Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge 5/16/12

This is one of the THREE Green Herons we saw.

On Thursday I went out to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge to meet up with Karen Miller. Karen is good company and I really enjoy birding with her. We are both at a similar level with our birding and we are both really into it. We decided to walk just the eastern side of the Liberty Loop, out and back. We both agreed – that section of the trail is  where we have each had the most luck.

Well, luck certainly was with us, we had a very productive evening. We had over thirty species in just over an hour and a half and with not much effort. The birds just seemed to be revealing themselves to us. Here’s our list:

I really like that you can see the small hook on the end of this Eastern Kingbird's bill
  • Canada Goose
  • Mute Swan
  • Wood Duck (heard)
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker (heard)
  • Northern Flicker (heard)
  • Eastern Kingbird
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Tree Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Song Sparrow
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Bobolink
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • American Goldfinch

Karen messaged me that the Brown Thrasher, Peregrine, and Bobolink were here favorites, and don’t forget the Indigo Bunting! I was very excited to see the Bobolink also because it was a life bird for me, but my best bird of the day was the Peregrine Falcon. I will never get tired of seeing that bird! Here’s a couple more photos:

A female Brown-headed Cowbird shared the trail with us.
The Song Sparrows were not shy either. They always seem to be willing to pose for a picture.
This is not a great shot, but I am looking for help identifying this bird. Leave a comment if you can help - thanks!

7 thoughts on “Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge 5/16/12”

  1. My best guess is that this IS a white-throated sparrow. Looking at Cornell’s allaboutbirds.org site it looks like the adult tan-striped form of this bird. I could be wrong.

    1. That is exactly what I was thinking. There is a photo of one in the Crossley guide too, but the markings are not as strong as in this bird. I love the back on this bird!

  4. Thanks Ken! I see now in the Crossley Guide that he says that the supercilium is often yellow. Any tips on identifying this bird in the future? Sparrows are tough for me, even with photos!

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