Rarities – Page 3 – Orange Birding

Orange County YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, 11/19/22

First thing this morning I went to the Courtyard Marriott Middletown/Goshen to follow up on a confirmed eBird report of a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER. After just over an hour with no sign of the bird, I departed to go try my luck in the black dirt. Just after 9:00 am, Jeanne Cimorrelli reported the bird was present on the Mearns Bird Club App. I ran for it, but the bird had moved on before I arrived.

~Yellow-throated Warbler in Orange County, 11/19/22.~

I joined a good number of birders, and we waited for the bird to return. Which it did, about an hour after it was last seen. It flitted around the ‘Courtyard’ sign on the side of the hotel for only about a minute before it flew off. As far as I know, the bird has not been seen since. I was pretty happy to have gotten lucky enough to see the bird, it was a life bird, and of course a county and state bird for me. It was also good to see some of the birders I haven’t seen in a while.

~I thought for a while that I might have to settle for a Yellow-bellied bird today. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the Courtyard Marriott Middletown/Goshen, 11/19/22.~

Afterwards, I spend some more time in the black dirt. Highlights included many Horned Larks with a handful of Snow Buntings, a flyover of (5) Sandhill Cranes (a first for me to see that many in OC), and I enjoyed sifting through a large flock of mixed blackbirds. I was hoping to maybe find a Yellow-headed Blackbird, but of course, no such luck.

~Five Sandhill Cranes flying over the black dirt today, 11/19/22.~

~Tis the season. Northern Harrier in the black dirt, 11/19/22.~

Sussex County MARBLED GODWIT, 08/22/22

QUICK POST: This morning Bradley White located a MARBLED GODWIT on the west side of Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Loop. Birding bud Maria Loukeris notified me, and Linda Scrima followed up by reporting the bird on the Mearns Bird Club app in the afternoon. I headed to the loop right after work. I hustled to the west side, but when I arrived there was no sign of the bird. Fortunately I ran into Ronnie DiLorenzo, who let me know the bird had relocated to the southernmost pond in the loop. I once again hustled to the back pond and this time I got lucky and the bird was not only present, but not too far out. This is the second straight Monday where I got an absolutely fabulous shorebird – it’s definitely a good cure for a bad case of the Mondays!

~Wow! Marbled Godwit at the back pond of the Liberty Loop, Sussex County NJ 08/22/22.~

~Marbled Godwit, Liberty Loop 98/22/22.~

Sullivan County RED-NECKED PHALAROPE!

Today while I was working I received an alert on the Mearns Bird Club app; John Haas had a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Morningside Park. I immediately knew I would run for the bird after work if it stuck around. John reported the bird again in the mid afternoon, so things were looking good.

I tried to not speed too much on my way to Morningside Park, I’d already been delayed because I had to put air in one of my tires. I arrived, put my kayak in the water and headed out. I made the rounds of all the mud/stump islands in the lake, but didn’t have any luck. There was a good number of shorebirds present, I had: Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs, and (6) SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. Normally this would be a banner day, but I was itchy about the phalarope and beginning to think it had moved on.

~Red-necked Phalarope at Morningside Park, 08/15/22.~

On my second go-round, I was happy to see the Red-necked Phalarope come in and land at the island where I was looking. I “parked” my kayak in the muddy shore and watched, photographed, and just enjoyed this incredible little bird. The bird was beautiful and extremely confiding, making its way closer and closer to me and never flushing. It was a very special birding experience, one that I won’t forget any time soon. What a bird.

~Beautiful bird. RNPH at Morningside Park, 08/15/22.~

John called as I was making my way back to shore. I told him how it went – he stopped me in my tracks when I mentioned the dowitchers. They hadn’t been there earlier, so John jumped in his car and joined me at the park to get them just before darkness fell. Huge thanks and congrats to John for finding and reporting a great bird. Check out his shore birding accounts from the day here.

~I had these as Short-billed Dowitchers in the field; I checked John Haas’ blog before posting and he had them as SBDO too. Morningside Park, 08/15/22.~

~Red-necked Phalarope, Morningside Park 08/15/22.~

Orange County Upland Sandpiper, 08/05/22

Tonight after work I headed out to the black dirt again, and I finally caught up with my target bird for this week: UPLAND SANDPIPER! I was having a pleasant evening – it was birdy enough to keep me interested, it was Friday night, life was good. Then, life became excellent when I spotted an Upland Sandpiper hanging out with a couple of Killdeer. Unfortunately the bird flew not long after I found it. Linda Scrima joined me in the search, and she was able to relocate the bird, but only briefly before it flew again. Try as we might, we were unable to relocate the bird again before it got too dark.

~High ISO (8000) Red Fox in the black dirt, 08/05/22.~

Orange County Little Blue Heron, 07/26/22

On my third attempt, I finally caught up with the LITTLE BLUE HERON that has been hanging around the small pond at Algonquin Park recently. The bird was originally located by Ken McDermott last Friday, and I have to thank Ken for posting that the bird was present this evening. His timing was impeccable; I was just wrapping up work. The bird hung in for me this time, and I enjoyed some fantastic looks. I was particularly impressed when the bird caught and ate 2 large frogs, one right after the other. Ken had returned for another look, and Joe Chernek showed up as well, so it was really good to see both of them as well. It felt good to have an exciting evening of birding – it’s been a while.

~Little Blue Heron at Algonquin Park, Newburgh NY 07/26/22.~

~It was cool to watch the bird take short flights around the pond. LBHE at Algonquin Park, 07/26/22.~

~Little Blue Heron at Algonquin Park, 07/26/22.~

~The bird hunted and ate 2 frogs this big right in a row. And it continued hunting! LBHE at Algonquin Park, 07/26/22.~

Orange County NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, 05/30/22

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.~

Wow, Orange County ARCTIC TERNS!

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.

Orange County Caspian Tern, 04/30/22

I had two target birds when I left at sunrise this morning. I dipped on my first one – I went to Black Rock Forest and hiked up to Jupiter’s Boulder to try for Ruffed Grouse. Unfortunately, not only was it painful because I’m so out of shape, I had no luck with the bird. Afterwards I headed to the Hudson River to try for Caspian Tern. I was not optimistic; the timing was right, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I had no luck at the Newburgh Waterfront and the Newburgh Rowing Club, so I headed to Plum Point.

~Caspian Tern at Plum Point this morning, 04/30/22.~

I scanned Cornwall Bay and found a distant Caspian Tern perched with a handful of Ring-billed Gulls. I’m not sure if they were clinging to the last of the sandbar, or if they were on a piece of driftwood. I was happy to get the bird, but not thrilled about the distance and no photos. Then, the unthinkable happened. The bird picked up and flew right to me, dove for and caught a small fish, and then proceeded north along the river with a Ring-billed Gull giving chase. Talk about timing!

~A Ring-billed Gull gives chase as the Caspian Tern evades with a fish in its bill. Plum Point, 04/30/22.~

The tern was relocated at the Newburgh Waterfront by Bruce Nott Yard a little later, and apparently several birders were able to see it.

Birds 2022: (39) – I added Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and House Wren this week.

~CATE in flight over the Hudson River, Plum Point 04/30/22.~

Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22

Well, my good luck continued for another day. This morning I headed to Black Rock Forest to try for the Red Crossbills that have been reported there recently. I enjoyed the 3 mile hike to Tamarack Pond, in spite of the relatively cold and windy conditions. I didn’t have many birds until I got to the area of the pond, where there were plenty of birds, some of them really good, including a couple of Fox Sparrows, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and a Brown Creeper.

~One of the many Dark-eyed Juncos at Black Rock Forest, near Tamarack Pond, 03/27/22.~

But, it took over two hours of looking and listening and wandering the area before finding my target birds. I heard a call that I did not immediately recognize, as I made my way towards the call, two birds popped up out of an evergreen and landed on a leafless tree. I was able to snap some shots before the birds took off; I got enough to at least document:

~Red Crossbill at Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22.~

The hike back to the car was nearly bird-free, but I was feeling pretty good about things and didn’t mind at all. I made a quick stop at the Newburgh Waterfront afterwards, but it seemed quiet there and I had only the 3 expected species of gull present (Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed).

Yard Birds 2022: (33) – no new birds since my last post.

~This was a nice surprise, one of 2 Fox Sparrows at Black Rock Forest, 03/27/22.~

Excellent Gulling in Suffolk County, 02/26/22

I went to Long Island today to visit my dad. Since he is not an early riser, I took the morning to try for some good gulls that have been reported recently at Old Field Point and Lighthouse in Suffolk County. It was a cold but very successful morning; I was able to locate 3 of my 4 target birds: ICELAND GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL, and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (I missed on the Black-headed Gull). Additionally, I met a birder there named Jay Rand; he got me on an interesting gull that has been reported as well, but as of yet is unidentified.

~Lesser Black-backed Gull at Old Field Point and Lighthouse, 02/26/22.~

The Glaucous Gull was the whitest gull I think I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure if this is just a light individual, or if there some possible sun bleaching going on, but the bird has been confirmed on eBird.

~A very pale Glaucous Gull at Old Field Point and Lighthouse, 02/26/22.~

As for the Gull species, it looked like a Herring Gull, but with a slightly darker mantle and yellowish legs/feet. When I got home I checked my emails and found some reports and a write-up by Shaibal Mitra on the NYSBIRDS list serve. He describes the bird broadly as a Herring Gull type, and offers 3 typical possibilities for this bird:

Smithsonianus Herring Gull, which apparently show some degree of yellow in the legs/feet in the late winter and early spring.
Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid.
Yellow-legged Gull

After viewing the bird, however, he has reservations about these three options and offers a fourth possibility: Northern European L. a. argentatus, to which he found similarities in the mantle color and wingtip pattern. Apparently we will find out what the experts identify it as in the coming days. I will keep you posted. And regardless, it was a really cool bird to see and added some excitement to my morning.