March 7 - The Mega Rarity

I skipped out on work today and with Bill E. took the almost 4-hour drive up to western New York State's  Lewis County. Our target was the recently discovered rarity known as the Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch.
This montane bird is found in the west/southwest in states like Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. The bird we were after is only the 2nd or 3rd-ever record for NY State !

click on the images to enlarge

For great images of the bird, see Corey Finger's shots.

And you can view the local television station's report

Afterwards we headed over to Ferd's Bog but did not come up with any of the boreal specialties of this area. We did see countless Pine Siskins, some Red-Breasted Nuthatches, Golden-Crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeprs, and Black-Capped Chickadees.

March 4 - Orange County birding

Out with Bill E. today to bird the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas.  Our first target was the Barnacle Goose, which is only the second ever time this bird has been seen in Orange County.  Bill found this bird immediately and we enjoyed watching it for a bit.

click to enlarge

We also birded at Oil City Road's viewing platform, and here finally we re-located the Northern Shrike that has been here for a month or more.

At nearby Indian Road, we had a dark morph Rough-Legged Hawk, a pair of Horned Larks, and a Kestrel.

March 3 - Meadowlands Owl

On this past Thursday evening of March 1, I went to Mahwah's Halifax Park after work to enjoy the American Woodcock courting display flights as they get ready to find mates & nest.

On Saturday the 3rd, I made a brief stop in the area of the Meadowlands Richard DeKorte Park for the Long-eared Owl that has been seen there over the past month or more.  After a brief search I was able to find the owl perched in a tree. It was nice to see this bird again, after having seen it in Texas last November.