January 2025 – Orange Birding

Orange County Northern Shrike, 01/12/25

This morning, Karen VanDyk located a Northern Shrike at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. I went over to try for the bird, and Kyle Knapp was already present and on the bird. It was a little distant at first and I took some initial documentary shots. Then things got interesting; first the shrike got into a brief tangled with a Northern Mockingbird. The bird then relocated to the backside of a nearby bush; we could just barely through the branches. A Merlin then shot through; it made a pass at the shrike and then perched in tree along the river. Meanwhile, the shrike had somehow procured some sort of prey and we watched as it ate, through mostly obscured views in the depths of the bush. Once finished, the bird started calling, calling, calling. Finally the bird got quiet, and we lost the bird sometime soon after that. What a cool experience to spend some time with such an excellent bird. Huge thanks to Karen for the alert.

~Nothern Shrike at Winding Waters trail, 01/12/25.~

~Red-tailed Hawk perched on some farm equipment. Black dirt region, 01/12/25.~

~I was up early with Coyotes on my mind. I was not disappointed; this photo is pretty terrible, but I enjoyed watching this Coyote running full speed across a field. Black Dirt Region 01/12/25.~

Sunday Shots, 01/05/25

It’s been a nice start to the new year of birding. I started with a nice 5-gull afternoon at the Newburgh Waterfront (Ring-billed, Am. Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, and Iceland). Then, yesterday, it was exciting to see the Eurasian Wigeon. And I had some more excitement today, chasing a Clay-colored Sparrow that Bruce Nott found in the Black Dirt Region. Unfortunately I was unable to relocate that bird (I don’t think anyone has), but it was exciting to try for a good bird like that. I did get my first Lapland Longspur and Snow Buntings of the year, so that was nice. Anyways, here’s a handful of shots from the past week or so.

~Male Northern Harrier in the black dirt on 01/05/25.~

~Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/01/25.~

~Adult Bald Eagle at Wickham Lake, 12/30/24.~

~American Tree Sparrow in the Black Dirt Region, 01/05/25.~

~One more shot of the “Gray Ghost”, a male Northern Harrier in the Black Dirt Region 01/05/25.~

Orange County Eurasian Wigeon, 01/04/25

On New Year’s Day, Diane Bliss found a EURASIAN WIGEON in the small ponds across from Warwick Town Hall. The bird was not relocated on the 2nd, but then it resurfaced on the 3rd. I couldn’t run for it because I was working, so I was hoping it would hang in there for me until today. Which it did. Huge thanks to Kyle Knapp, who was on the scene before sunrise, and not only did he let me know the bird was there, he stuck around to make sure I got it. The bird is a beautiful drake and was an Orange County lifer for me, nudging my total number of birds in the county to 278.