Montauk

Today I woke up at 5:30 so I could join the Huntington Audubon society young birders on a trip to Montauk. I had never been all the way out to the tip of Long Island before, so this was a trip I was looking forward to. Luckily, Huntington Audubon President Stella Miller offered to give me and two other YBers a ride most of the way, saving our parents hours of torture driving.

Scanning the waters off Montauk Point.

We arrived at Montauk Point, the easternmost part Long Island, at 9:30 on the dot. Our first (out of the car) bird was a calling American Tree Sparrow, and a 20-minute scan of the surrounding waters yielded many Common Eiders, Common Loons, Surf, Black, and White-winged Scoters, plus some common gulls and a few Northern Gannets.

After stopping at a horse farm hosting many Canada Geese, Brent remarked, “There’s nothing here.” It was at that exact moment when we ran into none other than Shai Mitra, who kindly pointed out a Cackling Goose amongst a smaller group of Canadas further out — we would never have seen it. It was a life bird for a few, including me, officially making the trip a success early on.

Common Eider attempting to eat something (a crab?) that seemed too big for its mouth. Surprisingly, it did end up swallowing it whole.

Somehow the topic of Kittiwakes was brought up, and Shai made sure we had his number in case anyone saw something noteworthy. With that, we moved on to other nearby parks, such as Camp Hero State Park (sorry guys if I got the order mixed up), and saw much of the same, give or take a few Red-throated Loons and Bonaparte’s Gulls. However, before long the prospect of Kittiwakes lured us back to Montauk Point.

Brent scanning from Camp Hero State Park (I think).

Good thing, too. There was a lot more bird activity this time around, and soon we had even better looks at just about every species we had seen up to that point in the morning. One Scoter ID point that Shai mentioned was that Black Scoters, in flight, have semi-translucent wings, while Surf Scoters’ wings are much darker, a very helpful tip when observing these sea ducks from afar. He then told us that there had been reports of a substantial Kittiwake flight along the edge of Long Island from locations further west, so it was only to be expected that they show up. This was soon proven true, as 3 Black-legged Kittiwakes were found bobbing up and down in the water wayyyyyyyyy out. Frustratingly, I couldn’t locate them. But, thanks to Brendan, who spotted two juveniles following a boat, I got identifiable looks at the “M” patterning on juvi Kittiwakes’ wings, upping my lifer tally to two for the day. Shai and a couple others had found a Yellow-breasted Chat in the thickets close by, but unfortunately it never materialized for us.

Moving on, the only other birds of note were a “Kumlien’s” Iceland Gull, a pair of Great Cormorants, and a few very close Eiders. After stopping for some late lunch at a BBQ restaurant and with the sun setting, we embarked on the long trek back. A great day.

Brent (looking at a bird), Vinny, Brendan, and me.

Pacific Loon in CT = 400 for ‘09!

Yesterday, Greg Hanisek found a Pacific Loon in Middlebury, Connecticut, just over an hour’s drive from my house. As luck would have it, today there was no school (Veteran’s Day), so I had a chance to go!

Pacific Loon with a Great Black-backed Gull

We gained access to the lake via a tiny amusement park. Luckily there were birders already on the bird, so we were able to see it right away. A few minutes later we moved to a slightly closer vantage point a few hundred yards down shore, and during the next couple hours the loon came within a few dozen feet a couple times.

The Pacific Loon (as all loons are) is a very powerful diver, and between its frequent dives often only emerged for several seconds before diving again – often far from the original dive location. However, after about 10 dives or so, the bird would decide to take a break and swim on top of the water for several minutes while preening and eating, giving all watching terrific looks.

I attempted to digiscope the bird, but I really need more practice. Perhaps 10 of the 200 shots I took are usable, and only the one you see here is good enough to share. It’s tough to digiscope with an SLR – I think using a point-and-shoot camera would make it easier.

On a separate note, this sighting puts me at 400 bird species for the year in the US! See my running year list tally by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Hawkin at ‘Coon

Mike scoping the skies for hawks from Raccoon Ridge.

The Raccoon Ridge Hawk Watch, located at the top of a ridge on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border, embodies a much more rugged style of hawkwatching than you would find at my regular spot, Quaker Ridge. Raccoon Ridge, or “Coon,” as it’s affectionately called by some, has none of the amenities that Greenwich offers – no multi-million dollar heated facility, no easy step-out-your-car-and-start-watching access, not even any wooden lawn chairs! Still, it has its advantages. Up on the ridge, a large percentage of migrating hawks fly by around eye-level, and on good days can come within dozens of feet of observers. Not to mention the breathtaking view from which four states are visible.

Two young Bald Eagles interacting.

On Sunday I caught a ride with long time hawkwatcher, Mike, who was making the trek out to the ridge with his son (it’s two hours from his house and about 1.5 from mine). Despite rain early on, we decided to go for it, as the skies to the north and west were clear. After arriving a bit after 8 am, we embarked on the hike up to the ridgetop. It was tough, but bird-wise, uneventful. We set up at “Mid Coon,” a spot a couple hundred feet downridge from the actual hawk watch site, from which one can get better views of birds sticking close to the ridge. Unfortunately, the winds, even though out of the north west, were a tad light, meaning hawks were not forced close to the ridge. As a result, most of our hawks were overhead.

A large flock of Brant.

Although by no means a banner day, we saw a sizable number of hawks (around 150), mostly migrating Red-taileds, but also consisting of a large number of Red-shouldered Hawks and many Bald Eagles. The best raptors we saw were a young Northern Goshawk and Golden Eagle.

A close-in juvenile Northern Goshawk.

With the sun getting low in the sky and a long hike back ahead of us, we started heading down around 4 pm; good timing, too, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon as we neared the car. In the fading light I did spot a light-colored Ruffed Grouse, but since my binoculars were buried in my pack l wasn’t able to get any good looks. Still, a fun and exciting second trip to Raccoon Ridge.

Kites (and mice) at Quaker Ridge

Who needs hawks when you have mice?

Today was PSAT day, meaning we had no classes (besides the test). So, after finishing the PSAT, we all went home. Well…

I, seeing that there were NNW winds and partly cloudy skies, chose a different option. I’m glad I did.

There were lots of birds around at the Quaker Ridge Hawk Watch in Greenwich, CT. Yellow-rumped Warblers were absolutely everywhere you looked. I couldn’t go one minute without hearing their characteristic “chup” note or seeing one fly into view. Canada Geese and Double-crested Cormorants were moving as well — over 900 geese and 100 cormorants flew over the watch. We noted a goose that looked noticeably smaller than the others, with a much quicker flap, but we couldn’t be sure it was a Cackling Goose.

The fourth goose from the right appeared smaller, with quicker wingbeats. Terrible photo to show that though.

Of course, there were hawks too. Almost all the expected species showed up (we saw TWELVE species of migrating raptors), including two Peregrine Falcons, one which came right over not too far above tree height.

Around noon, someone found a young mouse (edit: I’ve been told it’s a very young Deer Mouse), and since the hawk show had temporarily slowed down, why not watch mice?

Awww

During this lull in the action, around 1pm, I decided to take a break from the hawks and go on a walk in the field to look for passerines (songbirds). It was quite a fruitful walk - White-crowned, Lincoln’s, Savannah, Swamp, Song, White-throated, and of course ubiquitous House Sparrows all turned up, as did a brilliantly yellow Palm Warbler.

As I was walking, I kept glimpsing more sparrows just around the corner, and I ended up in the orchard, far from the hawk watch. Suddenly, my phone started vibrating. When I saw the display read “Luke Tiller,” our hawk watcher, I started to realize that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have wandered off so far.

“We just had two Mississippi Kites.”

Mississippi Kites?!?!?!?!?

“Are you serious??”

“Yeah!”

“Are they still there?!”

“They’re gone now, or they’re going to be gone.”

I sprinted all the way from the orchard to the hawk watch as fast as I could. (That’s one of the benefits of running the 400 meter dash, by the way.) Arriving out of breath (indoor track doesn’t start for a couple weeks ) , I ask where the birds are.

“It’s just gone into the sun.”

Great. The sun is just above the treeline.

“Oh wait it’s coming back!”

Sweeeeeeet! The bird came streaking back, just over the tops of the trees. I didn’t get killer looks; the bird was silhouetted (and no chance for a photo), but it was good enough.

What a day!

These guys were EVERYWHERE! Dozens and dozens and dozens...

Braddock Bay

This past weekend, I braved the long journey up to Braddock Bay, near Rochester, NY, for a New York Young Birders Club trip.

Hermit Thrush being banded at BBBO.

After a 4-hour trip to Rochester from Albany (over 7 hours total for me), Hope, Erich, and I arrived at Greg’s house on Saturday evening. After being treated to a delicious pizza dinner, we decided to try for some Eastern Screech-Owls at a nearby woodlot. After going back and forth two times (we had neglected to bring speakers), we played the recording several times, and even tried our own rendition of the whinny and tremelo calls. A couple people heard a far-off owl respond, but I was not among them. After trying for several more minutes, we decided to call it a night.

We awoke bright and early on Sunday, and after bagels for breakfast and some quick yard birding in the 43-degree morning (yielding Yellow-rumped Warbler and both kinglets), we left for the Braddock Bay hawk watch, arriving around 7:40. On the way in we passed a poor Ring-billed Gull with a fishing lure stuck in its beak and headed for the hawk watching platform, not for hawks, but to get a better view of nearby waterfowl. Several species were present, including Redheads, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, some Pied-billed Grebes, and many American Coots. Unfortunately, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finches, and Goldfinches were our only songbirds.

The next stop was the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory (BBBO), home to a large bird banding station with many, many of nets. On the way there, Greg and I spotted a gleaming Ring-necked Pheasant on on the side of the road. We spent almost two hours there, watching the banders and going on net checks to retrieve captured birds. Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, and White-throated Sparrows were the majority of the birds we found. I even got to release the BBBO’s first-of-season Fox Sparrow.

Fox Sparrow at BBBO.

After the banding station, we drove to Hamlin Beach, located right on Lake Ontario. The stiff winds didn’t make the low temperatures any more comfortable, so we didn’t spend a large amount of time scanning the lake. However, we did see some White-winged Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, many Common Loons, and two Horned Grebes, among the many other seabirds and waterfowl. Greg then led us to the wooded section of Hamlin, where, with some encouragement from a recording, we ran into many passerines, including a few Red-breasted Nuthatches.

This White-breasted Nuthatch thinks my speakers are actually a screech-owl.

Instead of taking the highway back to Greg’s house, we elected to travel the back roads, in the hopes that it would be the birdier option. Besides a Peregrine Falcon, two Kestrels, and some common sparrows, however, the route was devoid of birds. After 20 minutes or so, we arrived at our last stop for the day, a large field perfect for sparrows. All four of us made our way through the tall grass, with unseen holes, small channels of water, and most annoying, lots and lots of prickly thistle. As I write this, a thistle splinter is lodged in my left hand…

We did have some nice sparrows, though. The first bird we spotted was a Swamp Sparrow, and after that Greg spotted a Nelson’s (Sharp-tailed) Sparrow, but unfortunately he was the only one who was treated to a good look. In addition to those, we saw several White-crowned, Lincoln’s, Savannah, and Song Sparrows. Overall a very successful stop.

As it was becoming late (2 pm), everyone figured we should end the trip with a stop for lunch. After enjoying our food and compiling the trip list, we went our separate ways.