Sunday Shots, 06/14/26

I was busy last weekend and didn’t get out very much – just for a little while on Sunday morning. This weekend I got out both days, but with spring migration complete, there wasn’t all that much going on. This morning was definitely my favorite outing of the past couple of weeks – I took my yearly hike up to Jupiter’s Boulder in Black Rock Forest. It was waaaay back in June of 2018 that I finally observed Ruffed Grouse in Orange County. I’ve gone back every year since, hoping to get lucky again.

As expected, I dipped on the Ruffed Grouse, but it was still an excellent morning as I always find that hike enjoyable. I also added (3) species to my 2026 OC list – which is a little unexpected in mid-June. The first was a small flock of Wild Turkeys. I’ve had them in the county this year already, but never when I was doing an eBird report. The second was expected – Acadian Flycatcher. They are very reliable at that location. And the third was unexpected – Winter Wren – I’ve never had one at that location before. Photos were tough; I had very few opportunities, plus it was a bit overcast and very dark on most of the trail. I photographed a fledgling Louisiana Waterthrush, but due to the conditions, I shot it at ISO 4000 and the photos were terribly grainy. You can see my best effort to save it in post processing at the bottom of this post.