Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22

Well, my good luck continued for another day. This morning I headed to Black Rock Forest to try for the Red Crossbills that have been reported there recently. I enjoyed the 3 mile hike to Tamarack Pond, in spite of the relatively cold and windy conditions. I didn’t have many birds until I got to the area of the pond, where there were plenty of birds, some of them really good, including a couple of Fox Sparrows, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and a Brown Creeper.

~One of the many Dark-eyed Juncos at Black Rock Forest, near Tamarack Pond, 03/27/22.~

But, it took over two hours of looking and listening and wandering the area before finding my target birds. I heard a call that I did not immediately recognize, as I made my way towards the call, two birds popped up out of an evergreen and landed on a leafless tree. I was able to snap some shots before the birds took off; I got enough to at least document:

~Red Crossbill at Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22.~

The hike back to the car was nearly bird-free, but I was feeling pretty good about things and didn’t mind at all. I made a quick stop at the Newburgh Waterfront afterwards, but it seemed quiet there and I had only the 3 expected species of gull present (Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed).

Yard Birds 2022: (33) – no new birds since my last post.

~This was a nice surprise, one of 2 Fox Sparrows at Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22.~

4 thoughts on “Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22”

  1. Glad you got the crossbills . Had both species in Sabattis big in the Adirondacks a few weeks ago. I have missed the fox sparrow the past 4 or 5 years. Used to occasionally get them in the yard

    1. I’m hit or miss with Fox Sparrows. We had one in our yard many years ago, but not since. I love the Adirondacks; I need to get back there. Matt

Comments are closed.