Black Dirt Farms - Orange County NY
Sod and Onion fields in the Black Dirt Region. Nikon Zfc with Z 24-70 mm lens, 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO 200
Today, we venture out to the Black Dirt Region of Orange County in New York. The Black Dirt Region, located in Pine Island, NY, is known for its unique agricultural practices and rich, dark soil, which is a result of centuries of glacial processes in the region. The area, historically recognized for its fertile land, is well known for its diverse crops, including onions, potatoes, and various vegetables. Farmers in this region often utilize sustainable farming techniques that promote ecological balance and soil health.
This area is popular among birders in Orange County for it winter visitors such as Snow buntings, Horned larks, Pipits, Lapland longspurs, and Snow geese. Rarer migrants include the Short-eared owl and even an occasional Snowy owl. Other predators such as Northern harriers, Rough-legged hawks, Red-tail hawks and American kestrels find these grounds ideal hunting areas and are often seen foraging for prey in the fields.
I was hoping to find some of the larks and buntings today especially since we have had significant recent rainfall. The precipitation attracts these birds as the rainfall percolating down through the soil drives insects and worms up to the surface making for easy pickings. While I did not find any of these birds today, the raptors were out in the fields and my first encounter was one which I have never experienced before. As I drove onto Skinners Lane, I spotted an American kestrel flying down low and close to my vehicle. I grabbed the Nikon Z8 from its perch on the seat besides me, but as luck would have it, the bird was quicker than I was and she was out of sight by the time the camera got up to eye level. I put the camera back down on the seat, and to my amazement, the kestrel flew up to SUV and perched on the side-view mirror! A beautiful female in great plumage, I could not wait to capture this image if only with my phone. As before, however, the bird quickly took flight as I drew the phone up to grab the shot. All was not lost, however, as the kestrel flew back around the rear of the vehicle and hovered for a moment along the driver’s side of the car. Finally, I was able to grab at least a parting shot of her.
Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 180-600 lens @600mm. 1/1250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
The only other sighting of note was a fine looking Red-tailed hawk sitting on the roadside on Missionland Road. I drove slowly by, turned in on a side street and looked back to see the buteo still sitting there. I quickly got off a shot before heading away to avoid oncoming cars. While I think this bird will be just fine, it was a precarious place for him to be positioned. I had, in fact, seen the remains of another red-tail which had not been so lucky earlier in the day along the roadside - a casualty of a car strike.
Tech Tip - Admittedly, I had to lighten up my shot of the kestrel using LightRoom Classic software. The camera had underexposed the bird since the predominant light source was the sky. The meter read the brightness of the sky and did not compensate for the darker bird against the bright background. Had I been set up to photograph birds-in-flight, I would have set my exposure compensation for +2. The sky would have been overexposed, but the bird would have been just about right. As it turned out, the post-processing in LightRoom worked fine.
Learn more about how to photograph birds against a bright sky by clicking on the YouTube tutorial below….
