Orange County Ross’s Geese, 12/30/17

First thing this morning I followed up on Kathy Ashman’s report of two ROSS’S GEESE at Glenmere Lake from yesterday morning. It was a dark, cold, and snowy morning; I arrived at the lake before sunrise and immediately located the 2 Ross’s among approximately 300 Canada Geese. I put the word out and John Haas was able to join me. With the snow fall and the heavy cloud cover, it never got light enough for good photos, but we both did our best. Ross’s are always exciting, and in spite of the poor light, the birds were relatively close and we got pretty good looks. Around 9 am, the birds picked up and John and I headed our separate ways. Huge thanks to Kathy for finding and reporting the birds.

My goal for the day was to make a last ditch effort to find some new birds for my Orange County 2017 year list. I scoured the Hudson River, starting at the Bear Bridge and eventually ending up at the Newburgh Waterfront. I was hoping for Canvasback (I’d had 75 near my work in Rockland County the day before!) or for Great Cormorant. It was a fun day exploring new spots and hoping for the best, but ultimately I did not add any birds to my list. The highlight at the Hudson came at my final stop, where I ran into John Haas once again. He had just located an Iceland Gull. The bird was super cooperative and I got some decent shots. John had put the word out, but unfortunately, before anyone else had arrived the bird picked up and flew all the way to Beacon. Curt McDermott and Rick Hansen missed the bird by moments and Curt chased it over to Beacon (he said that it would guarantee that the bird would come back to Newburgh). Kathy Ashman showed up shortly after his departure and Curt was right, the bird did come back and Kathy and Rick both got their lifer Iceland Gulls! That was a pretty exciting way to end the day. I didn’t add any birds to my OC year list, but any day with 2 Ross’s Geese and an Iceland Gull is a good day of birding.