[nysbirds-l] Saranac Lake and Bloomingdale Field Trip Report (Essex & Franklin Counties)
Sue and I have spent the last few days birding in the Saranac/Bloomingdale area. Friday morning we managed to get in about two hours birding before the heavy snow limited visibility and forced us inside. Many of the feeders we checked had Common Redpoll, between 25-125 birds. Other than the Redpolls we saw very little else. Early Saturday morning we saw what appeared to be the sun, and the day started out auspiciously when we walked out of our room at the Adirondack Motel in Saranac Lake and saw six Bohemian Waxwings in the top of a deciduous tree. We then headed to some of the same feeders we looked at on Friday. On Swinyer Road north of Bloomingdale we heard Evening Grosbeaks behind a home but were unable to locate them (we did meet a very suspicious homeowner, however). The feeders that had had Common Redpolls the day before were very quiet, so we proceeded to Bigelow Road. We hiked down Bigelow Road, which was surprisingly free of snowmobiles, encountering a few Hairy Woodpeckers tapping along the way. While chasing down the Hairy's, Sue noticed a female Black-backed Woodpecker working on a Spruce. Shortly after that we encountered a few Black-capped Chickadees accompanied by two silent Boreal Chickadees. We then moved on to Bloomingdale Bog, walking on the south trail where we found two more non-calling Boreal Chickadees about a quarter of a mile in. South of the bridge we noticed three Gray Jays sitting quietly in a spruce. This time we were armed with both peanuts (unsalted) and sunflower seed. In previous visits to the bog, the Jays just about mugged you for a handout. Today, they were totally disinterested. From Bloomingdale Bog we headed northeast on Route 3 and got on Norman Ridge Road, a road with many fields and scattered farm buildings that today with all the snow looked like a scene out of the movie Dr. Zhivago. We noticed about sixty birds sitting on the roof of a farm building - Snow Buntings. A different experience than seeing them swirling through the dunes on the south shore of Long Island! Ken & Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Saranac Lake and Bloomingdale Field Trip Report (Essex Franklin Counties)
Sue and I have spent the last few days birding in the Saranac/Bloomingdale area. Friday morning we managed to get in about two hours birding before the heavy snow limited visibility and forced us inside. Many of the feeders we checked had Common Redpoll, between 25-125 birds. Other than the Redpolls we saw very little else. Early Saturday morning we saw what appeared to be the sun, and the day started out auspiciously when we walked out of our room at the Adirondack Motel in Saranac Lake and saw six Bohemian Waxwings in the top of a deciduous tree. We then headed to some of the same feeders we looked at on Friday. On Swinyer Road north of Bloomingdale we heard Evening Grosbeaks behind a home but were unable to locate them (we did meet a very suspicious homeowner, however). The feeders that had had Common Redpolls the day before were very quiet, so we proceeded to Bigelow Road. We hiked down Bigelow Road, which was surprisingly free of snowmobiles, encountering a few Hairy Woodpeckers tapping along the way. While chasing down the Hairy's, Sue noticed a female Black-backed Woodpecker working on a Spruce. Shortly after that we encountered a few Black-capped Chickadees accompanied by two silent Boreal Chickadees. We then moved on to Bloomingdale Bog, walking on the south trail where we found two more non-calling Boreal Chickadees about a quarter of a mile in. South of the bridge we noticed three Gray Jays sitting quietly in a spruce. This time we were armed with both peanuts (unsalted) and sunflower seed. In previous visits to the bog, the Jays just about mugged you for a handout. Today, they were totally disinterested. From Bloomingdale Bog we headed northeast on Route 3 and got on Norman Ridge Road, a road with many fields and scattered farm buildings that today with all the snow looked like a scene out of the movie Dr. Zhivago. We noticed about sixty birds sitting on the roof of a farm building - Snow Buntings. A different experience than seeing them swirling through the dunes on the south shore of Long Island! Ken Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
