Waterfowl Wednesday

It started with a phone call from Karen Miller today while I was at work today. She had taken the day off and was birding with John Haas and Scott Baldinger. She called to rub in the fact that they had seen 43 (!!!) HORNED GREBES at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area. I headed towards the Bashakill after work and when I arrived at Haven Road, I immediately located group of 8 Horned Grebes in the distance. I was able to get some decent shots of a couple of the birds, but then I moved on, heading back to Orange County. For more details on birding at the Bashakill today, go to the Bashakill Birder to read John Haas’ post.

After the Bash, I hustled over to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge to see if we had had any similar luck in Orange County. I was going to meet Karen at the refuge, and when I arrived, Karen was already there and Joyce DePew was there as well. From the viewing platform we got a good look at a trio of American Coots – my first of the year.

We also had a Killdeer fly over in good light:

We walked the loop, and the marsh was loaded with waterfowl:

Canada Goose  80
Mute Swan  4
Wood Duck  2
American Wigeon  35
Mallard  30
Blue-winged Teal  5
Northern Shoveler  2
Northern Pintail  75
Green-winged Teal  85
Ring-necked Duck  100
Bufflehead  4

I was very conservative with these numbers because for me, it becomes difficult to keep track of all the bird numbers when you are also having conversations. I had a great time –  good company, perfect weather, and plenty of birds – very hard to beat it.