’ range, mainly west of the Appalachians. It is migratory, overlapping with the other forms during winter. Best told by its bronzy body plumage, it is generally distinctive, and was once considered a separate species.”~

~Great-crested Flycatcher at Montezuma NWR, 5/28/16.~

~Beautiful bird. Blue-winged Teal at Montezuma NWR, 5/28/16.~

~Always a favorite of mine, one of several Pied-billed Grebes seen at Montezuma NWR, 7/28/16.~

This morning I got up early and, of course, it was raining steadily. I went to Sterling Forest State Park and walked the Sterling Valley Loop. The rain subsided after about an hour or so, which made for a better walk. It was a birdy hike, but most birds were heard and not seen, except in one area where the Sterling Valley Loop overlaps with the Sterling Lake Loop. I had my best looks at birds for the day there; it opens up a little bit with Sterling Lake on the right and a swampy area and a power-cut to the left. There was a breeze off of the lake and I finally got a break from the endless pestering of mosquitos. Then, I enjoyed great looks at a pair of Cerulean Warblers (but no pics!), several Cedar Waxwings, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (pics but distant), a very hungry Great Blue Heron (see below), Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, Wood Ducks, Chipping Sparrows, and even a fleeting look at an American Woodcock that I inadvertently flushed.

I had three target birds for the day, all birds that I needed for Orange County. They had all been reported in the area recently, and I got lucky with two of them: Acadian Flycatcher and Alder Flycatcher. Right where the Sterling Valley Loop and the Sterling Lake Loop go their separate ways, I first heard (“peeet-sah!”), and then saw the bird. About a half hour further down the trail I heard a call that I wasn’t sure of. I thought it was a flycatcher, but wasn’t sure. I was able to locate the bird and get photos and I later identified it as an Alder Flycatcher doing its “peep” or “pip” call, which I recored on my phone. The third was a Common Gallinule, which I had no luck with. Other than the relentless mosquitoes, it was a good hike and some decent birding.

~Cedar Waxwing, with nesting materials, at Sterling Forest SP, 5/30/16.~

~Great Blue Heron with a catfish. I did not stick around to see how this worked out…. Sterling Valley Loop, 5/30/16.~

~Alder Flycatcher at Sterling Forest SP, 7/30/16.

Bashakill Nature Watch, 5/22/16

~This was very exciting to me! Common Gallinule out in the open, Bashakill WMA, 5/22/16.~

This afternoon I joined Karen Miller as we took our first shift of the season volunteering for the Bashakill Area Association sponsored Nature Watch Program. I believe it is my fourth year volunteering for the program, which monitors the Bald Eagle and Osprey nests at the Bashakill. On Saturdays and Sundays from late April until the end of June, spotting scopes are set up to view both of the nests and volunteers are on hand to answer questions. You can click here to read more about the program which I featured in a blog post a few years back.

When we arrived, there was an adult Bald Eagle near the nest with the two very large eaglets. And, we learned from the morning shift that the adult Osprey appeared to have been feeding young in the nest before we arrived. While we were there, the young eagles were hopping around and really giving their wings a workout, flapping like mad!

It was a pair of Common Gallinules, however, that stole the show for me. We got absolutely fantastic looks at the birds out in front of the boat launch. Typically (in my experience) much more secretive, we enjoyed good looks of the birds throughout our 3 hour shift. I had my scope out and kept it on one of the birds for folks to get a look, and I also shot some video through it using my iPhone, which I’ll include at the bottom of this post. What a super bird and so great to get such amazing looks.

Wow! I finally got a decent Pileated Woodpecker shot! Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, 5/22/16.~

~Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at the Bashakill, 5/22/16.~

~I finally caught up with a male Common Yellowthroat, a bird that I haven’t seen many of this year so far. Bashakill, 5/22/16.~

Saturday 5/21/16

~The bird of the day was undoubtedly this roosting Common Nighthawk. This was my first time seeing this bird perched like this, and it was incredible. I set up the scope to allow everyone to get really incredible looks at this bird. Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/21/16.~

Early this morning, Kyle, Linda, Maria, and I went to Laurel Grove Cemetery, hoping that some new birds had moved in. Last night, the radar looked good and the winds were favorable, but this morning, the cemetery was very quiet. If we hadn’t run into Rob Stone while we were out there, it would have been pretty much a total bust. Rob had located a roosting Common Nighthawk, which is something I’ve never seen and that I’ve been dying to see. I think it was probably a first for everyone in the group. Photos were tough as the nighthawk’s great camouflage didn’t seem to allow my autofocus differentiate the bird from tree. At Kyle’s suggestion, I got my scope from the car and we all got really incredible looks. The only other notable bird was a trio of Blackpoll Warblers very high in a tree.

~A young American Robin strikes a pose on a tombstone at the Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/21/16.~

We decided to move on and try our luck at Pochuck Mountain State Forest. It was a little bit more birdy there, but really, nothing amazing. Highlights included really good looks at several Worm-eating Warblers and Scarlet Tanagers, and hearing and seeing several Yellow-billed Cuckoos. We had a modest 32 species at Pochuck; I’ve included my list of birds at the bottom of this post.

I’m also playing a little catch up with this post – I’ve included a shot of a Black-billed Cuckoo that Linda and I had at Wickham Lake on Thursday, as well as 3 shots from early in May that I somehow never posted. They were from Wickham Lake as well.

~A noisy shot of a Worm-eating Warbler at Pochuck Mountain SF, 5/21/16.~

~Definitely a favorite! Black-billed Cuckoo at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 5/19/16.~

~At the Goshen park and ride first thing this morning, American Robin 5/21/16.~

~These guys keep avoiding me this spring, so I wanted to post the one shot I’ve gotten. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 5/2/16.~

~This bird surprised me – a Purple Martin flying over Wickham Lake, 5/2/16.~

~Yellow Warbler at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 5/2/16.~

POCHUCK MOUNTAIN STATE FOREST, 5/21/16

Turkey Vulture
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole

Sunday Shots – More Good OC Birding

~Hard to beat this – Golden-winged Warbler in a blooming Dogwood, Sterling Forest 5/15/16.~

This morning I birded with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris. We hit two spots and did pretty well with warblers at both of them:

STERLING FOREST – IRONWOOD DRIVE

Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Prairie Warbler

POCHUCK MOUNTAIN STATE FOREST

Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Prairie Warbler

Other notable birds included super looks at 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos (unfortunately, I blew the pics!), a Swainson’s Thrush, and several Scarlet Tanagers all of which were seen at Pochuck Mountain. The Golden-winged Warbler was a lifer for Linda, so congrats to her on that.

It’s really a great time of the year for birding, and I’m embracing warblers for the first time really, so it’s been very enjoyable. I’ve included photos from earlier this week, when I made visits to Sterling Forest and the Liberty Loop.

~Finally, a decent shot of a Blackburnian Warbler, Pochuck Mountain SF, 5/15/16.~

A Yellow-throated Vireo enjoys a snack at Sterling Forest, 5/12/16.~

~Hooded Warblers are numerous at Sterling right now but I can’t seem to get a good photo. Distant shot of a HOWA, 5/12/16.~

~Louisiana Waterthrush at Liberty Loop, 5/9/16.~

~One more shot of the Golden-winged Warbler, Sterling Forest SP 5/15/16.~

~Blue-winged Warbler at Sterling Forest SP, 5/10/16.~

~One of several Scarlet Tanagers at Pochuck Mountain SF, 5/15/16.~

Break 100

~Life Bird! Gray-cheeked Thrush at Pochuck Mountain SF, 5/14/16. I wish I’d done better with photos today, but I have a hard time focusing on camera settings etc… in situations like this. No pun intended.~

QUICK POST: I’m totally exhausted tonight, but if I don’t post this now, I’m not sure when I will get to it. This Friday and Saturday, I participated in my first Edgar A. Mearns Club Orange County Break 100, a friendly competition where teams of birders spend 24 hours trying to see or hear 100 species of bird. I was finally persuaded to do the ‘Break’ because John Haas could not make it this year, and Jeff Goulding, Lisa O’Gorman and Karen Miller were looking for a fourth member of their team. The break starts at 4:00 pm on Friday and goes until 4:00pm Saturday. In that time we visited many birding spots in Orange County, nearly 20 by my count. We finally broke 100 at Knapp’s View in Chester New York, where we got our 100th bird (Bobolink) and 101st bird (Eastern Meadowlark) at around 1:35 on Saturday afternoon. We didn’t do much good after that (it wasn’t from a lack of trying!), only adding an additional 4 birds to finish with 105 species on the day, but I think everyone on the team was happy with the total (though the winning team finished with 124 species). We had way too many laughs and saw some really great birds, including hearing my first Whip-poor-will and getting my lifer GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. Huge thanks to everyone on my team, I think we all did a pretty great job to “Break 100”.

~Swainson’s Thrush at Pochuck Mountain SF. Notice the ‘spectacled’ look of this bird. ~

~Wow, Brown Thrasher! This bird flew right in front of Jeff’s car and we stopped to ID it and get some photos. Terrible pic, but this is not a bird I see very often. Lower Road in Pine Island, 5/14/16.~

~Purple Martins in Warwick NY, 5/14/16.~

~One more shot of the Gray-cheeked Thrush, Pochuck Mountain SF, 5/14/16.~

Orange County Warblers, 5/8/16

~Chestnut-sided Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/8/16.~

With south winds in the forecast for the first time in many days, it was looking like migration might be on. I was hoping that my good birding luck would continue today. I got out pretty early and it did not seem like a lucky day; it rained steadily for my entire trip out to Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis, NY. I donned my rain gear and left the camera in the car. The good news is that the cemetery was very birdy. The bad news is that I was, of course struggling with wet binoculars and finding tiny birds in the shadows. Then the good luck kicked in. The rain stopped. I went back for my camera. The birds continued, now in ever improving light. And then I turned around and saw Curt McDermott, bins to his eyes, looking up at a large evergreen. I birded the remainder of my time at the cemetery with Curt and he found me many birds, most notably, a BAY-BREASTED WARBLER which gave us great looks for over a half hour. This was my 3rd life bird of the weekend, now that’s something I never expected to happen! It was a great morning of birding and likely my best warbler outing ever. I left the cemetery with 15 species of warbler:

Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat (FOY – Orange County)
American Redstart
Northern Parula (FOY)
Magnolia Warbler (FOY)
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER (LIFER!)
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler (FOY)
Blackpoll Warbler (FOY)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler (FOY)

I also had two additional first of year birds while at the cemetery – Least Flycatcher and Great-crested Flycatcher. Huge thanks to Curt for all his help this morning, I don’t even want to think about how many birds I would have missed without him.

~Pretty shot of an Ovenbird at Pochuck Mountain State Forest, 5//8/16.~

Later in the morning, Tricia and I went to Pochuck Mountain State Forest and although it was a little bit late and not overwhelmingly birdy, we still got some good birds. I added my 16th warbler of the day with Ovenbird, and we got decent looks at two male Scarlet Tanagers. I added two more year birds too – Yellow-throated Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (of which we saw many). What a great weekend of birding for me, it was very satisfying for sure.

~A female Pine Warbler collects nesting material on the ground, Laurel Grove Cemetery 5/8/16.~

~The bird of the day, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/8/16.~

~Magnolia Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis, NY, 5/8/16.~

~Black-throated Blue Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/8/16.~

~Black-throated Green Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 5/8/16.~

WOW! FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, 5/7/16

~Wow, what a bird! Fork-tailed Flycatcher in flight at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, 5/7/16.~

Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, and I decided last minute to forego birding locally for migrating warblers to run for the FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER which had been reported at Assunpink Wildlife Management Area in Trenton, NJ. What a great decision it was! Some days are luckier than others, and today was a lucky day. After a long drive, we found Assunpink WMA easily enough, and then took the trail to the dam where the bird had been reported. At the dam, we saw approximately 20 birders, and we knew the bird was present. We watched and photographed the bird as it fed just below the dam, giving us great looks. I was blown away by this bird, what an incredible creature, whose normal range is from Mexico to South America. I am thinking that this bird is likely a juvenile or a female bird because the adult male has a tail that is much longer. I am leaning towards juvenile because its yellow crown stripe seems to be undeveloped. This has to rank as the easiest/best bird I’ve ever run any distance for, what a super bird! The FTFL was a life bird for all three of us, and it brought my life list total to 360. That number would increase again momentarily as we explored Assunpink WMA…

~Love the posture on the bird in this photo. Fork-tailed Flycatcher at Assunpink WMA, 5/7/16.~

… and heard an unfamiliar call. It took a little while, but we eventually tracked down the bird, it was a WHITE-EYED VIREO! And my 361st life bird! What a day, but it wasn’t over yet…

~A bonus life bird! White-eyed Vireo at Assunpink WMA, 5/7/16.~

…we had one more pleasant surprise when we stopped by The Great Swamp on our way home and had a SANDHILL CRANE fly over! Great day of birding!

~We heard this bird well before we saw it; I could not put my finger on the call but of course knew the bird easily once it came into view. Sandhill Crane at the Great Swamp, 5/7/16.~

Rainy Sunday Birding, 5/1/16

~Black-and-white Warbler on a rainy day, Sterling Forest SP, 5/1/30. This is a bird that I wasn’t able to get any photos of for years, but for some reason this year I’m getting a little bit lucky with them.~

I got a fairly early start this morning; I was headed out to hike the Sterling Valley Loop Trail at Sterling Forest State Park. It was raining when I arrived, and it pretty much rained for the entire 7.7 mile hike. While it never came down very hard, it was just enough to make birding a little bit difficult. I wore good rain gear, so I stayed dry and so did my camera (by the way my gear included wearing a day glow vest since turkey hunting season started this morning). And I had a cover for the eyepiece of my binoculars, so I was doing my best to keep the rain off of the ocular lenses. But, I didn’t take into account a couple of things: First, I spent much of my birding time looking straight up into the tops of trees, so the objective lenses of my bins were getting soaked. Second, whenever I brought my binoculars to my eyes, the ocular lenses would fog over. Next time around, I will be sure to bring a soft absorbent towel for drying the objective lenses and clearing the condensation off the ocular lenses. I was also holding my bins away from my eyes so they wouldn’t fog over, at that worked to a certain extent.

As far as the birding went, the trail was only moderately birdy. I spent 5 hours hiking and had a modest (for this time of year) 39 species. I added 2 species to my Orange County year list: American Redstart (of which I had several), and Eastern Kingbird. I thought I was going to have to do a post with no photos (which I am always reluctant to do), but luckily when the rain let up a little bit, I had a decent opportunity with a Black-and-white Warbler. I also had a chance to photograph an Eastern Kingbird, but I was shooting through the brush and never got a clean focus on the bird.

When I had gotten home and stripped off all my wet gear, I received a call from Rob Stone. He was on a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at Wickham Lake. Back on with the gear! I ran for the bird and it was still present when I arrived. I walked the trail on the southeast of the lake to get a little closer to the bird. I got better scope views from there and a post-able photo. WWSC is definitely what I consider a good bird for the county. Thanks once again to Rob, who never ceases to amaze.

~Yes! White-winged Scoter at Wickham Lake, 5/1/16.~

And then there was this…

~Earlier this week, on Tuesday, I walked a small part of the Sterling Loop and had hardly and birds and zero warblers. When I got back to my car, which was parked in the Visitor’s Center lot, this Pine Warbler flew out of the tree line and right at me. It did several laps around my car, very tight to the car and then landed on the windshield wiper. I tried to move to take a photo and the bird flew, taking several more laps around my car, hugging the corners, before landing on my rearview mirror which was literally only a couple feet from me. I stepped back to be able to take a photo (how often can I say that about shooting a warbler?). Then the bird took more laps and landed on the back of my car where I got this shot. It was very strange behavior and I’m not really sure what to make of it. PIWA at Sterling Forest State Park, 4/26/16.~