Black Dirt – Page 8 – Orange Birding

Wow, What a Day!

~This made Kyle Dudgeon happy - Northern Harrier in flight in the Black Dirt, 10/3/15.~ — ~This made Kyle Dudgeon happy – Northern Harrier in flight in the Black Dirt, 10/3/15.~

It was a rainy, wet and cold day for starters. I woke up early with the plan to get out early before heading up to Mt. Peter for my Saturday hawkwatch. I wanted to go to Owens Station Crossing to try for the tern I saw last night and also to try for the Red-necked Phalarope that Ken Witkowski had reported seeing in the back pool of the Liberty Loop. As I drove through a pretty steady rain, I was surprised to get a call from Maria Loukeris; she and Linda Scrima were already at Owens Station Crossing and wanted to try for the phalarope. And Marianne O. was on her way. Four birders out on the worst rainy morning in recent memory? Sounds good to me!

Shortly after arriving at Owens Station Crossing, I relocated the tern in the distance, perched on a stump in the lake. The tern flew for us one time (before I even had my camera out!!), but it gave us some good looks, coming closer in decent light. We were in agreement that the bird was likely a COMMON TERN. Perched, the bird did not stand tall and appeared to have a short neck, a hint of a dark carpal bar could be seen, dark primary/wing edges were very apparent, and the tail did not extending past wingtips. In flight, the wings were strongly angled back, and showed a dark trailing edge on the primaries.

We headed down the trail that leads to the back pond of the Liberty Loop. Shortly after arriving, Marianne located a Short-billed Dowitcher. Linda was the only one with a camera out due to the steady, continuing rain and she provided me with a photo of the bird. We continued to scan for quite a while, getting very wet and cold. Eventually, I located the RED-NECKED PHALAROPE in my scope! Marianne got on it quickly with her scope and Linda got a quick look in my scope, but unfortunately the bird disappeared into some grasses before Maria got her turn on a scope. It took a while to relocate the bird; when Marianne finally did, Maria got a look and we all got some better looks, but they were by no means good looks, through wet lenses and the bird coming and going through the vegetation. This was a life bird for both Maria and Linda, congrats to them both!

When we got back to the Owens Station Crossing parking lot, we could not relocate the Common Tern; had it moved on already? The weather was trying to break at this point, but the rain continued, just a little lighter than before.

~Short-billed Dowitcher at the Liberty Loop Trail, Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, 10/3/15. Photo by Linda Scrima.~

I went home and changed into some dry clothes. It appeared that the rain might stop, so I was going to head to Mt. Peter. Once on the road, it became clear that it was still raining pretty good. Kyle Dudgeon was home from college for the weekend, we exchanged texts and decided to try to get the phalarope for him. We tried for a while at the back pond of the Liberty Loop, but we were unable to relocate the bird, even with the help of a Sussex County birder named Kevin who was out for the bird as well. Kyle and I decided to hit the black dirt to try for shorebirds (me) and raptors (Kyle). We were successful in both searches. American Kestrels were extremely numerous, we didn’t keep count but figured by the evening that we had seen over 30 kestrels! We also saw several Northern Harriers including one Gray Ghost, and we had one immature Bald Eagle fly over. For shorebirds we struggled for the most part with not many being seen, but eventually Kyle’s young eyes located three birds I am thinking might have been BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS; I’ve included a photo of one them below. And then a little later, way out in a field he spotted 23 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS! (Several of these birds lifted their wings to show wing pits that were not dark). What a day of birding! Crazy weather and awesome birds; it’s usually a good combination.

~I have this as a Black-bellied Plover – the bill and head look large enough to me? I’m not sure why I struggle so much to differentiate the plovers?! Any thoughts on this bird would certainly be appreciated. Black Dirt Region, 10/3/15.~

Shorebird Report, 10/1/15

~This shot is actually from last week, a Lesser Yellowlegs at the Citgo Pond, 9/22/15.~

It feel like ages since I’ve last posted. There was not much going on birding-wise for me at the end of last week and then I went away for a long weekend to New Hope, Pennsylvania where Tricia had a booth for her pottery at the New Hope Craft Fair. This week I have gotten out birding briefly on a few days, and being shorebird obsessed, I went looking for shorebirds each day. On Tuesday I went out to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary – Citgo Pond, to see if the Long-billed Dowitcher was still around. I was unable to relocate the dowitcher, but the pond had a decent showing of shorebirds:

Killdeer (5)
Lesser Yellowlegs (8)
Greater Yellowlegs (2)
Least Sandpiper (20+)

On Wednesday I drove around the black dirt, much of which had puddles in the fields due to the recent rainfall. Only a couple of stops were good for shorebirds. At Turtle Bay I had many Killdeer (30+) and then at Skinner Lane I had more Killdeer, a Wilson’s Snipe, two Pectoral Sandpipers, and a single long billed shorebird which I was, unfortunately, unable to identify due to the distance and darkness.

Today I went back to Skinner Lane to try for the unidentified shorebird, but it was not to be seen. I did, however, locate two Buff-breasted Sandpipers in a distant field with a dozen or so Killdeer.

ALSO: I should mention that I stopped at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch on both Monday and Tuesday and though both days were quite slow, they came right on the heels of a very good weekend where the all time record for migrating Broad-winged Hawks at the watch was broken. The old record was 11,044 and as of today we have counted 11,255 at Mt. Peter so far this year. Pretty exciting stuff!

~Least Sandpipers in flight over the murk and amongst the Mute Swans and Canada Geese at Citgo Pond, 9/22/15.~

Mt. Peter Hawkwatch 9/19/15

~I didn’t have many photo ops today on the mountain, but we did have an early Sharp-shinned Hawk which flew over pretty close to the platform.~

In the three days prior to today, Mt. Peter Hawkwatch had over 6,400 migrating hawks! Pretty amazing right? Of course, I was working and or busy and could not make it out for any of the three days. But, I was on as counter today… how many kettles of Broad-winged Hawks would I have? How many total migrating hawks would I count? How many thousands? Um… how about 34 migrating hawks? They can’t all be winners. It was actually a nice day up on the mountain with great company, the only thing lacking was the birds. Tomorrow is another day! Here is my report:

Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter Matt Zeitler
Observers: Ajit I. Antony, Bill Connolly, Denise Farrell, Liza Antony, Tom Millard

Visitors:
Don Leak, Bob Montgomery, and Silvia Kleff.

Weather:
Mostly sunny and warm with some clounds. Light wind coming from the south/southwest. Temperatures ranged from 18 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Raptor Observations:
Migrating Raptors: One unknown and 2 male American Kestrels. Non-migrating Raptors: At 1:20 two adult Bald Eagles were observed flying low over the valley. They eventually headed north.

Non-raptor Observations:
Cedar Waxwing (23), Blue Jay (40+), Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee (3), Chimney Swift (3), Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch (18), Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Wren, Rock Pigeon (6), Ring-billed Gull (2), and Monarch butterfly (22)

On a more positive note, on my way home I passed through the black dirt and finally located (3) American Golden-Plovers! The birds were distant, so no good pics, but I was happy to get them for Orange County.

~A distant look at one of the three American Golden-Plovers I had in the black dirt tonight, 9/19/15.~ — ~A distant, documentary look at one of the three American Golden-Plovers I had in the black dirt tonight, 9/19/15.~

~This was actually taken earlier this week – Northern Harrier just before sunset in the black dirt, 9/17/15.~

Buff-breasted Sandpipers, 9/14/15

~Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, Orange County NY, 9/14/15.~ — ~One of my favorites – Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, Orange County NY, 9/14/15.~

I went out to the black dirt after work this evening and looked for the American Golden-Plovers that have been seen out there. Reports of as many as 80 birds can be found on eBird in the past week, with the most recent sighting being a single bird seen yesterday. I was away in Vermont for a long weekend, so I have missed out thus far. I did try for the birds the end of last week without any luck, and I was again unsuccessful in locating any tonight. I did, however, get a super consolation prize when I came across a trio of Buff-breasted Sandpipers that were not very far from the road. Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a bird that I really like, one of my favorites for sure, so I was pretty happy to get such great looks and to finally get some decent shots.

~I love these sweet looking birds. BBSA in the black dirt, 9/14/15.~

~It was tough for me to get the camera to focus on the birds. For some reason, I had several shots of the bird head on that were relatively in focus. Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region, 9/14/15.~

~Buff-breasted Sandpipers in flight, Black Dirt Region, 9/14/15.~

Good Shorebirds Continue with Orange County BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS!

~One of 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers takes flight after a gun went off in the distance. Black Dirt Region, 9/7/15.~

POST UPDATE: Thanks to Ken McDermott’s report and Bruce Nott’s subsequent review of his photos, it has come to light that we actually had 3 Buff-breasted Sandpipers and a single Baird’s Sandpiper, rather than the 4 BBSAs I initially reported. Sorry for the missed ID, it’s not a great feeling, but I’m glad to be able to get the accurate report out.

There I was, peacefully paddling my kayak around the lake at Morningside Park a little after Sunrise this morning. I had made three laps around the islands that form out in the lake, searching for the Short-billed Dowitcher that John Haas reported on his blog yesterday, but without any luck. I was in the middle of making lemonade out of lemons by trying for some good Spotted Sandpiper photos; I’ve never done any good with them before since they are so flighty. That’s when the phone rang, it was Bruce Nott who was on 3 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS in the black dirt. I started to head back to shore, I stopped only briefly to photograph a couple of Least Sandpipers that had just flown in. I strapped my kayak to the roof and headed out to the black dirt, wondering if I would get the Buffies, since I was 0ver 45 minutes away.

Luckily, I made in time. Bruce had been joined by a number of other birders and I joined them to get pretty good scope looks at the birds. On two occasions, someone fired a gun off in the distance which luckily moved the birds temporarily closer to us. Photos are distant and of course heavily cropped, but what a thrill to see one of my favorite birds. Thanks to Bruce for putting in the time and having a great eye.

~All my distant shots are pretty terrible, but here’s one just for documentary reasons. Two of the 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers in the black dirt, 9/7/15.~

After seeing the Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Linda Scrima and I headed over to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, Citgo Pond, to see if the Stilt Sandpiper was still around. It was and although the light was harsh, we got relatively close looks at the bird, which looked really great in the scope but photos were not good at all. Congrats to Linda, this was her lifer Stilt Sandpiper.

I spent a little more time searching the black dirt for shorebirds, but I really didn’t come across many. I got lucky when a pair of American Kestrels landed not to far from my car and I was able to get my first kestrel shot in a LONG time.

~Female American Kestrel in the black dirt, 9/7/15.~

My final stop of the day was Turtle bay to see if the Baird’s Sandpipers were still around, and they were! Bruce showed up and then I called Marianne O. and Karen Miller who both got scope views of the three birds. By that time, I was overheated and it was time to go home.

Oh, and back to first thing this morning. The light was nice and the Spotted Sandpiper was cooperative – I think I got some interesting shots of the bird, and I’ve also thrown in one Least Sandpiper shot just because it’s a cute bird.

~Spotted Sandpiper feeding on one of the islands at Morningside Park in Sullivan County, 9/7/15.~

~A Spotted Sandpiper doing its best Upland Sandpiper impression. Morningside Park, 9/7/15.~

~My brother-in-law Bill B. will like this one – Spotted Sandpiper with reflection, Morningside Park, 9/7/15.~

~A fluffy Least Sandpiper at Morningside Park, 9/7/15.~

Hawkwatch Begins!

~It’s that time of year! Get ready for some Turkey Vulture photos! Even when the migrating raptors are flying high, these dudes usually give up a photo op. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 9/5/15.~

MOUNT PETER HAWKWATCH

So the big news of the day is that it was my first day of the season as official counter out at Mount Peter Hawkwatch. For those who don’t know, Mount Peter Hawkwatch is located on Kain Road, just off of route 17A in Warwick. It’s right across from Bellvale Farms Creamery. Every day from September 1st until November 15th, there will be an official counter tallying all the migrating raptors that pass over. The results from each day’s count are reported to the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) and can be seen at their website HawkCount. They can also be seen on the Mount Peter Facebook Page.

I am excited to be the official counter every Saturday of the season with the exceptions of September 12th and 26th. The season has gotten off to a slow start, but I expect that to change quickly. I had a decent day with only 17 migrating raptors, but plenty of non-migrating raptor action to keep me entertained. For the day I had 10 BALD EAGLE SITINGS! Only four of the birds migrated and went on the official count, but what fun to see so many eagles. The highlight was certainly having one immature and two adult Bald Eagles flying high, directly over the viewing platform. I’ve included a sequence of distant photos of one adult and the immature mixing it up pretty good. I swear, I saw the adult do two barrel rolls! It was fantastic.

~It was great fun to watch this live. An adult and an immature Bald Eagle tangle way overhead. Heavy crop here! Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 9/5/15.~

And here is my report for the day:

THE REST OF THE DAY

I actually got out early this morning and went back to look for the Baird’s Sandpipers that were at Turtle Bay yesterday evening, hoping to get a better look and perhaps some photos. I located one at Turtle Bay, more distant than they were the day before, and then Bruce Nott called to say he had 3 Baird’s Sandpipers at his location and they were pretty close. I hustled over to meet Bruce and was able to improve on my photos from last night considerably. Huge thanks to Bruce for the heads up!

~Baird’s Sandpiper in the grass in the Black Dirt Region, 9/5/15.~

~Two of the 3 Baird’s Sandpipers that I photographed this morning in the black dirt. The photo is backlit but still appeals to me for some reason. 9/5/15.~

After I left Mount Peter, I went to 6 1/2 Station Sanctuary Citgo Trail to see, one if the Stilt Sandpiper was still around, and two, if anything new had come in. When I arrived at the pond, the STSA was still present, a little closer and in nice evening light. I was able to improve on my shots of this bird as well. The pond was quite birdy, with many Least Sandpipers again, plenty of Killdeer, and several Pectoral Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs. It was a nice way to end a really super day of birding.

~Stilt Sandpiper feeding at the Citgo Pond, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 9/5/15.~

~This is what I call a lot of swallows! I ran across these birds in my travels this morning in the Black Dirt Region. From what I can tell, these are basically all Tree Swallows, 9/5/15.~

A Good, Long Day of Birding in Orange County

*Click on photos to enlarge.*

~A Male Northern Harrier, the Gray Ghost, in flight at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~

I spent a long day on Saturday birding in the Black Dirt Region. I started the day by getting my first Killdeer photo of the year when I came upon 5 Killdeer on the side of the road on Onion Avenue…

~One of five Killdeer in the freshly fallen snow on the side of Onion Avenue in New Hampton, NY 3/21/15.~

…And the day ended with nearly 1500 Snow Geese at Skinner Lane.

~I can’t get enough of these birds. Snow Geese in flight over Skinner Lane, 3/21/15.~

But I did a lot of birding in between, hitting most of the regular spots and some of them twice. Missionland Road was a good stop; I ran into Kyle Dudgeon and another birder named Jason that I had met once before. We had good photo opportunities with a pair of Gray Ghosts, and I found what I believe was Cackling Goose in a flock of maybe 2,000 Canada Geese. The bird was distant and never seemed to have its head up, making it tough for photos. Here is my best effort:

~A likely Cackling Goose (at center with head pointed down and to the left) among many Canada Geese at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~

I'm not sure what's going on here with the grasses in this bird's grasp. Prey within? Male Northern Harrier in flight at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~ — ~I’m not sure what’s going on here with the grasses in this bird’s grasp. Prey within? Male Northern Harrier in flight at Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~

~Not a great photo, but I included it because the bird not only has prey but is tagged. Northern Harrier on Missionland Road, 3/21/15.~

I made a stop at Scenic Farms Golf Course, sifted through a couple thousand Canada Geese (and came up empty-handed), and then saw a distant Coyote hunting in the field across the street from the golf course.

~Coyote across the street from Scenic Farm Golf Course in Pine Island, NY 3/21/15.~

Another productive stop was the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, where I walked the Liberty Loop Trail with Kyle. It took us ages to make our way around the loop, mostly because the birding was so good. Waterfowl is what I was hoping for, and we did well. Most of these birds were seen in the Sussex County portion of the loop:

Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan (2)
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
American Coot

~I was pretty psyched to see a pair of Tundra Swans fly in and land in the refuge. Walkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~

We also did well with raptors, with the highlight (for me) being a very active Peregrine Falcon that spent the entire time we were there terrorizing the waterfowl. I’m not sure, but I think the highlight for Kyle was the three (possibly 4) Bald Eagles that we had. In all, we had seven species of raptors: Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red Tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, and Peregrine Falcon.

~An adult Bald Eagle flies over the eastern leg of the Liberty Loop, 3/21/15.~

~I wish I had gotten a better shot of this bird, she was gorgeous. Northern Harrier at Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~ — ~I wish I had gotten a better shot of this bird, what a gorgeous creature. Northern Harrier at Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~

~An explosion of ducks - Green-winged Teals and Ring-necked ducks mostly, with a few American Wigeon thrown in for good measure. Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~ — ~An explosion of ducks – Green-winged Teals and Ring-necked ducks mostly, with a few American Wigeon thrown in for good measure. Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~

~Bald Eagle at Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~

~There were plenty of Northern Pintails at the refuge, Liberty Loop 3/21/15.~

~It's a lousy photo, but I had to include it because I was so excited to see this Peregrine Falcon doing its thing at the Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~ — ~It’s a lousy photo, but I had to include it because I was so excited to see this Peregrine Falcon doing its thing at the Wallkill River NWR, 3/21/15.~

Wow, what a day, filled with exciting birds.

SNOW GEESE!

Last night I was at the Liberty Loop viewing platform just before sunset. There was much bird movement, particularly waterfowl. Many Canada Geese were flying over, from south to north. Mallards were circling around the reserve and Northern Pintails were doing the same. The highlight, however was a single skein of maybe 150 Snow Geese that flew over very high and pretty well east of the viewing platform. So today after work, I was on a goose chase. I found fewer Canada Geese than I would have expected, but numbers were certainly up with Canadas being seen at Scenic Farms Golf Course, the Camel Farm, Turtle Bay Road, Pierce Circle and Onion Avenue.

Also in the fields between Pierce Circle and Onion Avenue, there was approximately 150 Snow Geese! I was very excited and took some distant photos from Pierce Circle. I moved to Onion Avenue for a closer and better look. And more Snow Geese started to arrive from the south. They were putting on quite a show, picking up, circling and then landing over and over. I had put the word out and Linda Scrima and Maria Loukeris both joined me as the number of SNGOs continued to grow. By the time we left at 7:15, I approximate there were 1500 Snow Geese present. They seemed to be settling down a bit too, so hopefully they will stick around for a little while.

~Lift off! Snow Geese in New Hampton NY, 3/17/15.~

~I like this shot because of the calling second Snow Goose. Onion Avenue, 3/17/15.~

Also of note, I stopped by Glenmere Lake earlier in the afternoon and had 2 Common Goldeneye (as well as 12 Ring-neck Ducks and 8 Common Mergansers). Here’s a distant shot of the two COGOs:

~I thought these two would be the highlight of the day until I found the Snow Geese. Common Goldeneye at Glenmere Lake, 3/17/15.~

Sunday Shots – 2/22/15

~A nice look at a Short-eared Owl on a perch on the side of the road. I was starting to think all the SEOWs in the black dirt had perhaps moved on with the extended cold snap and repeated snow events we’ve been having. SEOW in the Black Dirt Region, 2/22/14.~

I don’t have much to say tonight – I ran around the black dirt today, just trying to get some photos. The weather was much more accommodating, with temperatures creeping up into the low 40’s; a huge change from what we’ve been having lately. Birds were still on the scarce side, but I got lucky with some Snow Buntings and of course finding a Short-eared Owl on the side of the road never hurts.

~A Snow Bunting takes a bath, Black Dirt Region, 2/22/15.~

~Snow Bunting stealing the show in the black dirt, 2/22/15.~

~Snow Bunting, Black Dirt Region, 2/22/15.~

~Snow Bunting and Horned Lark in the black dirt, 2/22/15.~

~Adult Cooper’s Hawk in Goshen, NY 2/22/15.~

Longspurs, Larks, and Buntings

~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.

~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.~

~Snow Bunting with a Horned Lark, Black Dirt, 2/8/15.~

~I love these guys. Lapland Longspur with a Horned Lark in the Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~

~A nice look at the feet of the Lapland Longspur. Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~

~Larks and Longspurs in the snow piles. Black Dirt, 2/11/15.~