July 27 - Jamaica Bay East Pond

A visit to the East Pond of Jamaica Bay NWR gave us lots of birds to look at today, although there was not much diversity.  The best bird of the day was a Ruff that we found just after arriving around 7 am.  The bird left shortly after, but then returned around 10:30 and others were able to see this bird at that time.  

Credit: Andrew Baksh

Unfortunately we left the pond just before an American Avocet was reported, so we missed this one.

We did see Sandpipers of Stilt, Least, Semi-Palmated, Spotted, Least, and a Western.  A Ruddy Turnstone was seen briefly, and we had terns of Least, Forster's, and a Common or two.  The most common bird was the Short-Billed Dowitcher, and we had a few American Oystercatchers, and Semi-Palmated Plovers.  There were both species of Yellowlegs.  On the walk out we heard a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo.

July 14 - Robert Moses & Jamaica Bay

My friends and I began today with a seawatch at Robert Moses State Park.  The birding was quite slow but we did manage to get nice looks at a close Cory's Shearwater, and had 2 other Cory's at a distance.
But that's how seawatching goes, sometimes its good and other times it's unproductive.

On the way back west to NJ, we stopped at Jamaica Bay NWR and the birding here was also slow.  It was incredibly humid and hot today, so we had to wrap things up by 11 am.   Nevertheless we did have a nice find of a Gull-Billed Tern from the West Pond path, which is sill breached after 2012's Hurricane Sandy. .  We also had a Young Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, a Glossy Ibis.

July 5 - Cupsogue County Park

My friend Bill and I made the drive out to eastern Long Island in search of terns and we certainly had our fill today.  Highlights were three Arctic Terns in first-year plumage, plus one adult-plumaged Arctic Tern.
We also saw at least 4 of the Roseate Tern, plus 5 of the Black Tern, and a single Gull-Billed Tern.  The other more typical terns of Common, Forster's, and Least were also seen.

We had a single White-Rumped Sandpiper, several Red Knot, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, and Semi-Palmated Sandpiper among the numerous Short-Billed Dowitcher.   Willet and Oystercatcher were abundant.

Here's Bill soaking up some birds & sun !

June 30 - High Point State Park

I went out with friend Bill E. today and headed north on Route 23 up to High Point State Park, specifically Sawmill Road and its environs.  In addition to 3 Black Bears seen at different points we soaked up views of some beautiful birds while enjoying the cooler air of these higher elevations.
We saw and heard about 8 Cerulean Warblers, numerous Yellow-Throated Vireos, and at least 3 of the Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers that breed up here.

June 23 - Sussex County birds

With just a few hours free today and before it got oppressively hot  I visited some more local spots to enjoy the breeding birds of the region.   First up was the powerline cut, or should I say  "tick" infestation area, on Holland Mountain Road.  A short walk resulted in several dozen dog-ticks, and worse yet a pair of deer-ticks.  Also seen was a young Black Bear, fortunately it was sleeping about 70 feet up in a White Pine.   The highlight was a pair of male Golden-Winged Warblers amongst several Blue-Winged Warblers and one hybrid of the two species.   A continually singing Alder Flycatcher was nice to see, as were the other expected species of Indigo Bunting, Prairie Warbler, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, a Broad-winged Hawk harassing a Red-Tailed Hawk, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Scarlet Tanager etc.

The next stop was a pond on Edison Road in hopes of a Red-Headed Woodpecker.  I did not see this bird today but did enjoy several other species in Flicker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, Tree Swallow, Scarlet Tanager, etc

The last stop was on Lower Unionville Road for the Bank Swallow colony.

June 15 - Old Mine Road IBA

Today I met a group of friends who were getting together to take buddy Rob F. on a birdwalk before his upcoming wedding.   I began at the northern end of Old Mine Road and worked my way down south to meet them at the Worthington State Forest lot.  

June 9 - Ulster County birding

A return trip to Ulster County this morning was made in order to look for the King Rail which had been reported at the Great Vly Swamp in Saugerties, New York.   I heard about this bird from friend John Haas' blog . 
I was not able to make it here last weekend, and thankfully the bird is still showing itself quite well when it makes its trips across the road.  We saw the bird within minutes of arriving.  As well we saw it quickly a couple of hours later during a return visit.

click to enlarge

We did not see the Sandhill Crane, as that bird evidently departed a few days ago.  Nor did we have enough time to wait for the Mississippi Kite to show in nearby Katsbaan. Although I'm told that bird did re-appear just before noon.

On our way back home we stopped just south of New Paltz.  Here at the junction of Plutarch Road & Weston Road is another swampy area that has been home to some Red-Headed Woodpeckers for a few years now.  We got to see these birds coming & going to their nest, and the bright sunlight made their plumage practically glow. 

Finally a stop at the Celery Farm in Allendale, New Jersey produced an easy to find Alder Flycather, while a Red-Shouldered Hawk floated overhead.