Day 345: December 11th – In search of Iceland gulls

Sunny, light north breeze, 45 degrees

First winter Ring-billed gull

       The plan for the day was to go down to the Hudson and search for the rare Iceland gull which has been seen from time to time this season.  First stop….Newburgh’s water front.  I spent about an hour along the shoreline on Front Street, checking out every gull to see of I could find one without the black primaries which most of the more common gulls sport.  Try as I may, each and every gull came up as a Ring-billed or Greater Black-backed. 

       I did enjoy watching the skirmishes which developed as one of the gulls or mallards would find a morsel to eat.  One thing about gulls and ducks…they are not good at sharing.  At one point, a pure white domestic duck had a hunk of what appeared to be bread and spent at least 10 minutes swimming and flying in attempts to evade the hordes that surrounded him trying to rend the fowl’s prize away from him.  Eventually, he did succeed in forcing down the oversized ort and the siege was over.

       Enjoyable, but all this theatre was not getting me my sought after Iceland.  So, off to the next destination, Long Dock Park, just south of the Beacon train station.  Again, there were plenty of gulls, but none were the desired white-winged quarry.  Eventually, I pulled over into one of the parking areas adjacent to sparse woodlands.  I found several of the Winterberry bushes that were bearing berries.  I turned off the engine, rolled down the window, stuck the camera out and waited to see if any LBJ’s would roll on in to sample the fruit of the vine.  Sure enough, I managed to get nice looks and nice shots of some common but handsome Carolina wrens, Song sparrows, and Northern mockingbirds.  A large flock of Dark-eyed juncos joined the party and they all worked feverishly at denuding the vines.  There was plenty to go around, however, and when I left, they were all still busy filling their bellies.

Carolina wren 

Song sparrow

   

Dark-eyed junco

       On the way home, traveling down Rte 9D on the east side of the Hudson, I pulled into Mystery Point Drive, the road I mentioned in yesterday’s blog at the end of Manitou Station Road.  It turns out that this is an entrance to Manitou Point Nature Preserve, the other side of the area we birded yesterday.  I jumped out to take a quick look and found a handsome Pileated woodpecker nearby.  This will be a site to visit in the near future!

         When I returned home, I began filling up the feeders with the fresh supply of seed that I purchased during my travels today.  I was finishing up and wondering why the usual chorus of birds which normally surrounds me when I’m replenishing the feeders was eerily quiet.  Suddenly, I heard strong wing beats just above my head and found a first year Cooper’s hawk hoping to take advantage of the dinner crowd which fortunately had gotten the word not to show up.  He sat in the Norway maple in our front yard while I ran downstairs to my office to get my camera.  Sure enough, there he was when I went outside to take his picture and sure enough he stayed long enough to give me a few decent shots.  Once again, you just never know!