Today we birded Orange County in search of migrating shorebirds. However,
we also discovered hurricane Irene had left the black dirt region of Orange
County in a sad state of flooding. Most crops were destroyed, farmed
fields were transformed into lakes, and some areas are left smelling like
rotting onions. My best wishes go out to the farmers and I hope they can
recover
from their loss of crops.
On a happier note, we went to go check out Mission Lands* Road to
follow up on previous reports by some of the local birding experts. We found
some other birders a ways down the road who were looking at a beautiful
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (the coolest bird on the east coast! (arguably)) on a
grassy patch no more than 60 ft away. We continued to explore the area and
found 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 3 White-rumped Sandpipers, ~100 Least Sandpipers,
~60 Killdeer, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, and ~3 of each Greater and Lesser
Yellowlegs. We continued on to Wallkill NWR where we found a previously
reported
Cattle Egret in the impoundment. It was difficult to find at first but
there were moments when it stuck its head and most of its body above the
grass.
Good birding
-Lewis Lolya & Michael Lolya
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