Sunday Shots, 05/01/22

I can hardly believe it’s May already. Maybe it’s because it’s been unseasonably chilly recently, I don’t know. Anyways, the birds aren’t paying any mind, and it’s that time of year when they are plentiful and it just depends on where you go and what you try for. The highlight of my weekend was certainly the Caspian Tern I found yesterday at Cornwall Bay, but the rest of the weekend was good too, with plenty of new birds to be seen and to add to my year list.

~Palm Warbler at Hurleyville Swamp this morning, 05/01/22.~

I had some local (Orange County) targets yesterday, but this morning my goal was to see some shorebirds. In particular I wanted to see if I could get lucky with the Greater Yellowlegs reported at Hurleyville Swamp; it would be one species closer to my objective of breaking 200 birds in Sullivan County this year. It was my first visit ever to the swamp, and I have to say it’s a great spot. It’s a rails to trails so the walk is easy and flat, and the spot was jamming pretty good with birds. I added the Greater Yellowlegs to my list easily, as there were at least 4 present. Other shorebirds included Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Solitary Sandpipers. I did not relocate the Least Sandpipers which had been reported there recently.

~Greater Yellowlegs at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/01/22.~

Afterwards, I came back to OC to see if I could track down any local shorebirds. The Camel Farm was a total bust, but Beaver Pond now has some nice looking shorebird conditions and there were several Solitary Sandpipers and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs present. I went to Wickham Lake to see if there were any shorebirds in all the puddles there, but I was surprised to see the puddles had all dried up this week. I was also surprised to find a distant White-winged Scoter out on the lake.

~Red-winged Blackbird at the Liberty Loop, 04/29/22.~

Yard Birds 2022: (39) – I didn’t add any new birds since my last post.

~Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/01/22.~
~Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Winding Waters Trail, 04/29/22.~
~A young Snapping Turtle at Winding Waters Trail, 04/29/22.~
~I had several encounters with Hermit Thrushes Saturday morning at Black Rock Forest, but unfortunately the light was never good for photos. HETH at BRF 04/30/22.~

4 thoughts on “Sunday Shots, 05/01/22”

  1. As usual…Beautiful captures. I’m learning so much about Birds from your posts, Thank You!
    Patty Kiersten

    1. Thanks so much Patty, it makes me happy to hear you are getting so much from the blog. Matt

    1. Thanks John on both counts. Btw, I’m at 198 now, so I’m optimistic. Matt

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