Sunday Shots, Shorebirds and Babies, 05/07/23

It’s the time of year when A LOT is happening. Birds are on the move and seemingly everywhere. While I think most birders were out looking for wood warblers, I kind of did my own thing since warblers are not high priority for me. That said, I added 27 species to my Orange County year list in the past couple of days. I added over half of those birds on a 7.5 mile hike at Black Rock Forest on Saturday morning. It was a birdy hike with 44 species observed.

~Killdeer chick in the Black Dirt Region, 05/07/23.~

Saturday afternoon I went over to Walkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. Birding bud Kyle Knapp let me know that he’d had shorebirds there in the flooded fields. I was able to relocate the Dunlin that he’d had there earlier, as well as: Killdeer (2), Least Sandpipers (9), Greater Yellowlegs (many), Lesser Yellowlegs (even more), and Solitary Sandpipers (15+). The birds were distant, and the heat shimmer was terrible, which made for poor viewing.

~Lesser Yellowlegs at Winding Waters Trail, 05/07/23.~

I went back to Winding Waters this morning to follow up on the Black-bellied Plover that Jeanne Cimorelli located after I’d left on Saturday. As luck would have it, I was joined by fellow hawk watcher and all around good guy, Tom Millard. We scanned the shorebirds from many locations on the trail and totaled 9 species of shorebirds (we added Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover and Spotted Sandpiper to the birds listed above). The number of shorebirds at that location right now is really something – it’s hard to put a number on it, but I’m guesstimating over 200 shorebirds present.

~Earlier in the week, I went for the red fox kits again. Cuteness overload. Orange County 05/01/23.~
~Solitary Sandpiper at Winding Waters Trail, 05/07/23.~
~For some reason, it seems hard to get a catchlight on the eye of a young Killdeer. I took many photos of these chicks, and the top photo of this post was the only one with a catchlight. Killdeer chick in the black dirt, 05/07/23.~
~Lesser Yellowlegs with a worm for a snack. Winding Waters, 05/07/23.~
~This little dude was having a blast playing with this stick….
~….but she/he tired quickly and was fast asleep when I left. Orange County red fox 05/01/23.~
~Bald Eagle flyover at Winding Waters Trail, 05/07/23.~
~American Goldfinch in the black dirt, 05/07/23.~

6 thoughts on “Sunday Shots, Shorebirds and Babies, 05/07/23”

    1. Thanks John, it really is such a fulfilling hobby, as you well know. Thanks for checking in. Matt

  2. Fabulous Photos, thanks for sharing! Your weekly posts remind us all of how much awesomeness we have here in Orange County. I was at Winding Waters the other evening and was shocked at how flooded those fields on the right side were. Great Birding 🙂 Be well, Patty

    1. Thanks so much Patty. It’s amazing all the amazing things we can find right around us! Matt

  3. Thanks ,as always , for sharing your adventures through your photos . I don’t know what your regular day job is , but I hope it’s something that involves photography because these pictures are amazing ! They are so crisp and clear and saturated with color . I look forward to your blog . And the little fox , cuteness overload indeed ! Adorable .

    1. Liz – I WISH my day job involved photography – that would be incredible. No, for me it’s just a hobby, but I enjoy it and I appreciate the kind words. See you out there. Matt

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