Playing Catch Up, 5/30/16

It’s Monday, but with the holiday weekend it feels like a Sunday to me, so I’m finally getting around to posting. I went out several times during the week, but without many noteworthy sitings or photos. The above Black-billed Cuckoo was an exception; it was taken last Monday at Wickham Lake.

On Friday Tricia and I went up north to Watertown, New York, where I made a site visit at a church to examine their stained glass. We took the opportunity to visit Tricia’s parents near Syracuse, which meant that on Saturday morning I got to go to one of my favorite birding spots: Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. I got a little bit of a late start and arrived at the refuge just after 9:30. I have never birded the refuge at this time of year, and I have to say with the hot temperatures and the amount of car birding one has to do at the refuge, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do. I had 54 species for the day, but most of my looks seemed to be on the distant side. The best spot for birds was Knox-Marcellus Marsh, which I viewed from East Road, but the distance and the heat shimmer made identifying birds a real challenge. I saw reports later in the day from  Towpath Road, which runs along the south end of the marsh. I haven’t birded there in years, and it seems like folks may have gotten better looks from there. Best birds of the day: Sandhill Cranes, Trumpeter Swans (with cygnets!), Common Gallinules (many!), several pairs of Blue-winged Teal, and a Caspian Tern.

This morning I got up early and, of course, it was raining steadily. I went to Sterling Forest State Park and walked the Sterling Valley Loop. The rain subsided after about an hour or so, which made for a better walk. It was a birdy hike, but most birds were heard and not seen, except in one area where the Sterling Valley Loop overlaps with the Sterling Lake Loop. I had my best looks at birds for the day there; it opens up a little bit with Sterling Lake on the right and a swampy area and a power-cut to the left. There was a breeze off of the lake and I finally got a break from the endless pestering of mosquitos. Then, I enjoyed great looks at a pair of Cerulean Warblers (but no pics!), several Cedar Waxwings, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (pics but distant), a very hungry Great Blue Heron (see below), Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, Wood Ducks, Chipping Sparrows, and even a fleeting look at an American Woodcock that I inadvertently flushed.

I had three target birds for the day, all birds that I needed for Orange County. They had all been reported in the area recently, and I got lucky with two of them: Acadian Flycatcher and Alder Flycatcher. Right where the Sterling Valley Loop and the Sterling Lake Loop go their separate ways, I first heard (“peeet-sah!”), and then saw the bird. About a half hour further down the trail I heard a call that I wasn’t sure of. I thought it was a flycatcher, but wasn’t sure. I was able to locate the bird and get photos and I later identified it as an Alder Flycatcher doing its “peep” or “pip” call, which I recored on my phone. The third was a Common Gallinule, which I had no luck with. Other than the relentless mosquitoes, it was a good hike and some decent birding.