11/11/10 This afternoon my wife Danika and I found a BOREAL CHICKADEE on Cook Hill Road in the Partridge Run WMA in Southwest Albany County. We had just come across 2 RED CROSSBILLS up the road and had the windows down driving slowly, as we passed a small Beaver Pond, it was then that I heard the slow, raspy "Sick-a-jay-jay" call of a Boreal Chickadee (we had just been discussing how these birds seem to be irrupting to places like Coney Island and Massachusetts), stopping the car, we quickly found the bird actively feeding very low to the ground in the weedy area next to beaver pond. The bird was alone, but gave us several good looks, showing the brown cap, rusty sides, gray breast and the plain colored gray/brown back. Because it was mid afternoon, in deep forest, we didn't have a whole lot of light to work with, but we were able to get some at least satisfactory pictures. It called several more times, before a flock of Black-Capped Chickadees moved in and the Boreal retreated deeper into the woods. The habitat was perfect for a Boreal Chickadee, It looked better than some of the places I've seen them in the Adirondacks. We continued our tour around, stopping every time we heard chickadees only to find Black-Capped Chickadees, our total count of Black-Caps was in the "dozens" easily. Also good numbers of Brown Creeper, a lone Red-breasted Nuthatch and the usual plethora of Ruffed Grouse drumming. For anyone thinking of looking for it, good luck. The area is huge, inaccessible and also has many active hunters. It possible the bird may stay in that area, but I think it is more likely to join up with a flock of Black-Capped Chickadees and start roaming around. Your best bet is to look over all your Chickadees, but we all do that already... Right? Google Maps location of where the bird was seen on Cook Hill Road: 42.559158,-74.211603 Image # 1 - bird is facing away, but you can see the rusty sides and plain colored back http://www.flickr.com/photos/danikabelle/5168044905/ Image # 2 - Profile View, wished it was about 2 feet over in about the only patch of sunlight. http://www.flickr.com/photos/danikabelle/5168649344/ Good Birding, Will and Danika Raup Albany, NY --
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