Saturday, November 28, 2009

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.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

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

Sunday, November 01, 2009

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.