Piermont Pier, 02/27/21

I looked at this morning’s forecast last night and it made me cranky. I’m sitting at my desk working all week with beautiful sunshine out the window, then on the weekend it’s snow, rain, and clouds. But then I took a different perspective on it. The rain would keep most folks home… so with that in mind I went to Piermont Pier, a location I’ve been avoiding because I figure especially during the pandemic, it’s likely to be loaded with people. I mostly had the place to myself, and while the rain made birding a little bit difficult, it was a good morning.

~Purple Sandpipers at Piermont Pier, 02/27/21.~

The highlight of the morning was relocating the pair of PURPLE SANDPIPERS which have been reported this winter. I was surprised to find them, because I looked on eBird last night and they hadn’t been reported in a couple of weeks. My main goal for the morning was to see what waterfowl were present; I was disappointed by the number of species (only 8), but I counted an impressive 288 Ruddy Ducks present. That’s by far the most Ruddies I’ve ever seen in one place.

~Two of the 288 Ruddy Ducks I counted at Piermont Pier this morning, 02/27/21.~

Afterwards, I birded the Hudson River, making my way all the way up to Newburgh. It wasn’t exciting, but it was enjoyable. My best bird was a Lesser Scaup at Plum Point, my first LESC in Orange County for the year.

~The always accommodating Ring-billed Gull. This bird was in Stony Point, 02/27/21.~
~Great Black-backed Gull, Piermont Pier 02/27/21.~

6 thoughts on “Piermont Pier, 02/27/21”

    1. Exactly. I once wrote a post all around that saying – I don’t know if you remember, but we had a little needlepoint over our front door growing up that said that. I never got it as a kid, lol. Matt

  2. Hey, Matt, thanks for the inspiration. I went down Sunday in the rain and finally got the sandpipers on my third trip there this season. I love that place.

    1. Bill – glad you got the birds! I was pleasantly surprised to see them. Great place for sure. Matt

Comments are closed.