Sunday Shots, 05/03/26

It’s the time of year when there are plenty of birds around, so it made for a very pleasant weekend of birding. I added (18) new species to my 2026 Orange County year list. I had a decent showing of shorebirds on Saturday, with six species observed. At the Camel Farm, Linda Scrima and I had Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Killdeer. I added Spotted Sandpiper at the Liberty Loop platform. I did alright with songbirds too; I added (9) new species of wood warblers to my OC year list, including my favorite new species from the weekend, a beautiful Cape May Warbler.

~Cape May Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis, 05/03/26.~

I also spent some time in the black dirt looking for and finding Lapland Longspurs. On Saturday I was pleasantly surprised to see the flock of Horned Larks was still around and although it took a while, I was able to locate a single LALO in non-breeding plumage. Today I was able to get on a couple of LALOs pretty quickly, and one was in breeding plumage. Unfortunately, the birds are moving around a lot, and the spots they have been favoring are distant enough to make getting photos very challenging, and I failed on both days. I was still pretty excited though, as these are my first observations ever of this species in the month of May.

~The flock of Horned Larks with the Lapland Longspurs remained uncooperative, but there are plenty of of larks which are not part of the flock and are going about their business of having young. This one landed on the road right in front of me; I couldn’t resist getting a few shots. Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 05/02/26.~
~Sandhill Crane in flight over Liberty Marsh, 05/02/26.~
~Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/03/26.~
~Cape May Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/03/26.~
~And one final shot of the CMWA at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/03/26.~
~I took this last weekend, Greater Yellowlegs on Lynch Avenue in the black dirt on 04/26/26.~

4 thoughts on “Sunday Shots, 05/03/26”

  1. Those Cape May warbler shots are awesome! BTW, I’m heading down to Cape May next weekend for some great birding.

    1. Thanks Silas. It’s been years now since I’ve been to Cape May – I’m pretty jealous! Enjoy your trip, your timing seems pretty darn good. Matt

      1. I have visited Cape May every year since 2021, (except 2022). The last 2 years were assisting my son’s World Series of Birding team. This year we will get rid of that pressure, and just have loads of fun visiting all the amazing spots down there. Weekend of May 9th-10th, is pretty much as good as it gets anywhere!

        1. That’s really excellent, I hope you guys get some excellent birds. Matt

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