November 28 - Ivory Gull

Early this morning I met up with friends Bill E, Rob F, and Jennifer C for the trip down to Cape May for the recently found Ivory Gull. We had the bird as soon as we arrived & then got to enjoy it flying around and coming directly over us as it patrolled the Breezy-Lee Marina where it has been most frequently seen.
credit: Don Haas



These images and more can be seen here: http://www.birdcapemay.org/blog/

Later we had a few Eurasian Wigeons near the State Park, but never got to see the long-staying Swainson's Hawk.

November 13 - Western Grebe in Piermont

Ultimately this day turned out to be lucky for me, however at first it did not appear so good. I arrived in Piermont just after sunrise and found the entire area being flooded due to the exceptionally high tide due to the strong northeast winds. In fact I could not even walk down the Pier as Ferry Road was almost a foot deep underwater.


I decided to try again at low tide about 6 hours later. So I returned during lunchtime and was abel to drive down the now-dry pier and see the Western Grebe. I believe this bird is a first-ever record for Rockland County, and it was my first ever in New York State.

More images can be seen here at the Rockland County Audubon website

November 1 - Overpeck Park

credit: John C Avise

My friend Bill and I did some local birding this morning and were surprised to see a Greater White-Fronted Goose in the playground area of the park. Many other species were seen over the course of our nealry 4 hour walk. Notables included Orange-Crowned Warbler, Monk Parakeets, Purple Finch,
Sparrows seen were House, Song, Swamp, Savannah, Chipping, Field, White-Throated, Fox and others of Dark-Eyed Junco and Eastern Towhee. One surprise was a Common/Wilson's Snipe and yet another surprise was a pair of flyover Ravens !

So a very good day of birding was had in a local spot.