Rare Bird Alert!
by Barbara Michelin

August 2002
  

On June 28 Sue Infante showed me a new area to bird at Beacon Landing, Scenic Hudson's property, just south of the Beacon train station. While scanning the Hudson River shoreline we found 2 Double-crested Cormorants and to our surprise a lone Brant. On our way back to our cars we heard a Black-billed Cuckoo but could not find it. Instead, while looking at the nearby trees, Sue noticed a nest and a bird coming to it. We stood and watched for a few minutes and an Orchard Oriole came in and sat on the nest. There were also Baltimore Orioles feeding young in a tree over our cars. We had a nice variety of birds and some surprises. Thanks Sue. We will now include this area in our field trip schedule.

This bird, photographed several days later, may or may not have been the Lesser Black-backed Gull that was seen on June 30 and July 31.

Dot Fleury called me on June 30 to say she had been seeing a Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Chelsea Yacht Club. It had been there for about a week. Allan and I went down the next afternoon on July 1 to confirm the gull she had been seeing. Out in the river near the south dock a gull was floating and preening on a warm, sunny afternoon. We noticed the bill, the smaller head size and the slate gray color of the body with white underparts. It came onto the shoreline for a brief time while we went back to the car to get our scope for a closer look. Just as we returned the gull went back into the water and we were not able to see its yellow legs. The leg color would have confirmed the gull. But from all we observed we were sure it was a Lesser Black-backed Gull. When I got home, I made some calls to some members living close to Chelsea. Gary and Adrienne Zylkuski and Steve Golladay went over after work and confirmed what they saw was a Lesser Black-backed Gull although it was now much farther out in the river. Thanks Gary, Adrienne and Steve for your help. Barbara Butler went the next morning but the gull had moved on.

Great Egrets in Pawling, 7/21/02

Three Great Egrets were observed on July 21 in Pawling by Carena Pooth and Pat Vreatt.

Two species were recorded for the first time as breeding in Dutchess County this year--Common Merganser and Northern Parula. Eleanor Pink saw a Common Merganser with young on Wappingers Creek in May. On July 26, Carena Pooth also saw an adult Common Merganser with one chick swimming on the Ten Mile River just east of Lime Kiln Road in Dover (this was also the first ever July record of Common Merganser in the county). On the June 12 field trip to Deep Hollow, a Northern Parula nest was found and an adult was seen carrying food to the nest. Barbara Butler again saw the pair taking food to the nest on June 14.

In August, early migration will start. On Wednesday July 31 I had 42 Killdeer at Stringham Town park on Stringham road. So be on the lookout for shorebirds, as they heard south. Yellow Warblers and Broad-winged Hawks will also be leaving soon.

Enjoy birding the rest of the summer and call Barbara Butler or myself if you have a rare bird sighting.

Wings Over Dutchess, August 2002

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