Great Blue Heron. Image by Steve Rappaport.
Putnam Highlands Audubon Society
Spring 2024 Newsletter
Local Birding Stories, Sightings, and Upcoming Events
Letter from the president:
One of my favorite parts about the springtime birding is when I come across a species like a Louisiana Waterthrush that’s in the same stream it’s always in every year or, that Pine Warbler trilling in the same stand of trees or, probably most relatable, that Eastern Phoebe or pair of House Finches nesting under the eaves of your house or garage. Every time we are reacquainted, it’s like seeing an old friend who was away on a long vacation where your first reaction is more of a “long time no see” rather than just looking through your binoculars and moving on. It also puts into perspective that these little birds make these long and dangerous flights back to our neighborhoods, parks, and beyond every year just for a short time for the sole purpose of breeding all to make the journey back south beginning in August. Puts some of our daily commutes to shame, doesn’t it?
This time also emphasizes our role as conservationists and a reminder to be mindful of this time period and that it is more than just barbecues, picnics, and fireworks on our ends. Every plant, bird, insect, fish, mammal, etc. is focused on creating the next generation of its kind and its our role as stewards of this land to play a role in facilitating that. Whether it’s not mowing your grass, staying on the marked hiking trails, picking up litter at your local parks or just supporting your local conservation groups.
As you’ll see in this newsletter, this a reminder that despite the intense focus on preserving our environment, pollution, and climate change there will always be relentless attacks from entities trying to change our landscape and displace the organisms that call these places home.
We hope you read and enjoy this “spring recap” edition and that your families have a relaxing spring and summer! Please take some time and enjoy the beautiful scenery the highlands have to offer. We’ll be offering a few nature programs and a bird walk or two this summer that we hope you can attend!
– Sean Camillieri
Help Wanted!
PHAS is looking for motivated volunteers that would like to join our chapter and if there’s interest, joining our board! We are a very active chapter, and we aren’t getting any younger and need to plan for the future to ensure our chapters continued success! Interested individuals must be interested in the following:
● Birds and birding
● Habitat conservation
● In tune with local environmental issues in the Highlands region and has familiarity with the area.
Other secondary skills such as:
● Organization
● Works well with others in a group setting
● Familiarity with Google Drive
● Public speaking
● Writing
● Outreach
Please tell us about yourself by clicking here. It’s first come, first serve and only a limited amount spaces so if we don’t get back to you right away that means we are full!
Location Conservation Issue Alert!
On 6/11, I received a forwarded email from Audubon CT/NY’s Rebecca Schultz that was from Scenic Hudson about a 188-unit apartment complex that is being proposed to be built directly next to our Reese Sanctuary in Wappingers Falls. I then received a call today from Scenic Hudson with the news that what was most likely the final public hearing and the end of the comment period this evening. Given the extremely last-minute notice, PHAS Conservation Chair, Connie Mayer and I drafted a letter that Scenic Hudson delivered on our behalf at the meeting. Scenic Hudson also drafted an outstanding letter highlighting the environmental impacts that a stain that is this apartment complex will have on things such as birds, erosion, and the already limited green space that exists along the Wappingers Creek.
Stay tuned for more updates as this develops and please contact us to express your concerns and/or contact the Chairman of the Village of Wappingers Planning board at tmorris@wappingersfalls.gov voicing your opposition.
Thank you, Audubon CT/NY, for alerting us and Scenic Hudson for briefing us on the situation and delivering our letter!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Image by Steve Rappaport.
Birdathon Recap
It was yet another fantastic Birdathon this year held by the Putnam Highlands Audubon Society. The Putnam Highlands Audubon Society May Birdathon is a long-standing fundraising tradition where board members of the Putnam Highlands Audubon Society form small teams and venture out for a day to count and record as many bird species as possible. This year four competitive teams set out for a long, exciting day of birding. One team consisting of the long timers Perry Pitt and Scott Silver, spent their day around Fahnestock State Park. The second team captained by Pete Salmansohn, also spent a bunch of time in Fahnestock with some dabbling into Iona Marsh and Doodletown. The third team, named the Saw-Whuts spent their team between Dutchess County, Queens and Long Island. The fourth team, one that I have been on for a number of years, named the diabolical nightjars, spent our time over quite an extensive range of counties starting in Ulster and birding Sullivan, Orange, and also made out way to Queens and Long Island. Between all the teams, a whopping 188 species were counted.
Our diabolical nightjar team took the 24-hour birdathon serious in which we travelled to our first birding spot located in the Southern Catskills to try for Saw-whet Owl at midnight. It didn’t take too long for us to have Saw-whet Owl on our list. From there we ventured down to Orange County for a 1:30AM hike to listen for nocturnal birds including rails and owls. We did great, checking off Sora and Virginia Rail. We continued on our nocturnal route picking up Barred Owl, American Woodcock and Eastern Whip-poor Will before arriving on the causeway at Bashakill WMA before dawn. The causeway before dawn always produces. It is awesome to see Common Nighthawks silhouette flying when there is barely light out. Quickly to follow, American Bitterns sounded off with their loud bellowing ‘ker plunk’ calls.
From there we explored the trails surrounding the expansive wetland system of Bashakill. We came upon several harder to get songbird species such as Prothonotary Warbler, Canada Warbler, Wilsons Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher. After checking off several other birds we left Bashakill to bird a nearby road that is thick with eastern hemlock. We picked up some of these hemlock specific species such as Black-throated green and Blackburnian Warbler and Winter Wren and Red-Breasted Nuthatch. We left Sullivan County and jetted for Orange County to get Sandhill Crane and Orchard Oriole at Wallkill NWR. Stopping at a grassland spot in Orange County our team quickly checked off American Kestrel, Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and a surprise Northern Harrier. The best part of the Orange County birding was checking off the continuing rarities including Tricolored Heron and Snow Goose.
After tallying well over 100 species by noon, Sean took over the wheel and I got some much needed rest after being up driving since before midnight. Sean took us down to Queens where we would pick back up in high pace at Jamaica Bay NWR after a couple hours of city traffic. Jamaica Bay was outstanding and teeming with migrants and lingering birds. We chased a red-headed woodpecker that was not showing for us. Although we never saw it, we picked up a few day birds just standing looking around for the red-headed woodpecker. We took a loop around the West Pond, where we got on some awesome shorebirds including White-rumped Sandpiper and lingering ducks including a Common Eider (Quite a surprise to see on the West Pond). Luck seemed to be on our side as one of the few unseen warbler species, the Bay-breasted Warbler, put on a showing right outside the parking lot at Jamaica Bay for all of the diabolical nightjars to enjoy. We hit a couple spots right outside the NWR and checked off an awfully late Harlequin Duck.
After a great performance in the area surrounding Jamaica Bay, we then trekked further east making our way to Nickerson Beach to add some shore type specialties to our list, and we sure did. Piping plover, Gull-Billed Tern among more common terns, and common shorebirds, we continued to add birds to the day list. We hit a couple other shoreline spots but did not have much luck in extending the species list. Unfortunately our last spot on the agenda, Jones Beach Coast Guard Station, was closed ! We were hoping for at least a couple of other species there. We would fail to pick up another species after leaving Long Island, however it was truly a long phenomenal day. Our complete tally was 175 species seen on the day. It was a lot of hard work but we were committed to meeting the previous Putnam Birdathon record of 157 set by the infamous Birdathon team, the bogtrotters, in 2008.
Team Totals:
Diabolical Nightjars: 175 Species
Saw-Whuts: 167 Species
Garrison Gumshoes: 85 species
Link to Birdathon Trip Report in eBird: https://ebird.org/tripreport/242655
By Kyle Bardwell
Cedar Waxwing. Image by Steve Rappaport.
Annual Dinner Recap
About 70 people attended our annual dinner at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center in late March and were treated to fine foods and presentations by two youngsters from the NYS Young Birder’s Club – Arabella Pajoohi and Julian Batista.
Co-chairwoman Cory Ethridge arranged for plates of special appetizers from B&L Deli and a unique variety of hand-made desserts from Red Door Baking. This was in addition to the wonderful food that is a standard of Chef Mike Gaspari and crew’s steady hands.
Veteran conservationist, science teacher, and chapter Vice President Perry Pitt was this year’s honoree for his decades of advocacy, education, and faithful service which has touched many, many people. His family was with him, and Perry began his own remarks by talking about all the people he could thank who have helped him over the years……an example to all of us who know him of Perry’s quiet and humble personality.
Chapter president Sean Camillieri was in Texas that evening, and board member Kyle Bardwell acted as Emcee. His light-hearted and easy-going approach set a warm and friendly tone for the proceedings, and he introduced the almost-teenaged birders to the expectant audience. Arabella presented a very comprehensive PowerPoint on the importance of Grassland Birds, and Julian Batista gave us a look at the neo-tropical Warblers which oftentimes , unexpectedly, spend the winters in our region.
On the financial side, the dinner, tickets, the silent auction, and the raffle for a fine pair of Vortex binoculars provided a record profit for the chapter, of $4,754, beating the excellent receipts in 2023 by $600. We thank Cory for much of the gathering, pricing, and creatively arranging the many items and services that comprised our well-observed silent auction, and her assistant Astrid Church. Diana Pollack was key in obtaining gifts from Cold Spring merchants, and Karen Ertl provided lovely floral arrangements for each table.
Save the date for 2025 of March 22nd. We hope to see you there, as this annual event is a terrific opportunity to meet like-minded conservationists, bird lovers, and advocates for earth-centered policies.
By Pete Salmansohn
European Goldfinch. Image by Steve Rappaport.
Notable Sightings: February 27 to June 13
The period of time represented in this round of Notable Sightings covers the transition from late winter to spring, including the bulk of spring migration. Putnam County had a wide variety of good birds during this transition period. The Hudson River corridor provided a Cackling Goose at Dockside Park in Cold Spring, along with a Snowy Egret, Semipalmated Plover, and Lesser Black-backed Gull at Little Stony Point. Also of note was a new high count of Common Loons with an incredible 119 observed from Dockside! Away from the Hudson, Clough Preserve in Brewster had an American Bittern make a prolonged appearance and seen or heard by quite a few folks. And of course, Glynwood Farm also had some good birds including a male Blue Grosbeak.
Regionally, the Neotropic Cormorant has returned to the Hudson River between Orange/Dutchess counties for a 3rd year! This section of river also produced a Little Gull in April. Orange County also logged a regionally rare Tricolored Heron that stayed long enough for many to see. Ulster County had a very cooperative Lark Sparrow spend some time in Kingston. Westchester County also had its fair share of rare birds including a Yellow-headed Blackbird at Croton Point and a The county also logged both Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kite flyovers this spring! This seems to be a good year for Mississippi Kite sightings in the northeast.
Putnam County:
3/4 Cackling Goose, Dockside Park Cold Spring
3/15 Wilson’s Snipe, Glynwood Farm
4/8 Red Breasted Merganser, Dockside Park, Cold Spring
4/12 Laughing Gull, Dockside Park, Cold Spring
4/13 Caspian Tern, Dockside Park, Cold Spring
4/13 Bonaparte Gull (4), Dockside Park, Cold Spring
4/13 Common Loon High Count (119) , Dockside Park, Cold Spring
4/15 Black-crowned Night Heron, Croton Falls Reservoir
4/17 Snowy Egret, Little Stony Point
4/20 White-winged Scoter, Little Stony Point
4/20 Long-tailed Duck, Little Stony Point
4/22 American Bittern, Clough Preserve, Brewster
4/28 Great Egret, Maybrook Trailway, Patterson
4/29 Sora, Clough Preserve, Brewster
5/3 Great Cormorant, Little Stony Point
5/9 Blue-winged Teal, Clough Preserve, Brewster
5/10 Snow Goose, North Highland Golf Course
5/11 Greater Yellowlegs, Constitution Marsh
5/21 Semipalmated Plover, Little Stony Point
5/26 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Putnam Valley
5/27 Blue Grosbeak, Glynwood Farm
5/30 Olive-sided Flycatcher, Hubbard Lodge, Fahnestock
Dutchess County:
3/10 Ross’s Goose James Baird SP
4/2 Yellow-headed Blackbird, Private Residence, Wappingers
4/20 Little Gull, Hudson River
5/26 Mississippi Kite, Taconic State Parkway
6/2 Blue Grosbeak, Woodward Hill Rd
Continuing Neotropic Cormorant
Westchester County:
3/7 Yellow-headed Blackbird, Croton Point Park
5/1 Swallow-tailed Kite, Deans Bridge, North Salem
6/7 Mississippi Kite – Cliffdale Farm
Orange County:
5/13 Tricolored Heron, Beaver Pond, Florida
6/4 Kentucky Warbler, Mine Road
Continuing Neotropic Cormorant
Ulster County:
5/18 Lark Sparrow, Kingston Point Park
All of the notable sightings listed here were compiled using eBird.org. eBird is a fantastic website that allows to you to find birds and places to go birding (both locally and while travelling somewhere new), as well as a way to keep track of your bird lists and photos. All of the data you input into eBird contributes to science and to the conservation of birds and their habitat. We encourage everyone to join eBird (it is free, you just need to create an account) and record all of your bird sightings there. And remember, eBird is not just for notable sightings! Please visit ebird.org/about to learn more and to sign up. And visit https://ebird.org/region/US-NY-079?yr=all to see Putnam County’s eBird page.
If you are not registered on eBird yet and you have a notable or interesting bird sighting in Putnam County, we would love to hear about it! Please let us know about your notable sightings, and include any documentation (such as photos, which are strongly encouraged to confirm a rare bird sighting) by emailing us at: PHASbirds@gmail.com
By Anthrony Macchiarola
Blackburnian Warbler. Image by Jon Erickson.
April Bird Walk at Little Stony Point
While the April bird walk started with a slight drizzle, it sure did turn into an awesome walk. Birders arrived at Little Stony Pt early on Saturday April 20th. By the end of April local birders are always itching for the warbler and songbird migration to make it to the Hudson Valley. We always hope to get a taste of early migration on our yearly April bird walks, and this year was no exception. Species such as Baltimore oriole and rose-breasted grosbeak were noticed arriving earlier this year and hopes of other early arrivals were in the air. These dreams were slightly squandered when we all drove through a drizzle to make it to the parking area. It eventually did clear up and stop precipitating before the group even ventured over the tracks towards Little Stony Point. Once across the tracks we did a loop starting with the north side of the park. The group sat at the northern beach to a beautiful sight of a low cloud cover with storm king peeking through. From there Steve Rappaport called out a long-tailed duck flying south on the water. This got the group excited. Soon after we also got on a flock of southbound white-winger scoter flying high over the ridgeline on the west side of the river. It was clear the rough weather storm that came through the area earlier in the morning have displaced some migratory ducks. Scoters and long-tailed ducks are seen in small numbers in April migrating up the Hudson River. Often times it is strong storms that will force these birds down out of the skies and they will sit on the river until weather clears to presume their migration. These two species were enough to keep the vibes up on the bird walk. Participants slowly broke off to continue their weekend, while the remaining walk attendees were lucky enough to get views of a cerulean warbler that was singing just up the hill from the parking lot and could be heard singing right from of the parking lot. This bright blue jewel of a bird ended the walk in great terms.
eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S174215233
By Kyle Bardwell
Yellow Warbler. Image by Jon Erickson.
May Bird Walk at Dennings Point
Kyle Bardwell and Steve Rappaport led a group walk from the wastewater treatment plant in Beacon to the tip of Dennings Point. Although fog was thick, the group had encounters with a nicely perched Bald Eagle, singing Cerulean Warblers, and several other warblers with a total of 59 species. The trip highlight was reaching the end of Dennings Point and finding a Neotropic Cormorant perched on a floating log alongside a few Double-crested Cormorants. While the Neotropic is a bird primarily found in South and Central America and very southern US, this marks the 3rd year this rarity has returned to the Hudson Valley.
By Steve Rappaport
Solitary Sandpiper. Image by Jon Erickson.
Wildlife Programs and Issues in the Hudson Highlands
PHAS presented four very-well attended public programs (December, February, March & April) focusing on ecology and various species of wildlife which are specifically LISTED by either the federal government or by the NYSDEC in several categories of concern. Those programs were: Hudson River Ecology and Food Webs; Sturgeon; New England Cottontail Rabbit; and NYS Bats.
There are at least 18 LISTED animal species which occur in the highlands, and a number of them are currently being studied by biologists to see if the construction and presence of a development known as the fjord trail would affect their existence. They are:
Indiana Bat – Federally Endangered
Northern short-eared Bat – Federally Endangered
Atlantic Sturgeon – Federally Endangered
Short-nosed Sturgeon – Federally Endangered
Golden Eagle – NYS Endangered
Peregrine Falcon – NYS Endangered
Bald Eagle – NYS Threatened
Eastern Fence Lizard – NYS Threatened
Timber Rattlesnake – NYS Threatened
Cerulean Warbler – NYS Special Concern
Eastern Wormsnake – NYS Special Concern
Eastern Box Turtle – NYS Special Concern
New England Cottontail Rabbit – NYS Special Concern
It is a little known fact, unfortunately, that the Hudson Highlands area is recognized by NYS Parks as a region of “high biodiversity,” as well as being designated as:
The Hudson River Natural Heritage Area (Congressionally-designated 1996)
A Scenic Area of Statewide Significance (NYS Dept. of State)
Gaving “Seven Significant Ecological Communities” (NY Natural Heritage Program)
Described and assessed in the Philipstown Natural Resource Inventory
It is incumbent upon us all to speak for the protection and conservation of these wildlife species and their habitats. PHAS will continue its lecture series on wildlife in the Fall…..Stay tuned.
By Pete Salmansohn
Thank you from the PHAS Board of Directors
Sean Camillieri (President), Perry Pitt (Vice-President), Peter Conway (Treasurer), Giannina Santo Cappello (Secretary), Connie Mayer, Kyle Bardwell, Lew Kingsley, Katherine Lukacher, Anthony Macchiarola, Deborah Macleod, Lauren Martin, Steve Rappaport, Pete Salmansohn, Scott C. Silver
Brown Thrasher. Image by Steve Rappaport.