August 2021 – Orange Birding

Black Dirt Shorebird Shots, 08/22/21

Shorebirds in the black dirt are generally quite distant; just miles out, which means photos are typically just documentary. But this week, I had some birds which, while not close enough for anything remarkable, were close enough to get some decent shots. I’ve been checking the black dirt frequently, I have the feeling we are going to get something good out there this fall. Or maybe I’m just hoping we will. Either way, it was nice to get some shorebirds which were not Killdeer, and some decent photos to boot.

~Lesser Yellowlegs in the black dirt, 08/22/21.~

One other quick note – I went out the Hudson River this afternoon, hoping the hurricane/tropical storm might bring in something interesting. I don’t think my timing was great, and there wasn’t much going on. Tomorrow might be better, but unfortunately I’ll be working.

~Always a favorite of mine – Pectoral Sandpiper in the black dirt, 08/19/21.~

~I was struggling to confirm the identification of this Least Sandpiper (and one other with it). First, the birds were not near any other birds, so I wasn’t sure of their size. Also, the bird’s posture looked taller and longer than what I would expect for a Least. But, I think it was behaving differently because of the height of the grass. Also, because of the high grass I never got a look at the color of their legs. Anyways, I’m pretty sure this is a LESA, black dirt 08/22/21.

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.