Orange Birding

OC Sandhill Crane, 05/13/18

~SANDHILL CRANE at Wallkill River NWR, Liberty Lane 05/13/18.~

I was fortunate enough to run into Kent Warner at the Liberty Loop first thing this morning. He was on his way out, but he gave me the heads up that he’d heard a SANDHILL CRANE calling north of Oil City Road. I birded from the platform and then hit the west side of the loop, seeing and hearing mostly the usuals, although I did pick up my FOY Willow Flycatcher and Orchard Oriole. Of note was the absence of the Tundra Swan which had been present for just over a week. Then, I headed down Liberty Lane to try for the crane, and sure enough the bird was present feeding in the corn fields. I was happy to finally catch up with this bird – it had been reported in the last month by Linda Scrima, Rob Stone, as well as several others. It’s always excellent to see a SACR; it’s that much better when it’s in Orange County. Later in the morning, Rick Hansen reported that the bird had flown over the Liberty Loop viewing platform.

~Ovenbird calling at Pochuck Mountain SP, 05/10/18.~

I birded a couple of other spots this morning. The Camel Farm had a good number of Least Sandpipers, Killdeer, and 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. At Pochuck Mountain the trail was quite birdy, but all the birds were WAY up at the treetops (with the exception of Ovenbirds). Best birds were a couple of Blackburnian Warblers, several Black-throated Green Warblers, and a handful of Northern Parulas.

~Wood Thrush in some nice evening light from earlier this week, 05/08/18.~

~Tundra Swan. This shot was taken at the Liberty Loop on Friday, 05/11/18. The bird was not present this morning.~

Another Lesson in Swan Identification, 05/06/18

~The bird in question – Swan Sp. at Liberty Loop 05/06/18.~

Back in November of 2012, I wrote a blog post entitled ‘A Lesson in Swan Identification’. Today was round two in swan identification for me. After a morning of birding in Port Jervis for migrating songbirds (see more on this below), I went to the Liberty Loop platform to see what was going on. In the first pond, there was a swan that was not a Mute Swan. I grabbed my scope and checked the bird out – the first thing I looked for was where the bill meets the head when you look head-0n at the bird. Typically, a V-shape indicates Trumpeter and a U-shape indicates Tundra Swan. Well, this bird had a V-shape, clearly, no doubt about it (see photo below). I was thinking, wow – could I have a Trumpeter here? But something wasn’t sitting right with me. Actually a couple of things. I’d talked with Rob Stone and he mentioned the size. A Trumpeter would be very large; to my eye the bird did not appear that large, but there were no nearby birds for context. The second thing was the connection of the bill to the eye. For a Trumpeter, the connection is very substantial, whereas a Tundra is less so. With today’s bird, the connection did not seem heavy enough to me.

~I’ve included this photo to illustrate the “V” where the bill meets the bird’s “forehead”. Tundra Swan at the Liberty Loop, 05/06/18.~

I put the word out that I had a possible Trumpeter and Karen Miller, John Haas, and Bruce Nott all ran for the bird. We had amazing scope looks (even though the bird spent much of the time tucked in). We poured through field guides. The conclusion was that we just didn’t know – we would enter it in eBird as Swan Sp. and seek help with the ID. John provided Kevin McGowan’s contact information, so I emailed him some photos, thinking maybe we would hear back sometime this week. Well, he responded right away: Looks like a SY Tundra Swan: rounded head, very prominent eye nearly disjunct from the black face. The V-notch of the bill is typical of young Tundras and not a mark for Trumpeter. How’s that for a curve ball? That is a detail that I did not pick up when I was researching for my post back in 2012. The V actually switches species depending on the age of the bird (ie., the V= Adult Trumpeter OR young Tundra). No one ever said birding was easy, ha ha. Well, chalk it up to another learning experience, which is really what it’s all about. And when it comes down to it, if you told me this morning I’d have a Tundra Swan in OC, I’d have been thrilled. And so I am.

In other news…..

~Carolina Wren singing its heart out, Reservoir 1 05/06/18.~

I birded Laurel Grove Cemetery and Reservoir 1 in Port Jervis this morning. From 7-8 am, Laurel Grove was hopping! It was mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers, but I also managed to find a Magnolia Warbler, 3 Cape May Warblers, and my first Chimney Swifts of the year. Reservoir 1 was quieter, but I did see my first Chestnut-sided Warbler of the year. Good morning and a good weekend – I add a remarkable 32 species to my OC year list over the weekend!

~Cape May Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery 05/06/18.~

WARBLERS!

From Friday evening to Saturday evening, I’m pretty sure I had my best 24 hours of warblers ever. In that span I had 19 species of warbler in three different locations: Sterling Forest State Park’s Ironwood Drive, Sterling Forest’s Old Forge Road, and Pochuck Mountain State Park.

Black-and-white Warbler: Ironwood Drive and Old Forge Road

Ovenbird: All three locations

~Ovenbird at Pochuck Mountain SP, 05/05/18.~

Nashville Warbler: Pochuck

Worm-eating Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Louisiana Waterthrush: Ironwood Drive and Old Forge Road

Northern Waterthrush: Ironwood Drive

Black-throated Blue Warbler: Ironwood Drive and Pochuck

~Male Black-throated Blue Warbler at Sterling SP, 05/05/18.~

~Female Black-throated Blue Warbler at Pochuck Mountain SP, 05/05/18.~

Blue-winged Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Common Yellowthroat: Ironwood Drive

Hooded Warbler: Ironwood Drive

~I still need a good Hooded Warbler Photo. Sterling Forest, 05/04/18.~

Cerulean Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Northern Parula: Ironwood Drive and Pochuck

Blackburnian Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Yellow Warbler: Ironwood Drive and Old Forge Road

~American Redstart at Sterling Forest SP, 05/04/18.~

American Redstart: Ironwood Drive and Old Forge Road

Black-throated Blue Warbler: Ironwood Drive and Pochuck

Black-throated Green Warbler: Pochuck

Yellow-rumped Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Prairie Warbler: Ironwood Drive

Golden-winged Warbler: Ironwood Drive

~Golden-winged Warbler at Sterling Forest, 05/04/18.~

Maybe more remarkably, in that same 24 hours, I added a total of 27 new species to my Orange County year list. Highlights (outside of the warblers) include: Virginia Rail (Liberty Loop), Broad-winged Hawk (Sterling SP), Green Heron (Sterling SP), and Baltimore Oriole (Pochuck).

~I like this pic – Blue-headed Vireo at Sterling Forest SP, 05/05/18.~

~Ruby-crowned Kinglets were numerous at Sterling Forest today – I had at least 20 of them.~

We Need Young Birders!

You may remember that I asked some of the more active birders in our area to contribute to the blog – I’m happy to say that Karen Miller is the latest to take me up on it.

By KAREN MILLER

We love birding! It’s a huge part of our lives, but we need young birders to get in the game also and advocate for birds so future generations will have these wonderful creatures in THEIR world too.

I met a young birder with his parents at the Basha Kill recently. Joseph is 5 1/2 years old (and DON’T forget the the 1/2 year or he will quickly correct you!). Joseph is a very smart little guy with lots of energy and he was constantly running around looking for new birds. As I chatted with his parents, Joseph would run up to me and say “Excuse me, excuse me. What bird is this?” He would hand me his little point-and-shoot camera and I tried to identify the bird from a small picture on the display screen. When a Great Blue Heron flew over, he nearly flipped out at the size of the bird! (It surprises me every time, too). Joseph was certain that an Eastern Phoebe on his mother’s camera was instead a picture of a Kingfisher : ) I could barely keep up with his questions.

At one point Joseph ran up to us, announced that he had found a yellow bird and dragged me off to identify the bird. He quickly relocated the bird in a small bush… and he was right! It WAS a yellow bird! Above is a picture of his great finding… a Palm Warbler! Not bad for a 5 1/2 year old! Feeding the birds at home gives Joseph a good start on observing and learning the birds.

I hope that I see Joseph at the Bash again soon. We need young birders!

Orange County CATTLE EGRET! 05/01/18

~CATTLE EGRET flies over the platform at the Liberty Marsh this evening, 05/01/18.~

This evening I met up with Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Liberty Marsh. We were following up on a second hand report by Ken McDermott, from earlier in the day, of a CATTLE EGRET at the marsh. We had a pretty fabulous night of birding, with 4 species of shorebirds being seen right along Oil City Road (Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson’s Snipe, and Solitary Sandpiper). An American Bittern called as soon as I got out of the car, and Linda got a sweet shot of one in flight (see below). Sora could be heard calling from just east of the viewing platform. And then, the CATTLE EGRET flew out of the marsh and right over the platform! It headed north and settled down just off of Liberty Lane. It didn’t stay there for long, however, it picked up and, lucky for us, put down about 100 yards out from the viewing platform. Excellent, lucky night of birding!

~Wow! American Bittern in flight at the Liberty Loop, 05/01/18. Photo by Linda Scrima.~

~Lesser Yellowlegs at the Liberty Loop, 05/01/18.~

An Unexpectedly Nice Evening, 04/30/18

~A Northern Rough-winged Swallow makes a pass at Wickham Lake, 04/30/18.~

Picture this. You spent the day working hard and you are exhausted. But now you are standing on the shore of Wickham Lake in a light rain, listening to a Common Loon perform its eerie call. Swallows buzz over the surface of the lake; you scan persistently and eventually identify 4 of the 5 expected species of swallow: Barn, Tree, Northern Rough-winged, and a beautiful single CLIFF SWALLOW. Your first Solitary Sandpiper of the year works the shore just to your left; a Yellow Warbler and an American Redstart (another FOY) call from the patch of woods near the parking area. And, just like that, your Monday evening has clearly surpassed expectations.

~I did not imagine I would be photographing any shorebirds close up this evening. Spotted Sandpiper at Wickham Lake, 04/30/18.~

Blackbirds?

~European Starling in the black dirt, 04/29/18.~

~Common Grackle in the black dirt, 04/29/18.~

A Full Day in Orange County, 04/28/18

~My FOY Northern Rough-winged Swallow, at Reservoir #1 in Port Jervis, NY 04/28/14.~

I left the house early this morning with a plan. I was free to bird for most of the day, and after spending my evenings this week birding the Liberty Loop exclusively, I wanted to cover some additional territory in Orange County, mostly hoping for some new passerines for the year.

Laurel Grove Cemetery: This was probably my best stop of the day, the cemetery was extremely birdy. Yellow-rumped Warblers were numerous (25+), as were Northern Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers. I four Orange County first of year (FOY) birds: Cooper’s Hawk, Pine Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and Blue-headed Vireo. It’s hard for me to believe it has taken me this long to get a Coop.

~With as many flickers that were around at Laurel Grove, I would have been disappointed to not get a photo. Northern Flicker at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Jervis NY 04/28/18.~

Reservoir #1: My first bird was my best – a pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows were busy feeding on the water right in front of the parking area. They were my FOY, as were the several Eastern Towhees I heard while walking the trail. Afterwards, I went to the sand bar in Port Jervis to try for shorebirds or gulls, but unfortunately the water levels were way too high.

Camel Farm: I had very distant looks at both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Several Killdeer were flying around and calling.

~Crappy shot of a nice bird: Black-and-white Warbler at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 04/28/18.~

Black Dirt: I stopped at one spot quickly to try for a couple things: I wanted to see if the large Horned Lark flock had moved on (it appears to have), and I was also hoping the recent rains might produce some good shorebird conditions (conditions looked good to me, but no shorebirds).

Wickham Lake: On my way to the lake, I started to think that I was accumulating a decent number of species for the day. How many would I get if I stuck to my plan and hit my additional 3 spots? The lake was relatively uneventful – there were many boats out, so I was not surprised to see very little in the way of waterfowl – Common Mergansers (2), Bufflehead (2), Mute Swan (3), Canada Geese (8), and Double-crested Cormorant (2). I did manage to pick up an additional FOY bird: Yellow Warbler.

~Savannah Sparrows were plentiful today, both in the black dirt and at the Liberty Loop. This one was in the black dirt, 04/28/18.~

Glenmere Pond: Waterfowl numbers were down here. Noteworthy birds included a single Northern Rough-winged Swallow and two Ring-necked Ducks which are holding on. It was nice to see an Osprey fly over just before I left.

~Two American Bitterns at the Liberty Loop from earlier this week. I had two there today as well and it is hard to tell how many there are at the marsh right now. I am wondering if they will stay and breed; that would be amazing.~

Glenmere Lake: This stop was pretty much a bust. I think it was just a little too late in the day and there just wasn’t much going on.

I finished the day with 63 species after 7 locations in 8 hours. I’m not sure how that rates but it was a birdy enough day to keep it interesting.

Around Town, 04/21/18

~Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Wickham Lake, 04/21/18.~

I got out and around locally this morning. My main goal was to check on the American Bitterns from last night – in my imagination I was picturing numerous bitterns flying around the Liberty Loop in perfect light. The reality was more than slightly different; I met Linda Scrima there first thing and although we heard an American Bittern calling repeatedly, we were unable to get a visual. We had no shorebirds, but I did pick up a few FOY birds – Brown Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Field Sparrow.

~Horned Grebe in nice plumage at Wickham Lake, 04/21/18.~

A quick stop at the Camel Farm was disappointing – one lonely Killdeer is all Linda and I could find as far as shorebirds go. From there I headed to Wickham Lake; best birds were a Common Loon and a Horned Grebe and I also picked up my FOY Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Glenmere Lake and pond were relatively unproductive but I did have 4 Blue-winged Teal at the pond. I watched them for a good while; they are beautiful. My final stop of the morning was in the black dirt to check on the Horned Lark flock. I last had them on Tuesday evening, but including today I’ve come up empty on my last 2 tries. I spent about an hour trying to wait them out today, but I’m starting to think they have moved on.

~I spotted this bird on my way home from work on Friday night – Common Loon at Lake Kanawauke in Harriman State Park, 04/20/18.~

~It’s been a while since I shot a Mourning Dove. MODO at Wickham Lake, 04/21/18.~

~Maria and I had this female American Kestrel out on Liberty Lane on Friday night, 04/20/18.~

~Good bird/bad pic – Blue-winged Teals at Glenmere Pond, 04/21/18.~

Wow! Five AMERICAN BITTERNS at the Liberty Loop!

~Super grainy, but I was thrilled to get this photo of my first ever American Bittern in Orange County. Liberty Loop, 04/20/18.~

What started out as an uneventful evening ended up being an incredible birding experience. I met Maria Loukeris out at the Liberty Loop; we walked out Liberty Lane – highlights included some distant unidentified shorebirds, several White-crowned Sparrows and my FOY Swamp Sparrows. As we were walking back to the cars, I turned to Maria and said “Let’s go look for some American Bitterns”. I was only half joking, and I had no idea what was in store for us. As we reached the parking area, Maria picked up two birds flying across the marsh and exclaimed “bittern!”. I got on them immediately and was thrilled to see two AMERICAN BITTERNS fly from the front pond and head southwest towards the back of the marsh. We went to the viewing platform; we were pretty sure that we wouldn’t see them again, but had to try. But, then we heard another AMBI calling from just to our left. We scanned and remarkably, Maria located the bird right away. As I ran to get my scope from the car, a different AMBI took flight and flew north over Oil City Road. Shortly after that, yet another bittern joined the one that was calling – that gave us a total of five American Bitterns! I put the word out, and Linda Scrima made record time to arrive to see a pair of them in the scope before we lost the light. What a night! I’m still freaking out!