Croton Train Station Wheatear

Northern wheatear

     This story begins over 2 years ago when my wife Sharon and I drove out to CT in search of a reported Northern wheatear, normally a Eurasian bird.  After traveling for more than 2 hours, we arrived on-site and met another "chaser" who had seen the bird earlier.  We waited patiently for over 3 hours with no luck.  The wheatear is generally a bird of barren lands and likes to be around gravel piles.  Well, the gravel pile here in CT was huge and I imagine extremely inviting if you were a wheatear.  In my infinite wisdom, I decided to move away from where the bird had been sighted in the past and walked to the back side of the pile.  There, I waited expectantly for about 15 minutes with no luck.  When I returned to the vehicle, Sharon informed me that the bird had just been there in plain sight, but flew as I rounded the pile en route back to the car.  In short, no wheatear for me on that day.

       Fast forward 2 years and for whatever reason another wheatear decides to visit NYS.  This time, the bird is only 20 minutes away at Croton Train Station.  I got the call on Tuesday evening, but it was too late to get down there by then.  So, on Wednesday, we sped on down and almost immediately were put on the bird by folks who had arrived earlier.  Good things come to those who wait.  Several other Mearns Bird Club people arrived and we all enjoyed seeing this NY rarity.  While relishing the wheatear, we also got nice views of an immature bald eagle, a Common tern, and a merlin....not birds we see every day on the Hudson.  The weather was overcast and misty, but we hardly noticed.  Just another great day in the field and "just another" North American life-bird

Merlin