Spent 4.5 mostly rainy hours up at Wallkill NWR today (12:30-5:00). Despite the wetness I was extremely fortunate to see the WHITE IBIS in flight twice within the first few minutes after stepping out of my car in the parking lot off Oil City Road (OCR). The bird was north of the road and last seen dropping down out of sight beyond the first line of trees that stretch west from the gravel road running north of OCR. Not so luckily, the bird was only in sight for a grand total of maybe 15 seconds, most of that backlit against the gray sky. Its white underparts stood out sharply though when its descent put it against darker backgrounds. Later in the afternoon I also saw the reported immature Little Blue Heron, perched in a tree visible from the canoe launch parking lot farther west down OCR. The time between those two sightings was spent in a futile attempt at tracking down the reported Sedge Wren(s) and Sandhill Crane, and general exploring of this beautiful location. Saw/heard 35 total bird species, highlights being Wood Duck (25-30), Green Heron (6-7), Spotted (2), Solitary (1), and Least (>20) sandpipers; Willow Flycatcher (2), Indigo Bunting (>12 singing males), Bobolink (2 seen, others distantly heard), and Orchard Oriole (2). Mammal sightings included Woodchuck, Muskrat, White-tailed Deer, and E. Cottontail.
-- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
