Overcast with periods
of light rain, calm winds
It’s been a while since we
visited the “Black Dirt” farming region of Orange County, NY. With the rain we’ve had, there should
be some nice surface puddles and ponding on the fields and that often brings in
some shorebirds which are migrating south.
As we drove through the first
of the farming areas in Florida, NY, Sharon noticed several birds flitting
about the plowed fields and staying near the drainage canals carved through the
black dirt. The black soil here is
a remnant of a glacial lake bottom and extremely rich in nutrients…..great for
farming. This concentration of
such fertile soil is the largest north of the Florida everglades. After plowing, worms and insects are
easily accessible for the hungry birds and makes for some great birding. When the rains fall, the worms are
pushed to the surface and the hunting gets even better. Anyway, the birds Sharon took note of
were Killdeer and rather than a couple, it turned out that there were probably
between 40 and 50 working the fields.
Our hopes were raised for what we would find at the “more productive”
Pine Island fields.
As we drove out to and
along Skinners Lane, one of the more reliable birding areas in the black dirt
region, we began to feel that our hopes were short-lived. In spite of a good deal of freshly
plowed fields and plenty of standing water, there were precious few shorebirds
to be found. What we did find was
a lone leafless scrub tree alongside one of the pull-offs. There were several birds roosting in
the tree and I decided to mount the flash on the Nikon to compensate for the
overcast skies and wait it out, hoping more of these little brown jobs would
join the few that had since flown off as I approached. I parked, shut down the engine and
watched the tree with a slight level of anxiety.
 |
| Yellow-rumped warbler |
Sure enough, in flew a small
brown bird when I checked on him through the bins proved to be a Yellow-rumped
warbler. A second bird, a Song
sparrow, was soon joined by a third, a fine Savannah sparrow. Not exactly what we were here for, but
nice birds to photograph in any case.
Suddenly, the all took flight!
I was sure I hadn’t spooked them and there were no other vehicles or
farm equipment nearby to cause them to all fly in unison. Then, it became apparent why they had “flown
the coop”.
 |
| Savannah sparrow |
In came a beautiful Merlin
which landed in the same tree where my subjects had been so cooperatively
posing. I have to admit, I was thrilled
to have the merlin at such close range and did not begrudge him for working his
“magic” in making the other birds “disappear’.
So, while out venture did not
end as we had planned, we were quite content to have this gorgeous falcon come
in and sit for us for today’s blog entry.
You just never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way.
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