Hamilton, Essex, and Franklin Counties
I continue to find Red and White-winged Crossbills in the central - northern Adirondack areas. Red Crossbills are widespread (on 8/10, calling Red Crossbills flew over the Round Lake Trail in Long Lake). White-winged Crossbills have been found in Bloomingdale locations, North Hudson along the Blueridge Road, Tahawus Road in Newcomb, and the Spring Pond Bog Preserve in Tupper Lake. Within the past week, female Red Crossbills have been observed with males, so it is likely the young are old enough to be left alone in nests now. I have not yet observed a fledgling, but expect to see one any day. Red Crossbills appear to be feeding exclusively on Tamarack cones. White-winged Crossbills often perch in the Tamaracks, and I've observed them foraging on Tamarack cones with Red Crossbills. But I haven't observed a lot of White-winged Crossbill foraging behavior. The Tupper Lake Sandhill Cranes were observed on 8/14/17 along Dugal Road (N) feeding in tall vegetation, so you could only see their heads. We only saw 3 (one juvenile) - hopefully, the second juvenile was out of sight for some reason. Also on 8/14/17, the Virginia Rail family was still at Shaw Pond in Long Lake, along with a singing Northern Waterthrush and calling Merlin! Flycatchers, including Olive-sided, were abundant in a remote wetland in the Spring Pond Bog Preserve in Tupper Lake. Since we no longer have dogs, I've been feeding Wild Turkeys for the past couple years outside our home. Wild Turkey behavior, especially male behavior, is fascinating and often very comical. The dominant male spends a lot of time attacking our cars trying to get rid of the other male he "sees"! It is relentless behavior and I often can't even chase him away! Out birding on 8/14/17 (beautiful day!) in the Long Lake - Newcomb - Minerva - North Hudson - Tupper Lake area, we found the following 61 species: Canada Goose Wood Duck - many Mallard Wild Turkey - many Pied-billed Grebe - 2 at Shaw Pond Rock Pigeon Ruby-throated Hummingbird Virginia Rail - several at Shaw Pond! Sandhill Crane - 3 along Dugal Road in Tupper Lake (only one juvenile observed - hopefully, the 2nd one was just out of sight) Killdeer - heard at Shaw Pond Ring-billed Gull Common Loon - 2 on Simon Pond in Tupper Lake American Bittern - 1 observed flying over the marsh in Tupper Lake Great Blue Heron - many! Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle - juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - drumming Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 drumming and calling along the Blueridge Road Northern Flicker Merlin - heard at Shaw Pond Olive-sided Flycatcher - calling and singing in a remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - observed at the remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve Alder Flycatcher - observed at the remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve Eastern Phoebe - observed at the remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Gray Jay - 5 (2 at the Round Lake Trailhead and 3 at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake) Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee - 11! (6 along the Blueridge Road and 5 at the Newcomb Marsh - nice views here!) Red-breasted Nuthatch Winter Wren - calling at the remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve Golden-crowned Kinglet Swainson's Thrush - several along the Hudson River eating berries (with Hermit Thrushes and Amer. Robins) Hermit Thrush - several (one observed along the Hudson River) some singing American Robin Gray Catbird - Newcomb marsh European Starling - Tupper Lake Cedar Waxwing Purple Finch - several Red Crossbill - many! (8 along the Blueridge Road, 6 at the Newcomb Marsh and more flying around) White-winged Crossbill - at least 2 along the Blueridge Road and at least 2 at the remote marsh at the Spring Pond Bog Preserve - nice views of 2 different males! American Goldfinch Northern Waterthrush - dawn singing at Shaw Pond! Black-and-white Warbler - nice view Nashville Warbler - nice views Common Yellowthroat - many Magnolia Warbler - nice view Chestnut-sided Warbler - juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler Canada Warbler - lovely views! Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow - some still singing White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Scarlet Tanager - one female in Tupper Lake Joan Collins President, NYS Ornithological Association Editor, New York Birders Long Lake, NY (315) 244-7127 cell (518) 624-5528 home http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/ http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
