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Today on the way up to Coxsackie I stopped at 4 Mile Point. Didn’t see the Screech-Owl or any “good” passerines (wrens, thrushes, etc.). However, while walking a trail on the Scenic Hudson property I did flush a lone BARRED OWL ahead of me. Unexpected, but totally gratifying.

The Coxsackie Boat Launch held over 400 Herring Gulls with a smattering of Ring-billed and Great Black-backed. With my initial scan with binoculars I was able to spot a single nonbreeding adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. This bird was different than the individual that I spotted yesterday (a first cycle bird). The bird stayed long enough for other birders to get on it. It took flight for a short period of time but one of the birders (Jackson) was able to spot it and watch it land again. The bird clearly showed yellow legs, a slightly lighter mantle than a GBBG and all the necessary streaking on the head.

A quick jaunt moving on to River Road from the boat launch yielded the NORTHERN SHRIKE on the first try. Yesterday I made 3 visits throughout the day without any luck, so if you are seeking this bird out, be patient. It was viewed for a minute or two before flying parallel to the railroad tracks away, and away, and away, and away.

Aside from all of those great birds, there are the expected raptors in the area. Today yielded at least 10 Red-tails, 8 Rough-legs (3 dark morph), and about a half dozen Northern Harriers.

Several Savannah Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds are still persisting on Smith Rd.

Good birds today for sure. Keep em’ coming.
Best,
Chad Witko

Last night I had the great fortune of spending some time with Chat Happens Co-Administrator, Ryan, for a little dinner on his way through my home area. Catching up was of course great, as were talks of birding adventures past and hopeful ones in the future. Catching me totally off guard at the end of the eat-and-greet, was a Christmas gift given to me from Ryan. As should be expected by now (there is a well accepted pattern), I was given a new bird book to add to my growing collection. The book is “Gulls of the Americas” by Howell/Dunn, and is something I’ve been wanting to add to my bookshelf since its arrival to the published scene. 

This book is of course part of the Peterson Reference Guide series and is going to be put to good use throughout the coming winter. Doing winter raptor work up in the Coxsackie Grasslands, I am given great access to the study of gulls through my daily lunches spent at the Coxsackie Boat Launch nearby. During any given winter one can expect to run into 6 species of gulls at this locale (Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Glaucous, and Iceland) with the potential for others always looming (Thayer’s? California?). Expect by winter’s end to see a nice review of the book (after it is put into good use), and perhaps a few pages on gull ID. I’ve had the fortune of birding and working alongside Steve Howell, and he is considered by many to be one of North America’s top birders. His knowledge of molting schemes and seabirds are unparalleled and I have no doubt that this book will advance any observer’s knowledge of this challenging group.

~Chad

Why do I love this bird so much in winter? Perhaps because it seems so out of place. Throughout the rest of the year wren’s vie for our attention from thick brambles or cattail choked marshes. Hidden in a vegetative state of secrecy they often require patience, a bit of luck, or perhaps some good pishing to get them within the field of view of our binoculars. But not these guys (Carolinas) and most especially, not at this time of year.

Around here the few birds that remain over the course of the winter often visit bird feeders in the open. Here they can be found feeding on seeds and suet as their cocked tails and warm hues announce their presence and ID. For me, it gives me a feeling of hope that all is right in the world, if only on a minute scale. This is my bird of winter if only for now.

Chad

In the coming weeks to months I will have the great opportunity to be working for the Greene County IDA in upstate NY studying the land usage of winter raptors on two parcels of land. These lands are a part of the greater Coxsackie Grasslands Complex, a unique and truly valuable resource to grassland birds in Upstate NY. Aside from the Ft. Edward’s grasslands, this is perhaps the best area in NY’s greater Capital District and Hudson Valley to find winter raptors in abundance including: Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk (both phases), Short-eared Owl, and the occasional Snowy Owl. In addition to the raptors, the area in general is a great place to seek out ice-birds like Northern Shrike, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and locally rare species of winter gulls (Iceland, Glaucous, and Lesser Black-backed).

The work itself will be extremely valuable as the land is being looked into for future (partial) development. I truly hope that my sole research efforts will assist in smart development that can not only benefit the community itself but also allow for smart conservation efforts as well. While I have to decline putting out more information on the development for now as I would like to learn more about the IDA and the projects themselves, please check back here for updated posts on the field research itself and any bird findings I happen to come across.

To learn more about the Greene County IDA, please visit their website.

To learn more about the Coxsackie Grasslands and general bird finding opportunities in N. Greene County/S. Albany County, please follow local bird guru Richard Guthrie’s Bird Blog.
Best,
Chad

No real back story here. We did some banding today in the Lowlands at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies targeting American Robins, which surprisingly have been terribly difficult to catch. We did catch 5 today, as well as a few cool other birds. Here are some photos for some of these birds that had the time to be photographed. Enjoy!

~Chad

First fall male Black-throated Blue Warbler (Notice green-tipped back feathers)

First fall male Black-throated Blue Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

First fall Rose-breasted Grosbeak

First fall Rose-breasted Grosbeak (underwing). They love to bite!

First fall Lincoln’s Sparrow

One of the many (MANY) Gray Catbirds

Say What? Say Northern Waterthrush!

Northern Waterthrush

Common Yellowthroat

Today while capturing and banding birds for the Anaplasma project at IES, we had a nice assortment of birds make their way into the net. While the highlights were several, please take a look at the photos below.

Bird on!
Chad

IES Lowlands at dawn

Carolina Wren

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe closeup

Willow Flycatcher

Female American Redstart

Female American Redstart

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Several weeks ago I started my current position as a bird bander at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. For the first time in my career as a bird biologist I was given the opportunity to work in the local area which I grew up in (I work one county south of where I live (Dutchess and Columbia respectively)). This was a very exciting opportunity; a chance to finally work in my field of choice in a region that means so much to me and is so close to my heart!

While the primary focus of my bird banding efforts is to catch 4 species (Gray Catbird, American Robin, Wood Thrush, and Veery), the chance to band some east coast passerines was most definitely exciting as this would be the first time for myself as a bander (prior banding experience is CA passerines and NJ shorebirds). So far this season has been fairly slow with bycatch species other than the 4 targets being limited to a few Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, and Ovenbirds. My luck on August 5th was to change all of this.

With an assistant (Lindsey) giving me a hand for the week, we decided to head up to a more densely vegetated area of the IES property (The Henrys) as we were working on a few leads for some Wood Thrushes which were becoming hard to detect (and catch!) in some of the other areas. After setting up our nets along the edge of the road dirt road we started to catch the first birds of the day. Not surprisingly the majority were Gray Catbirds, one of the more ubiquitous species on site. As the net checks moved along we noticed several birds in the first net closest to the car.

Walking up to the net, upon quick inspection several birds were readily visible. These included a Gray Catbird (yet another), a Black-capped Chickadee, and three warblers. All the warblers were a bright yellow out of the corner of my eye, but there was something suspicious about the one closest to me. It had a face pattern that looked very familiar, yet very different at the same time. Realizing this, I decided to give the bird my full attention.

Looking the bird over I quickly noticed the most distinct features: a yellow body and a black auricular (ear) patch and throat. As the bird laid in the net and stared back at me, there was no doubt as to its identity. Twenty years of birding, and many flips through various field guides told me that this bird was something I have never seen before, but had always wanted to. At that time I quickly turned and commented to Lindsey: “Oh my God…this bird is a LAWRENCE’S WARBLER!”. As we removed other birds around it I wished the bird would not escape the net before at least some photo documentation could be had. Even once the bird was safely extracted (including the other Blue-winged Warblers along side it), I was in pure disbelief…almost a shock!

For those of you unfamiliar with a Lawrence’s Warbler, it is a recessive hybrid offspring from a Blue-winged Warbler X Golden-winged Warbler crossing. It retains the face patterns of the Golden-winged, but the body pattern of the Blue-winged. The dominant phenotype for this hybridization is called a Brewster’s Warbler, a bird that has also been detected on IES property.
Taking the bird back to the banding station (my car), it was processed last to allow a few extra moments with the bird in hand. Marveling over the fortune of our catch, Lindsey and I to this day feel very lucky for getting a chance to look at such a wonderful specimen so close. Without the photos which were taken, it would be hard to believe that this event even happened!
What follows below are some of the photos of this male Lawrence’s Warbler, as well as a comparison shot of one of the Blue-wings that it was accompanying. Please, enjoy!