Break-a-hundred: Part I

Eastern phoebe - Bashakill - 5/8/26

This promises to be a long day of birding as we have a 24 hour period during which we have to find as many bird species as possible. We’ll begin at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in Mamakating, New York. As we head into the reserve down Haven’s Road, we can hear the dawn chorus emanating through the forest on both sides of the road. We’ll begin by hiking down the trail to the bird blind. We can hear a good number of birds which we check off on our list. As long as both of us can hear and identify the bird, it’s a good check. It’s always a major plus to see the bird as well, so when we found the Eastern phoebe perched above us, it was all the more sweet to put that check on the list.

Next stop is the Orchard Trail leading down to the Stop Sign Trail. All along this stretch, we hear and see bird activity.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker - Bashakill - 5/8/26

As we walk the trail, we hear the loud drumming of a nearby woodpecker. The drumming begins loud and rapid, but eventually trails off in amplitude and frequency. That alone leads us to believe we are listening to a Yellow-bellied sapsucker and sure enough, we quickly locate the bird and confirm out suspicions. Sapsucker it is.

We can hear and add to our list a Common gallinule, a quick look at the most handsome Rose-breasted grosbeak, and Yellow warblers. As we exit the Stop Sign Trail, we can hear a Black and White warbler which is close by. With a little patience, the bird appears above us for easy identification.

Black and white warbler - Bashakill - 5/7/26

Another bird that is easily heard but not that easy to spot is the Red-eyed vireo. We hear the constant singing of this bird as well as the similar but raspier song of the Yellow-throated vireo, but we can’t lay an eye on either. Eventually, Joe spots the Red-eye high up in the canopy and while not offering a great look, I can get a good enough shot of the bird for documentary purposes.

Red-eyed vireo - Bashakill - 5/7/26

As we leave the Orchard, we cross Haven’s Road to check on a small wooden bridge crossing over a small stream where we have found Louisiana Waterthrush over the years. As soon as we approach the bridge, we can hear the bird and find it located high above us on a bare limb. It’s not a real common bird for us, so we hang out a bit to get good looks and a couple of decent photos and even a short video.

The Bash has a lot to offer, so we can’t spend any more time enjoying the waterthrush. We’ll head down to the Boat Launch where we do get a distant but clear perched Bald eagle to add to our list. We’ll move on to the Nature Trail . We had heard that the trail may be too wet to be negotiated, but that turned out not to be the case. As we began our trek along that trail, we encountered a Least flycatcher which we have had at this location before. At first, there was no vocalizing, so it was difficult to positively id this bird since there are an entire group of empidonax flycatchers which all look remarkably alike. This species is slightly smaller than the other “empies”, but unless you see them side by side, size is difficult to differentiate . Eventually, we did get the tell-tale call of “che-bec” which distinguishes this bird from its close relatives.

Least flycatcher - Bashakill - 5/8/26

We did some other warblers such as the Prairie which we had to id by song alone. A Veery was also spotted here, but too distant for any photo chance. Blue-gray gnatchers were also heard with some difficulty for me, their call being so weak. The sighting of the day, however, was the Little blue heron we spotted with the help of local expert Scottie. It gave us great looks during an abbreviated flight right at us…..great look, but too fleeting for me to capture any images. We had 5 of us watching, however, so no-one doubts the veracity of this sighting. A rare bird for this region.

Broad-winged hawk - Bashakill - 5/8/26

Just a few more areas of the Baskakill to check out before we head on to the next site. The “Horseshoe Tail” provided us with a hawk sighting as soon as we emerged from the car. Fortunately, I had my camera at the ready and was able to capture the image seen above. The Broad-winged hawk is listed as “Uncommon” during the spring months on the Mearns checklist for Orange County, so finding this bird is a good addition to our list for the day. Last Saturday, we had great looks at the Virginia Rail here, Surely he will be here again today, right? Well birds have wings as they say, and this bird has flown. No rail for us today. We do get our Orchard oriole, however, which means we can forego heading back to Iona Island.

Common yellowthroat - Bashakill - 5/8/26

One more bird of note before departing from the Bash. The Common yellowthroat was another bird we heard several times along the trails we had hiked along this morning. Finally, my hawk-eyed friend Joe spotted this bird lurking in the low shrubs and fortunately, this individual decided to perch on a bare branch, making it perfect for a nice photo. The cloudy skies this morning have muted the colors of many of these photos today, but the brilliant yellow of this species stands out vividly. Nice way to end up the morning before heading east for the afternoon chapter of the ‘“Break-a-hundred”. And so, it’s off the Goshen and the 6 ½ Station Road Trail.