~I enjoyed seeing this Red-tailed Hawk; I pulled over to listen for songbirds and then saw it sitting low in the woods. Port Jervis, NY 2/21/16.~
After a disappointing Saturday of birding, I did much better on Sunday. I started the day in Port Jervis, hitting several spots. I added four birds to my Orange County year list, including two birds that I feel are pretty good birds for the county: GREATER SCAUP and COMMON GOLDENEYE. The other two birds were a Peregrine Falcon and a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. The highlight of the morning, however, was first hearing and then seeing a skein of approximately 75 SNOW GEESE fly overhead as I walked down a trail. This got me thinking about the possibility of finding some Snow Geese in the black dirt, which would be my next stop.
~One of my first birds of the day – Greater Scaup at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis, NY 2/21/16.~~An adult Bald Eagle flies over the Delaware River, Port Jervis NY, 2/21/16.~~Nice bird to see, a single Common Goldeneye, Laurel Grove Cemetery 2/21/16.~~SNOW GEESE! Nice flyover of a skein of SNGOs in Port Jervis, NY 2/21/16.~~Peregrine Falcon perched high over the Delaware River, Port Jervis NY, 2/21/16.~
I made my way out to the Black Dirt Region, where I met up with Bruce Nott and Linda Scrima. We sifted through a nice sized group of Canada Geese and found some gems: 6 Snow Geese, 1 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, and I was finally able catch up with a CACKLING GOOSE (there have been many reports in the region). Afterwards, Bruce and I continued to the Pine Island Turf Nursery, in search of pipits. We didn’t have any luck with the pipits, but we had a good sized flock of Horned Larks and a good collection of songbirds that provided some photo ops. It was a really good day of birding for me, something that I certainly needed.
~Cackling Goose in the black dirt 2/21/16. I like this for a Cackling because of the smaller size, small bill, shorter neck, and blocky head. ~Terrible photo here, but I included it because I think it shows the size of this bird better than the photo above. Cackling Goose, 2/21/16.~~A Red-bellied Woodpecker shows off its namesake (and it’s tongue!). Pine Island Turf Nursery, 2/21/16.~~That’s a blue Eastern Bluebird! Pine Island Turf Nursery, 2/21/16.~
~I love Brant, and I was finally able to get some decent photos. Brant foraging on the shore at Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, 2/18/16.~
I made a site visit to examine the stained glass windows in a church in New Haven, Connecticut this morning. Once I had completed my work, I headed over to Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, located in West Haven, right on the Long Island Sound. I had checked on eBird and found several hotspots not too far from the church, with Sandy Point having some good recent reports. I took a nice long walk along the beach; it was a gorgeous day but with a very strong wind that made it a little bit on the cold side and also made keeping my spotting scope and even my binoculars steady. I had only a modest 16 species, but there were a couple of favorites in there – I had a single Common Loon and many Brant. The most numerous bird, by far, were scaup – I had about 75 birds in close enough to identify as Greater Scaup and then an additional 300 or so that were quite distant (I was thinking they were likely Greater, but it was too far for me to be sure). It was a really nice way to spend a Thursday afternoon and a welcome break from the routine.
~I had both Fish Crows and American Crows at the sanctuary. I never heard this bird call, so I’m not sure which this is. Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, West Haven CT 2/18/16.~~Greater? Scaup take off in numbers, only to relocate very nearby. Sandy Point Bird Sancturary, 2/18/16.~~Brant at Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, 2/18/16.~~Brant in flight in front of the rocks, Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, 2/18/16.~ ~iPhone shot of the beach at Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, 2/18/16.~
~American Robin feeding at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16.~
I spent a couple of cold hours this morning walking the Heritage Trail at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. It was quite birdy and I tallied 20 species for the walk; I’ll include my species list below. The best and most surprising bird for me was a female Northern Harrier which was cruising the open area below the Orange County Jail. I also enjoyed seeing 2 Great Blue Herons, one that flushed as I walked along the trail and the second was all tucked in on the bank of the stream alongside the trail. It was a brisk -3 degrees Fahrenheit when I started my walk, and it warmed up to a balmy 1 degree Fahrenheit by the time I got back to the car.
A male Eastern Bluebird shows a little wing, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16. This is a species that I seem to see often when it’s very cold like this.~~It was really cool to see this Great Blue Heron all hunkered down on the bank of the stream which runs parallel to the Heritage Trail, 2/14/16.~
Great Blue Heron 2 Northern Harrier 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Ring-billed Gull 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Downy Woodpecker 6 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Blue Jay 8 American Crow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 2 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Eastern Bluebird 4 American Robin 12 American Tree Sparrow 25 Dark-eyed Junco 65 White-throated Sparrow 6 Song Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 1
A pair of White-throated Sparrows forage on the trail in front of me at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16.~~A puffed up American Tree Sparrow, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16.~~Downy Woodpeckers were plentiful during my walk and also very accommodating. 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16.~~One more shot of the American Robin feeding, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 2/14/16.~
~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:
~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.
~A backlit Northern Harrier hunts at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~~Up close Northern Harrier with snow flurries at the Grasslands, 2/13/16.~~The harriers were doing a lot of tangling all morning, Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~~NOHA checking things out below. Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~~I included this shot to show the snow falling. NOHA at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR, 2/13/16.~
~A Lesser Scaup in Playland Lake at the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/7/16.~
I had planned to get to Rye, NY for some birding at the end of 2015 or early January of this year, but somehow I never made it out there. So, today I finally took the trip to the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, a spot that always seems to deliver a good amount of birds in the winter compared to what we are getting in Orange County. I had a pretty good day, with a total of 34 species (this is ten fewer than I had during a trip late last February but only two fewer than Karen Miller and I had in January of 2015). The highlight for me was getting relatively good views of Long-tailed Ducks – they were still distant, but typically at the sanctuary the LTDUs are miles out into the Long Island Sound. Another highlight was a distant look at a pair of Horned Grebes, a species I’ve never had at the sanctuary before. I was mostly surprised by the number of species that I expected to get but did not: Brant, Double-crested and Great Cormorant, Great Blue Heron (I remember large numbers on the islands at Playland Lake in the past), American and Fish Crow. I’ve also typically done well with photos at the sanctuary, and that was not the case today. Still, it was good day – gorgeous, seasonably warm, with enough birds to keep it interesting. I’ve included my species list at the bottom of this post.
~One of my favorites, Long-tailed Duck out beyond the rocks, Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/7/16.~~Keeping my Species Photos 2016 page in mind, I spent some time with this Northern Cardinal, Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, 2/7/16.~~I stopped at the town park to have my lunch and I was joined by numerous gulls looking for a handout. Ring-billed Gull mooching in Rye, NY 2/7/16.~~Herring Gull close up. This bird was so close to me that I didn’t think my camera would focus on it. The bird eventually joined me on the bench. Rye Town Park, 2/7/16.~
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
~A White-breasted Nuthatches strikes the usual pose, Port Jervis NY 2/6/16.~
I woke up early this morning and made it out to Port Jervis just after it started getting light out. I’ve spent nearly all my recent birding time in the black dirt, so I was looking for a change. I started at a spot just outside of Port Jervis that allows for a quiet walk with enough birds to keep it interesting. My first bird of the day was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, my first of the year in Orange County. One of the last birds I had was a Common Raven which was another to add to my Orange County list for 2016. I saw or heard 14 species on what ended up being a very cold walk; when I got back to my car and I was thinking it had finally warmed up, I looked at the temperature and it was only 19 degrees! I had an interesting experience with a group of maybe 8 White-breasted Nuthatches (it was hard to keep count!). I’ve never seen that many together at once, and they were calling and flying all around me, landing on nearby trees and on the road as well… it was pretty cool.
From there I made a couple of brief stops as I made my way into Port Jervis to bird Laurel Grove Cemetery. I parked at the far end and then made a loop to eventually end up back at my car. It was a birdy walk and I added another 3 birds to my Orange County 2016 list: Hairy Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, and Brown Creeper (a drastic improvement over last year, when it took me 11 months and 27 days to find a creeper!). I walked for just about an hour and had 19 species.
~I didn’t realize it until I stopped to think about it, but I had 4 Bald Eagles today, all of them adults. Orange County Bald Eagle, 2/6/16.~
I headed home for lunch with Tricia, winding my way through the black dirt without any remarkable sitings. After lunch I headed up north to see if I could do any good with waterfowl. I made three stops: Tomahawk Lake, Brown’s Pond, and Lake Washington. I only had any luck at Lake Washington, where I had 42 distant Common Mergansers and 8 Mallards. My more notable sitings were not waterfowl, I had an American Kestrel on the way to Tomahawk Lake in Hamptonburgh, and then when I arrived, I added my sixth bird of the day to my Orange County list, a Northern Flicker.
I left the county at the end of the day and headed out to Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge to try for the Short-eared Owls. I had a Red-tailed Hawk as I entered the refuge, which was absolutely packed – it was the first time I’ve had to parallel park at the grasslands! I talked to Ralph and he said that three different groups had outings at the refuge that evening. I had 7 Northern Harriers including one Gray Ghost, and then, up pretty late in the fading light, I had 4 Short-eared Owls – which was a nice way to end a super day of birding.
**I’ve updated the Species Photos 2016 page. I now have 25 species on the page, I think I need to start focusing on this page a little more.**
~I’m really not so crazy for White-breasted Nuthatches, so I can’t really remember seeing one on the ground like this. WBNU in Port Jervis, NY 2/6/16.~~White-breasted Nuthatch, Port Jervis, NY 2/6/16.~~I saw this bird fly in and thought “please be a hairy!”, and it was. Hairy Woodpecker at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 2/6/16.~~On my way to Tomahawk Lake, I pulled over to get a better look at a bird on a distant hay bale. It was an American Kestrel. And it flew towards me and perched in the tree in front of my car! Lucky day! AMKE in Hamptonburgh, NY 2/6/16.~
~Wow! Greater White-fronted Goose in the Black Dirt Region, 1/29/16.~
I love getting word of a good bird while I’m at work. Well, I love it and I hate it. It’s great because it’s exciting and something to look forward to after work, but it can be terrible too because the day inevitably passes very slowly and there is always the chance that the bird will move on. This morning I received a text from John Haas – he had a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE among a couple thousand Canada Geese at Turtle Bay in the black dirt, which was very exciting to me! As expected, the day did drag on, and of course, as I was leaving I received word from Linda Scrima that after spending most of the day at Turtle Bay, all the geese had lifted up. She had scoured all the regular black dirt geese locations and was unable to locate any large groups of geese. I could think of one other location where the birds could be located, but it was private property. Linda met me at the location, and with the homeowner’s permission we were able to relocate the bird and get some good photos too!
My exciting evening of birding didn’t end there. I had been in contact with Bruce Nott and he was at the Newburgh Waterfront looking for gulls. I contacted him after leaving the GWFG and he was on a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, presumably the same bird John Haas had located earlier in the week (that guy’s having a pretty good week!). I made my way over to Newburgh and when I arrived, Bruce and Ajit and Liza Antony all had the bird in their scopes. I hopped out of the car and took a good look at the bird in both scopes before going back to the car for my own scope. They told me how they had lost the bird but relocated it while I was in transit! What a great afternoon and evening of birding!
~They all lined up nicely for this photo, Greater White-fronted Goose up front, of course! Black Dirt Region, 1/29/16.~~I don’t even know if this even qualifies as a documentary photo – Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront, 1/29/16. Click here to see a decent shot I got of a LBBG last March at this same location.~
~This young Cooper’s Hawk found a man-made perch that I actually like for photos. This was wood and rusty metal rack in the back of an abandoned pick up truck. Black Dirt, 1/24/16.~
QUICK POST: I was out of town visiting family, so the only birding I did over the weekend was this afternoon when I ran around the Black Dirt Region for a couple of hours. It wasn’t the most productive of outings; I had only 18 species for the afternoon, and all were expected birds. The highlight for me was two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS; it’s nice to see that RLHAs seem to have finally moved into the area in some numbers. They were too distant for photos but still nice to see. At any rate, here are few shots from the afternoon.
~It was a day for man made perches, I guess. White-crowned sparrow on a crate in the black dirt, 1/24/16.~~Same crate, different bird. Song Sparrow in the Black Dirt Region, 1/24/16.~
~An American Kestrel that actually did not flush as I drove by! A birding miracle in the Black Dirt Region, 1/16/16.~
I birded the Black Dirt Region by car this morning and covered a lot of ground. I wanted to first check to see if the Snowy Owl continued – I was unable to relocate the bird and did not hear of anyone relocating the bird all day. My second goal of the day was to sort through some of the many Canada Geese in the area, looking for rarities. I really wanted to locate a Cackling Goose, especially since John Haas had reported 2 from the day before. I located two decent candidates; one flew before I got any photos or could be sure of the ID. When I located the second candidate, Linda Scrima joined me and although we got some decent looks and photos of the bird, we left unsure of the ID. I kept going back and forth with this bird, sometimes it looked really good for a Cackling and other times not so good. Being this unsure, I will leave this bird unidentified, but I’ve included a photo of the bird in this post in case anyone would like to weigh in. The only other notable geese from the day were 5 Snow Geese. My final goal was to try to add some birds to my Orange County list and I increased it by 9 birds. I had 30 birds on my species list, which I’ve included at the bottom of this post. Highlights of the day for me included 2 Rough-legged Hawks and 2 American Kestrels.
~A male Northern Harrier, the Gray Ghost in flight in the black dirt. This was taken earlier in the week, 1/13/16.~~Three of the 5 Snow Geese I had in the black dirt today, 1/16/16.~~Same Gray Ghost as above, perched on the ground. Black Dirt Region, 1/13/16.~~American Kestrel taking flight, Black Dirt Region, 1/16/16.~~This was Cackling Goose Candidate #2… Any thoughts? ~
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Short-eared Owl
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
~Wow!, Snowy Owl in the Black Dirt Region, 1/14/16.~
I met Kyle out in the Black Dirt this evening after work to try for some raptors – Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls were the goal. I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a large white bird fly over a field in the distance, being chased by crows – SNOWY OWL!!! We immediately jumped out of the car and got the bird in the scope to find it had perched on a distant small post in a field. We watched the bird as it was harassed by both Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls; it flew one time and found a new perch, but shortly after returned to its original perch. The bird was very distant, so pics were tough; the above is from the camera, and the shot below is with the iPhone through the scope. It was a super exciting night! Lifer Snowy for Kyle and my first one in a couple of years!
***If you go for this bird, please be respectful of the locals in the black dirt. Many roads are private and not public and shouldn’t be used without permission. Farmers are still working so please keep all roads clear and let them work. As a general rule, for me, if there is any sort of work going on I leave the area.***
~iPhone shot through the spotting scope – Snowy Owl in the Black Dirt, 1/14/16.~
