Longspurs, Larks, and Buntings

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~Snow Bunting in the uh well, snow. Black Dirt Region, 2/8/15.~

This past Sunday, I finally got my first Snow Buntings of the year. I know that folks have been seeing them throughout the black dirt region, but I somehow kept coming up empty. After Karen Miller and I tried unsuccessfully for the Ulster County Gyrfalcon in the morning, we decided to head back to the black dirt region to try for Snow Buntings. We did well, finding 6 in a flock of  approximately 75 Horned Larks.

Then, today after work I received a text from Linda Scrima who had a couple of Lapland Longspurs in the black dirt. I met her out there and took some photos before heading over to the Wallkill River NWR Liberty Loop viewing platform, where it was relatively quiet. For the first time in a long while I did not see any Northern Harriers. We did get good looks at a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, one distant Turkey Vulture and several Red-tailed Hawks. It was getting pretty dark when the Short-eared Owls got up; I counted four of them.

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~I’m not sure what was going on while taking these photos, all of them are soft. Snow Bunting in the Black Dirt, 2/8/15.~
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~Snow Bunting with a Horned Lark, Black Dirt, 2/8/15.~
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~I love these guys. Lapland Longspur with a Horned Lark in the Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~
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~A nice look at the feet of the Lapland Longspur. Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~
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~Larks and Longspurs in the snow piles. Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~

Gray Ghost on a Cold Night

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I made out to the viewing platform at Wallkill River NWR Liberty Marsh this evening and it was COLD night! There were not many birds flying close, but I got lucky with the one bird that came close enough for photos – a male Northern Harrier or “Gray Ghost”.  This was the only bird I took photos of tonight, but there were several hunting Northern Harriers, two distant Rough-legged Hawks, and at least one Red-tailed Hawk while I was there. It was not quite dark when I left, honestly I just was getting too cold to stay out, and the Short-eared Owls were not yet up.

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~Male NOHA at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 2/5/15.~
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~Northern Harrier in flight. Wallkill River NWR, 2/5/15.~

 

 

A Cute Couple

 

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~Short-eared Owl love at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 2/3/15. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner…~

Yesterday evening I was on Missionland Road, searching for the nearly two dozen Lapland Longspurs seen there earlier in the day by both Rob Stone and Ken McDermott (21 and 19 respectively), when I received a call from Ken. There were two Short-eared Owls perched together north of Oil City Road at Liberty Marsh. I headed over and the birds were still on their perch. It was a distant look and this photo is heavily cropped, but still pretty darn cute. Thanks to Ken for the call and hopefully I will get back out to try for the LALOs on another evening this week.

I went to the Newburgh Waterfront this evening to try for gulls; I had a report from Curt McDermott on Sunday of a Glaucous Gull. Gulls were plentiful, but I unfortunately was unable to locate anything other than Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls. I did have three Bald Eagles on the ice floes – two adults and one immature.

Black Dirt Sunday and Weekend Catch Up

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~A Northern Harrier shot through the grasses out at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 1/31/15.~

I spent an enjoyable morning birding in the black dirt; I spent just over three hours hitting many of the usual spots. Notable observations included fewer Canada Geese than I have had in recent days, I’m not sure where all the geese were hiding out. Also, on Missionland Road, where there were hundreds of Horned Larks earlier this week, I did not have one lark. I did manage to relocate 4 Lapland Longspurs in small flock of mixed sparrows. And, on Onion Avenue in New Hampton I had my first American Robins of the year:

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~One of a group of 8 American Robins on Onion Avenue, 2/1/15.~

It was a good morning with a total of 32 species identified:

~American Goldfinch on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~
~American Goldfinch on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~

Canada Goose
Mallard
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Short-eared Owl
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Lapland Longspur
American Tree Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

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~An American Tree Sparrow leaves its perch, Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~
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~I had 8! Eastern Bluebirds in my yard as I left in the morning – not a bird I see in our yard very often. Goshen NY, 2/1/15.~

 

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~Gray Ghost at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 2/1/15.~
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~I had heard about the Merlin that was hanging around Liberty Marsh at Wallkill River NWR, I finally saw it today, 2/1/15. You had to see this bird fly, absolutely incredible, so fast!

Longspurs and Larks

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~A Lapland Longspur on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~

I tried over the past couple of days to get some better shots of the Lapland Longspurs on Missionland Road. Yesterday the light was perfect and the birds were on the road but I had no luck with photos. . This afternoon the light was good, and although the birds did not come in as close as I would like, I did manage to get some better shots. I had 4 LALOs in a small flock of Horned Larks. Also present today was a nice flock of American Goldfinches, many Savannah Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows, and a single Song Sparrow. The Horned Lark photos were taken on Tuesday when I first saw the LALOs.

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~A Horned Lark forages on the side of Missionland Road, 1/27/15.~
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~Two of the four Lapland Longspurs I saw today on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~
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~A Horned Lark leaps to presumably grab and pull down some seeds to eat. I noticed this week that while the larks use this technique, the Lapland Longspurs will actually perch to feed….
...like this bird is doing here. Lapland Longspur on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~
…like this bird is doing here. Lapland Longspur on Missionland Road, 1/31/15.~

LAPLAND LONGSPURS!

~Four of the six Lapland Longspurs on Missionland Road today, 1/27/15.~
~Four of the six Lapland Longspurs on Missionland Road today, 1/27/15.~

QUICK POST: This afternoon, just after 3:00, I had 6 LAPLAND LONGSPURS on Missionland Road. I had just finished looking through hundreds of Horned Larks hoping for longspurs or buntings but without success. I have photos which contain all six birds, but unfortunately none came out very well, so here is a decent shot with four of the six. Nice birds to see, that’s for sure.

Saturday, 1/24/15

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~Cooper’s Hawk at the Newburgh Waterfront, 1/24/15.~

I got out a little late on this Saturday morning because I was waiting for the roads to clear from the fresh snow which had fallen overnight and continued to fall into the morning. I spent a little time in the New Hampton area of the black dirt. From Celery Avenue I could see many Canada Geese over the river in the fields that run along Onion Avenue. I stopped to scan them and from there I could see that there were approximately 20 SNOW GEESE among them. The Snow Geese were difficult to make out – there was plenty on the ground and it was still falling. I hustled around to Onion Avenue and spent some time scanning a large group of geese; I estimate over 1200 Canada Geese and maybe 100 Snow Geese. I did not find any other types of geese in with them. I birded my way up to Turtle Bay Road before turning back (I wanted to get to the Newburgh Waterfront for  late afternoon to try for gulls again). Along the way I came across what is likely the same Merlin I have had before, as it was perched in the same spot on a wire along the road. I saw a couple of distant flocks of Horned Larks and then a small group landed briefly on the road. Among them was a single LAPLAND LONGSPUR, which was awesome to see.

I tried for gulls from the old Torches parking lot on the Newburgh Waterfront. There were many present, mostly riding the ice floes up the Hudson River. Herring Gulls seemed most numerous, followed by Ring-billed Gulls and then Great Black-backed Gulls (which I had nearly 30 of). I had one distant first winter Iceland Gull, but no sign of the bird I had yesterday and believed was a Lesser Black-backed Gull. I guess a better, confirmed look at that bird will have to wait until another day. When I have seen a bird that I am not very sure of, I really like to have a photo, because as time passes, doubts start to creep into my mind. I had a couple of raptor highlights while I was there as well. Out on the ice I had 8 Bald Eagles. In the parking lot, a woman stopped her car to tell me there was a hawk perched on a post. It ended up being a Cooper’s Hawk that posed nicely for me. For a day where I wasn’t sure if I would even get out, it was a really good day.

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~A Red-tailed Hawk leaves a snowy perch on a snowy morning in New Hampton, NY 1/24/15. 
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~This certainly seems to be a favorite perch for this Merlin. I have seen it there before, and if you look to the left of the bird there appears to be some remains of prey stuck to the wire. I waited for ages for this bird to fly but after 20 minutes I had to move on. I passed the same spot on my way back, nearly 45 minutes later and the bird was still there! Merlin in New Hampton, NY 1/14./15.~
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~Snow Geese in the snow. Onion Avenue, 1/24/15. 

Newburgh Gulls, 1/23/15

QUICK POST: I went to the Newburgh Waterfront this evening after work to look for gulls. I parked in the old Torches parking lot and just as I got out of the car an adult Bald Eagle flew over. I scanned a large number of gulls floating in the river with my scope because most birds were rather distant. I walked a couple hundred yards south where most of the gulls were located and saw a bird that I believe was a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Bruce Nott had arrived with his friend Rob, I walked back to get them to have a look at the bird. Meanwhile, they were looking at a first winter Iceland Gull, which I got a good look at through Bruce’s scope. We made our way back to my scope and relocated my bird. We kept walking south to keep up with the floating gulls. The bird had a slate gray back, gray smudging on the head and was slightly smaller than the Herring Gulls nearby. At one point I had the bird in the same scope view as a Great Black-backed Gull and the size difference was considerable. I am confident that it was a Lesser Black-backed Gull, but I would certainly like to go back for a better look and of course get some photos.

Black Dirt Snow Geese, 1/20/15

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~Snow Geese coming in for a landing, New Hampton NY, 1/20/15.~

Tonight I spent some time at Pierce Circle in New Hampton, NY going through approximately 2,500 Canada Geese. I scanned the geese a bunch of times but was unable to find anything other than Canadas. I was just starting to pack it in when I saw another group of geese coming in – it was SNOW GEESE! Approximately 150 birds circled over the fields a couple of times and then settled in among the Canada Geese. It was awesome to see them, and to think I came so close to missing them!

~Snow Geese above the fields on Pierce Circle, 1/20/15.~
~Snow Geese above the fields on Pierce Circle, 1/20/15.~
~Snow Geese in New Hampton, NY 1/20/15.
~Snow Geese in New Hampton, NY 1/20/15.

Waterfowl Count, 1/18/15

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~A male Ring-necked Pheasant at Pierce Circle, 1/18/15.~

Karen Miller and I attempted to participate in the Mearns Bird Club Waterfowl Count yesterday, but we were thwarted by the weather. We started out alright, covering a small part of the Black Dirt Region and counting nearly 3,000 Canada Geese, over two dozen Mallards, and 6 Common Mergansers. Then the rain began in earnest, and the roads quickly became very icy and downright treacherous. At the first sign of icy conditions, we called it and headed home, and I’m glad we did. We both made it home safely, thank goodness. The highlight of the day was seeing a male Ring-necked Pheasant on Pierce Circle and getting some photos.