Sunday Shots, 03/03/24

Today was good day of birding – I stuck to the black dirt region, and although I had mostly the usuals, there were plenty of birds around and I enjoyed some good photo ops. I also walked Wallkill River NWR’s Winding Waters Trail. It was a pleasant and very birdy walk. I had distant looks at the recently returned Sandhill Cranes, which was pretty cool. There were thousands of blackbirds on the trail; they never sat still for very long.

In the afternoon, I got word from Linda Scrima that she had a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at the Camel Farm, of all places. I ran for the bird, and when I arrived, I found that it had been joined by a second LBBG, out in a field, among over 300 Ring-billed and a handful of Herring Gulls. It was a terrible look at the birds (distant and starkly backlit), but I was happy to add this species to my Orange County list for the year. Huge thanks to Linda for the heads up on an excellent find.

~It was nice to spend s0me time with this Peregrine Falcon in the black dirt, 03/03/24.~
~Singing Eastern Meadowlark in the black dirt region, 03/03/24.~
~This Short-eared Owl made a brief appearance this morning, and unfortunately stayed on the backlit side of me. Black dirt region, 03/03/24.~
~Turkey Vulture, Westtown NY, 03/03/24.~
~Bald Eagle at the Camel Farm, 03/03/24.~
~A pair of female Common Mergansers in the rain on Beaver Dam Lake, 03/02/24.~
~Blackbird flock on Winding Waters Trail, 03/03/24.~
~Male Common Merganser on Celery Avenue, 03/03/24.~
~One of two Lesser Black-backed Gulls at the Camel Farm, 03/03/24.~

6 thoughts on “Sunday Shots, 03/03/24”

  1. Love the Hen mergansers.
    While the drake common merganser is one of the most beautiful of diving ducks, the hen common merganser is also quite gorgeous. With her fly-away red-feathered head, she always reminds me of Elsa Lanchester in the 1935 movie of Mary Shelley’s “Bride of Frankenstein.”

    1. That’s possibly my favorite shot from this weekend Tom, which is funny because it was the worst conditions for photos. I feel like I can picture Elsa Lancaster, but I’ll definitely have to Google it. Matt

  2. Wow Matt, you aced some great shots. I have never seen a Peregrine Falcon or Short Eared Owl in real life. I thought most owls were nocturnal but this one was out in the blue sky!

    1. Thanks John. Short-eared Owls are nocturnal, but I think this one was roused by some American Crows. It was back down and out of sight after a minute or so. Matt

  3. Matt, You have a GREAT eye! That Meadowlark is beautiful, and of course…all of the other shots are as well. Good for you on seeing all of these, and capturing Nice shots to share with us!

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