2/13/15 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)
Happy 15th Anniversary to Northern New York Birds (a day early!). Thanks Dana! On this bitter cold day (never made it to zero) with wind, our 18 feeders saw record activity. Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, and Amer. Goldfinches all continue to visit (the goldfinches are highly unusual for this location in the heart of winter). I continue to go through a record number of suet cakes this winter. We also had one Dark-eyed Junco make it into February, but I haven't seen it in the past few days. At Sabattis Bog, the pair of Gray Jays, along with large numbers of Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches, flew in for raisins, bread, and sunflower seeds. I only lasted a few seconds in the windy, minus 11 temperature. I drove down the road and stopped to listen for a Black-backed Woodpecker, and found a male right outside the car! I tried to photograph it outside the car but my hand went completely numb. I was able to photograph it from inside the car with the window down a bit. I spent an hour photographing the bird! (Photos on my Facebook page below) 2/12/15 Long Lake At Sabattis Bog, in addition to the pair of Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadees hung out in the trees while the Black-capped Chickadees ate sunflower seeds. 2/10 to 2/11/15 Long Lake (Sabattis Bog) and then two days in the Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence Valley (Jefferson Co.) I stopped at Sabattis Bog on my drive to the St. Lawrence Valley on Tuesday, 2/10/15. I found two Black-backed Woodpeckers (one at the Bog and one in another location along Sabattis Circle Road), a Pileated Woodpecker, 2 gray Jays, and at least 2 Boreal Chickadees. Between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., I found 12 Snowy Owls in Jefferson Co.! The last owl found was vocalizing - a very wild sound! (I posted Snowy Owl photos to my Facebook page below.) There were many Rough-legged Hawks (both light and dark morphs), Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Amer. Kestrel, and 3 Bald Eagles (all adults). There were also many Wild Turkeys, many Snow Buntings, a few Horned Larks, 1 Northern Shrike, several Northern Cardinals, many Amer. Tree Sparrows, and several flocks of Common Redpolls eating weed seeds on Point Peninsula. A female Ring-necked Pheasant was in the middle of a large, snowy field on Point Peninsula (photos on Facebook). On 2/11/15 a Snowy Owl flew down to the ground on a snow covered field. It was crouching, and occasionally looking up. Another Snowy Owl flew in and they tangled. The flying owl came in vocalizing! The crouching bird looked huge. I met a few photographers over the couple days - all well behaved! I stayed at "The Duck Away Motel" in Chaumont. I love out of the way motels and this 6 room motel fit the bill! It had a microwave, large refrig, coffee maker, Wi-Fi, TV, hot water - everything you need! Apparently, most of their customers in the fall are hunters, and fishermen in the winter. The lamp next to my bed had a huge glass stand - with a stuffed Northern Bobwhite inside!!! Above the lamp, was a painting of hunters shooting Amer. Black Ducks! And the wallpaper border featured many waterfowl species! It was "interesting"! I would stay there again - it puts you very close to spectacular birding areas. On 2/9/15, while driving along Route 30 in Long Lake, a Snowshoe Hare was sitting in the road. As I tried to slow down, the hare began to run parallel to my car before running up the snowbank. I looked in my rearview mirror and the hare went right back into the road! The snow is very deep now and unconsolidated, so it might be easier to get around in the road. 2/8/15 Long Lake - Three-Brook Loop Ski Trail off the Northville-Placid Trail My husband, George Yellott, and I skied the Three-Brook Loop Ski Trail (5 miles) on Sunday. We found two Black-backed Woodpeckers. The one we watched was a male. It was in the exact same location where I observed mating (in early May) several years ago! Joan Collins Editor, New York Birders 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/ --
