Winter 2023 Bird Walks
By Sean Camillieri, PHAS President
This winter’s bird walks consisted of three very different styles of birding.
On February 12th (Superbowl Sunday for the lame joke above), PHAS and Constitution Marsh held an eagle watch in lieu of Eaglefest. Boscobel was gracious enough to host the event and we were able to watch over the marsh and the scenic view that their property has to offer. PHAS members educated visitors on why eagles migrate south in the winter and when our local eagles begin to set up their nests. Charlie Roberto was also there and was able to get folks on the eagle nest in Foundry Cove and offer additional information and facts about these birds.
While no eagles flew closeby, we were fortunate enough to see 2 adults and a juvenile eagle down in Constitution Marsh perched over the railroad tracks. There were also some ducks that were calling the marsh home for the winter such as Northern Pintail, American Black Duck, Hooded Merganser, and Green-winged Teal. eBird list can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S128209114
On February 18th, thirteen participants stood in the parking lot area of the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge and enjoyed nice views of Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Kestrel while waiting for the main event, the evening emergence of the Short-eared Owls.
This species is crepuscular, meaning, that they will come out in the early evening or early morning while most other nocturnal animals are asleep for the day. The first owl was seen around 4:45 and by the end of the evening and with some patience, we were able to enjoy up to 5 of these spectacular animals at a very close distance. With their lanky oar-like wings and erratic flight style this owl is always a crowd pleaser. This is one of our best walks of the year and always a great time, the group that joined us was enthusiastic and a pleasure to bird with! Please enjoy some photos, video, and audio of the owls we saw here.
On March 18th, myself and board members Kyle Bardwell and Steve Rappaport hosted a small group walk at Croton Point Park. This period is often referred to as the “doldrums” of birding. The migrants haven’t come up from the south yet and many migratory ducks have begun to clear out heading north, leaving not much left…Because of this we decided to use this opportunity to teach some folks how to use eBird.
For those that are not familiar, eBird is a citizen science program where anybody can create a free account and log their bird sightings from wherever they are in the world. The data can then be viewed real time on their website. The interface on mobile phones is fairly easy to use but there are some shortcuts we showed our participants that helps make data entry easier. This was our first time holding an event like this and we would like to incorporate this more into our walks.
If you’re ever on a PHAS walk and have an eBird question, please ask one of the walk leaders.
We saw 41 species that morning including nesting Bald Eagles, American Kestrel, White-crowned Sparrow, Winter Wren and some early signs of spring such as singing Red-winged Blackbirds. Checklist can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131178012
To learn more about eBird, please visit their website: https://ebird.org/about Visit our chapter’s eBird website at https://ebird.org/profile/MTQxNjM5Mw/US-NY-091