~A local Red-tailed Hawk flies in over the Hudson River at eye level. State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~
If it wasn’t for Kyle Dudgeon’s persistence, we would have missed a lot of good birds. We met up at 7:30 am and arrived around 8:15, just in time to catch one of the local Peregrine Falcons enjoying a meal at “the perch”. We had many good birds early on, including several Bald Eagles, but the lighting was pretty bad; all the early photos in this post have a stark white background. I haven’t shot hawks in flight for an extended period of time like this in a while and I definitely felt rusty. I was having a hard time keeping up with the birds (and camera settings!), particularly the Peregrines which move so fast it’s incredible. I managed to get some good shots, but really I felt like I could have done better; that many opportunities had slipped by. I guess that will motivate me for the next outing.
We were joined by Jill Homcy and then a little later on by Maria Loukeris. We all enjoyed a good mix of local raptors (Peregrine Falcons, Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and Osprey) and migrating raptors which were lead by Osprey (35), followed by a tie between two accipiters Sharp-shinned Hawks (28) and Cooper’s Hawks (28). I felt like they must have been having a pretty good day for migration, I checked when I got home and according the Hawkcount.org, the total count for the day at State Line Lookout was 121 migrating raptors. It was a really enjoyable day for me, with good company and plenty of super birds to photograph.
~A local Peregrine Falcon enjoys and early morning meal. State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~This was one of our first birds of the day – eye level Cooper’s Hawk at State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~An immature Cooper’s Hawk flies over, State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~This is not the clearest shot, but I love seeing the top of the bird like this. Sharp-shinned Hawk at State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~I’m not sure how folks will react to this photo, but it is one of my favorites from the day. A Cooper’s Hawk maneuvering overhead at State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~Red-tailed Hawk over the water, State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~Immature Bald Eagle flyover, State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~Not the best shots, but a cool interaction between and adult and an immature Peregrine Falcon. State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~This one is a few shots later – can’t believe the adult is totally upside down! Peregrine Falcons at State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~~We did not see many American Kestrels, this one whipped by getting blown around by the wind. State Line Lookout, 10/4/15.~
~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.~
~Unidentified, distant tern at Owen’s Station Crossing, 10/2/15.~
This evening after work, I was birding the black dirt when I got a call from Marianne O., who told me that a Red-necked Phalarope had been reported at the back pond of the Liberty Loop at Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. The quickest way to the back pond is to park at Owen’s Station Crossing and head into the loop from there. I hustled over and parked. I figured I should check the lake there before heading towards the loop. When I did, I saw a tern flying in the furthest part of the lake. I grabbed my gear and headed towards that end of the lake for a closer look and to take some photos. It was raining pretty steadily and getting dark very quickly. Marianne eventually joined me, and unfortunately, we were both stumped in attempting to identify this tern. I’ve put out a few emails looking for some help, but the photos are so poor that I’m not sure they will help. When Marianne and I left at sunset, the bird was still perched out in the lake. I plan on returning first thing in the morning to try and get a better look. If anyone has any thoughts on this bird, please contact me or comment – thanks!
~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:
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.~
~Broad-winged Hawks kettling over the Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 9/21/15.~
I got out of work late today, but not too late to get up to Mount Peter Hawkwatch. I arrived just after 4:00 pm and joined official counter Ajit Antony, Judy Cinquina, Tom Millard, Denise Farrell, and Gerhard and Tracy Patsch on the viewing platform. Apparently, I had missed several large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks! I was bummed, but not for long. About twenty minutes later, we had a huge group of Broad-winged Hawks coming in, just to the west of the platform. Many streamed straight through, very high up. Then two kettles formed over the valley at the same time just a few binocular fields apart. One of them was low enough and large enough to be seen naked eye. In all, over 750 BWHAs had just passed over! I was able to fire off a few photos, but really the photos don’t come close to doing the experience justice. It was so AWESOME! It was a really good day at the watch with a total of 1,887 migrating hawks!
We had a steady number of migrating hawks until right around 5:30, when the skies seemed to empty. At that point, I headed to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary. I was following a lead from Bruce Nott – he told me that a dowitcher had been reported there the day before. When I arrived, I was already losing the light. I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly located the dowitcher. I took a bunch of photos and then called John Haas, who had recently had a Long-billed Dowitcher in Sullivan County. I remembered from his post that for LBDO, the tail typically would have thicker black bands than white, which this bird appeared to have. John had me look to see if the tertials had pale edging, which to my eye was the case with this bird. When I got home, knowing how difficult it can be to identify birds with just photos, I emailed several to John. The birds were a little bit distant and of course the light was low, which made for less than ideal pictures, but looking at them, he indicated he could not see any rufous on the edge of the tertials, and that the scapulars which haven’t been molted yet appear to have totally black centers (no rufous ribbing up the middle). Also, the feeding shot I sent over shows a hunch-backed appearance. All of these indicate LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER! Back in October of 2013, I had a pair of LBDOs in this same location, so it is certainly not out of the question. I will submit to eBird and see if the reviewer agrees with this assessment. Any thoughts on this bird please feel free to comment.
~A likely Long-billed Dowitcher at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 9/21/15.~~The dowitcher along with a Lesser Yellowlegs, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 9/21/15.~~Possible Long-billed Dowitcher, 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary 9/21/15.~
~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, 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.~
~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.~
~Digiscoped with my iPhone through Karen Miller’s Zeiss spotting scope, Great Horned Owl in the black dirt, 9/9/15. As you can see there is something going on with the birds left eye, if anyone has any thoughts what might be going on there, please comment. ~
QUICK POST: After my golf match tonight, I called Karen Miller to see if she had relocated the 17 American Golden-Plovers (!!!) that Bruce Nott had located in the black dirt earlier in the day. She had not, but she HAD located a GREAT HORNED OWL. I didn’t think I would arrive before it was too dark, but I decided to try for the bird. I joined Karen and Diane Bliss and we got incredible looks at this magnificent creature, what a big beautiful beast. Wilma Amthor joined us and got her lifer GHOW, so congrats to Wilma! I was, of course, wishing I had my camera to get some photos. Karen offered her scope so I could try to digiscope it. I was pretty happy with the results; I’ve tried with my own scope and never had any decent results. What a great, fun night. Huge thanks to to Karen and Diane for locating the bird and letting me know about it. I am actually out of commission through the weekend (I’m going away on a golf trip), so this was a great way to go out.
~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.~
~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.
~One of 2 migrating Ospreys from today’s count. Mount Peter Hawkwatch, 9/5/15.~
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.~
