February 2025 – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots, 02/23/25

There is finally enough light in the evening to do a little bit of birding after work again, which contributed to my having a heck of a week with local raptors. I added three species to my 2025 Orange County list (Sharp-shinned Hawk, Short-eared Owl, and Merlin). On Saturday morning I birded the black dirt and the raptor numbers were impressive, with 9 species and over 40 individuals. My highlight was seeing 3 Rough-legged Hawks; far and away my high count for this winter.

Black Vulture (2)
Turkey Vulture (4)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
Northern Harrier (8)
Bald Eagle (3)
Red-shouldered Hawk (2)
Red-tailed Hawk (18)
Rough-legged Hawk (3)
American Kestrel (2)

~American Kestrel on Missionland Road, 02/22/25.~

~Low light conditions here; Northern Harrier hunting just before sunset on 02/21/25.~

On Sunday I had some things to do around the house, so I didn’t get out until the afternoon, when I spend a couple of hours at the Hudson River. All the gulls were on the Beacon side, so I birded from there. It was a beautiful afternoon, but unfortunately I was only able to come up with the 3 expected species of gull (Ring-billed, Am. Herring, and Great Black-backed).

~A good looking American Herring Gull makes a pass at the Beacon Waterfront, 02/23/24.~

~Ring-billed Gulls scrambling for some bread scraps that someone was throwing to them. Beacon Waterfront, 02/23/24.~

~Canada Geese in the black dirt just after sunset, 02/21/25

Sunday Shots, 02/16/25

I had the type of work week where just getting out and away from my desk and seeing any birds at all was the exact medicine I needed. I spent some time in the black dirt on Saturday morning, and it was extremely quiet. From there, I headed to the Hudson River. I started on the Beacon side and then went to Newburgh, where I joined Bruce Nott and our mutual friend Ben in hopes of getting Ben and his son an Iceland Gull. It took a little while, but eventually we were able to find a very distant Iceland Gull and both Ben and his son got scope views (they would later in the day get better looks at the bird from the Beacon side). Bruce also found a pair of Long-tailed Ducks; they were my first of the year in Orange County.

~Ring-billed Gulls at the Beacon Waterfront, 02/15/25.~

On my way home, I decided to bird Purgatory Road; I hadn’t birded it in a while and it’s sometimes good for raptors. On this day, however, I saw a songbird land in a field and it caught my attention – I was pretty sure it was an Eastern Meadowlark. I stopped the car and scanned. Sure enough, I found not one, but two Eastern Meadowlarks out in a field. It was my second new OC species of the weekend, my 70th of 2025.

~Eastern Meadowlark on a snowy afternoon in a field off of Purgatory Road, 02/15/25.~

~Eastern Meadowlarks on Purgatory Road, 02/15/25.~

We had some messy weather on Sunday morning; I waited for the snow to turn to rain and the temperatures to rise above freezing before heading out. I went to the Hudson River again; my timing wasn’t great as I was definitely there ahead of prime gulling time. Of note was five Ring-necked Ducks by the Newburgh Boat Launch; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that species there before. I also had a decent look at an adult Bald Eagle.

~Bald Eagle taking off from the ice floes on the Hudson River at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/16/25.~

Common Goldeneyes, 02/08/25

I had an enjoyable but mostly unremarkable weekend of birding; I hit the black dirt both mornings and the Newburgh Waterfront on Saturday afternoon. I added three new species to my Orange County year list: Brown Creeper, Hairy Woodpecker, and Red-breasted Merganser. Photos were tough to come by in general, but I did score with a trio of Common Goldeneyes at the Newburgh Waterfront. It was probably comical to watch, but I waited for all three birds to dive at the same time, and then I ran and jumped into some brush on the shoreline.

Sunday Shots, 02/02/25

It was a quiet birding weekend for me. Quiet and cold. The black dirt was pretty dead on Saturday morning and just a smidge bit better on Sunday morning when I was able to at least get distant looks at both a large flock of Snow Buntings and a light morph Rough-legged Hawk. I birded the Newburgh Waterfront with Bruce Nott on Saturday afternoon; it was my most productive birding from the weekend – we were able to locate (2) Iceland Gulls among five or six hundred of the usuals. And on a final note, first this morning I tried to change it up a little bit by birding the Port Jervis area, but unfortunately it was just super cold and very quiet on the birding front, with no real highlights to mention.