The Silloway Count (PartII)

Osprey

We grabbed lunch at the gazebo at Brooks Lake between the hike through Doodletown and the ride around Iona Island. More than 40 Canada geese were scattered across the pond and showed little interest when an osprey flew down close to the surface before ascending into the sky above. Two ospreys have built a nest on top of the north west tower of nearby Bear Mountain Bridge, and we have to assume that this is one of those birds. An osprey showed up over Iona later in the day and it was again more than likely one of this pair. So great to see such a beautiful bird take up residence in this area.

Along the edge of the pond, there are always dragonflies at this time of year. As the summer becomes warmer, their presence will become more and more frequent as will the variety of odonates. This photo is of an Eastern pondhawk perched on a piece of granite near the water’s edge. The Eastern pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a striking dragonfly commonly found near freshwater habitats such as ponds and marshes throughout eastern North America. Pondhawks are adept hunters, preying on various insects, including mosquitoes and other small flies. Their presence signals a healthy ecosystem, reflecting the quality of the aquatic environments they inhabit.

The dominant bird of the marsh has to be the Great blue heron. As adults, this bird is at the top of the food chain. It will feed on virtually anything that moves…fish, baby birds, snakes…..I’ve even witnessed one eating a fairly good sized turtle! This heron was along the causeway and greeted us upon our entry onto Iona island.

As we drove our truck around to the east side of the island, we came across one of the target birds of the day….the Blue grosbeak. The bird gave us plenty of good looks but did remain at a fair distance. We had seen reports of the grosbeak earlier and not being exactly common in these parts, we were excited to see the bird on the dirt road in front of us. The Blue grosbeak has a thick bill as the name implies, and they are deep blue with cinnamon wing bars making them hard to misidentify. During breeding season, the Blue grosbeak is considered to be common in the Delmarva peninsula to Uncommon up into New Jersey. Here in Southeastern New York, we are actually out of its normal range. But the bird’s range has been expanding northward over the past couple of decades, so we may begin to see more of him in the future.

As we watched the grosbeak’s movements, a mature Bald eagle flew into a nearby tree next to an immature bird. The contrast in plumage from a young eagle to an adult is pronounced. I takes close to 5 years for an immature bird to go from its chocolate brown mottled appearance to the bold white head and tail feathers. After fledging, young eagles will often hang around the nest with its parents for a considerable time. The young bird pictured below showed little signs of wanting to strike off on its own.

As we watched the adult and juvenile eagles, the Osprey flew in and harassed the adult, driving it off to another tree further down the island. We were far from the bridge where the osprey has its nest, so why the osprey felt it necessary to drive the eagle further south only the osprey knows. There is always some adventure to be had when watching the show Mother Nature puts on.

Later, we walked down along the railroad tracks that run along the west side of the island in an attempt to see if we could document any Marsh wrens in the marsh that fills the area between Iona and the mainland. We did in fact hear the song of the wren, but he was too deep in the cattails to see him clearly. The marsh has been in a stage of restoration over the past few years with invasive phragmites being removed and replaced with the native vegetation. Since the reintroduction of cattails, the wrens have grown in number and birds such as Virginia rails and Sora have made an encore appearance. Quite a success story for the project.

Male Orchard oriole

Two final images of some of the birds spotted during our Silloway Count at Iona this afternoon included the Orchard oriole seen above and the Cedar waxwing below. Orchard orioles can often be found on the Island, and we were pleased to get him as a part of the official count today. Another late afternoon sighting was the Cedar waxwing. Earlier this afternoon, a flock of more than 50 had been seen flying between Bear Mountain and Iona. Finding this one so close and so well illuminated made the final shot of the day all the more rewarding. Final count of today’s inventory was over 100 species of birds counted by our teams across the parks. Weather was great, animals all cooperated, and the joy of being out in the woods with fellow nature enthusiasts made for another wonderful day in the State Parks.

Cedar waxwing