I was up and out early this morning. My first stop was Port Orange Road, where I enjoyed some productive birding. I took my time and birded the entire road; I had a total of 43 species, and I added three species to my Orange County year list (Acadian Flycatcher, Canada Warbler, and my target bird for the morning – MOURNING WARBLER).
Afterwards, I headed out to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Loop, to see if I could finally catch up with the 7 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS that have been reported there. Fortunately the birds continued, and not only that, they were in a good location, not too far from the trail, so I enjoyed really great looks and got some decent photos. The birds’ preferred area at the refuge is about 300 yards or so south of the NY border, just into Sussex County NJ.
