I had planned to get to Rye, NY for some birding at the end of 2015 or early January of this year, but somehow I never made it out there. So, today I finally took the trip to the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, a spot that always seems to deliver a good amount of birds in the winter compared to what we are getting in Orange County. I had a pretty good day, with a total of 34 species (this is ten fewer than I had during a trip late last February but only two fewer than Karen Miller and I had in January of 2015). The highlight for me was getting relatively good views of Long-tailed Ducks – they were still distant, but typically at the sanctuary the LTDUs are miles out into the Long Island Sound. Another highlight was a distant look at a pair of Horned Grebes, a species I’ve never had at the sanctuary before. I was mostly surprised by the number of species that I expected to get but did not: Brant, Double-crested and Great Cormorant, Great Blue Heron (I remember large numbers on the islands at Playland Lake in the past), American and Fish Crow. I’ve also typically done well with photos at the sanctuary, and that was not the case today. Still, it was good day – gorgeous, seasonably warm, with enough birds to keep it interesting. I’ve included my species list at the bottom of this post.
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow