Cloudy with
occasional showers, temps dropping rapidly
After a really windy rainy
night, the skies cleared for an hour or so before turning cloudy, wet and
chilly once again. My hope on this
first day of winter (which began at 6:12 this morning) was to revisit Rings
Pond in Cornwall to see if the roosting vultures I found there last year were
still hanging out there. I had
reliable reports that the vultures returned there each evening and my fear was
that I was here too early in the afternoon (around 3:00 PM).
As I approached the
pond, I did see several Black vultures soaring high over Cornwall but
unfortunately for me, they had not returned for the evening. Plenty of gulls,
mallards, and Canada geese, but not one vulture.
We decided to head down to the
Hudson at Cornwall Landing and then over to Kowawese Unique Area just north of
the Landing. With the rain and the
wind, we did not have high hopes.
Good thing. There was
basically nothing on the water save for a few Ring-bills far out on the water
and one lone Great black-backed gull sitting atop a piling.
 |
| Looking south down the Hudson Valley from Kowawese Unique Area, New Windsor |
Well, let’s try once again at
Rings, it being a bit later and darker and all. Even more gulls had arrived and we spent some time looking
in vain for any white-wings and perhaps an aberrant goose. Alas, it was not to
be. And so, in summary, the shot
of the day goes to a sad looking duck. Mallards are notoriously promiscuous, and my guess is that
this was the result of one mallard’s wild night out with perhaps a domestic
duck of some sort. If anybody has
any idea as to the duck's id, please leave a comment regarding same.
I will take this opportunity
to wish all you folks a wonderful winter of good health, peace, and plenty of
wonderful birds.
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