Date: 7/24/26 8:13 am From: David Harrison via groups.io <David.harrison57...> Subject: Re: [hmbirds] Upcoming field trip:
The July 18 club trip to Washington County was attended by the ever intrepid Neal Reilly. We met at the Malta Medical facility off Rte. 67 and, after waiting several minutes for anyone who might be a little late, headed off to Martins Pond west of Granville to try our luck finding the long-staying Trumpeter Swan. Upon our arrival around 7:30, we immediately saw something big and white at the back side of the wetland. Out came the scopes, and we quickly confirmed that the bird was "the" Trumpeter Swan - a very good bird for the region. After taking some phone photos through telescopes, we began scanning the rest of the wetland and were rewarded with a couple Solitary Sandpipers - one of our earliest "fall" migrants on their way south. Wood Ducks seemed to be everywhere on the pond and we also enjoyed the sight of one of the Great Blue Herons perched at the tippy-top of a White Pine tree along the back edge of the wetland.
After 45 minutes or so, we moved on to the Whitehall area. A quick stop in town helped pad the list with some "city birds" before we continued to the East Bay Wildlife Management Area on the Vermont border. We hoped to find some marsh birds here and did fairly well with a vocalizing Virginia Rail, a few Common Gallinules and a sneaky Least Bittern that I managed to miss. The morning was moving along, so we did so as well.
Our next stop was at the Rte. 22 bridge over the South Bay, a large body of water off the Poultney River. The target bird here was Cliff Swallow. They had been reported earlier in the year and I strongly suspected they were nesting under the bridge. We were delighted to find at least 3 of this species mixed in with the Barn Swallows. As we lingered in the area, Neal spotted a couple Caspian Terns, an unexpected treat! We enjoyed watching their graceful flight for several minutes before continuing on to our next stop.
Pike Brook Road climbs up toward the Black Mountain trailhead, following a stream most of the way and offering the opportunity for some higher elevation birdlife. We drove slowly up the road, listening for pockets of activity and stopping whenever we heard birds. Some of the highlights were Broad-winged Hawk (being harassed by a flock of Blue Jays), Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-White Warblers, Black-throated Green Warbler and Canada Warbler. We were starting to experience some periods of rain and had birded well past Noon, but decided to continue on to the end of the road, which terminated at Lake George in the small community of Hulett Landing. As expected, a couple Common Loons were visible out on the lake, but little else was showing, so we decided to call it a day. On the way back on Pike Brook Road, a Wild Turkey at 2:24 became species number 73 for the day - not bad for mid July!
The trip report is available on e-bird and is public. I'd attach a link if I knew how!
David Harrison
Milford, NJ
