I got out on Saturday morning and briefly on Sunday morning. My focus continues to be shorebirds, of course. Shorebirds continue to be relatively sparse in the black dirt, but I got lucky with a brief, distant look at an Upland Sandpiper on Saturday morning. While I was a happy to finally catch up with an Uppy, it was frustrating to have it fly less than 30 seconds later. A little bit later, I caught up with a Baird’s Sandpiper. Linda Scrima joined me, and we enjoyed nice, relatively close-up look at the bird. Then, on Sunday morning, I had a very distant look at a bird that I was pretty sure was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but the bird flew before I was able to be 100% on the ID.
~Baird’s Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 08/29/26. I was disappointed in all my shots of this bird – the light was a little bit harsh and I think there was some heat shimmer. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.~~This is likely the same bird I photographed last week. Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/29/26.~~Sandhill Cranes in the black dirt on 08/29/26.~~This is not something you see every day. Osprey perched on a pole in the Black Dirt Region, 08/29/26.~
Well, we finally had a little bit of shorebird action in the Black Dirt Region this weekend. Emphasis on a little bit. But it’s a start, and I enjoyed myself. On Saturday morning I had my first American Golden-Plover of the year. It was in a field with many Killdeer, a Least Sandpiper, and a single Semipalmated Plover. On Sunday, those birds continued and Jeanne Cimorelli also found a pair of DISTANT Baird’s Sandpipers. When I joined her, the birds were just inside the range where the heat shimmer wasn’t too awful, allowing for decent scope views. Later in the morning, at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, I had a similar cast of characters as last weekend – a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs and smattering of Least Sandpipers.
~Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/23/26.~~Killdeer striking a pose in a puddle in the Black Dirt Region, 08/23/26.~~Killdeer taking a bath in the black dirt, 08/23/26.~~Terrible photo, but I wanted to include one shot of the American Golden-Plover in the Black Dirt Region, 08/22/26.~~I’m loving the plumage on this European Starling. BDR, 08/22/26.~~There is no shortage of Green Herons right now. This one was at the Liberty Loop, 08/22/26. I also had over half a dozen of them at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary on 08/23/26.~
Well, another weekend has come and gone, and we still have not had any shorebird presence to speak of in the Black Dirt Region. I was out both mornings, but essentially came up empty. Outside of Killdeer, the only other birds I was able to locate were a couple of Least Sandpipers, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Lesser Yellowlegs. Jeanne Cimorelli was out this morning also, and she had a couple of Semipalmated Plovers. I also tried 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. Shorebird conditions have improved ever so slightly there, and I had about a dozen Least Sandpipers, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and 3 Lesser Yellowlegs.
The bird of the weekend, however, was Laughing Gull. Bruce Nott reported one at the Newburgh Waterfront on Saturday morning. When I arrived, it had been joined by another, so I had two juvenile Laughing Gulls. I thought they were pretty sharp looking birds; the lighting was terrible when I was there, but that didn’t stop me from taking a bunch of photos. On Sunday morning, Travis Rubio reported unfortunately that one of the LAGUs had been taken by a Peregrine Falcon.
~Laughing Gull in flight at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~~LAGU at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~~Laughing Gull on the docks at the Newburgh Waterfront, 08/15/26.~~LAGU with a snack. Newburgh Waterfront 08/15/26.~~I like this image. Mourning Doves in the black dirt, 08/16/26.~~Cooper’s hawk on a footbridge in the black dirt, 08/16/26.~~I believe this is an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Black Dirt Region on 08/11/26.~
Well the big excitement for the weekend took place in Lafayette Township New Jersey on Saturday morning, when I caught up with the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE that had been reported there. I’m including a couple additional photos of that bird at the bottom of this post.
My focus for the weekend, however, was shorebirds. I checked the black dirt both mornings and also 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I came up mostly empty, finding only Killdeer (many), a single Solitary Sandpiper, and a couple of Semipalmated Plovers. In the black dirt I did enjoy spending some time with a family of Horned Larks – readers of the blog know that I love Horned Larks, especially the young birds. At 6 1/2 Station Road, birds of note included an Osprey, a Great Egret, and a couple of Green Herons (and, notably, not a single shorebird – conditions are not good for them).
~Young Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 08/08/26.~~HOLA in the black dirt, 08/o8/26.~~Handsome little devil. HOLA in the black dirt, 08/08/26.~~HOLA in the BDR, 08/08/26.~~Green Heron at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 08/09/26.~~Osprey flying overhead at 6 1/2 Station Road, 08/09/26.~~Swallow-tailed Kite eating on the wing, Lafayette Township NJ, 08/08/26.~~STKI flying directly overhead in Lafayette Township, NJ 08/08/26.~
QUICK POST: This morning I finally had some birding excitement for the first time in a good while. I ran for the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE that had been reported on Decker Road in Lafayette Township, New Jersey. I was pretty excited to hopefully see this bird, as it had been over 10 years since I’ve seen one (in Florida), and to see one in our area would be quite remarkable. I had some really good timing; the bird was present and flying not too far out when I arrived. After a little while, it flew in pretty close, basically directly overhead. After that, it worked its way further from the road, tangled with a couple of Peregrine Falcons and then was out of view for a while. Right before I left, it had been relocated by Silas Wareham, but the bird was quite distant at that point.
~Swallow-tailed Kite in Lafayette Township, Sussex County, NJ on 08/08/26.~
