Wallkill River NWR – A decidedly different feel

A rather elegant looking Lesser Yellowlegs at Wallkill River NWR.

I walked the Liberty Loop at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge on Thursday evening. I have been doing some reading and working on shorebird identification lately, so my primary goal was to see if my work would pay off. The Liberty Loop trail had a different feel on this day for sure. As soon as I got out of the car I heard birds overhead. To me they sounded like they were saying “me…me………me…me”. Karen Miller and I had heard the same call the day before out at the Shawangunk Grasslands. I managed to get some good looks and some photos and when I got home I figured out it was a flock of Bobolinks – at least 40 birds. From the viewing platform several shorebirds could be seen as well as a couple dozen Canada Geese, a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret. A Northern Harrier cruised the marsh looking for prey. There was a conspicuous lack of Red-winged Blackbirds. Fall migration sure seemed to be underway.

One of the Bobolinks that were flocking at the Liberty Loop.

I walked quickly to the southern end of the loop to look for shorebirds. There were a good many present and as usual I struggled to identify them. I took some time with it and determined that there were no out of the ordinary shorebirds present. Here’s my count:

  • (4) Killdeer
  • (2) Solitary Sandpiper
  • (3) Lesser Yellowlegs
  • (24) Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs at the Wallkill River NWR

I was pleasantly surprised to find several types of ducks in the back pond:

  • Mallard
  • Wood Duck
  • American Black Duck
  • Blue-winged Teals
  • Green-winged Teals

It was nice to see a variety of ducks again!

I think this is a mix of Green-winged Teals and Blue-winged Teals found in the back pond at Wallkill River NWR. For some reason I didn’t manage to get any good shots of ducks.

On my way out, I found this juvenile Black-Crowned Night-heron:

This summer I was looking for a BCNH for so long with no luck and now it seems like I see one every time I go out!

As you can see from the above photo, this heron was well aware of my presence, but did not seem to be bothered by me in the least. I walked slowly down the trail until I was in a good position for a photo and then snapped away. When I moved on, this young heron was still sitting in the same spot.

I was happy with my work with the camera – it was nearly dark, but I still managed to get some good photos. I am getting better with both my settings and with keeping the camera stead with a slow shutter speed (1/50th of a second!). Here’s one more of the BCNH:

Black-Crowned Night-heron at Wallkill River NWR.

2 thoughts on “Wallkill River NWR – A decidedly different feel”

    1. Thanks Karen, I like that one too. I’m not sure how, but I almost overlooked it in my first round of editing.

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