Well, there is still not very much going on in the local birding scene. New post-breeding birds for me included a couple of Great Egrets (6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary and Middletown Reservoir Trails) and a single Solitary Sandpiper (also at 6 1/2). I did have a couple of interesting observations, however. I stopped by Knapp’s View on Saturday morning, just to see if anything was going on. As soon as I arrived, I heard and saw several Purple Martins. I feel like I might have known at some point that Purple Martin houses had been installed there, but I’d totally forgotten, so it was a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t had any PUMAs in the county yet this year, so I was able to add them to my 2026 Orange County list (#188).
Then on Sunday, while I was driving on the exit ramp from the highway into Goshen, I saw two Osprey perched in a tree; one of them was eating a fish. The timing made me wonder if maybe they weren’t a local breeding pair. When they flew, the one bird I stayed on eventually flew southwest, in the direction of Goshen Reservoir, which is pretty close as the Osprey flies. I’m going to nose around there one day this week and see if I can’t find a nest.
Awesome Mate, Every Sunday I look forward to your Photos. Cheers
Great to hear, Derek. Thanks for checking in. Matt
Hi Matt,
It’s Elizabeth, from Elizabeth and Jeff! The PM house was a Chester Conservation Advisory Council project last year. This year I have another PM house and six bluebird houses ready to go up at Knapps View this fall. The Audubon people are helping. The houses were constructed by 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade students at the Bellvale Community.
I am so happy you saw some PUMAs! The bobolinks were back again this year due to our efforts to control the town mowing!!
Happy birding. See you soon.
Hi Liz! I was figuring you and Jeff might be behind all this. It’s really great stuff, thanks for filling in the blanks here. I saw some Bobolinks out there as well – nice work on them as well. Hope to see you and Jeff out there soon. Matt