Well, it sure feels like summer is finally here. And, for me, it’s brought along the birding doldrums with it. I’ve tried to be resourceful and to think of some places to visit and birds go for; that’s helped, but ultimately my birding on this long holiday weekend felt uninspired.
On Saturday morning I went to Sullivan County to bird Hickok Brook Multiple Use Area. My target bird was Ruffed Grouse, and I’m happy to report that I did, in fact see one. For about 1 second. I paused to try to find a singing Magnolia Warbler, when about 30 feet away, a Ruffed Grouse exploded out of the brush and flew like a rocket deep in to the woods. It was simulaneously exciting and disappointing, as it was great to get the bird, but a total bummer to once again get such a brief, poor look. Otherwise, the trail at Hickok Brook was birdy enough to keep it interesting, but as it goes at this time of the year, most birds were heard, not seen.
On my way home, I went through the black dirt region. The Camel Farm was surprisingly active with shorebirds – I observed over 20 Killdeer, several Spotted Sandpipers, and a single Lesser Yellowlegs.
~House Wren in my backyard last week, 06/29/22.~
On Sunday evening I went out to Sterling Forest. I went a little later in the evening so that I would still be there around sunset; my target was to finally get Eastern Whip-poor-will in Orange County this year. The Whip-poor-wills were right on time and it was really cool to hear them calling on and on, sometimes from quite nearby. Otherwise, it was quiet birding with not much going on.
~Bobolink in the black dirt, 07/02/22.~
This morning I went to the Liberty Loop nice and early, hoping for Least Bitterns. I did observe (2) LIBIs briefly in flight, but the birds were not as numberous/accommodating as they have been in past years at that location. I stopped by the Camel Farm on my way home and had basically the same shorebirds, but today there were at least (6) Spotted Sandpipers present.
Yard Birds 2022: I am stuck on 49 species; I had no new birds since I last posted.
~Great Blue Herons are already gathering in numbers at the Liberty Loop. I had at least 20 birds there this morning, 07/04/22.~. ~Green Heron at the Liberty Loop, 07/04/22.~~Black Vulture over my house on Friday evening, 07/01/22.~
This morning I hiked the Sterling Ridge Trail at Sterling Forest State Park. I tallied just under 50 species of birds; all of them were expected species (the usuals). I did have a little bit of excitement, however, with two separate Black Bear sitings. One bear was up on a hillside, about 150 yards off the trail, and took absolutely no notice of me. The other was just on the other side of a small pond. That bear was definitely aware of my presence; it most likely heard the camera shutter. It had been a couple years since I’d seen a bear, so today was a treat.
~Black Bear at Sterling Forest State Park, 06/26/22.~
I went out late Saturday morning with Upland Sandpiper on my mind. I spent some time at the Orange County Airport, and then headed to Ulster County and tried Blue Chip Farm and the Grasslands. While I had no luck with Uppies (it was always a long shot), I did spend some time with a Killdeer family at the airport, as well as a very cooperative Eastern Meadowlark at the Grasslands.
~One of four Killdeer chicks present at the Orange County Airport, 06/18/22.~~Eastern Meadowlark in flight with prey, Grasslands 06/18/22.~
This morning I wanted to take a hike, so I went to Black Rock Forest and hiked out past Jupiter’s Boulder, which I chose in hopes of seeing or hearing a Ruffed Grouse (another long shot!). No luck with the grouse, but it was a fairly productive hike with over 40 species observed. The only sort of unusual siting was a young Hooded Merganser; I was happy to see and record this bird. As a bonus, it was close enough for decent photos.
~Young Hooded Merganser at Black Rock Forest, 06/19/22.~
Yard Birds 2022: Still stuck at (49); I didn’t add any new birds this week.
~Red-winged Blackbird at Blue Chip Farms, 06/18/22.~~Eastern Meadowlark at the Grasslands, 06/18/22.~ ~Killdeer chick at Orange County Airport, 06/18/22.~~Eastern Bluebird at Black Rock Forest, 06/19/22.~~One more of the Eastern Meadowlark in flight at the Grasslands, 06/18/22.~
I had some hits and some misses this weekend. On Friday evening, and again on Saturday afternoon, I tried for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which was reported in Beacon, NY. On Friday evening I missed that bird by just over an hour; as far as I know that was the last time the bird was seen.
But, I had a really great Saturday morning. I went for the Dickcissel which was found by Ronnie DiLorenzo in the black dirt earlier in the week. I joined Kyle Knapp and the we not only enjoyed the Dickcissel, we also had a very confiding Grasshopper Sparrow. The light was nice, the birds were close and singing their hearts out; it’s hard to ask for much more than that!
~Singing Dickcissel in the black dirt, 06/11/22.~
Afterwards, I went to the Camel Farm to try for shorebirds. I was not disappointed; there were 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER present. Kyle and Linda Scrima joined me there and got the birds. Unfortunately, as is always the case at the Camel Farm, the birds were too distant for photos. As a consolation prize, we watched a Peregrine Falcon chase a white pigeon across the field and then fly right over us.
~Not to be outdone, this Grasshopper Sparrow was singing like crazy too. Black dirt, 06/11/22.~
This morning I went back to the Camel Farm and the White-rumped Sandpiper and the Semipalmated Sandpiper were still present, sharing the pond with a Spotted Sandpiper. I also went to the south pond at the Liberty Loop, hoping for shorebirds. Unfortunately conditions weren’t great and I didn’t have any shorebirds. But, again, consolation prize, I had a nice experience with two White-tailed Deer fawns that were playing and just going bananas running around the marsh. They were so cute!
~Nutso fawns going bananas. Liberty Loop 06/12/22.~
Yard Birds 2022: (49) I’ve stalled out in my yard; I didn’t add any new birds since my last post.
~Peregrine Falcon at the Camel Farm 06/11/22.~ ~Goldfinch in the black dirt, 06/11/22.~~I love Grasshopper Sparrows. They are an odd looking but somehow still attractive sparrow. Black dirt 06/11/22.~~Savannah Sparrow with a colorful background in the black dirt, 06/11/22.~
On Saturday morning I birded locally. I was hoping for maybe some late shorebirds, but I came up empty at both the Camel Farm and Beaver Pond. I spent some time early at Liberty Marsh, hoping maybe a calling Sora or Least Bittern, but no such luck. I did have my first Orchard Oriole of the year, so that was good. And finally, I ended up late in the morning at Goosepond Mountain, where I was able to confirm breeding status for Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
~I spent some time with a pair of cooperative Northern Mockingbirds in the black dirt, 06/04/22.~
We spent the night at my sister Aileen’s house in the Poconos. Her place historically hasn’t been extremely birdy, but on this Sunday morning her backyard was full of birds, including a low flying Red-shouldered Hawk, a Red-eyed Vireo, as well as several Ovenbirds and American Redstarts. My brother-in-law Bill and my sister are interested in knowing about the birds, so I enjoyed telling them about the birds we were hearing and seeing. The Lehigh River cuts through the back of their yard; I enjoyed taking a brisk dip in the river and there was also a teasing Louisiana Waterthrush which called often but only gave a few fleeting glimpses and no photo ops. On the way out of their community, we stopped at Big Bass Lake to check out the beach, and had an adult Bald Eagle fly right overhead. The beach was loaded with people and not one person noticed the eagle, in spite of me shooting away taking pics.
~Male Bobolink at Knapp’s View, 06/04/22.~~Northern Mockingbird in the black dirt, 06/04/22.~~Eastern Kingbird at Liberty Marsh, 06/04/22.~~One more Bobolink at Knapp’s View, 06/04/22.~~Bald Eagle flyover at Big Bass Lake in PA, 06/05/22.~
I spent my birding time over the past couple of days trying to catch up with the NEOTROPIC CORMORANT that Bruce Nott and Ken McDermott found at the Newburgh Rowing Club on Saturday evening. I was in Newburgh twice yesterday and had some rotten luck, missing the bird by less than 10 minutes. Today was a different story and I finally connected with the bird thanks to two birders up from the city (Heydi & Ryan maybe? Sorry I’m so bad with names). I connected with them when they first arrived, and not to long after that, they contacted me to let me know they had found the bird by the Newburgh Ferry. The bird was cooperative until birding bud Rob Stone arrived and got it, but shortly after that it was flushed by a pair of jet skis.
~Wow! NEOTROPIC CORMORANT on the Hudson River near the Newburgh Ferry 05/30/22. From what I understand, this is only the 6th NECO record in NYS .~
The NECO wasn’t the only excitement I had this week. I was focusing on breaking 200 birds in Sullivan this week. On Thursday I joined Karen Miller out at Haven Road and we heard a solitary Eastern Whip-poor-will (#199) calling. On Saturday I went to the Neversink Reservoir and got Bobolink (200) and Savannah Sparrow (201). Afterwards, I birded Hurleyville Swamp and was able to clearly hear an Alder Flycatcher (202) calling away. I was going to head home at that point, having cleaned up pretty good, but John Haas contacted me to let me know he had a Mourning Warbler calling near Cooley Bog. I ran for that bird, and although I didn’t ever lay eyes on it, I heard it well. The Mourning Warbler bumped my Sullivan County total to 203 and it was also a life bird for me (4 in a week! Craziness!).
~A wet and bedraggled looking Bobolink was my 200th bird in Sullivan County. Neversink Reservoir, 05/28/22.~
Yard Birds 2022: (49) For all the good luck I had this week, it didn’t come home with me; I didn’t add any new birds to my yard list.
~Bald Eagle at the Newburgh Rowing Club, 05/29/22.~~Now this was crazy. When I arrived at the Newburgh Rowing Club this morning, Matt Klein was there. He immediately got me on this white-tailed deer swimming across the river! The deer must have realized it was longer than it thought, and just under halfway across it turned back and made it back to Orange County unscathed. ~Cuteness. Killdeer and chick at Hurleyville Swamp 05/28/22.~~Yellow Warbler at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/28/22.~ ~Osprey on the Hudson River, 05/29/22.~
Last Sunday night, after a 2 1/2 hour drive to Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, I set sail on the American Princess, embarking on a 24 hour pelagic birding trip. It was my third true pelagic (not counting the several whale watching excursions I’ve been on), and my first 24 hour/overnight experience. Unfortunately, winds had shifted from south to north that evening, leading to waves that were quite disorganized, which made for a rough journey. I stayed up for a couple of hours, enjoying the fresh air and the views, before lying down on my sleeping mat to try and get some sleep. I thought I might finally be able to relax once I reclined, but that was not the case. The boat was pitching front to back and side to side severely enough to make it hard to keep from rolling over, regardless of the position I tried.
~Probably my favorite bird of the trip – Sooty Shearwater during the American Princess Cruise’s 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~
So it was a long, restless night and I got barely any sleep; I don’t think many people slept. Folks started to get up at first light, and I got up, packed up my sleeping gear, and joined them shortly after. It was the start of a long but productive day of pelagic birding. It’s not very often that I actually bird for a complete day – during this trip I was pretty actively birding from around 5:00 am until 7 or 7:30 pm. There are some times which are exciting and there are loads of birds and cetaceans, but most of the time there isn’t much going on and you’re just scanning and searching.
~One of my 3 life birds from the day – Black-capped Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~
Here’s a list of what I consider ‘pelagic’ birds that we saw:
Red Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (this was an observation by one of the trip leaders – I did not see this bird)
Black-capped Petrel
Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Atlantic Puffin
Dovekie
The Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, and Black-capped Petrel were all life birds for me. It’s not too often these days that I get a lifer, not to mention 3 in a single day. The 2 Atlantic Puffins and 1 Dovekie were the biggest surprise of the day; no one knew what they were doing out there at this time of the year. Other interesting birds included several Common Loons, loads of Common Terns, a single Northern Gannet, and a pair of beautiful young Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
~Beautiful bird. Lesser Black-backed Gull following the boat on the way back to Brooklyn. APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~
We also did pretty well with cetaceans. We had 3 species of dolphin (Common, Risso’s, and Striped) and 3 species of whale (Minke, Humpback, and Fin). We also had several Ocean Sunfish (folks were referring to them as Mola Mola); this was the first time I’d ever seen them.
~I’m not sure why these Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were always flying away from the boat. I usually don’t like pics of birds going away, but these are a little interesting to me. APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~
The trip back to Brooklyn was a lot smoother than the trip out, and it was a beautiful evening to enjoy the journey and any sitings along the way. We got back to the dock just after 9:00; by the time I walked to my car and drove home, it was nearly midnight. I was exhausted, to say the least, but happy about a day well spent and to be home in one piece.
~Manx Shearwater, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~ ~Cool bird. Sooty Shearwater; APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~~Top view of the Black-capped Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~~I screamed “puffin!” when I saw this bird, lol. Atlantic puffin on the water, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~ ~Common Dolphin showing off, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~~For as many Common Terns as we saw, photo ops were rare. APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~~Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~~Put this in the category of ‘cool birds’. Red-necked Phalarope during the APC 24 hour pelagic trip 05/23/22.~~One more ass end of a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, APC 24 hour pelagic 05/23/22.~ ~Striped Dolphins; APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~~Common Dolphins; APC 24 hour pelagic, 05/23/22.~
I split my time this weekend between Orange and Sullivan Counties. One of my goals this year is to get to 200 birds in Sullivan County, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to add any new species this weekend. I tried two times for the Mourning Warbler(s) which were reported at the Bashakill; I had a near miss (15 minutes or so) on Saturday and no luck on Sunday. I also tried for the Black-bellied Plover that was at Hurleyville Swamp – I missed it on Thursday evening and then by Saturday morning most of the shorebirds had moved on from that location.
Hopefully my luck will change for the better tomorrow; I’m heading out on a 24 hour pelagic tonight through tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it will be a productive trip.
Yard Birds 2022: (49) – I added 2 species this week: Eastern Wood-Pewee and Baltimore Oriole.
~Warbling Vireo at Hurleyville Swamp, 05/19/22.~ ~Willow Flycatcher on a foggy Saturday Morning, 05/21/22.~Red-eyed Vireo at the Bashakill, 05/21/22.~ ~Crappy photo of a good bird. Wilson’s Warbler at the Bashakill, 05/21/22.~
After Friday night’s Arctic Tern excitement, the weekend of birding felt a little hum-drum for me – looking for small birds in the treetops doesn’t always do it for me. But, since I was away last weekend, and I didn’t get out much this week, I was well behind my normal pace. I started the weekend with my lowest number of species in Orange County (at this date), in over 5 years. Because of that, many of the birds I heard and saw over the past couple of days were new birds for the year. I added a good number of new species over the weekend – 35 to be exact. Exciting birds for me included Blackburnian Warble, Worm-eating Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush, and Semipalmated Plover. I’ve included a list of all my new birds at the bottom of this post.
~Worm-eating Warbler singing at Pochuck State Forest, 05/15/22.~
Yard Birds 2022: (47) – I added 4 species since I last reported: Chimney Swift, European Starling, Northern Parula, and Great Crested Flycatcher.
~Swainson’s Thrush at Pochuck State Forest, 05/15/22.~~Ovenbird at Elks Brox on 05/14/22.~~Ruby-throated Hummingbird in our yard, 05/12/22.~~My FOY Eastern Kingbird, at the Liberty Loop 05/15/22.~~Great Blue Heron coming in to land at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 05/15/22.~~A species that I see and hear all the time, but don’t photograph that often – House Wren at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 05/15/22.~
This afternoon Karen Miller reported several tern species at Glenmere Lake. Meanwhile John Haas had 18 terns at the Bashakill which would prove to be ARCTIC TERNS. I was dying at work, as you can imagine. Then, I saw a report on the NYS list serve for Arctic Terns in Westchester County. I knew I had to get to Glenmere after work if the birds stuck around. Linda Scrima kept me posted, and I ran for the birds after work. There were 7 individuals present, all in constant flight, quite distant, feeding over the lake. Linda left and had one of her photos confirmed as an ARCTIC TERN! I took over 1,000 photos, and this evening I reviewed them and could not find any individual which didn’t look like an Arctic to me. Apparently this is a first county record for Orange County, so that’s pretty exciting!
All photos ARCTIC TERNS at Glenmere Lake on 05/13/22.
