December 2023 – Orange Birding

2023 Year in Review

It’s time once again for one of my favorite posts of the year. It’s always fun to take a look back over the year and relive some of the highlights. I think that I did less birding this year than in previous years. My job has been increasingly demanding and there were many days where I could have gotten out in the evening, but really I was just drained from the day. I tried to make up for it on the weekends, and by choosing the type of birding which gave me the most joy, it led to some excellent birding experiences. But, my Orange County year list suffered for it; 2023 was the first time I didn’t surpass 200 species in the county since 2015. I ended the year with a paltry 193 birds in the county. Somehow, getting over that 200 mark seems significant to me; something I realized a little too late in the year to make a push for it. Hopefully next year I’ll get back on track.

So, I never really know how I’m going to write this post until I start writing it; this year I’ve decided to provide my top three birding experiences of 2023, along with some honorable mentions. And then, of course, I’ll have my TOP TEN FAVORITE PHOTOS.

~Lapland Longspur in breeding plumage, 04/23/23.~

My favorite highlight of the year might not seem that exciting to some, but I am still overjoyed about not only finding, but also photographing a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in breeding plumage. The icing on the cake was that, in LALO terms, the photo is actually pretty good. I’ve been trying for years to make this happen, so I was very pleased when it finally did.

~Upland Sandpiper in flight in the Black Dirt Region, 08/18/23.~

In second place, it was quite a year for UPLAND SANDPIPERS in Orange County. After several years of very few being observed in the county, this year I had several sightings. My first bird was a single Uppy, perhaps a little on the early side on July 21st. Unfortunately no-one else got that bird. Then, in on August 7th, I located 4 (!) Upland Sandpipers in the black dirt. I believe many birders were able to see these birds, and I saw them again on two more occasions. Finally, on August 18th, I had a close encounter with the above UPSA, as it walked across the road right in front of my car.

~American Golden and Black-bellied Plovers in the black dirt, 09/18/23.~

And in third place, on September 19th, after some storms passed through, I enjoyed a magical evening of shorebirding in the black dirt. When the rain stopped, Linda Scrima joined me, and we were treated to an amazing double rainbow which the birds kept flying right through. It was really something to behold and I am pleased to have been able to experience and document it.

~Double rainbow with gold at the end – American Golden-plovers that is! Black Dirt Region, 09/18/23.~

~Black Guillemot, Monhegan Island 09/23/23.~

Honorable Mentions:

We went back to Ireland in the spring; I was able to get 12 life birds in spite of getting Covid-19 just days after our arrival.
We spent a week on Monhegan Island. It was my favorite vacation in a long time; the birding was only mediocre but the birding experience is hard to beat.
I somehow renewed my love of hawkwatching. It was actually the poorest year (numbers wise) since I started at Mount Peter, but the joy of hawkwatching somehow creeped back into my soul.
I caught up with the Prothonotary Warbler at the Bashakill on June 4th. It was a life bird for me, the only life bird I would find locally in 2023.

~Prothonotary Warbler at the Bashakill, 06/04/23.~

And now for my favorite part – I love to look back a year’s worth of photos and whittle them down to my TOP TEN FAVORITE IMAGES. Some years when I look back, I’m somewhat disappointed with my work for the year. Which is weird because I’m usually pleased when I take them, but I guess in my mind they don’t hold up, I don’t know. But this year was different, and as I reviewed them, I was pleased. I had some great opportunities that I took advantage of, and I think some new gear (Canon R7 Mirrorless) helped as well.

As always, huge thanks to all my birding friends and to all the readers of the blog. And finally, thanks for all the comments on the blog – they make my day.

~#1: Bonaparte’s Gull at Manasquan Inlet, Ocean County NJ on the first day of 2023.~

#2: Northern Harrier in the snow at the Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, 03/11/23.~

#3: Cooper’s hawk in nice light at Wickham Lake, 04/13/23.~

#4: Another Northern Harrier photographed at the Grasslands. I took this one on November 26th – I was walking the trail (rather than in a blind), so it was surprising that this young raptor flew right up to me. ~

#5: Eastern Kingbird at Wickham Lake, 08/11/23.~

#6: Red Fox on a snowy day in my yard, 03/14/23.~

#7: This one goes in the category of birds that I never thought I’d get such a good photo of. Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 089/18/23.~

#8: European Robin in Clifden Ireland, 05/25/23.~

#9: Sanderling taking flight in front of crashing waves at Manasquan Inlet, 01/01/23.~

#10: Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/26/23.~

Christmas Snow…

…Buntings! I began the long Christmas weekend on Friday evening with a sizable but skittish flock of Snow Buntings in beautiful light. I continued on Saturday morning where the flock was more cooperative, but of course, the light was terrible for photos. Seeing how there is no snow in the forecast, this looks like the only “snow” we’ll have for the holiday. I hope everyone who is celebrating is enjoying a wonderful Christmas with loved ones.

~Snow Buntings in flight, Black Dirt Region, 12/22/23.~

~Snow Bunting foraging in the black dirt, 12/23/23.~

~I really like this photo because it contains 3 species… can you pick out the Lapland Longspur and the Horned Lark?

~It’s funny to me, because sometimes in close-ups, Snow Buntings have a little bit of an old man look to me, with the wrinkles around the eyes. Black Dirt Region 12/23/23.~

Sunday Shots, 12/17/23

I really enjoyed my birding this weekend. It’s that time of year when the days are just too short to fit any birding in during the week, so when I get out on the weekends it seems just that much better.

On Saturday I took an eight mile hike out at Black Rock Forest. My target species was Red Crossbill, but unfortunately I didn’t have any luck with them. It was a relatively birdy walk though; I had a total of 23 species with my highlight being a trio of Purple Finches. Afterwards, I went to the Newburgh Waterfront, thinking about gulls and waterfowl. Little did I know that I should have been thinking about warblers! On Watefront Trail, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Palm Warbler and then a little later, a Northern Parula. Bruce Nott later found a Tennessee Warbler! Not bad for December.

~A crazy looking shot of the Northern Parula at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/16/23.~

~Palm Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront, 123/16/23.~

On Sunday I stayed closer to home; I hit the black dirt early and then checked a few nearby lakes. In the black dirt, I enjoyed sifting through some large flocks of mixed blackbirds, looking unsuccessfully for a Yellow-headed Blackbird in the mix – a total long shot, but if you don’t look, you’ll never find one. The flocks consisted of nearly all Common Grackles, with a smattering European Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Red-winged Blackbirds as well.

Afterwards, I found a single Common Goldeneye loosely associating with a small flock of Buffleheads at the northernmost part of Greenwood Lake. At Wickham Lake, surprisingly the Common Loon that I found there back on December 1st was still present. I watched the bird for a good while – it was pretty far out, so I was just enjoying looking at it in my scope. Then the bird appeared to try to take flight – taking a long runway, flapping like mad, but it never got airborne. It did this 3 times, and I started to figure that this was probably why the bird was still present. I waited it out, because the bird still seemed itchy. On the fourth attempt, the bird got airborne! It took a few laps around the lake, only clearing the treetops a few times, before landing in the lake again. I’m choosing to believe that this was finally a successful test flight. Hopefully the bird will have enough strength and get over whatever is ailing it soon so it can continue its migration.

~Attempt #3, where this Common Loon did not get airborne. Wickham Lake, 12/17/23.~

~Northern Mocking bird with a bite to eat; Turtle Bay Road 12/17/23.~

~Not something you see every day in inland southern OC, dozens of Ring-billed Gulls literally on Bellvale Lakes Road, 12/17/23.

~A more conventional shot of the Northern Parula, Newburgh Waterfront 12/16/23.~

Excellent Day in OC, 12/09/23

Today was an unexpectedly good day of birding for me. My first stop was Reservoir #3 in Port Jervis. I have birded this location a lot over the years, and I think as far as fall/winter birding is concerned, today was the most productive day I’ve ever had out there. As soon as I got out of the car, a Pine Siskin flew over calling. Not long after that, I heard and saw my target bird of the morning: a small group of RED CROSSBILLS flew over. I recorded the call on the Merlin app, and I was able to get some documentary, mostly-silhouetted photos. I took a modest hike and I tallied 20 species; other highlights included a Red-breasted Nuthatch, several Brown Creepers, and three Golden-crowned Kinglets.

~Bald Eagle in the black dirt, 12/09/23.~

Afterwards, I made a short visit to the black dirt. I tracked down a flock of Horned Larks with 2 Snow Buntings and 1 Lapland Longspur among them. I also enjoyed a nice photo op with a Bald Eagle.

~Iceland Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/09/23.~

In the evening, I joined Bruce Nott at the Newburgh Waterfront. Bruce had informed me earlier in the week that he had a couple of ICELAND GULLS, so I was excited to get out and get the gulling season started. We were able to locate one first winter Iceland Gull among approximately 400 gulls of the expected species (Herring, Great Black-backed, and Ring-billed) on the river.

~Red Crossbill in flight at Reservoir #3, 12/09/23.~

Sunday Shots, 12/03/23

I spent a good amount of my birding time this weekend trying for waterfowl. One bird in particular was on my mind: Red-throated Loon. I tried Wickham Lake on Saturday morning; I found a Common Loon that was close enough to shore for some decent shots, but no RTLO. This morning, I met up with birding bud Bruce Nott at Plum Point, where there was not much happening BUT we did locate a single, distant Red-throated Loon. The RT Loon was definitely my best bird of the weekend, all the other waterfowl I observed were expected species for this time of the year.

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 12/01/23.~

I’m also playing a little catch up today, I’m including several photos from last weekend that I did not post, due to my excitement over my Sunday at the Grasslands.