photos – Page 2 – Orange Birding

Pelagic Teaser & Sunday Snow Geese, 02/11/24

The big news is that on Saturday I went on a 12 hour pelagic birding trip out of Brooklyn with American Princess Cruises. It was a really good trip, and I will publish a full post in a few days, once I’ve had time to get through the loads of pics I took – it’s incredible how many photos you can take on a trip like that. Meanwhile, here is a teaser – a beautiful Northern Gannet in flight alongside the boat.

~Northern Gannet during American Princess Cruises’ 12-hour Pelagic Birding Trip, 02/10/24.~

As for Sunday, although I was exhausted, I got out for a while in the morning. First thing, I got lucky/unlucky. I joined Kyle Knapp in Warwick to see the ROSS’S GOOSE that he relocated first thing. I was lucky in that the bird stuck around in time for my arrival. I was unlucky because, just moments after my arrival, the Ross’s and all the Canada Geese it has been associating with picked up and flew, so I only got a very brief look at the bird.

~Snow Geese in the black dirt, 02/11/24.~

Later in the morning, I located a large flock of Snow Geese on Pierce Circle in the black dirt. At first I estimated approximately 2,000 birds, but the longer I stayed, I realized it was probably north of 4,000 individuals. I scanned the birds, looking for Ross’s, but I came up empty. It was tough because the birds kept lifting up. In the early afternoon, Ken McDermott, Linda Scrima, and Jeanne Cimorelli did in fact located a Ross’s, nice job by them.

~It’s really cool how many shapes the flock can take in flight – flocking birds, and flocking
Snow Geese in particular, are so fun to photograph and the images are usually pretty interesting. SNGOs in the black dirt, 02/11/24.~

~Snow Geese cruising by. Pierce Circle, 02/11/24.~

Sunday Shots, 02/04/24

I love winter birding. For some reason, I just really enjoy the assortment of birds that are in the range of possiblity. This weekend I enjoyed catching up with the following excellent species:

Iceland Gull (Newburgh Waterfront)
Red Crossbills (Reservoir 3, Port Jervis area)
Pine Siskins (Near Reservoir 3)
Red-Breasted Mergansers (1 Liberty Marsh, 2 Newburgh Waterfront)
Lapland Longspurs (Black Dirt Region)
Snow Geese (several flocks over BDR)
Common Goldeneyes (Greenwood Lake)

Of course, I missed some good birds too. Bruce Nott had an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull earlier in the week that I did not catch up with. I dipped on the Wilson’s Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail for the fourth time! I also missed the Canvasbacks at Greenwood Lake on Saturday, only to find out from Kyle Knapp that there were 2 there on Sunday. Kyle also had a large flock of Snow Buntings in the black dirt that I never located. But, as you know, this is part of the fun and challenge of birding. You never know what you are going to get on any particular day – some days you hit it out of the park, while on others you may strike out.

~A couple of Pine Siskins gritting on the road, Sparrow Bush NY, 02/04/24.~

~The Iceland Gull was too far out for photos, so I had to settle for shooting the more common gull species. Ring-billed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 02/03/24.~

~I was happy to catch up with this Red-breasted Merganser first thing Saturday morning. Liberty Marsh 02/03/24.~

~I’ve been seeing loads of Eastern Bluebirds lately. This one was in Sparrow Bush, NY 02/04/24.~

~Snow Geese flying over the Liberty Marsh, 02/03/24.~

~One more Pine Siskin shot, Sparrow Bush NY, 02/04/24~

~Savannah Sparrow just before sunset in the black dirt, 02/04/24.~

~Early morning birding at Reservoir 3, 02/04/24.~

More Catch-up, 01/25/24

With all the GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL excitement from last Sunday, I did not have time to do my usual end-0f-weekend post.

On Saturday morning, Karen Miller and I left Goshen before Sunrise and headed to Rye, New York. We birded the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary as well as the Rye Town Park. It was bitterly cold out, with a strong cold wind which made it even worse, but still we had an enjoyable morning. I felt good about our total of 37 species for the morning. Highlights included a giant flock of Long-tailed Ducks way out in the LI Sound – perhaps 65 birds or even more. Other highlights included a single Horned Lark and a couple of Purple Sandpipers.

~White-throated Sparrow at Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 01/20/24.~

On Sunday morning, I knew it was too early to try for gulls, so I made the rounds in the black dirt. I found only the usuals, but I had some really good photo ops, and the light was really nice. It was another cold morning of birding, even though I was in the car for the most part.

~One of 2 young Bald Eagles sharing a tree in the black dirt, 01/21/24.!

~Horned Lark in the black dirt, 01/21/24.~

~Gray Ghost on the prowl in the black dirt at sunrise, 01/21/24.~

~The second young Bald Eagle, sharing a tree in the BDR on 01/21/24.~

~Look at the toes and claws on this Horned Lark! Wow. Black dirt 01/21/24.~

~A Peregrine Falcon enjoys breakfast just after sunrise in the black dirt, 01/21/24.~

Sunday Shots, 01/14/24

Aside from the excitement of the Snow Geese during the OC Winter Waterfowl Survey, the rest of the weekend was pretty much the usuals for me.. Of note was two large flocks of gulls in the black dirt – one on Missionland Road and the other on Glenwood Road. The Missionland birds were quite distant, so I couldn’t really go through them. The gulls on Glenwood Road were mostly Ring-billed, with 10 or so Herring Gulls mixed in. Also noteworthy, the Snow Geese seemed to be a one-day-wonder (at least for the time being), as I didn’t see them or any reports of them on Sunday. And finally, after seeing John Haas’ post from Friday, I tried for winter finches in the Reservoir 3 area on Sunday morning. Unfortunately it was a bust for me; I will have to try again another day soon; my goal is to get photos of Red Crossbills which aren’t flyovers.. Anyways, here’s some photos from my birding over the past couple of days.

~Northern Harrier in flight at Wallkill River NWR’s Liberty Marsh, 01/13/24.~

~Horned Lark showing off its namesake in the black dirt, 01/13/24.~

~Snow Geese at the Camel Farm, 01/13/24.~

~NOHA at Liberty Marsh during the waterfowl survey, 01/13/24.~

~A young Northern Harrier protects its catch from a pesky American Crow in the black dirt, 01/13/24.~

A Little Catch-up, 01/11/24

Between my end of year post and the great birds I had over the past weekend, I’ve got some catching up to do as far as photos go. Here’s some additional shots from the past couple of weeks. I spent some time in the black dirt making sure I got Lapland Longspur for 2024 – I was able to photograph a couple of them this past Saturday morning. I’ve also been trying for gulls, but I’ve only been able to find the 3 expected species. That didn’t stop me from taking photos.

~Ring-billed Gulls during Sunday morning’s snowstorm. Newburgh Waterfront, 01/07/24.~

~Always a favorite of mine – Lapland Longspur in the black dirt, 01/06/24.~

~A Horned Lark enjoys a dust bath on a gravel road in the black dirt, 01/01/24.~

~Portrait of an interesting looking Ring-billed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/07/24.~

~Eastern Bluebird, Winding Waters Trail, 01/06/24.~

~Bald Eagle in the black dirt, 01/01/24.~

~Another Horned Lark taking a dust bath, BDR o1/01/24.~

~Good looking gull. Great Black-backed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 01/07/24.~

~Song Sparrow at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/26/23.~

2023 Year in Review

It’s time once again for one of my favorite posts of the year. It’s always fun to take a look back over the year and relive some of the highlights. I think that I did less birding this year than in previous years. My job has been increasingly demanding and there were many days where I could have gotten out in the evening, but really I was just drained from the day. I tried to make up for it on the weekends, and by choosing the type of birding which gave me the most joy, it led to some excellent birding experiences. But, my Orange County year list suffered for it; 2023 was the first time I didn’t surpass 200 species in the county since 2015. I ended the year with a paltry 193 birds in the county. Somehow, getting over that 200 mark seems significant to me; something I realized a little too late in the year to make a push for it. Hopefully next year I’ll get back on track.

So, I never really know how I’m going to write this post until I start writing it; this year I’ve decided to provide my top three birding experiences of 2023, along with some honorable mentions. And then, of course, I’ll have my TOP TEN FAVORITE PHOTOS.

~Lapland Longspur in breeding plumage, 04/23/23.~

My favorite highlight of the year might not seem that exciting to some, but I am still overjoyed about not only finding, but also photographing a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in breeding plumage. The icing on the cake was that, in LALO terms, the photo is actually pretty good. I’ve been trying for years to make this happen, so I was very pleased when it finally did.

~Upland Sandpiper in flight in the Black Dirt Region, 08/18/23.~

In second place, it was quite a year for UPLAND SANDPIPERS in Orange County. After several years of very few being observed in the county, this year I had several sightings. My first bird was a single Uppy, perhaps a little on the early side on July 21st. Unfortunately no-one else got that bird. Then, in on August 7th, I located 4 (!) Upland Sandpipers in the black dirt. I believe many birders were able to see these birds, and I saw them again on two more occasions. Finally, on August 18th, I had a close encounter with the above UPSA, as it walked across the road right in front of my car.

~American Golden and Black-bellied Plovers in the black dirt, 09/18/23.~

And in third place, on September 19th, after some storms passed through, I enjoyed a magical evening of shorebirding in the black dirt. When the rain stopped, Linda Scrima joined me, and we were treated to an amazing double rainbow which the birds kept flying right through. It was really something to behold and I am pleased to have been able to experience and document it.

~Double rainbow with gold at the end – American Golden-plovers that is! Black Dirt Region, 09/18/23.~

~Black Guillemot, Monhegan Island 09/23/23.~

Honorable Mentions:

We went back to Ireland in the spring; I was able to get 12 life birds in spite of getting Covid-19 just days after our arrival.
We spent a week on Monhegan Island. It was my favorite vacation in a long time; the birding was only mediocre but the birding experience is hard to beat.
I somehow renewed my love of hawkwatching. It was actually the poorest year (numbers wise) since I started at Mount Peter, but the joy of hawkwatching somehow creeped back into my soul.
I caught up with the Prothonotary Warbler at the Bashakill on June 4th. It was a life bird for me, the only life bird I would find locally in 2023.

~Prothonotary Warbler at the Bashakill, 06/04/23.~

And now for my favorite part – I love to look back a year’s worth of photos and whittle them down to my TOP TEN FAVORITE IMAGES. Some years when I look back, I’m somewhat disappointed with my work for the year. Which is weird because I’m usually pleased when I take them, but I guess in my mind they don’t hold up, I don’t know. But this year was different, and as I reviewed them, I was pleased. I had some great opportunities that I took advantage of, and I think some new gear (Canon R7 Mirrorless) helped as well.

As always, huge thanks to all my birding friends and to all the readers of the blog. And finally, thanks for all the comments on the blog – they make my day.

~#1: Bonaparte’s Gull at Manasquan Inlet, Ocean County NJ on the first day of 2023.~

#2: Northern Harrier in the snow at the Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, 03/11/23.~

#3: Cooper’s hawk in nice light at Wickham Lake, 04/13/23.~

#4: Another Northern Harrier photographed at the Grasslands. I took this one on November 26th – I was walking the trail (rather than in a blind), so it was surprising that this young raptor flew right up to me. ~

#5: Eastern Kingbird at Wickham Lake, 08/11/23.~

#6: Red Fox on a snowy day in my yard, 03/14/23.~

#7: This one goes in the category of birds that I never thought I’d get such a good photo of. Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 089/18/23.~

#8: European Robin in Clifden Ireland, 05/25/23.~

#9: Sanderling taking flight in front of crashing waves at Manasquan Inlet, 01/01/23.~

#10: Semipalmated Plover in the black dirt, 08/26/23.~

Christmas Snow…

…Buntings! I began the long Christmas weekend on Friday evening with a sizable but skittish flock of Snow Buntings in beautiful light. I continued on Saturday morning where the flock was more cooperative, but of course, the light was terrible for photos. Seeing how there is no snow in the forecast, this looks like the only “snow” we’ll have for the holiday. I hope everyone who is celebrating is enjoying a wonderful Christmas with loved ones.

~Snow Buntings in flight, Black Dirt Region, 12/22/23.~

~Snow Bunting foraging in the black dirt, 12/23/23.~

~I really like this photo because it contains 3 species… can you pick out the Lapland Longspur and the Horned Lark?

~It’s funny to me, because sometimes in close-ups, Snow Buntings have a little bit of an old man look to me, with the wrinkles around the eyes. Black Dirt Region 12/23/23.~

Sunday Shots, 12/17/23

I really enjoyed my birding this weekend. It’s that time of year when the days are just too short to fit any birding in during the week, so when I get out on the weekends it seems just that much better.

On Saturday I took an eight mile hike out at Black Rock Forest. My target species was Red Crossbill, but unfortunately I didn’t have any luck with them. It was a relatively birdy walk though; I had a total of 23 species with my highlight being a trio of Purple Finches. Afterwards, I went to the Newburgh Waterfront, thinking about gulls and waterfowl. Little did I know that I should have been thinking about warblers! On Watefront Trail, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Palm Warbler and then a little later, a Northern Parula. Bruce Nott later found a Tennessee Warbler! Not bad for December.

~A crazy looking shot of the Northern Parula at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/16/23.~

~Palm Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront, 123/16/23.~

On Sunday I stayed closer to home; I hit the black dirt early and then checked a few nearby lakes. In the black dirt, I enjoyed sifting through some large flocks of mixed blackbirds, looking unsuccessfully for a Yellow-headed Blackbird in the mix – a total long shot, but if you don’t look, you’ll never find one. The flocks consisted of nearly all Common Grackles, with a smattering European Starlings, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Red-winged Blackbirds as well.

Afterwards, I found a single Common Goldeneye loosely associating with a small flock of Buffleheads at the northernmost part of Greenwood Lake. At Wickham Lake, surprisingly the Common Loon that I found there back on December 1st was still present. I watched the bird for a good while – it was pretty far out, so I was just enjoying looking at it in my scope. Then the bird appeared to try to take flight – taking a long runway, flapping like mad, but it never got airborne. It did this 3 times, and I started to figure that this was probably why the bird was still present. I waited it out, because the bird still seemed itchy. On the fourth attempt, the bird got airborne! It took a few laps around the lake, only clearing the treetops a few times, before landing in the lake again. I’m choosing to believe that this was finally a successful test flight. Hopefully the bird will have enough strength and get over whatever is ailing it soon so it can continue its migration.

~Attempt #3, where this Common Loon did not get airborne. Wickham Lake, 12/17/23.~

~Northern Mocking bird with a bite to eat; Turtle Bay Road 12/17/23.~

~Not something you see every day in inland southern OC, dozens of Ring-billed Gulls literally on Bellvale Lakes Road, 12/17/23.

~A more conventional shot of the Northern Parula, Newburgh Waterfront 12/16/23.~

Sunday Shots, 12/03/23

I spent a good amount of my birding time this weekend trying for waterfowl. One bird in particular was on my mind: Red-throated Loon. I tried Wickham Lake on Saturday morning; I found a Common Loon that was close enough to shore for some decent shots, but no RTLO. This morning, I met up with birding bud Bruce Nott at Plum Point, where there was not much happening BUT we did locate a single, distant Red-throated Loon. The RT Loon was definitely my best bird of the weekend, all the other waterfowl I observed were expected species for this time of the year.

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 12/01/23.~

I’m also playing a little catch up today, I’m including several photos from last weekend that I did not post, due to my excitement over my Sunday at the Grasslands.

~An assortment of waterfowl at the Liberty Loop, 12/02/23.~

~Three of five American Coots at the Liberty Loop. This shot is from last weekend, however these birds were still present on Saturday morning.~

~American Kestrel at Missionland Road, 11/24.23.~

~Lapland Longspur in the black dirt, from last weekend, 11/24/23.~

~Five American Black Ducks surround a male Mallard. Liberty Loop, 12/02/23.~

The Grasslands Deliver, 11/26/23

This morning I had a fabulous outing at Shawngunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge. I had a couple of reasons I wanted to get up there – the first was my target bird, the LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE which has been seen up there this fall. I caught up with (presumably) the same bird about a year ago, and I was hoping to get lucky again. The second was that I was due. It’s that time of year when raptors are flying over the refuges, so I was definitely feeling a visit to the Grasslands.

I arrived just after sunrise; it was a beautifully cold morning, just over 20 degrees Fahrenheit, with barely a whisper of a breeze. As the sun started to get a little higher, I paused to check my camera settings. Looking around for something to shoot, I was surprised to find a young Northern Harrier, just off the trail, peering out of the vegetation at me – I was floored that it hadn’t flushed.

~A frosty perch for this bird. I would have another encounter later in the morning with this immature Northern Harrier. SGNWR, 11/26/23.~

I walked the trails for a while, just enjoying being out. There was a good number of songbirds present, at least for out in the middle of the refuge: Savannah Sparrows, Song Sparrows, American Goldfinches, House Finches, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and absolutely loads of Eastern Bluebirds. At one point, I was pretty sure I heard an Eastern Meadowlark, however I wasn’t able to confirm it.

~An Eastern Bluebird takes flight, SGNWR 11/26/23.~

Then, in my binoculars, I saw a white dot in a distant tree. I knew it had to be the shrike, and sure enough it was. I was lucky enough to watch the bird for a good while – it was still perched in some small brush south of the trail when I finally tore myself away. What an excellent bird!

~Loggerhead Shrike at the Grasslands, 11/26/23.~

~Loggerhead Shrike on the tiniest of perches. When I saw this, I started to wonder if the Loggerhead was smaller than the Northern Shrike. I checked my Crossley Guide when I got home, and sure enough, LOSH is listed as 9″, versus the NSHR at 10″.~

On my way back, I was hearing a Northern Harrier calling repeatedly. I eventually found, what I presume is the same young Northern Harrier, harassing a perched Red-tailed Hawk in the distance, on the tree line. As I worked my way along the trail, the harrier, maybe distracted by the presence of the Red-tail, flew directly at me, allowing for an excellent photo op.

~This young NOHA flew directly towards me, only veering off at the last second. SGNWR, 11/26/23.~

~NOHA in flight at the Grasslands, 11/26/23.~

Near the parking area, there was a very sharp-looking adult female Northern Harrier perched on a post, that was a nice way to end an excellent and exciting morning of birding.