A Good Weekend, 04/14/24

I didn’t do a post last weekend because I did not have any noteworthy sightings nor any photos that I felt justified a post. This weekend it’s a different story. I enjoyed two mornings of really good birding where I added several new birds to my Orange County year list. I also finally caught up with a couple of birds which had been eluding me – on Saturday morning, I finally got a Great Cormorant for the county (I’d seen one across the river in Dutchess County earlier in the year). Then on Sunday morning, thanks to birding bud Bruce Nott, I finally saw the Eurasian Green-winged Teal which has been in the area for some time. It was in the big pond at the Camel Farm, which made finding it much easier than scanning through hundreds of Green-winged Teals at Winding Waters Trail, as I did a couple of weeks ago.

~I kind of like this photo because it’s cool to see the size comparison of the Great versus the much smaller Double-crested Cormorant. Newburgh Waterfront, 04/13/24.~

And things are starting to happen. Including the couple of evenings I got out earlier this week, I added 12 species to my OC year list:

  • Gadwall (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
  • Osprey (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
  • Barn Swallow (Wickham Lake 4/9/24)
  • Chipping Sparrow (Goshen, 4/10/24)
  • RED-THROATED LOON (Wickham Lake 4/11/24)
  • GREAT CORMORANT (Newburgh Waterfront 4/13/24)
  • Greater Yellowlegs (Camel Farm 4/13/24)
  • Lesser Yellowlegs (Camel Farm 4/13/24)
  • DUNLIN (Winding Waters Trail, 4/14/24)
  • Broad-winged Hawk (Winding Waters Trail 4/14/24)
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Winding Waters Trail, 4/14/24)
~An unlikely pair, a Blue-winged Teal and one of two DUNLIN at Winding Waters Trail, 04/14/24.~

~A sharp looking male Horned Lark in the black dirt, 04/13/24.~
~And by contrast, a slightly drabber but still beautiful female HOLA, black dirt 04/13/24.~
~There were loads of Savannah Sparrows in the black dirt on Sunday morning, 04/14/24.~
~On Saturday morning I did not find any Red-throated Loons, but I did have several Common Loons (3 at Orange Lake, 1 at the Newburgh Waterfront, 1 at Greenwood Lake, 2 at Wickham Lake, and 1 at Glenmere Lake). This photo was taken at Greenwood Lake in the rain, 04/13/24.~
~I’ve been seeing at least one good-looking Lapland Longspur in the black dirt. I took this photo last Saturday, 04/06/24. I found what I believe is the same individual this weekend and although I wasn’t able to get a photo, it’s looking better still.~
~A Belted Kingfisher darts under the overpass at Winding Waters Trail, 04/14/24.~

2 thoughts on “A Good Weekend, 04/14/24”

    1. I hope you can get out soon! Until then, I’ll do my best to keep the posts coming. Thanks for checking in. Matt

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