On Saturday I started birding in Putnam County. I went to relocate the Northern Shrike I originally found on 12/29/22 but was unsuccessful. As I was leaving, I heard 2 Red-tailed Hawks screaming at each other which I thought was odd since I had seen a pair together earlier. After a few minutes I heard a jingling sound. Turns out a falconer had been flying her Red-tailed hawk and the resident one was not happy. Instead of continuing on for more birds I had a bright idea that I needed another lens for my new to me camera…off I went back to Bergen County. I returned in the afternoon to find the Northern Shrike in the exact location he was originally found. Timing is everything.

On Sunday, I drove up to Freer Park in search of the two ducks that had been blowing up What’s App the day before. Pure FOMO! As I drove along River Road I came upon a small raft of Common Goldeneyes. Among them was one lone Long-tailed Duck. At Freer Park a large raft of around 60 Common Goldeneyes were fairly close to shore. It only took a few minutes to pick out the bright orange bill of the Barrow’s. The On February22 2022, there was a female Barrow’s in the same place. The waterfowl pics were taken with my old camera. Not great, but good enough for positive ID.

In the afternoon I met up with a former colleague. She had mentioned that she had never seen an owl before, so we went to the Shawangunk Wildlife Refuge to see the wintering Short-eared Owls. In addition to a fantastic showing of 5 owls, I was able to find one dark phase rough-legged hawk along with a shrike. It might have been the loggerhead that had been photographed, but this one was way too far for a positive ID.

Short-eared Owls: