This morning I went out and did my first birding in Orange County for the new year. I took a tour of the Black Dirt Region, ending at the Liberty Marsh at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, where I did not walk the trails but just viewed from the platform for 20 minutes or so. I then check on Wickham Lake and Glenmere Lake before heading home. It felt good to get my list for the county started and I ended the morning with 27 species; I’ve included today’s list at the bottom of this post. Highlights from the morning included seeing large flocks of Horned Larks with Snow Buntings mixed in. At one point I had nearly 75+ Horned Larks taking a dust bath in the road in front of me. I’ve only seen this one other time and it was really cool to see it again. On the disappointing side, I was hoping to run across some Snow Geese in the black dirt, especially after seeing them fly over in Ulster County the day before.
All species located in Black Dirt Region (including Liberty Marsh) except where noted:
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Mallard
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle (Wickham)
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Home)
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Belted Kingfisher (Glenmere)
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee (Glenmere)
Tufted Titmouse (Glenmere)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Glenmere)
European Starling
Snow Bunting
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
I need a Tundra swan for my life list. If you come across any let me know.
Jeff – I will let you know if I see or hear anything. Matt
I too believe your first photo to be a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, because of the relatively sparse, crisp, teardrop shaped streaking on the breast. A juvenile sharpie’s breast is messy and coarsely streaked.
Thanks Tom, that was the main reason I reconsidered, that and the size of the eye. Thanks so much for your input. Oh, and Happy New Year to you. Matt