Fall at Kenridge

‍ ‍One of our favorite fall birding locations in the Hudson Valley is the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum located in Cornwall, NY. Those of us who have birded this site for a number of years commonly refer to this location as it was known in the past….Kenridge Farm.

Kenridge in the Autumn

I birded the area today with a group of 7 other birders from the Mearns Bird Club. We began this chilly but clear day at the field adjacent to the dog park which is located at the northern edge of the preserve. This area used to be wonderful for grassland birds and was a haven for species such as Field sparrows. In the last several years, however, the town has taken to mowing the field. While this has indeed changed the immediate habitat, the surrounding edges of the field still provide a suitable venue for many species of songbirds. In about a half hour this morning, we came up with 17 species by panning along the woodland perimeter. Many of the birds such as the Eastern bluebird in the image below were seen perched high in the tops of the trees.

Eastern bluebird - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

Others perched atop the cedars included the House finches……

House finch - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

…..and this Wood thrush!

Wood thrush - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

Moving down onto the main campus of the preserve, we had a constant flow of various species feeding on the seeds and berries provided by the fall vegetation. The fall warblers migrating through were primarily Yellow-rumped warblers and Palm warblers.

Yellow-rumped warbler - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

European starlings were in abundance (as always!), but we often take this bird for granted due to its ubiquitous nature. Most of the birds we saw today, however, were adorned in their new plumage with bright white dots speckled across their iridescent purple/greenish coat. As the season progresses, these white spots will wear off and the birds will take on a pure dark appearance.

European starling in fresh plumage - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

We had 4 species of woodpeckers on our walk this morning. The Pileated was heard calling loudly as was the Red-bellied. This Yellow-bellied sapsucker is always a treat to behold and we all had wonderful looks.

Yellow-bellied sapsucker - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

At one point, we approached a Downy woodpecker which was busy pecking away at black walnuts.

Downy pecking at Black walnuts - Kenridge Farm - 10//10/26

Eventually she had enough of the bitter rind and moved on to something a bit more palatable (I assume)

Downy woodpecker - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

Last but not least were the sparrows. House sparrows were of course around, but it was the White-throated sparrows that were the most prominent species, making their presence known with their “Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada” refrains. Plenty of Song sparrows were found along the way as well.

Song sparrow - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

And one of our final species of the day which we found out along the edge of the Muskrat Pond was the Swamp sparrow.

Swam sparrow - Kenridge Farm - 10/10/26

And so our morning here at Kenridge Farm came to an end after close to 4 hours of hiking around this beautiful preserve. Kenridge has always proven to be one of the gems of Orange County and we enjoyed this beautiful morning with our fellow birders at this beautiful location. Final count was 35 species with almost all of those being well seen as heard. A fine day of birding!