October 2024 – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 10/13/24

I walked the Heritage Trail at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary first thing this morning. I had 34 species; of note was a pair of Blue-winged Teals and several Rusty Blackbirds. I was hoping for shorebirds, but unfortunately conditions are still not great for them and I had only one Killdeer.

Afterwards I birded the black dirt for a while. It was birdy, with lots of sparrows around (Savannah, Song, Chipping, & White-throated mainly). The surprise of the day was a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO feeding in some low roadside brush. For shorebirds, I had a number Killdeer and 2 distant American Golden Plovers. American Pipits were around, but would not cooperate for photos.

~This is from a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot I’d taken it. Female Scarlet Tanager in our yard on 10/03/24.~

~Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Onion Avenue, 10/13/24.~

~Friday evening 10/11/24 in my backyard. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. ~

~These dudes seem to be everywhere right now. Cedar Waxwing in the black dirt, 10/13/24.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/12/24

Today I enjoyed a nice day at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. It was sunny and relatively warm, but winds were strong and mostly from the Northwest, which helped carry a decent flight of 65 migrating raptors. Kyle Knapp, Silas Wareham, and Mario Meier all visited and helped find birds in a mostly blue sky. Shout out to Kyle who spent a good amount of time at the watch and picked up many birds for me.

In addition to raptors, Canada Geese were moving through pretty well also. I sort of wasn’t expecting a good goose flight, so I didn’t keep count, but I had at least 15 skeins fly over. As always, I’ve included my Hawkwatch.org report at the bottom of this post.

~A Pileated Woodpecker darts over the Hawkwatch at Mount Peter, 10/12/24.~

~Topside Turkey Vulture at Mt. Peter, 10/12/24.~

~There weren’t many song bird photo ops today. Cedar Waxwing at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/12/24.~

Sunday Shots, 10/06/24

As I did last Sunday, early this morning I walked Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. It was a chilly, foggy start, but then it got beautifully cool and sunny. I have to say, that trail is extremely birdy right now. I walked the entire loop; I had a total of 41 species and who-knows-how-many individuals. There were birds present nearly every step of my walk today. Sparrows were far and away the most numerous, especially White-throated Sparrows. Additional sparrow species included Song, Swamp, Lincoln’s, and Dark-eyed Juncos. My best birds of the day included a couple of Tennessee Warblers and a single Nashville Warbler.

~Nashville Warbler at Winding Waters Trail, 10/06/24.~

~Tennessee Warbler at Winding Waters, 10/06/24.~

~Yellow-rumped Warbler at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/05/24.~

~A male Northern Cardinal at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/05/24.~

~Lincoln’s Sparrow at Winding Waters Trail, 10/06/24.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch, 10/05/24

I was optimistic going into today’s Hawkwatch; not many hawks seemed to have moved through this week, and winds were forecasted out of the north, so I was hoping for a good flight. I was feeling good after the first two hours of the watch – I had tallied 25 migrating raptors already. Unfortunately, over the next four hours I was only able to add 18 additional birds for a total of 43 migrants for the day. Not the day I’d hoped for, but still, not too bad. As always, I’ve included my Hawkcount.org report at the bottom of this post.