Excellent Day in OC

I went to the black dirt this morning and was able to catch up with 3 of my 4 target birds. Early on I got a distant look at my first Rough-legged Hawk of the season, a beautiful light morph bird. A little later I caught up with a flock of Horned Larks; I looked through them and found a single Snow Bunting and a single Lapland Longspur. I tried for the Greater White-fronted Goose which has been reported at the Route 1 pond, but no luck there.

~Always a favorite, Lapland Longspur in the black dirt, 01/08/22~

In the afternoon I headed to Newburgh. I dipped on the Golden Eagle at Storm King State Park, but I cleaned up with gulls, tallying 6 species: Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed, FRANKLIN’S, Iceland, and Glaucous. What a refreshing, cold, beautiful day of birding. Beats sitting at the desk like I did all week, that’s for sure.

~Horned Lark in the black dirt, 01/08/22.~
~I was happy to get the Franklin’s Gull for my 2022 list. Newburgh Waterfront, 01/08/22.~
~Common Ravens on a deer carcass in the black dirt, 01/08/22.~
~I wanted to include this photo as well because it’s really cool to see the Common Ravens alongside the American Crows. Black dirt, 01/08/22.~

8 thoughts on “Excellent Day in OC”

  1. We saw the Horned Lark a few days ago in the black dirt but couldn’t get close enough to get a good shot so seeing your post gives us hope! Great shots! Thanks Matt!

    1. Excellent to hear Sheila, hopefully next time you’ll get a shot. Thanks for checking in. Matt

  2. Matt, I think we saw the same deer being eaten by the crows, we didn’t take photos of that though!! 🙂 Happy to see the confirmation of the horned larks, they are sweet looking birds.

  3. I ran into Ken Mc yesterday and he said you were down at Newberg. The shiftiest came out at the grasslands around 3:15 so made for good viewing. BeforeleVing central Jersey we had a fly over if 24 Sandhills. a great way to start the day. Glad your day was productive

    1. I”m sorry I missed the Shorties at the Grasslands, but the waterfront was so productive and it’s hard to stay away from the gulls. The light must have been nice on the owls. SACRs sound like a lovely way to start the day.

      Matt

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