Massawepie Mire, Southeastern St. Lawrence Co., overcast with occasional brief showers
Ten people took part in the NYS Ornithological Association's field trip to Massawepie Mire on Saturday. (Sorry for the delayed post, but I am with a family member in the hospital in Albany.) With all the recent rain deluges, the road in was washed out in places (but still traversable) and the dirt road we hiked into the mire was wetter than I have ever seen it. It was so wet that Mallards were making use of the vernal pools! Mosquitoes were intense in the warm, humid conditions. The few times that the sun broke out, the mosquitoes died down and black flies came out! One of the things that I most enjoy about birding is finding unexpected species - we found 2 on Saturday. Just before we went out into the open bog, I heard a Brown Thrasher! It was perched in the middle of the bog. As we approached it, two Grays Jays flew off - it appeared they had been harassing the thrasher. I continued to hear the Brown Thrasher's loud vocalizations during our traverse of the huge bog. On our hike out, just before the first bridge, I hung back from the group a bit to listen for Black-backed Woodpeckers (the last likely spot on our hike out) and instead, I heard a Field Sparrow sing in mature boreal habitat! I caught up with everyone at the bridge and asked if anyone lives among Field Sparrows and when they had returned. I was told quite some time ago, so this bird was not likely a migrant. As it turns out, I received a phone call from Sean O'Brien yesterday to tell me he had visited Massawepie Mire on Monday with Ted Mack and they too found a singing Field Sparrow! (They found the bird in the same vicinity.) He also called Larry Master who told Sean that a Field Sparrow once spent an entire season at Bloomingdale Bog. It will be interesting to see if this Field Sparrow spends the breeding season at Massawepie Mire. We found 58 species, including 16 warbler species and 7 sparrow species. Northern Waterthrushes can be found in an area with many Canada Warblers, but were not singing by the time our group reached that location. Pine Warblers can sometimes be found on the hike, but can definitely be found along the Mountaineer Trail, which we did not hike. I heard 5 singing Mourning Warblers, and there are even more found by continuing to drive straight at the 4 corners location for ~ 1.5 miles to a metal gate - an area that has been heavily logged. We did not have time to drive this section. That area also has many Indigo Buntings and a Veery. Eastern Phoebes were missing from the bridge locations, and this is the first year we failed to find a Gray Catbird near our parking location. Logging operations continue on the perimeter of the bog. Here are some of the 58 species found: Spruce Grouse - 1 male! On our hike out, Bill Schneider yelled that he saw a Spruce Grouse. We looked up and the grouse flew up from the dirt road into a tree, then dropped back down onto the road and walked straight toward us! It got within 15 feet (we didn't need binocs) and then tried to go around us by going into the brushy habitat along the road. We were all still as statues as the grouse approached us. Instead of continuing past us, it paralleled us as we continue our hike out. This was certainly a birding highlight of my year! Bald Eagle - 2, soaring together Broad-winged Hawk Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Blue-headed Vireo Gray Jay - 2 Common Raven Tree Swallow Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird - several Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Warblers: Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Palm, Black-and-white, Amer. Redstart, Ovenbird, Mourning, Common Yellowthroat, and Canada. Sparrows: Chipping, Field, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-throated, and Dark-eyed Junco Rose-breasted Grosbeak Purple Finch The cone crop developing on the spruces is quite remarkable! Eight in our group had a late lunch at the "Thirsty Moose Pub & Grub" a short distance from Massawepie. Observers (I don't have the list of observers' hometowns with me): Janet Allison - Minerva & ?downstate Clint Anglin - Troy Joan Collins - Long Lake (leader) Michael Greco - Albany Naomi Jaffe - Troy Celeste Morien - Buffalo area Gwen Morien - Buffalo area Kathy & Bill Schneider - Newcomb & Stuyvesant Mike J. - Watertown -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
