Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a tour of the Vanderbilt Mansion. I have come to this site for years, but I had never taken the tour before! I’ve always been too busy chasing wildlife. 
I was thrilled to hear that they allowed non-flash photography within the mansion, but with my good camera beginning to show signs that repairs are imminent, I opted to bring the point and shoot camera.
Green Chimneys will be hosting their annual ‘With Wings and a Prayer’ Birds of Prey Day in Brewster, New York on Sunday, June 3rd. This is a great event to get great looks and photographs of eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls. There are plenty of other activities going during the day as well.
For more information on the event, go to Green Chimney’s Birds of Prey Day Page!
I’ve been spending some time updating the ‘Life List’ & ‘Wildlife of Dutchess County’ sections on my site. With so many photos taken this year and a few new birds to boot, there are plenty of things that could use an update. 
My First SLR
It is still a work in progress, but I definitely have quite a bit written to share so far. Everything you will read about is prior to Local Exploration’s existence at this point in time. It’s not entirely about cameras either, but also the guide books and websites I’ve used as well. Any highlighted equipment is also linked to Amazon.com for those interested in the technical specifications.
Local Exploration’s Equipment History Page
If you haven’t been to this gem of a place in Millbrook, you don’t know what you are missing.
There is so much to explore and photograph at Innisfree Garden, you would need a full day (possibly more) to appreciate it. With only two hours, I tried to capture the key scenery that I could make it to.
There is a small fee to enter the garden. For more information, visit the Innisfree Garden website.
Warbling Vireo (slightly leucistic?)
A visit to Innisfree Garden last Saturday was supposed to be all about the scenery (photos to come from that later), but those darn birds are everywhere!
I had a few highlights, including some mallard ducklings and yellow-throated vireos. The one that really stood out to me was the photo you see here.
This bird was brought to my attention on Facebook, when a photo was posted that we couldn’t ID. Turned out to be this warbling vireo with a white patch on his head! The field marks on his head were obscured by the patch, but I confirmed the ID when I heard him sing. The white patch is from a genetic mutation known as leucism.
I am no expert on leucism, but I found a real interesting article explaining it better here. For the rest of the wildlife photos from the day, read on.
Chestnut-sided Warbler
The 14th was the last day of my stay-cation, and it looks like the best was saved for last. It wasn’t a particularly busy birding day, but the few birds that we spotted were the most fulfilling.
The blackpoll warbler sighting was nice, but the true sighting of the day, and quite possibly the year, was a second look at the rare white-eyed vireo! This time around, I got an exceptional view followed by a few photos that I am really happy with. What a fitting way to end the five day stretch of bird watching and photography!
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