4/10/14 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) & Newcomb-Minerva (Essex Co.)
Barred Owls woke me over the monitor at 2:45 a.m. - lovely! I went out in the dark to put seed out at 5:40 a.m. and heard a migrant gull calling - it was quite high. At 5:55 a.m., a *Winter Wren sang several times in the forest next to our house (same arrival date as last year - which are both a bit later than normal). I birded this morning along Route 28N in Newcomb-Minerva and at Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake. Here are some of today's species (waterfowl all on the Round Lake outlet, which is opening up quickly): Canada Goose Amer. Black Duck Mallard Ring-necked Duck Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Ruffed Grouse - 2 today (photos of one on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian ) Wild Turkey Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Barred Owl - at least 2 *Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2; first of the season; one had a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers and Black-backed Woodpeckers upset, and I found another drumming in a different location Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - male and female in Newcomb along Route 28N; the male was chasing a Hairy Woodpecker when I stopped the car (round and round a dead snag). There were 4 woodpeckers all calling (Black-backed Woodpeckers were calling and rattling) and chasing each other - and then the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew into view. I have seen this behavior several times when Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers return in Black-backed habitat - the Black-backed Woodpeckers become upset and rattle call and chase other woodpeckers. I added some Black-backed photos to my Facebook page. Pileated Woodpecker - several observed and heard today (including outside our house) Boreal Chickadee - 4 in two different locations on Route 28N Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper - numerous and singing *Winter Wren - heard in several locations Golden-crowned Kinglet - numerous and singing Amer. Robin - many Song Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Purple Finch - numerous and singing Red Crossbill - at least 27! I found a large flock (15 to 20) in Newcomb that included at least one fledgling. I took a video of about 8 of them gritting, but I'm having trouble getting videos up on Facebook. I found 2 at a stop in Minerva and another 10 in a different location in Minerva. Amer. Goldfinch - interesting - they were following Red Crossbills today 4/9/14 Tupper Lake (Franklin Co.) and Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) I had 4 appointments in Potsdam yesterday, so it wasn't a birding day, but I did see some birds on the way home late in the day. In Tupper Lake, along the causeway, there were Amer. Black Ducks, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Goldeneye, and Common Mergansers. I found 5 Ruffed Grouse along Sabattis Circle Road - one pair with a male in full display! Unfortunately, the 5th bird had been killed in the road. There were 5 Hooded Mergansers and one *Pied-billed Grebe on the Round Lake outlet. There is a small section of open water on Long Lake near the bridge and I stopped to look for waterfowl - just 3 Canada Geese, but a *Merlin was calling non-stop in the white pines along the water! Still a lot of snow on the ground, but it is finally feeling a bit like spring. Joan Collins Long Lake, NY -- 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/ --
