Deprecated: Class Jetpack_Geo_Location is deprecated since version 14.3 with no alternative available. in /var/www/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114 February 2025 – Orange Birding
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.
~At the Newburgh Waterfront, while scanning for gulls, this Red-tailed Hawk flew in with a dead Ring-billed Gull in its talons. It appeared to have scavenged the meal, rather than it being fresh kill.~~Red-tailed Hawk with prey, Newburgh Waterfront 02/01/25.~~One of a couple of Snow Geese that have been around the black dirt recently, associating with a large flock of Canada Geese. SNGO in the black dirt, 02/01/25.~~Eastern Bluebird in the black dirt, 02/02/25.~~Red-winged Blackbird in the black dirt on 02/01/25.~~Unfortunately, this has become the norm for this species for me. This is only the second Rough-legged Hawk I’ve seen in 2025, and as usual it was just miles away. RLHA in the BDR on 02/02/25.~