
A Pleasant Evening…

I took advantage of the foggy, misty weather by having a peaceful evening watching the Short-eared Owls out at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. The parking lot, which has been filled most evenings lately, was practically empty. The owls were up early, and plenty of other raptors could be seen from the viewing platform, including numerous Red-tailed Hawks, a couple of Rough-legged Hawks, and a single male Northern Harrier. Also noteworthy were the seven Northern Cardinals flew into a bush near the entrance to the parking area. It started to rain after a little while, but that didn’t put damper a pleasant evening.

Sunday Shots

I got out Saturday morning and again on Sunday afternoon and birded the Black Dirt and Pine Island areas. I had a decent list of 34 species, most of which are expected at this time of year. I heard my first Great Horned Owl of year just after sunrise on Saturday morning out at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge and I had a Common Raven out there as well. Later Saturday morning I had 3 Lapland Longspurs, so it was good to see they are still around. I struck out with photos for the weekend, so I’ve included a Short-eared Owl shot from Wednesday. Here’s my list for 2/15/14 and 2/16/14:
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
American Kestrel
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
European Starling
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Short-eared Owls at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR

Photographing the Short-eared Owls out at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge is for me the most enjoyable way to shoot birds. Once you are tucked away in one of the photo blinds, the birds are not even aware of your presence. On good days, like today, when the owls get up early, this can result in many good photo opportunities. I love the fact that I can spend hours shooting away and I know that I am not bothering or stressing these birds out at all. All you have to do is be patient and be willing to deal with the cold temperatures. For me it is the perfect way to photograph birds; I only wish that there were more opportunities like this out there.
For the record I counted 6 Short-eared Owls at the refuge tonight, and amazingly, I did not see one Northern Harrier. This weekend is the first time I have ever been to the refuge in the winter and not seen at least one Northern Harrier.



Wallkill River NWR

Karen Miller and I decided to start the morning of birding off with some snowshoeing at the Winding Waters Nature Trail at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, the frozen crust of ice on top of the snow made every step we took so loud that there was no way we were going to have any success birding. Fortunately a truck had been down the trail, so we decided to forego the snowshoeing a just walk in the tire tracks instead.

We saw and heard many of the expected species, but our best moment on the trail was not bird related. On our way back, Karen spotted a beaver working hard on a tree on the far side of the Wallkill River. We watched and took photos of this critter for a good while, fascinated by it. In the field, it was really just awesome to see this animal. In photos, however, the beaver is not the most handsome of creatures:

Another highlight for me was watching as a Northern Harrier successfully chased down an unidentified songbird. The harrier made such acrobatic maneuvers in order to successfully kill its prey – the songbird dove down into the brush and the harrier somehow came to a quick stop, changed directions quickly a couple of times and then pounced on the bird. Here is the Northern Harrier flying away with a firm grip on the songbird:

On our way out we made a quick stop at the viewing platform by the Liberty Loop, where not much was flying so we decided to make a few stops in the Black Dirt Region on our way back. We made a couple of stops and Karen got to see the Lapland Longspurs I had seen the evening before, as well as a good number of Horned Larks and some Snow Buntings too.
We headed our separate ways and I took the long way home winding through the Black Dirt. In Goshen, I got lucky and found a nice flock of Horned Larks (with a couple of Snow Buntings in tow) AND another 5 Lapland Longspurs! This was my best opportunity to take photos all morning and I was happy with the results:


LAPLAND LONGSPURS!!!

I had an awesome evening of birding today after work. I headed to the Pine Island area, as I have for the last three evenings; it has been very active with good numbers of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings being seen. Today, my travels were rewarded with quite the treat- at least 12 LAPLAND LONGSPURS feeding on the roadside. While I was in the field I estimated 15 birds, but the most I have in any of my photos is 12. What an experience seeing these birds and to also be able to get some decent photos!

Just before sunset I headed over to Wallkill River NWR to see if the Short-eared Owls were flying. The owls were up early and putting on a show. I took some photos and I would guess that while I was there, 7 or 8 owls were up flying, all very close to the viewing platform. There were also many Northern Harriers present, I counted at least 8 which is the most I’ve had out there in a while.



Bashakill WMA, 2/2/14

It’s been ages since I’ve birded the Bashakill WMA, so I picked up Karen Miller early this morning and we headed over. The warm weather was still holding on, so I was looking forward to getting out of the car and doing a little hiking. Our first stop was the Deli Fields which were pretty active, with a nice flock of American Goldfinches and several Eastern Bluebirds being seen before we even got out of the car. We kept hearing a Pileated Woodpecker off in the distance and we finally got a good look in binoculars of the bird flying over the treetops in the distance.

Next, we headed over to Haven Road. Karen showed me where the new Bald Eagle nest is located and we could also see an adult Bald Eagle perched in a tree in the distance. Some mallards flushed and we noticed that the adult as well as an immature Bald Eagle were both in flight. A small flock of Canada Geese came in for a landing in what I’m assuming is some recently opened water north of Haven Road. We also had a single Ring-billed Gull fly over the road.

Our last stop was at the main boat launch, where we walked a good portion of the Birch Trail, in hopes of finding a Hermit Thrush. We didn’t have any luck with the thrush, but we did well with many of the expected songbirds: Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Juncos, Downy Woodpeckers, and Song Sparrows. We also saw and certainly heard my best bird of the day – a Common Raven flying over the Bash, making a racket while it did so.
I had almost forgotten how beautiful the Bashakill can be in all seasons. If you have not been out there in a while, or if you have never been there, do yourself a favor and visit the Bash in the winter. It’s gorgeous.
Here’s my list for the day:
Canada Goose 25
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 30
Bald Eagle 2
Ring-billed Gull 1
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 15
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
Eastern Bluebird 4
American Robin 5
American Tree Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 50
Northern Cardinal 3
American Goldfinch 30
Orange County Saturday

I woke up before sunrise this morning and headed out; I was going to spend the morning birding in southern Orange County. My first stop was at Wallkill River NWR, where I walked the Liberty Loop for the first time in a while. The weather had finally warmed up a bit after the extended cold spell, so it felt really good to be outside and walking the trail. During my walk I had many of the expected birds for this time of year, but the highlight of my hike was seeing a Coyote crossing the marsh.

After walking the loop, I did a car tour of Pines Island and the Black Dirt Region. I hit many of my usual stops as well as some of new ones, such as Cedar Swamp Road, where I saw a couple of falconers flying their birds way off in the distance, and not surprisingly, I did not have any luck with the pair of Snowy Owls that were reported there. I ended up with 26 species for the day which I don’t think is too bad for not being anywhere near open water all day. Species highlights for the morning included seeing the same Snowy Owl that I’ve been seeing all week and a pair of LAPLAND LONGSPURS in a flock of approximately 45 Horned Larks. The real highlight for me, however was running into several birders I know while viewing the Snowy Owl. It was good to spend time and shoot the breeze with fellow Mearns Bird Club members Gerhard and Tracey, as well as Jack Austin and Linda – they are all such nice folks.



Here’s my list for the morning, the numbers are a bit rough since I totaled everything I saw while I was out, but I definitely was very conservative with my counts.

Canada Goose 1000
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 3
Red-tailed Hawk 8
Rough-legged Hawk 5
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 14
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
American Kestrel 2
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 500
Horned Lark 60
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
American Robin 18
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 80
Lapland Longspur 2
American Tree Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 20
Dark-eyed Junco 55
Northern Cardinal 2
House Sparrow 12


Orange County Snowy Continues 1/31/14
Cackling Goose? – Wallkill River NWR 1/30/14

I spent the evening at Wallkill River NWR, the light was really nice and I was hoping to get some hawk photos or that maybe the Short-eared Owls would get up early. Neither of those happened, but there was a steady stream of Canada Geese flying over, so I was checking them out, wishing for a Barnacle or Greater White-fronted Goose. Instead, I saw a smaller goose and took several shots. To me this looks like it is good for a Cackling Goose, mostly because of the small stubby bill and the small squarish head. Please comment if you have thoughts on this ID.
