Sunday Shots – Peregrine Falcon Edition, 3/20/16

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QUICK POST: Late Saturday afternoon and into the evening, I enjoyed photographing these gorgeous falcons alongside Kyle Dudgeon, Linda Scrima, and Maria Loukeris. Clear skies provided nice light, which allowed for much better photo opportunities than last weekend. It is challenging and super exciting to photograph these birds; it’s really incredible to see how fast they fly and of course very interesting to watch their behavior. The birds continue to mate, and they share their meals (we’ve seen both the male and female come back after successfully hunting, eat half of the prey and then pass the remainder off to their partner).

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Early Morning Grasslands, 2/13/16

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~Northern Harrier in flight, Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, 2/13/16.~

I’m not sure why I picked the coldest morning of the year to go out to the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR. Well, actually, I do; I knew the cold temperatures would likely keep many folks away, so I was looking forward to a peaceful morning photographing raptors. I also have been thinking that I haven’t gotten many quality harrier photos this year, so I was hoping to change that. I arrived just after sunrise and as I drove into the refuge I saw the one other person that I suspected might be there – Ed Frampton. Ed is an awesome photographer who spends most early mornings at the refuge. He was shooting an American Kestrel perched in a tree as I slowly drove past his vehicle, doing my best not to flush the bird (which I didn’t). I parked, gathered my gear and headed out to the north photo blind. It was a cold but beautiful morning so I took an iPhone shot of the sunrise:

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~Sunrise at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, little did I know that this would be the first of many photos shot looking into the sun on this morning. 2/13/16.~

I spent two and a half hours in the blind and the weather was all over the map. When I arrived it was cold with some clouds, as the morning progressed the with wind picked up and was whipping pretty good. There were long periods of sunshine with intermittent clouds. To the west the sky was very dark and hazy – I eventually found out why as snow flurries moved through the refuge, even while it remained sunny.

The wind was coming from the northwest, so the Northern Harriers were hunting primarily facing that direction. Which meant that for the most part, when the birds were facing me in the blind, they were backlit by the sun as it rose in the east. This can make for some interesting photos, but really it was not what I was hoping for. It was such a beautiful morning and I was hoping for more opportunities of the birds in good light, but they were few and far between.

At one point I counted six harriers in one scan, so there were at least that many out there, and probably more than that. The only other raptor I had for the morning was the American Kestrel as I drove in. I was pretty darn cold by the time I left the blind after two and a half hours. Then, when I headed back to the car, walking into that cold northwest wind really chilled me to the bone, so was quite a relief when I finally got back into my car.

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~A backlit Northern Harrier hunts at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~
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~Up close Northern Harrier with snow flurries at the Grasslands, 2/13/16.~
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~The harriers were doing a lot of tangling all morning, Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~
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~NOHA checking things out below. Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~
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~I included this shot to show the snow falling. NOHA at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~

2015 – Year In Review

~The Ulster County Gyrfalcon on a nice perch on Bruyn Turnpike in Wallkill, NY, 2/10/15.~
~Spoiler Alert: Bird of the Year, the Gyrfalcon finds a nice perch in a field off of Bruyn Turnpike in Wallkill, NY, 2/10/15.~

*Click on links in orange to go to original blog post for each species.*

The 2015 birding year was interesting for sure; filled with highs and lows. It was a year of extreme rarities in our area, such as the amazing and famous Gyrfalcon, observed in both Orange and Ulster County in February and also the one-eyed Crested Caracara, which was seen in the Montgomery area in April.

Winter provided outstanding birding this year, with plenty of raptors (including the Gyrfalcon), a good showing from Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings, some notable gulls (Iceland Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull, both at Newburgh Waterfront), and some late January Snow Geese.

Spring and summer went as one would expect, with plenty of good birding especially in the spring. Autumn, however was strange and unproductive. Actually, early fall was good; shorebirds were being seen regularly including several notable birds (Stilt Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, and White-rumped Sandpiper). But, the seasonably warm weather seemed to affect the fall raptor migration here in Orange County; at Mount Peter Hawkwatch nearly all migrating raptors were down in numbers. Broad-winged Hawks provided a glaring exception and a welcome highlight of the season: a record breaking 11,256 Broadies were counted at Mt. Pete this season. It was difficult to find many migrating waterfowl this fall, especially in southern Orange County where I spend most of my birding time. I only had two notable sightings in the county: a Common Goldeneye at Wickham Lake and a White-winged Scoter at Indian Kill Reservoir.

BY THE NUMBERS

Here are my species totals for the year, with previous years’ totals for comparison:

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I really ended up focusing my birding here in Orange County in 2015. At some point in the fall, I realized that 200 species was a possibility, so that became my goal. But, I struggled coming down the stretch and finished the year with 197. I missed a few birds that figured I would get (Fox Sparrow, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin), but really I think if I had done better with warblers this year I would have reached 200 no problem.

I added 29 life birds this year; 2 fewer than last year. Eighteen of them were added while we vacationed in Florida in the spring. I am now up to 344 life birds. My New York State Life List stands at 256 species; I added 14 birds to it this year.

This is my 128th post of the year. I was surprised when I totaled it up because I would have thought that I had posted more than last year, but in fact this is 25 fewer posts than I did last year.

And finally, according to Google Analytics, the blog had 21,228 visits by 9,913 individuals. I am happy to report that visits have more than doubled in the last year and the blog has reached over 2 1/2 times as many individuals this year.

BIRD OF THE YEAR AND MOST EXCITING BIRDING EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR: GYRFALCON!

~Gyrfalcon perched in a spruce tree off of Hoagerburgh Road in Ulster County, 2/7/15.~
~Gyrfalcon perched off of Hoagerburgh Road in Ulster County, 2/7/15.~

The Gyrfalcon was originally located by Karen Maloy near Blue Chip Farms on February 6th in the afternoon. When I relocated the Gyrfalcon the following day, it was definitely my most exciting birding experience of the year, maybe of my life. I nearly had a heart attack when I pulled up my binoculars to check out a raptor that had just landed in an evergreen, and it was the Gyrfalcon! This is not a bird you can mistake, but I felt like I had to keep checking – I just couldn’t believe it! What an incredible looking bird, just gorgeous. And then, it became famous. Birders and photographers came from all over to see it. It caused traffic jams wherever it decided to perch. For me it was and easy decision, the Gyrfalcon = Bird of the Year AND Most Exciting Birding Experience rolled into one.

BIRDING LOCATION OF THE YEAR: MOUNT PETER HAWKWATCH

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~GOLDEN EAGLE directly over the viewing platform at Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 10/17/15.~

It was difficult for me to come up with any location that stood out this year, but as I started to think back over the year I realized that doing the hawkwatch is definitely one of my favorite types of birding, if not my favorite. I really enjoy the challenge of identifying raptors in flight, and it helps that I felt more confident than ever this year. I also enjoy the camaraderie at the hawkwatch. Judy Cinquina has really assemble a great crew of dedicated volunteers. The record number of Broad-winged Hawks was fun and exciting, but my personal highlight was seeing my first Golden Eagle at Mt. Pete. It was great to finally get one up there; it was a juvenile that was very accommodating as it flew directly over the viewing platform which allowed me to get some decent shots of the bird.

TOP TEN PHOTOS OF THE YEAR

Last year I changed this section from “Photo of the Year” to “Top Five Photos of the Year”. After looking back at my photos from 2015, I’ve decided to increase it once again, this time to ten photos. While I did not have a single shot that stood out as the “best”, I did feel like I had a good number of good photos and it was difficult to pare them down to ten. And, photographs have always been an important part of this blog, so I figured why not. Due to a strange update to the blog, you need to click on the photos once, and then a second time to see large versions.

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~Short-eared Owl in the black dirt, 2/22/15.~
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~Male Northern Harrier, the “Gray Ghost” at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~
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~Anhinga fishing at Naples Botanical Garden, 5/6/15.~
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~Cooper’s Hawk at Newburgh Waterfront, 1/24/15.~
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~Common Loon at Follensby Clear Pond, 6/13/15.~
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~Upland Sandpiper at Blue Chip Farms, 6/9/15.~
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~Burrowing Owl in Cape Coral, Florida 5/5/15.~
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~Roseate Spoonbill at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, 5/3/15.~
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~Double-crested Cormorant at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, 5/3/15.~
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~Northern Harrier at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 1/17/15.~

Once again, I’d like to thank all the birders in our area. Special thanks to Rob Stone, John Haas, Judy Cinquina, Karen Miller, Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris and Kyle Dudgeon for all their help and good company this year. Happy New Year to everyone, I’m looking forward to the birds of 2016!

Icy Black Dirt Birding, 12/29/15

~A Red-tailed Hawk takes flight off of an icy perch, Black Dirt Region, 12/2915.~
~A Red-tailed Hawk takes flight off of an icy perch, Black Dirt Region, 12/2915.~

With the overnight frozen mix that continued with a steady rain in the morning, I did not think I would get much birding in today, and I certainly was not optimistic about taking photos. Fortunately the roads were fine for driving, so I did a tour of the black dirt in my car. I ran into some good birds close enough to the road for pics, and the icy conditions made for what I think are some interesting photos. I had a total of 33 species for the day; I covered a large territory and I’ve included two species I picked up during a quick stop at Tomahawk Lake at the end of the outing (Common Merganser and N. Mockingbird). I’ve included my species list at the bottom of this post.

~Coopers Hawk, Black Dirt Region, 12/29/15.~
~Cooper’s Hawk, Black Dirt Region, 12/29/15.~
~My latest favorite - American Tree Sparrow framed in icy branches. Black Dirt Region, 12/29/15.~
~My latest favorite – American Tree Sparrow framed in icy branches. Black Dirt Region, 12/29/15.~
~Red-tailed Hawk on an icy perch, Black Dirt Region 12/29/15.~
~Red-tailed Hawk on an icy perch, Black Dirt Region 12/29/15.~

Black Dirt Region and Tomahawk Lake, December 29, 2015:

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Mallard
Common Merganser
Black Vulture
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-headed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Blackbird sp.
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Catch Up Hodge-podge, 12/28/15

~I am totally loving the Tree Sparrows this year, I just think they are a super looking sparrow. Walked River National Wildlife Refuge, 12/28/15.~
~I am totally loving the Tree Sparrows this year, I just think they are a super looking sparrow. Walked River National Wildlife Refuge, 12/28/15.~

Although the birding has been less than outstanding, I have gotten out and birded Orange County several times in the past week or so. Of note, I finally got a Brown Creeper for the county yesterday (#197 on my county list) just outside of Port Jervis. And then today I finally got my first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK of the season in Pine Island. Not much else has been noteworthy, but it has still been good to get out. I’ve included several photos from the past week or so.

~Adult Bald Eagle in Pine Island, 12/19/15.~
~Adult Bald Eagle in Pine Island, 12/19/15.~
Always a favorite and usually not in such good light - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 12/19/15.~
Always a favorite and usually not in such good light – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Wickham Woodlands Town Park, 12/19/15.~
An American Kestrel fans its tail in an effort to keep its balance on a windy day. Pine Island, 12/27/15.~
An American Kestrel fans its tail in an effort to keep its balance on a windy day. Pine Island, 12/27/15.~
I am pushing the limits of cropping an image here. Rough-legged Hawk, my first of the season, moments before successfully hunting prey. Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 12/28/15.~
I am pushing the limits of cropping an image here. Rough-legged Hawk, my first of the season, moments before successfully hunting prey. Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 12/28/15.~
~There are still approximately 20 American Coots right near the viewing platform at the Liberty Loop, Wallkill River NWR, 12/28/15.~
~There are still approximately 20 American Coots right near the viewing platform at the Liberty Loop, Wallkill River NWR, 12/28/15.~
~Red-tailed Hawk at Wallkill River NWR, 12/28/15.~
~Red-tailed Hawk at Wallkill River NWR, 12/28/15.~

Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 12/20/15

~Short-eared Owl hunting over the Shawangunk Grasslands, 12/20/15.~
~Short-eared Owl hunting over the Shawangunk Grasslands, 12/20/15.~

Kyle Dudgeon and I spent the afternoon in one of the photo blinds at Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge. Early on, it was very slow with only a few Northern Harriers being seen and none of them coming close to the blind. Several Red-tailed Hawks moved from perch to perch off in the distance. We had a Wilson’s Snipe do a flyover and then five Eastern Meadowlarks perched in tree. We didn’t have much excitement until later in the afternoon when the SHORT-EARED OWLS got up on the early side and put on quite a show. We had at least 4 owls and they were actively hunting and tangling with each other and a Northern Harrier as well. We spent over an hour watching and photographing the owls, which spent a lot of time around our blind but somehow never came in very close (all these images are pretty heavily cropped). I was happy to get lucky once again with these awesome birds.

~Five Eastern Meadowlarks perch in a tree. I believe that's a Red-tailed Hawk perched in the distance beyond the meadowlarks. Shawangunk Grasslands, NWR 12/20/15.~
~Five Eastern Meadowlarks perch in a tree. I believe that’s a Red-tailed Hawk perched in the distance beyond the meadowlarks. Shawangunk Grasslands, NWR 12/20/15.~
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~SEOW at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 12/20/15.~
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~Short-eared Owl heading straight for the photo blind at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 12/20/15.~
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~SEOW flyover at the grasslands, 12/20/15.~
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~A Short-eared Owl cruises over the tall grasses at the Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 12/20/15.~
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~A pair of SEOWs tangling at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, 12/20/15.~

More River Otters, 12/6/15

~One of four River Otters enjoys a fish, Orange County, NY 12/6/15.~
~One of four River Otters enjoys a fish breakfast, Orange County, NY 12/6/15.~

I got up early and went to try for the River Otters again this morning and I was joined by photographer Kevin Kreisher. We got nice close looks at four (!!!) River Otters that were very curious to check us out. Unfortunately it was before the sun had gotten over the trees, but the light made for some interesting photos of these fascinating creatures.

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Orange County RIVER OTTERS!

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~River Otter in Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~

I headed out this morning looking for waterfowl in Orange County. Well, it was pretty much a bust. I went to eight different locations and nearly all were disappointing, with few or no ducks present. My only waterfowl highlights included 3 Lesser Scaup at Wickham Lake and approximately 100 Common Mergansers at Tomahawk Lake. The real highlight of the day, however, was finding a pair of RIVER OTTERS at one location (I have heard that trappers will go for otters, so I am not giving details of their location. If you know me and are interested in going for them, shoot me an email).  I have been dying to see River Otters, I’ve seen and heard of others seeing them several times this year, but I seemed to keep missing out. They were actively feeding – catching fish and just chomping them down. What a treat for me to witness this. What could make it better you ask? Oh yeah, the arrival of an adult Bald Eagle. I was floored, it was definitely the best outing I’ve had in quite a while!

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~A happy looking River Otter, Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~
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~River Otter in Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~ 
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~Chomping down on a fish! River Otter in Orange County NY, 12/5/15.~
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~I only got a couple of shots of the two of them together. River Otters in Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~
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~And then a Bald Eagle arrived! A little icing on the cake.~
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~Orange County Bald Eagle coming in for a landing, 12/5/15.~
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~I hit the Black Dirt later in the day and shot this Northern Harrier, 12/5/15.~
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~One final otter shot, Orange County, NY 12/5/15.~

Sunday’s Shots, 10/18/15

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~A Great Blue Heron preens in a channel off of Liberty Lane at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 10/18/15.~

QUICK POST: Here are a few shots from this morning when I walked Liberty Lane and part of Winding Waters Trail at the Walllkill River National Wildlife Refuge. It was an unremarkable morning bird-wise. There were enough birds around to keep me entertained (mostly sparrows, of which I had 5 species: Song, White-throated, White-crowned, Swamp, and Field), but I mostly just enjoyed a walk in the cool crisp weather.

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~A young White-crowned Sparrow strikes a pose on Liberty Lane, 10/18/15.~
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~Swamp Sparrow on the Winding Waters Trail at Wallkill River NWR, 10/18/15.~
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~White-throated Sparrow on Liberty Lane, 10/18/15.~

Weekend Wrap-up, 8/23/15

*Click on photos to enlarge*

I finally got a good look at not one, but two YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS! They were located on the west side of the Liberty Loop, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 8/23/15.~
I finally got a good look at not one, but two YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS! They were located on the west side of the Liberty Loop, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 8/23/15.~

SATURDAY

I spent a good part of the day on Saturday checking many of the usual spots for shorebirds, but the only spot that had any noticeable developments was the Citgo Trail at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, where the highlight was 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS (Thanks John Haas for the heads up on the PESAs):

Semipalmated Plover 1
Killdeer 8
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 15
Pectoral Sandpiper 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1

SUNDAY MORNING

Sunday morning I woke up not entirely sure of where I wanted to go birding, so I ended up doing the usual and walking the Liberty Loop at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. It has been the hottest spot recently and the large variety of birds that are possible is always appealing. When I first arrived, I spent some time at the viewing platform with Kevin Kreischer where we photographed the usual cast of characters that have been found there lately: Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, a Green Heron, and single Black-crowned Night Heron that did a perfect flyby for photos, but sadly, Kevin and I were both caught off guard and missed it. A little later the Green heron did the same, a little further out and I did a little better with that:

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~Green Heron in flight in front of the viewing platform at Liberty Marsh, Wallkill River NWR, 8/23/15.~
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~A Great Egret hunts in front of the platform in nice light. Liberty Marsh, 8/23/15.~

As I walked the loop with hopes of some shorebird magic in the back pond, it was quite birdy with a good showing of passerines that are on the move: I had a good number of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (8), Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (12), and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (7). The back pond was disappointing: only Lesser Yellowlegs (5), Killdeer (7), and Least Sandpipers (9) were present as far as shorebirds go.

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~This is a sweet and sad looking bird. Rose-breasted Grosbeak female, a bird that I was happy to finally get a decent photo of. Liberty Loop, 8/23/15.~
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~These Wood Ducks were not too bothered by my presence on the trail by the back pond of the Liberty Loop, 8/23/15.~

As I was leaving the back pond, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Green Heron perched in the tree on the right side of the trail. I was already pretty close to the bird by the time I saw it; I wasn’t sure why it hadn’t flushed yet. Then I noticed that it was watching something overhead; the following shots show the bird’s reaction to a Turkey Vulture that was circling not too high overhead:

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~Green Heron perched along the Liberty Loop Trail, 8/23/15.~
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~The bird watched an overhead Turkey Vulture very intently, Liberty Loop 8/23/15.~
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~Including watching as the raptor flew directly overhead. Green Heron at the Liberty Loop Trail, 8/23/15.~

My best bird of the day was actually a pair of birds: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS. They were located on the west side of the loop, just south of “Mosquito Alley”. Cuckoos are truly one of my favorite birds and it has been a frustrating year where I have heard many, many cuckoos but not gotten a really good look at one.  It was a really enjoyable morning of birding with several good photo ops and a good number of birds, with total of 46 species on my list.

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~This Eastern Kingbird perched right next to me while I was shooting the Green Heron, so I couldn’t resist taking a few shots. Liberty Loop Trail at Wallkill River NWR, 8/23/15.~
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~Northern Harrier in flight over the marsh. This photo was actually taken Saturday night but I wanted to include it. Liberty Loop at Wallkill River NWR, 8/22/15.~
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~Lesser Yellowlegs in flight over the back pond at the Liberty Loop, 8/23/15.~

SUNDAY EVENING

I went looking for shorebirds at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary in the evening. I walked out to the pond at the Citgo Trail and found only a handful of shorebirds there. Then I walked the Heritage Trail, and all the shorebirds were on that side of the sanctuary. It was tough to get a handle on the number of birds out there, the birds were distant and moving around a lot, plus it’s tough to get clear looks from the trail these days because it’s so overgrown. I guesstimate 40+ Least Sandpipers, 15+ Killdeer, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs.

~Shorebirds in flight (likely Least Sandpipers) at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 8/23/15.~
~Shorebirds in flight (likely Least Sandpipers) at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 8/23/15.~