Spent last two mornings birding around Lake Placid and the “boreal belt”. My report is perhaps not as exciting as some of the local birders, but here it goes.
Abundant Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, American Crows, Blue Jays, and a couple of Hairy Woodpeckers while snow-shoe-ing Paul Smith VIC. Essentially saw these five species everywhere I went. Unfortunately, missed the Red Crossbills seen earlier in the morning. Was swooped by a couple of Gray Jays that have been hanging out by the feeders on the southern Bloomingdale Bog path. At the cross path was an American Tree Sparrow. A Black-backed Woodpecker was seen at the Snowmobile Memorial and Boreal Chickadees on the northern path the day before but no luck when I was there. A Ruffed Grouse strutted by the side of Oregon Plains Road just north of Bigelow Road. Returning on Rte 3 I encountered a dozen Wild Turkeys in a snowy farm field just north of Saranac Lake. Although I only heard Ravens at Paul Smith, I finally had a good look at a pair while snow-shoe-ing around Chubb River Swamp. A flock of mid-size finches flew overhead as I returned to Lake Placid from Chubb River at the corner of Rte 73 but there was too much traffic to hear or stop for them. My last bird was a Northern Shrike on Riverside Drive along the Ausable River just off of Rte 73 across from the ski jumps. Happy Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ --
