Last day of 2010

       It's been a cold December, and it is rare to see so much ice on the Hudson this early in the year.  With the ice come the eagles, and we have begun to see the national symbol here in the valley several weeks earlier than usual.  Sharon and I had several errands to run, but we managed to work it out so that we passed a number of our favorite and most reliable eagle sites along the way.  The sites produced nicely, and although we couldn't spend an inordinate amount of time at each location, we did manage to rack up 9 sightings.  At our first spot along the Hudson, the RTE 6 pull-off looking down on Iona Island, we found a lone mature eagle riding the ice heading south.  As we got the scope on the bird, we were joined by a couple from Europe....he from England and she from France.  It was her first Bald eagle in the wild and she was thrilled.  Soon, more cars began to roll in, taking advantage of the first sunny and warm day in quite a while.  Before it was all over, we had shared our sighting and some of our knowledge of the birds with almost 20 passers-by.  It always augments the experience of seeing these majestic birds when you can share it with folks who have never seen an eagle other than on the TV or caged in a zoo.  We had our next eagles at the Annsville Circle kayak launch and I managed to get a nice shot of a mature bird perched back in the woods.  As I photographed this bird, an immature flew overhead at close range.  And so the day went.  We always look forward to "eagle season" here on the Hudson and we can be sure that the numbers will be high once again as we enter 2011.  For the final day of 2010, it was a great way to "ring out the old" and get ready to start our new "year-list".

The Black Dirt Farms in Winter

  
     Orange County in New York is known for its "Black Dirt Farms".  Rich soils deposited during the last ice age have resulted in some of the finest fields for onion and sod farms in the country.  These broad expanses are a birder's paradise in the cold months of winter.  Visiting migrants such as Lapland longspurs, Snow buntings, Pipits and Horned larks are common, but you have to scan the fields carefully to see them.  They prefer to forage in the deep furrows which have been plowed by the farmers.  Easier to see and so enjoyable to watch are the larger players on these fields.  With the cold temperatures come Northern harriers, Short-earred owls and Rough-legged hawks.  Today, we only had Snow buntings in the smaller bird viewing.
     But the harriers were out in large numbers.  We sat in the warmth of our vehicle and watched as the harriers hunted the fields at some distance. Occasionally, one would pay no heed to our RAV4 and would hunt within a decent photographic range.  The agility of these wonderful hawks is incredible and the photo at the bottom of the page shows how one harrier stooped down, hit the brakes, twisted in mid-air and pounced upon its unsuspecting prey.  Incredible shows for these incredible aerialists.

A long way from home

     Our friend Joe T, Sharon and I braved the wind and the cold today to travel down to Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island in search of a reported Hermit warbler. This bird is supposed to be out on the west coast anywhere from northern California up to Washington state. This distance travelled makes the distance we talked about in my last post seem paltry.  Well, not only did we brave the elements, but this little guy did likewise. After a ride of just under 2 hours, we arrived at the site and found the bird within the first 15 minutes. Once we found him, it was non-stop observing and photographing the bird. We stayed for about 45 minutes and finally gave into the elements. The bird and about a half dozen birders were still on site when we departed. Great look at a great bird.  

     We first found the bird on the first base line of the softball field! (Maybe he's finally trying to get ""Home"!) He then moved over to a field where there are signs saying no pets allowed ( guess he can read as well as fly!) .  He's seemed to be feeding on insects as warblers do, but we have to be concerned as the weather has been getting colder and colder.  We can only hope that he moves to warmer climes before the snows begin to fall.

A Rare Visitor from the South

     

      Following up on a lead posted by one of our birding club members, I, along with three other Mearns members, took the relatively short drive to Cove Island Park in Stamford, CT to find the very rare Fork-tailed flycatcher. This bird breeds and usually lives in South America, but will on rare occasions find its way up along the east coast of North America.  When we arrived, a departing birder said, "Still here! Just follow the trail down to where all the cameras and scopes are." Sure enough. It just doesn't get much easier than this. 

     This handsome bird was perched right out in the open, and although he took to the air

on numerous occasions, he always returned to the treetop where he was easily
visible for over an hour. When we departed, the flycatcher had moved to a new
perch, but was still easily seen by all. He certainly seemed quite content
where he was and chances are pretty good that he will still be on site for some time to come.  We consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to see this lost traveller.

Golden eagles over Bear Mountain

     While manning our post up on the Bear Mountain Hawkwatch today, we were thrilled to have a banner day with 4 Golden eagles making an appearance. The first was spotted by one of our number and then followed and positively identified as a Golden. By the time I got my camera on the bird, it was low and behind the trees making a decent shot impossible. I was "bummed" as you can imagine, but within 30 seconds a second Golden made its appearance flying in from the direction of "Anthony's Nose" (that's a mountain across the river from Bear Mt......not one of our spotters!) 

     This was a young bird with a lot of white showing beneath the wings. This bird was in good light and close enough to afford good photos. While we were all excited about two Golden eagles on the same day, a third and then a fourth appeared within the next 5 minutes. These eagles came from the same general area and were making a strong flight south. It was only a matter of minutes before one would disappear far to the south when the next appeared at some distance to the north. Four separate Golden eagles....no doubt about it! I've posted several shots of many that I was able to get....the first photos I've ever been able to shoot of this magnificent bird. In the Peterson Field Guide, it uses the term "majestic" to describe the bird and there is no better way to describe it!

Autumn in New York

                                                        Red-tailed hawk

      We are are back in the Empire State and are enjoying the sights, the aromas, and the sounds of our prettiest season.  Fall has arrived in full force and the mountains are ablaze with the oranges, yellows and reds of Autumn.  Along with the changing colors comes a changing cast of characters in the avian play as warblers and other migrants depart and move through the Hudson Highlands.  We spent yesterday at Croton Point Park along the banks of the Hudson.  Birders around these parts seem to agree that the migration is a little later this year and indeed we had a good number of warblers passing through yesterday.  (See Yellow-rumped warbler image below)  Of course, along with the song birds, we get a decent passage of raptors.  We had Red-tails, Harriers, Kestrels, and Cooper's hawks in the area looking for a quick meal.

                                             Yellow-rumped warbler

                                             Cooper's hawk

     The days continue to grow shorter and the nights longer and cooler as we work our way deeper into fall and closer to winter.  In the meantime, we will enjoy the splendors of Autumn in New York and witness the evolution of summer into winter.

                                                    Brown creeper

Another Day in South Carolina

  

     Well, we are winding up our trip to SC and spent Tuesday of this week at two of our favorite birding havens.....Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell's Inlet and Myrtle Beach State Park.  Huntington Beach is great at this time of year for finding birds which are getting ready to make the trip south to Florida.  The most prominent "specialties" in October are the Wood storks, Roseate spoonbills,  and Avocets.  We arrived at the Park early this morning and were blessed with a dead low tide.  The flats were abuzz with activity as shore birds, herons, egrets, and the storks took advantage of the bounty offered by the mud flats. Wood storks were all around us....on the flats, in the trees, and lined up along the impoundments as if taking part in a morning "coffee clutch".  We could have spent the entire morning just observing the feeding frenzy taking place, but we wanted to get over to Myrtle Beach SP while it was still early.

     AT Myrtle Beach SP, we found our favorite song bird site....a grove of trees adjacent to the Ranger Station.....to be as productive as normal.  Black-throated blue, Common yellowthroat, Magnolia, and Nashville warblers were all busily feeding in the tall live oaks as a Brown thrasher and a Catbird flitted in and out of a thicket of Pokeberry bushes.  Further along the entrance road, we ran into a number of Northern mockingbirds which were interacting noisily as they chased one another around the thick overgrowth.  Why there was so much ado among these mockers kept us guessing, but for whatever reason, the show was most entertaining.  We'll be heading back to NY the day after tomorrow, so we'll try to squeeze in one more afternoon of birding at the vast marshlands around Shallotte, NC where we have heard both Virginia and King rails.  Wish us luck!!!

After the deluge - South Carolina

       We enjoyed a great weekend with trip leader Warren C and fellow members of the Mearns Bird Clb from NY at Cape May and have now continued south to the Carolinas. We didn't get much birding in the past several days as we were flooded in our friends' home in New Bern, NC.

       Over a period of three days, we had 27" of rain! We finally did get a break in the weather, however, and today we visited Huntington Beach State Park below Myrtle Beach, SC. Had a number of nice birds in spite of excessively high water. Sightings included Wood storks, Avocets (image below), several different sandpipers (see Spotted sandpiper below), Clapper rails, many Great and Snowy egrets, Kingfishers, Great blue and Tricolor herons, and White ibises. Looking forward to getting more species as the flood waters abate and the temperatures moderate.   

Fall hawk migration

The summer doldrums are over and the crisp fall air has returned......OK, so it was in the high 80's on the summit of Bear Mountain today, but you can tell that fall is in the air.  Our intrepid group has begun its yearly monitoring project under the watchful eye of Joe S.  Sharon and I are part-time at best, but we always enjoy getting up to the hawkwatch and joining the rest of the crew.  Mid-September is the peak for Broadwing hawks and they have not let us down.  Last Thursday (when the Bakers were off to a wedding at Montauk Point) the crew had 675 Broadwings for the day.  While today was no match for last week, we were at least present to view and photograph the 50+ hawks that flew along the ridgeline.

While most were the broadwings we expected including a couple of small kettles (see photos above), we also had some nice Sharp-shinned hawks (below, a number of ospreys, several bald eagles, and a couple of Red-tails joining in.  As time goes on, the cast of characters will change, but each day brings new and interesting sightings.  The Bear Mountain Hawkwatch will continue until Thanksgiving, so if you are in SE New York, look us up!  Extra eyes are always appreciated.

Pelagics

  

 Atlantic puffin   

       During our birding trip with "Road Scholar" (formerly known as Elderhostel), we were treated to two wonderful pelagic birding excursions on board the Elsie Menota and Day's Catch which far exceded out expectations regarding both whale and pelagic bird sightings.  Along with Right, Minke, Fin and Humpback whales, we had too many shearwaters to count (both sooty and Great), puffins galore, both Wilson's and Leach's Storm-petrels, common murres, Northern gannets, a great close-up view of a Northern fulmar, and many more.  It was difficult to make the decision to train the camera on a breeching humpback or a flyby by a trio of Atlantic puffins.

Northern fulmar

  Oh, if all our decisions could be so trying!  By the end of the trip, we had a total of 105 birds which included 9 new "lifers" for Sharon and me.  If you ever have the time and the inclination, by all means visit Grand Manan Island off the coast of New Brunswick.  We strongly recommend a stay at the Marathon Inn.  The Inn is over 100 years old, so expect rustic.  But, it is clean, comfortable, and the food was outstanding!  Innkeeper Jim Leslie is also a great birder and historian and can help you in your birding endeavors.  If possible, ask him to hook you up with our birding guide Roger Burroughs, author of many field guides for the northeast.

    Great shearwater

      As if this trip wasn't enough, we did manage a stop at Stratford, CT on the way home where a White-tailed kite has been repeated seen lately.  We had tried to find the bird unsuccessfully prior to leaving for Canada, but with the help of the folks at Coastal Connecticut Audubon Center and some local birders, this time we struck paydirt and landed our 10th lifer for the trip.....a bird which has not been seen in Connecticut in over 100 years!  All-in-all, it just doesn't get any better than this.

White-tailed kite

"Sharp-tailed sparrows"

       Sharon and I are off and running again, this time to Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. On the way to our destination, we stopped at Scarborough Marsh in Maine to revisit the sites first detailed to us last year by Alan and Della Wells. We had a wonderful albeit abbreviated visit with the top birds being the Marbled godwit with a Whimbrel in the same field of view in the scope, a nice look at a Virginia rail, and a wonderful view of several Saltmarsh (sharp-tailed) sparrows.  (See photo above).  Although we know that the term "sharp-tailed" has officially been dropped from this group of sparrows, some old habits are hard to break, and we keep referring to the birds in the older terms.

     We are now on our first full day of our trip on Grand Manan and have managed to get decent photos of the second of the "sharp-tailed" sparrows, the Nelson's. (Photo below)  We've also had a number of fine sea birds including Greater and Sooty shearwaters, Black guillemots, and Razorbills. All of these sightings have been from shore. We will be out at sea at least two and hopefully three days this week in an attempt to get even more pelagics and get decent shots of some of these birds. We'll keep you posted!    

Back to the Brig

    

     We've been spending the week with my son's family in Long Beach Island.  While most of our time has been devoted to the beach and fishing with grandson Riley,  Sharon and I decided to make our way to Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge this morning.  The day promised heat and green flies and we were not shortchanged on either account.  Nonetheless, we managed to be on site by 8:00 AM and were well rewarded for our efforts.  We were pleased to be able to introduce "the Brig" to a new birder, Eugene, whom we met at a birding outing yesterday at Holgate refuge on the south end of LBI.  As we entered the refuge, we immediately came upon three new "lifers" for our friend....the White-eyed vireo, a fine Clapper rail, and great looks at the normally elusive Marsh wren.

     Shortly after our initial walk down the Eco-trail with little interference from our green-headed nemeses,  we faced the harsh reality of the Brig in summer and found ourselves confined to our vehicle with the windows tightly closed and the AC pumping out at full blast.

    
      I fortunately had taken several shots with my Nikon at ambient temperature  (including the chance meeting of a Snowy egret and an immature Little blue heron seen above), for after riding around in the comfort of the air conditioned car, I found that the lens of my camera quickly fogged up each time I stuck it out into the hot humid outside air.  All the same, we had a great day with a tally of 45 birds and a chance encounter with one of our Birding Club members along the way.  It just would not be right to be in south Jersey and not visit Brigantine.

Indiana Road Revisited

     Drove out to Indiana Road  in Goshen, NY early this morning to beat the heat. I arrived at 8:15 and it was already 85 degrees. The trip was worth the time and effort, however, as I got real nice views of the reported Orchard orioles along the tree line near the site where we had the Dickcissel earlier this year. First sighting was of a female in the trees closest to the Dickcissel location (see image above). I parked here and walked further down the road and found another female (or perhaps the same bird), along with a beautiful juvenile. 
     Shortly thereafter, a male with food in its bill flew into the same tree. I later found a male Blue grosbeak in another short ailanthus tree along Indiana. The bird was content to stay deep in the foliage affording me only fleeting but definitive glimpses.  Many Savannah sparrows were also present.  All in all, it was a short trip in dreadful heat which turned out to be most productive.