Day 4: January 4th - Shawangunk National Wildlife Refuge

Cloudy, temp – 26 degrees, light breeze

     We head north today to the New Paltz – Shawangunk region.  We have 4 target birds we need to get for the year while we are still in the northeast….. the Red-headed woodpecker, Northern harrier, Rough-legged hawk, and the Short-eared owl.  We began the day at the swamp located at the intersection of Plutarch and Weston Roads in New Paltz. 

     This is one of the few areas in this part of the state where Red-headed woodpeckers can be usually found.  It took a while for the Red-headed to appear today, and in meantime, we had a nice Yellow-bellied sapsucker, several White-breasted nuthatches, Red-bellied woodpeckers, and a Downey or two to keep us company.  Eventually, however, the first of our target species fell and we were off to a good start. 

     

Red-headed woodpecker

From here, it was off to the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Wallkill.  We knew that to have a shot at the owls, we really needed to get on site about ½ hour before sundown.  We were pretty much right on time, and the three remaining members of the day’s quarry were quite punctual as well.  The Rough-legged hawk was the first to appear, a  “light-phase” bird perched nicely in the open for good scoped views.  We eventually had two more dark-phase roughies as well.  Shortly thereafter, the harriers showed up in good numbers, and the owls were soon to follow.  At one point, we had 9 harriers, a rough-legged and two owls all in view at the same time.  The shot of the day went to one of a Northern harrier as it skimmed past in the waning light of day, close enough to give us a respectable photo.  Cold?  Yes.  But worth every shiver!

Northern harrier

Short-eared owl