There is finally enough light in the evening to do a little bit of birding after work again, which contributed to my having a heck of a week with local raptors. I added three species to my 2025 Orange County list (Sharp-shinned Hawk, Short-eared Owl, and Merlin). On Saturday morning I birded the black dirt and the raptor numbers were impressive, with 9 species and over 40 individuals. My highlight was seeing 3 Rough-legged Hawks; far and away my high count for this winter.
- Black Vulture (2)
- Turkey Vulture (4)
- Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
- Northern Harrier (8)
- Bald Eagle (3)
- Red-shouldered Hawk (2)
- Red-tailed Hawk (18)
- Rough-legged Hawk (3)
- American Kestrel (2)
On Sunday I had some things to do around the house, so I didn’t get out until the afternoon, when I spend a couple of hours at the Hudson River. All the gulls were on the Beacon side, so I birded from there. It was a beautiful afternoon, but unfortunately I was only able to come up with the 3 expected species of gull (Ring-billed, Am. Herring, and Great Black-backed).
Sounds and looks like a great day. Wonderful shots as always.
It felt a little bit like “the old days”, when I started out in this area and raptors seemed to be just a little more plentiful. Thanks for the kind words. Matt
Hi,
I am Anthropology undergraduate student working on my senior thesis about black bears in NY. May I use your photograph of a black bear (https://orangebirding.com/?p=11781) in my paper? I will of course attribute the photograph to you including a link to your blog (APA format citation).
Thank you!
Please feel free, Katherine. Let me know if you need a better quality or if you will just lift it from the site. Oh, and could you please share your thesis with me – you can send it to [email protected]. Thanks!