The weekend got off to a slow start since we were snowed in most of Saturday. In the afternoon I finally got out and headed to the Hudson River, where I enjoyed my evening of birding, in spite of the bitter cold, gray, snowy conditions(it was still snowing in Newburgh!). In addition to the three expected gull species, I had one distant Iceland Gull, and then one that put down in front of the boat launch as it was getting later. Same bird? Hard to say; Bruce Nott had (6) ICGUs one night this week, so likely two birds.
Saturday was a gorgeous sunny, cold day. Like really cold. I decided to primarily car-bird, so I cruised the black dirt. It was mostly uneventful, but I did run into Linda Scrima, and while we were talking, my best bird of the weekend landed right in front of her car – a fabulous Fox Sparrow. I made it back to the river in the afternoon, but that too proved to be mostly uneventful, with just one gull of note, a very distant first winter Iceland Gull. Bald Eagles were numerous and kept the gulls on their toes.
Yard Birds 2022: (22) Species
Your photos are , as always , amazing ! There is something really special about the photo of the ring-billed gull in flight with the snow in the background -the bird really “pops” in that picture .
Thanks for sharing your great sightings 🙂
Thanks so much Liz. I’m glad you mentioned the RBGU shot, I really like it, but I wasn’t sure how it would be received. Matt