Fall Foliage and Raptor Migration Hike at Sterling Forest...Birding Dude

On Sunday October 26th, I volunteered as an assistant on a NYC Audubon Fall foliage and Raptor migration trip to Sterling Forest; our hike leaders were Don Riepe and John and Mary Yrizarry.   Sterling Forest, located in Tuxedo New York is one of the success stories of environmental conservation and is now a State Park comprising of over 17,953 acres of nearly pristine natural refuge amidst of one of the nation's most densely populated areas.   I was looking forward to our trip and hoped that this time around I might see a Pileated Woodpecker.   Our group assembled in front of the NYC Audubon headquarters on 71 West 23rd St(6th Ave) and boarded a rental Van, which was driven by Don…we also used Don’s car, which I drove.

We had clear skies and the temperature was just about right for a good hike with the expectation that it would be a few degrees cooler at Sterling Forest.   We left Manhattan around, 10:15 a.m. and got to Sterling Forest around 11:30 a.m.    Along the way, we saw Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures, Blue-Jays, Starlings, a Northern Harrier, Red-tail hawks and a possible immature Bald Eagle.   It just so happened, that our first notable sighting as we pulled into the parking lot at the Frank R. Lautenberg Visitor Center was a Bald Eagle, which was high up with a few Turkey Vultures hovering nearby.   While I did see the white head and concurred that it was a Bald Eagle, I did not get any looks through the binoculars as mine was still in my backpack, which was in the car trunk and by the time I had retrieved them, the Eagle had flown out of sight.   Nevertheless, I took it as a sign of possibly good things to come.

Once we got the parking out of the way, we met our host and co-tour leader John Yrizarry.   This was my third time going on a hike with John and I have found him to be an excellent naturalist and birder who enjoys sharing his knowledge of Sterling Forest.   We also learned that John's partner Mary his wife, was not going to participate in the walk, which was too bad because they make such an excellent team.   John and Mary are wonderful hosts and are very much a part of the history of Sterling Forest, since they were involved in the effort in saving Sterling Forest from being overrun by developers.  Even though we were going to miss Mary, we were in capable hands with John.

After tending to a much needed bathroom break for some, we ended up boarding our vehicles and headed to our first hiking location.  During our first trail walk, we saw Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-Jays, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Pine Siskins, a Comma Butterfly and several dragonflies, including a female Common Green Darner (Anjax junius) and what appeared to be Band-Winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum). We then deviated off of the trail towards another trail leading to a pond…where John had reportedly seen a number of Pine Siskins.   On our way, we saw a Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, Hermit Thrush and Red-tailed Hawks; we also had a treat of watching Pine Siskins drinking from pools of water that had formed on the ground from recent rain fall.  The group, all had really good looks of the Pine Siskins and also enjoyed the display of the Black-capped chickadee who was feeding on the seeds of Common mullein (Verbascim thapsus) completely oblivious to our presence.   Throughout the walk, John also talked about the plants and their importance to wildlife; one unusual plant he showed us was some type of Crotalaria, which is a plant genus of the legume family Fabaceae, that is referred to as Rattle box or Rattle plant.

Soon we arrived at the pond and immediately saw swamp and white-throated sparrows foraging on the ground.   As we got closer to the edge of the pond, I noted several Eastern Phoebes working the edge of the pond.   One of them was very cooperative in giving us close and excellent views.  While observing the Phoebes, we came across Eastern Bluebirds, which at first was thought to be one, but ended being about 7-8 of them.  The group all had good looks and for some, it was a life bird.   While the group were getting their fill of the Bluebirds, John had moved further in along edge of the pond on the left of where the groups was and indicated that he might have heard a wren.  I headed over in his direction and John then indicated to me that he spotted a Purple Finch.  I got in a bit closer and got some shots of the Purple Finch…at the same time I realized that moving to where John was had brought me closer to the Bluebirds and I was able to get some decent shots amidst the branches.  By then, it was around 2:30 p.m. and it was decided that the group needed to break for lunch.

On the way back to where we were parked we observed Chipping Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, a Fox Sparrow, Pine Siskins and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Some of us while waiting by the vehicles noted a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Cooopers Hawk, several Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks. Eventually, we headed back over to the visitor’s center where we ate lunch; John and I sat around the back of the visitor’s center and had a good time multi-tasking (eating and birding) and observing the flock of Pine Siskins that was feasting on the Hemlock seeds.  It was during this time that John and I saw our first Merlin of the day.  After about half an hour we decided to head out for our second hike of the day, which would take us around Sterling Forest Lake.  I was eagerly looking forward to this part of the walk because there was evidence of a Pileated or Pileateds at work near the lake and while the chances were slim that I would see one, I still hoped.  We got to the lake and while we did not see or hear the Pileated, we took in the beauty of the lake and observed a Belted Kingfisher; while looking at the Kingfisher, John called out in his traditional way that usually gets the group excited, “I think I got a good one.”   Indeed he had, as "the good one" turned out to be a Hooded Merganser.  One of the birders Joe who had a scope was summoned and John had the scope focus on the Hooded Merganser and everyone got really good looks...it was a lifer for some and we all thanked Joe for walking with his scope.  While observing the Hooded Merganser, we also noted Wood Ducks and Ring-necked Ducks in the lake, which were also very good sightings.

John, then decided that we should head over to another lake, named Eagle Lake and there we got excellent views of Wood Ducks and Mute Swans.  During our time there we also saw, Red-tailed Hawks, a Red Breasted Nuthatch, a Northern Mocking Bird, Pine Siskins, White-throated Sparrows, American Robins and Canada Geese.  By this time the light was rapidly fading, so we thanked John for a magnificent hike and headed back to New York City.  I cannot wait for my next visit to Sterling Forest, perhaps on my next trip I will get to see the elusive Pileated Woodpecker...John, has promised me one.

Here are some photos from the trip.