It’s not very often these days that I get to say I did something completely new locally, but that was the case this morning. I went kayaking at Mongaup Falls Reservoir in Sullivan County. Last night I was flipping through the book Quiet Water New York by John Hayes & Alex Wilson, and I saw their write up for this location. I realized that in spite of how close it is, I somehow never kayaked there before.
It was a cool misty morning went I put in. The mist stopped quickly, but the morning stayed cloudy and pleasantly cool. I wouldn’t have minded a little more light for photos, but what can you do? It was a very birdy paddle; I had over 45 species, and it was really just a peaceful morning to be out. Notable species for me included Common Merganser, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Magnolia Warbler. Merlin heard Purple Finch a couple of times, but that’s a bird I’ve never been very good at identifying by ear. Merlin also identified RED CROSSBILL several times. I kept missing it when it happened, but then I finally I heard something and looked at my phone and it said Red Crossbill. I kept listening, and even though Merlin was no longer picking it up, I was sure I was hearing a Red Crossbill doing its chipa-chipa-chipa call. I was scanning the treetops madly, but frustratingly, I never got a visual.
