Timber!!

I spent this morning birding with the New York State Young Birders Club on our June trip to Doodletown, with the Edgar Mearns Bird Club. Doodletown is a spot in Rockland County, located right on the Hudson. It's famous as the best spot for breeding Cerulean and Hooded Warblers near New York City. This trip, we spotted both, as well as Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and a bunch of other species. We also saw a lot of insects, including 4 life dragonflies (Prince Baskettail, Painted Skimmer, Unicorn Clubtail, Stream Cruiser). But the undisputed highlight of the day was a Timber Rattlesnake that we encountered resting on a old stone wall. We knew that they were in the area (albeit rare), but we didn't really have high expectations until Brendan, seeing the wall, said "This looks like a good spot for...TIMBER RATTLESNAKE!! Right there!"

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