Orange Birding

Mount Peter Hawk Watch – 11/08/14

A migrating Red-tailed Hawk at Mt. Peter Hawk Watch, 11/08/14.

I had a nice day at Mt. Pete today. The weather was nice – sunny, crisp, and cool without being too cold, and I had enough birds flying to keep it interesting. Thanks to Kyle Dudgeon and Bobby Kerr (whose young eyes helped to locate many birds), and also to Rob Stone and Ajit and Liza Antony for their help. Here’s my report for the day:

Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 08, 2014
——————————————————————-

Species Day’s Count / Month Total / Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 9 31 173
Turkey Vulture 7 82 436
Osprey 0 0 110
Bald Eagle 0 5 75
Northern Harrier 2 7 44
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 20 1111
Cooper’s Hawk 1 17 116
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 8 49 127
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 5685
Red-tailed Hawk 25 316 546
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 6 9
American Kestrel 0 4 139
Merlin 0 1 23
Peregrine Falcon 0 1 12

Total: 57 550 8673

———————————————————————-

Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours

Official Counter: Matt Zeitler

Observers: Ajit I. Antony, Rob Stone

Visitors:
Liza Antony, Kyle Dudgeon and Bobby Kerr.
Weather:
Sunny and cool with some clouds. Temperatures ranged from 1 to 8 degrees
Celsius, with moderate winds from the southwest.

Raptor Observations:
One immature and one unknown Northern Harrier.

Three adult, two immature, and three unknown Red-shouldered Hawks.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other Species: Ring-billed Gull (15), Canada Goose (17), Dark-eyed Junco
(2), White-breasted Nuthatch (2), American Robin (22), American Goldfinch
(2), Common Raven (2), American Crow (12), Blue Jay (8), Tufted Titmouse
(4), Eastern Bluebird (1), Rock Pigeon (1).

The always obligatory Turkey Vulture shot. Mt. Peter Hawk Watch, 11/08/14.

Not the greatest shot, but a migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk passes on the west side of the viewing platform. Mt. Peter Hawk Watch, 11/08/14.

On Friday evening I hit the Black Dirt Region and tried again with the American Pipits:

I’m kind of liking these birds – American Pipit in the Black Dirt Region, Orange County NY, 11/0714.

State Line Lunch

A local Peregrine cruises by, State Line Hawk Watch, 11/4/14.

I was on the road for work today and I was passing near State Line Hawk Watch right around lunch, so I stopped in. The raptors were certainly flying; I was there for less than a half hour and I saw: Turkey Vulture (8), Black Vulture (2), Peregrine Falcon (2), Red-tailed Hawk (4), Sharp-shinned Hawk (2), and a single Merlin. Not too shabby for some unexpected birding!

A Red-tailed Hawk at eye level. State Line Hawk Watch, 11/4/14.

This is a very typical view at the watch – looking down at the birds. Peregrine Falcon at State Line Hawk Watch, 11/4/14.

I believe that this is the local female Peregrine Falcon, at the "perch". State Line Hawk Watch, 11/4/14. — I believe that this is the local female Peregrine Falcon, at the “perch”. State Line Hawk Watch, 11/4/14.

Right before sunset, I was in the Black Dirt Region and I finally got a half way decent shot of an American Pipit (which are plentiful in the area right now).

American Pipit, Black Dirt Region 11/4/14.

Sullivan County Waterfowl, 11/02/14

Since we have not been getting many ducks in southern Orange County, Karen Miller and I decided to head up to Sullivan County and get our fix. It was a very cold and windy day, probably not the best day for going for waterfowl. We went to Swan Lake, the Neversink Reservoir, Morningside Park, and Kiamesha Lake. We did pretty well, but honestly the cold an the wind made it difficult to bird. At the Neversink Reservoir, it was so windy that we could barely see through our scopes – our eyes were constantly tearing and the scopes were shaking in the wind terribly. Bufflehead were the bird of the day with many being seen at all locations except for Morningside Park. In the end we got our fix with 10 types of swimming waterbirds seen and even had some cooperative Ruddy Ducks in sunny weather at our finals stop – Kiamesha Lake for some photo ops. Here’s my list:

Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant

It was really great to see the Bufflehead, it had been a while! Taking off at Swan Lake, 11/02/14.

We had many Common Merganser for the day. These were taken at Swan Lake, 11/02/14.

A shot of one more Ruddy Duck, Kiamesha Lake, 11/02/14.

Saturday 11/01/14

A slightly better shot of the Cattle Egret in Warwick, NY 11/1/14. — A slightly better shot of the Cattle Egret in flight, Warwick, NY 11/1/14.

This morning before heading over to Mount Peter for the Hawk Watch, I stopped in Warwick to look for the Cattle Egret but could not locate it. I figured that the bird had certainly moved on. I continued to Mt. Pete, and just as I started to unpack my gear I got a call from Karen Miller, who had relocated the bird. I whizzed down and joined Karen, but the bird flew before I had my camera ready, so once again I only got flight shots of the bird. Karen, on the other hand, got some fabulous shots of the bird perched. Huge thanks to Karen for the heads up, and for the photos that she emailed to me for this post:

Cattle Egret in Warwick NY, 11/1/14. Photo by Karen C Miller.

I think this bird has a lot of character. Cattle Egret in Warwick NY, 11/01/14. Photo by Karen C Miller.

I headed back up the mountain and counted hawks. It was cold, gray, and I did just alright with migrating raptors, with 63 for the day. Thanks to PJ Singh and Maria Loukeris for their visits, which really helped on a day like today. Here is my report for the day:

Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 01, 2014
——————————————————————-

Species Day’s Count / Month Total / Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 5 5 134
Turkey Vulture 24 24 361
Osprey 0 0 110
Bald Eagle 0 0 68
Northern Harrier 1 1 37
Sharp-shinned Hk 3 3 1079
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 99
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hk 6 6 78
Broad-winged Hk 0 0 5685
Red-tailed Hawk 19 19 229
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 3
American Kestrel 0 0 134
Merlin 0 0 22
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 11

Total: 63 63 8110

———————————————————————-

Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:45:00
Total observation time: 6.75 hours

Official Counter: Matt Zeitler

Observers:

Visitors:
PJ Singh, Maria Loukeris
Weather:
Cloudy and cool with the temperature hovering right around 5 degrees
Celsius all day. Winds were over 10 km/hr for the duration of the watch.
Rain caused the watch to start one hour late and end fifteen minutes early.
Raptor Observations:
Four unknown Red-shouldered Hawks, one adult Red-shouldered Hawk, one
immature Red-shouldered Hawk, and one unknown Northern Harrier. The heavy
cloud cover and low light made it challenging to locate and identify
migrating raptors.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other Species: Canada Goose (507), Downy Woodpecker (1), Black-capped
Chickadee (6), Tufted Titmouse (4), American Crow (32), White-breasted
Nuthatch (1), Red-bellied Woodpecker (1), Pileated Woodpecker (1),
White-throated Sparrow (1), Common Raven (2), Pine Siskin (22),
Double-crested Cormorant (1), Snow Goose (1)

When I stopped for the Cattle Egret, I opened my car door to see this Red-tailed Hawk above me. Warwick, NY 11/1/14.

Orange County Cattle Egret, 10/31/14

Cattle Egret in flight, Warwick, NY 10/31/14.

Just as I was leaving work today, I received a call from Rob Stone – a CATTLE EGRET had been located in Warwick, New York by Charlie West. I hustled out of work, but when I arrived at Wisner Road, I could not locate the bird. Eventually, I noticed a glimpse of white, distant in the field, among some cows. I needed to go back to my car for my scope, by the time I got back, I could not relocate the bird. Cattle Egrets are on the small side, only 20 inches in length (Great Egrets are twice as big), so I could not see the bird very well because of the tall grasses. The bird flew just as Ken McDermott pulled up, and landed in an area which was a little more distant, but the grass was short so the bird was more visible. John Haas showed up moments later and we all got good looks in the scope. Not too long after that, the egret, which was being chased by the cows, flew behind some trees and out of view. It made another short flight away from us and down over a hill. At this point, I thought I would not see the bird again; John and Ken left. Ten minutes later, Bruce Nott showed up and the bird made its final appearance; it was chased around for a bit by the cows and then took flight, making a couple large loops around the field before heading southeast and not stopping (that we could see).

I looked on eBird, and according to their records this is the third Cattle Egret in Orange County. There was one at Wallkill River NWR back in 2011 (I got to see that bird as well), and also in 2004.

A distant look at the Cattle Egret as it relocated from one field to another. Warwick, NY 10/31/14.

These flight photos were VERY underexposed, it was very gray and dark out, but I’m not sure what I was doing. After some work this is the best I could make this look. CAEG flies overhead, Warwick, NY 10/31/14.

ne more of the Cattle Egret in flight - I actually did not get any perched photos. Warwick, NY 10/31/14. — One more of the Cattle Egret in flight – I actually did not get any perched photos. Warwick, NY 10/31/14.

Pied-billed Grebe, 10/28/14

I had one single Pied-billed Grebe at Glenmere Lake last night, 10/28/14.

Yesterday during the day I received my eBird “Needs Alert” for Ulster County, NY. In it, many grebes had been reported – Pied-billed, Horned, and Red-necked Grebes had been seen in good numbers. Mark DeDea reported 12 Red-necked Grebes and 32! Horned Grebes at Ashokan Reservoir on Monday. With these reports in mind, I headed over to Glenmere Lake after work to see if I would have any luck. It was just this past Friday that I observed 9 Pied-billed Grebes there; I was hoping for some Red-necked and Horned. When I arrived, I was surprised to find a motor boat cruising the lake and several buoys floating at various locations. I eventually talked to one of the guys involved, and he told me that they were installing an aeration system in the lake; the goal is to eventually improve the health of the lake. Meanwhile, in the short term, there were hardly any birds on the lake. I saw several Double-crested Cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, and one single Pied-billed Grebe. Fortunately the grebe was close to the shore and I was able to get some photos before the motorboat came by, at which time the grebe made itself scarce.

It was late in the day and the clouds were passing by, so I shot this grebe in different light conditions. When the bird was closest, I unfortunately had the worst light of the evening. Here’s some more looks at the bird:

PBGR with prey. I’m not sure what type of fish this is, but this grebe ate at least two of them while I was watching. Glenmere Lake, 10/28/14.

I know I say it about a lot of birds, but these Pied-billed Grebes are among my favorites. Glenmere Lake, 10/28/14.

One more closer look with poor lighting. PBGR at Glenmere Lake, 10/28/14.

Hawk Watch Weekend

One of the resident Peregrine Falcons at State Line Hawk Watch, 10/26/14.

I made it out to two Hawk Watches this weekend. On Saturday, I was of course up on Mount Peter, where I was the official counter. After a slow start with very blue skies (which makes it hard to locate the birds), I ended up having my second consecutive good Saturday. For the day we totaled 125 migrating raptors, with the most numerous being, once again, Sharp-shinned Hawks (43). Huge thanks to Judy Cinquina, Bill O’Keefe, Scot Marchal, and Rob Pirie (who located both Bald Eagles for the day). I have no idea how many birds would have been missed without their help up there.

At Mount Peter on Saturday, the photo opportunities were not numerous, but the Turkey Vultures always show up. Mt. Peter Hawk Watch, 10/25/14.

Here is my report from the day:

Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2014
——————————————————————-

Species Day’s Count / Month Total / Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 25 85 86
Turkey Vulture 22 226 229
Osprey 2 34 109
Bald Eagle 2 16 63
Northern Harrier 0 17 31
Sharp-shinned Hawk 43 673 975
Cooper’s Hawk 5 62 79
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 44 49
Broad-winged Hawk 0 9 5685
Red-tailed Hawk 18 71 72
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 0 46 125
Merlin 3 16 20
Peregrine Falcon 0 6 11
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1
Unknown Buteo 1 7 15
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 2 3
Unknown Raptor 4 13 28

Total: 125 1329 7582
———————————————————————-

Official Counter: Matt Zeitler

Observers: Bill O’Keefe, Judith C. Cinquina, Scot Marchal

Visitors:
Joe + Linda Prunier, Marc Lebidois, Rob Pirie, Kyle Dudgeon, Herb Houghton,
and Terry Anne.

Weather:
Sunny and cool with temperatures ranging from 7 to 17 degrees Celsius. Wind
was from the west at approximately 10 km/hr. A cloudless sky early and late
in the watch made it difficult to locate migrating birds.

Raptor Observations:
One adult Bald Eagle and one immature Bald Eagle were observed migrating
during the watch.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other Species: Dark-eyed Junco (12), American Crow (26), Common Loon (3),
Blue Jay (9), Canada Goose (188), American Robin (47), Common Raven (2),
Tufted Titmouse (3), Black-capped Chickadee (5), Pine Siskin (75), Purple
Finch (4), Ring-billed Gull (3), Rock Pigeon (1)

A perched Peregrine Falcon at State Line Hawk Watch, 10/26/14.

I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning on Long Island visiting family. On the spur of the moment, on my way back I decided to stop at State Line Hawk Watch. I have wanted to get out there for a while, after seeing many photos online and hearing about how you look down at many of the migrating raptors and that there are resident Peregrine Falcons that offer decent photo opportunities. Having spent 8 hours identifying and counting hawks the day before, my interests were more about getting some photos and getting a different look at the raptors, from the top, such as this Black Vulture:

A Black Vulture flies over the Hudson River, well below the lookout. State Line Hawk Watch, 10/26/14.

As of this posting, the report for State Line had not gone through. While I was there, they had a relatively steady stream of Sharp-shinned Hawks, and I heard mention of a Golden Eagle earlier in the day. I will post their numbers from the day when I can get them. All in all, a good weekend to watch, count, and photograph raptors – very enjoyable!

Update: Here is the count for Sunday at State Line Hawk Watch –

BV TV OS BE NH SS CH NG RS BW RT RL GE AK ML PG UA UB UF UE UR Total

0 60 0 4 1 137 3 0 5 0 13 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 227

Orange County White-winged Scoter

This evening after work, I stopped by Glenmere Lake and located what I believe was a single distant scoter. I was not sure which scoter it could be, but after watching the bird for a while, it did some preening and flapping of the wings which exposed the white secondaries – indicative of a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. In the above video (which I know is horrible), right at about the 5 or 6 second mark, you can catch a glimpse of white on the wing. Here’s a heavily cropped grainy photo of the bird; it was actually much darker out than the photo indicates.

White-winged Scoter at Glenmere Lake, 10/23/14.

6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/17 & 10/19

Two Great Egret perch facing into the wind on Friday night. 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/17/14.

I made it out to 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary a couple of times over the weekend – Friday after work and then again on Sunday evening. My visits continue to be very enjoyable; I’m not finding many new birds, but there are many birds present. I did not do a list on Friday, but tonight in a short visit, I had 35 species. The light has been nice and I have just been enjoying being out and taking some photos. Both visits I spent some time with the very accessible Yellow-rumped Warblers that are present. Tonight it really paid off, as a Blue-headed Vireo suddenly appeared and I was able to get a shot.

Blue-headed Vireo at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/19/14.

And of course, the Yellow-rumps gave me plenty of opportunities. I was enjoying trying to get shots of them through all the branches and leaves. Here’s some shots that I liked:

Yellow-rumped Warbler at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/19/14.

Yellow-rumped Warbler at 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/17/14.

Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets were present over the weekend. I had ample opportunity with a Ruby-crowned tonight but I did not get any good photos. I did a little better with a Golden-crowned on Friday:

With just a hint of the crown showing, here's a Golden-crowned Kinglet. 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/19/14. — With just a hint of the crown showing, here’s a Golden-crowned Kinglet. 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 10/19/14.

Here’s my species list for tonight (10/19//14):

Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird

Mount Peter Hawk Watch, 10/18/14

At long last, I finally had a good day at the hawk watch. I got my first migrating raptor before I even had a chance to unpack my gear as I arrived at the platform. Things stayed pretty steady for the rest of the day and in the end, I counted 109 migrating raptors. Thanks to Rob Stone and Rob Pirie (who I met for the first time today) for their help counting. Here’s my report from the day:

Mount Peter
Warwick, New York, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2014
——————————————————————-

Species Day’s Count / Month Total / Season Total
—————— ———– ————– ————–
Black Vulture 0 2 3
Turkey Vulture 0 46 49
Osprey 3 27 102
Bald Eagle 1 6 53
Northern Harrier 1 11 25
Sharp-shinned Hk 83 381 683
Cooper’s Hawk 7 36 53
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hk 0 11 16
Broad-winged Hk 0 8 5684
Red-tailed Hawk 0 5 6
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 6 26 105
Merlin 5 11 15
Peregrine Falcon 1 4 9
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 1 5 13
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 1 2 3
Unknown Raptor 0 4 19

Total: 109 585 6838
———————————————————————-

Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours

Official Counter: Matt Zeitler

Observers: Rob Stone

Visitors:
Rob Pirie, Rob Stone, Anthony Stone, Kyle Dudgeon, and James & Darlene
Mussi.
Weather:
Cloudy and cool with W winds at approximately 20 km/hr. Temperatures ranged
from 12 to 18 degrees Celsius.

Raptor Observations:
Migrating raptors included: (1) Adult Bald Eagle, (1) Male Northern
Harrier, (5) Unknown American Kestrels, and (1) Female American Kestrel.

Non-migrating raptors included (4) Red-tailed Hawks, many Turkey and Black
Vultures, and a Peregrine Falcon which was seen several times to the north
of the platform but was not seen moving through.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other Species: Blue Jay (112), Tufted Titmouse (4), Black-capped Chickadee
(6), Palm Warbler (1), Canada Goose (84), American Goldfinch (24), Rock
Pigeon (4), American Robin (2), American Crow (23), Red-bellied Woodpecker
(2), Pileated Woodpecker (1), Downy Woodpecker (1), Northern Flicker (1),
Common Raven (2), and Monarch Butterfly (18)

One of 3 migrating Osprey at Mount Peter Hawk Watch, 10/18/14.

Highlight of the day for me: FIVE migrating Merlins. These birds just cruise past the watch, so awesome! Mount Peter Hawk Watch, 10/18/14.