Sunday Shots, 03/06/22

I got my best birds of the weekend right after work on Friday evening. I met Karen Miller at the main boat launch at Bashakill WMA; we walked the Birch Trail to find the TUNDRA SWANS which were located earlier in the week by John Haas. It was a gorgeous evening, and we enjoyed our walk in spite of having to be careful because of the icy conditions on the trail. The birds were still present; we were able to locate 12 of the 15 reported birds. Unfortunately they were quite distant and partly obscured by vegetation. Scope views were beautiful, but photos were tough. I’ve included a documentary shot at the bottom of this post.

~Wednesday evening, 03/02/22, was gorgeous, so after work I took a drive around the black dirt just before sunset and was rewarded with this Short-eared Owl.~

Saturday morning I tried for the Northern Shrike at Wickham Woodlands Park, but was unsuccessful. From there I headed over to the black dirt, where I sorted through Canada Geese and flocks of mixed blackbirds looking for rarities; I came up empty. Then, on Onion Avenue, I was pleasantly surprised to find a large flock of Snow Geese. I’d seen reports of Snow Geese during the week, but I was under the impression that the birds had moved on. My estimate was approximately 4-5 thousand birds present. It wasn’t long after I found a nice pull off and grabbed my scope, that a model airplane flushed all the birds. It was quite a spectacle, of course, but I was disappointed to not have the opportunity to try and locate a Ross’s Goose among the flock.

~Snow Goose spectacle in the black dirt, 03/05/22.~
~Snow Geese in flight, 03/05/22.~

I tried for gulls at the Newburgh Waterfront on Saturday evening, but unfortunately it was a dud and I only was able to locate the 3 expected species of gull.

On Sunday morning I went out to the black dirt to try and relocate the Snow Geese. I was only able to find a couple of smaller groups, but one of them was close enough for some decent photos. I received a report in the early afternoon of approximately 2,500 SNGOs, so it’s good to know at least some of the birds have stuck around.

~It was nice to have some closer birds on Sunday morning. I’m digging these two messy dudes on the right. Lynch Avenue 03/06/22.~

Early Sunday afternoon Tricia and I went to Wickham Lake. There is now plenty of open water. It was an enjoyable visit, with plenty of birds to keep it interesting: Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 2-300 Common Mergansers, an adult Bald Eagle, and a very noisy mixed flock of blackbirds which you could hear clear across the lake.

Yard Birds 2022: (28) Species. I added Fish Crow this week.

~SNGOs flying over the black dirt, 03/05/22.~
~SNGOs, black dirt, 03/05/22.~
~Snow Geese flying directly overhead, Onion Avenue 03/05/22.~
~SNGO fun in the black dirt, 03/05/22.~
~TUNDRA SWANS at the Bashakill, 03/04/22.~

2 thoughts on “Sunday Shots, 03/06/22”

  1. Beautiful pics of the snow geese Matt! My wife and I met you on the Newburgh waterfront last month- on Friday 3/4 I stopped by downing park in Newburgh and was pleasantly surprised to be shown a female Wigeon by a couple of birders there:)

    1. Thanks so much Tom, glad you checked out the blog and checked in. Most birders are nice people, it was excellent that they showed you the wigeon. Matt

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