With a free Friday morning to explore our local areas some more, my wife and I decided to celebrate our anniversary with some bird watching and hiking (in the single-digit degree weather). We really loved seeing the Short-Eared Owls last year at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge and decided to see if we could catch them out hunting in the early morning.
While we had no luck with them, we were still able to see a lot of our local songbirds, including various Finches, Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, Nuthatches and more. Just when we were giving up for the morning, we spotted a Red-Shouldered Hawk off to the side of the road and to our surprise, it just hung out as we got out of the car and snagged the camera.
Sony A7IV, 200-600 G
American Goldfinch and House Finches
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Dark-Eyed Junco & Tree Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
