9/2/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)
At dawn this morning, I ventured outside and heard several migrant Swainson's Thrushes descending into the forest near our home. A Hermit Thrush was calling, Common Loon voices echoed up from the lake, several Winter Wrens were calling and one was singing, a Pileated Woodpecker called and later an Ovenbird was observing walking in the forest at the edge of our lawn. I got a cup of coffee and sat on our porch steps when a Winter Wren began to sing in the lilac bush a few feet from me! It continued to sing for a half-hour! I couldn't see a tail on the bird, so I went inside to get binoculars. The bird did not leave when I got up and continued to stay in the lilac bush for another half-an-hour even as I walked around the bush with binoculars. It was indeed a juvenile bird, and the entire time it was in the bush, two different Winter Wrens called from the forest on either side of the house. Throughout August, there has been evidence of late nesting in both ground nesters and non-ground nesters (given the record wet late spring - early summer, I expected failed nests for ground nesting species). A tail-less Blackburnian Warbler fledgling was fed by an adult outside our home a couple weeks ago, Black-capped Chickadees are still feeding young, I observed a Black-backed Woodpecker juvenile being fed this past week, Wild Turkey poults are along all the roads I drive, a spotted Hermit Thrush juvenile was eating cherries outside our window this past Wednesday, and I've been observing Winter Wren fledglings throughout August and today. Just a couple follow-ups to earlier posts: Winter Wren (a short distance migrant) was the only species that showed an increase in number during this year's Mountain Birdwatch survey on Whiteface Mountain. That was the case not just at high elevation, but at low elevations too - they were everywhere this year! The other bird that showed a record increase was Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I found them everywhere I went (including perching on the snow & ice on Whiteface Mountain), and we estimate that there were between 15 and 20 outside our house throughout the summer. I've had good numbers during migration, but never throughout the breeding season (plus I went down from 4 feeders to 3 this summer due to one breaking). I wondered if our feeder situation was an anomaly, but two other people in Long Lake said they too, were overrun with hummingbirds this year. Following up on the discussion of missing birds started by Chris Tessaglia-Hymes, the Mt. Birdwatch survey tally for Blackpoll Warbler on Whiteface fell 50% from last year. Chris Rimmer, Director of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, documented the decline in Blackpoll Warbler females on Mount Mansfield in historic context in his blog: http://vtecostudies.blogspot.com/2013/08/mansfield-wrap-where-are-female.htm l . I hope we will one day know what happened to Blackpoll Warblers, and many other neotropical migrant species, this year. On a positive note, I did observed Blackpoll Warblers feeding young on Whiteface Mountain in July (& Chris observed juveniles on Mt. Mansfield), so the birds that did return had some nesting success. Given that Chris R. found many male Blackpoll Warblers but a steep decline in the number of female Blackpoll Warblers, it would support the theory that severe weather events over the Gulf and in the southern US may have played a role in neotropical migrant species population declines (since male and female Blackpoll Warblers migrate on different dates). Following up on the abundance of cones in the Adirondacks this summer, there is also an abundance of nuts and berries. Charlotte Demers, biologist at SUNY ESF's Huntington facility, said it is time to stock up on mouse traps! After no cones and no mice last winter (with many starved Barred Owls), things will be completely different this fall/winter - just this past week the mice began to come in our house, and we are trapping one a day (very early for them to be coming in). Some of the species found during the past week ( including 7 different Black-backed Woodpeckers and even more Boreal Chickadees!) are listed below: 9/1/13 Sabattis Circle Road (Whitney Wilderness Area in the Town of Long Lake in Hamilton Co.); some of the 27 species found: Broad-winged Hawk Black-backed Woodpecker - a male and female a few trees apart in boreal habitat along the road (photos on my Facebook page listed below) Brown Creeper - lots of singing from this species lately! 7 warbler species with many Nashville (Black-throated Blue and Black-and-white were singing) Song Sparrow - fledgling with no tail 8/30/13 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.) afternoon walk ~2 miles round trip: Broad-winged Hawk Black-backed Woodpecker - 2; I spent my time photographing and observing a male Boreal Chickadee - 7 (flocks of 3, 3, and at least one) Several warbler species including a singing Blackburnian Warbler 8/29/13 Sabattis Circle Road, and then Moose River Plains (Inlet in Hamilton Co.) Sabattis Circle Road: Common Loon Osprey - vocalizing and hunting at the outlet of Little Tupper Lake Gray Jay - 4 (along the road in boreal forest where I found the Black-backed Woodpeckers on 9/1) Cedar Waxwing - abundant everywhere - many juveniles observed at the Little Tupper Lake outlet Palm Warbler - 1 brown "western" migrant at the outlet of Little Tupper Lake Moose River Plains: Ruffed Grouse - 2 Black-backed Woodpecker - female along the road between the Helldiver Pond and Lost Ponds Trailheads Northern Flicker - many Boreal Chickadee - 8 (5 by Mitchell Ponds trailhead near the Red River and 3 near Helldiver Pond) Purple Finch On the drive home, an Osprey was perched and vocalizing by a nest site along Route 28. 8/28/13 Our house in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.): Hermit Thrush - spotted juvenile eating cherries outside our window Mourning Warbler - singing outside the house! (This species nests on our property, but the singing was a surprise!) There was a small movement of migrants that night and Common Loon voices echoed up off the lake as I listened - lovely! 8/27/13 Northville-Placid Trail in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) 4 to 6 p.m. Black-backed Woodpecker - 2; a juvenile male relentlessly following an adult male Black-backed Woodpecker! I watched them for over an hour. The adult fed the juvenile a couple times. The juvenile spent its time following the adult, calling a lot, preening (pulling out white fluffy feathers from its chest), and just occasionally attempting to forage on its own. Winter Wren - a record number of them along the trail this year I also found a couple Red Efts along the trail and listened to many Pine Sawyers chewing dead coniferous trees. On the drive home, I found 3 Swainson's Thrushes in the road just before our driveway (this is the same evening that Eric posted observing several species in the roadways eating the flying ants in Bloomingdale). I was heading to bed that (Tuesday) night, when I heard migrants through the window. I went outside and was captivated by a strong river of migrants flowing overhead - many so low, it felt like you could reach up into the darkness and touch them! I heard two Black-billed Cuckoos, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and many Swainson's Thrush in addition to lots of other voices. The stars were brilliant with the Milky Way apparent. Two Barred Owls were calling back and forth, spring peepers were vocalizing and crickets were going. I have a love-hate relationship with this time of year - I love migration, but I hate the sleep deprivation! I've been posting photographs to my Facebook page listed below - I just posted photographs of the male and female Black-backed Woodpeckers found yesterday. I have also posted several blogs on my website (I've been spending a lot of time photographing things on the ground!) - links: Lists of species found on July tours: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/species-lists-for-jul y-2013-tours Photographic blog of mushrooms from August: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/mushrooms/august-mushrooms-of-the- boreal-forest Photographic blog of wildflowers from August: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/wildflowers/wildflowers-of-august Photographic blog of habitat, wildlife, and other images mostly taken in the boreal forest during August: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-wildlife/more-images-from-t he-adirondacks Joan Collins 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 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/ --
