[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire & more
4/17/13 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) & Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) 8:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. David Buckley joined me once again for the "thrilling" adventure of driving into Massawepie Mire in mid-April! It was so thrilling this year (snow, ice, and deep mud), that we decided if we were not out by noon (with temps warming up over freezing) we probably wouldn't get out. There was a tree across the road just before the area where we park, and the mud was so deep we couldn't stop, so we drove over it - it was caked with snow on both sides, but once it melts, it would not be possible to get over it. Hopefully, someone will chain-saw it soon. I won't be venturing into Massawepie again until May! Once I heard all the Palm Warblers singing, it made the scary drive in worth it! The mire was filled with singing Palm Warblers. I found it interesting that in 2011 David and I got into Massawepie on April 12 and found the mire filled with Palm Warblers and Lincoln's Sparrows, but this year, there were no detected Lincoln's Sparrows yet as of the 17th. We hiked 5.4 miles round trip, turning around at Silver Brook. The road had snow, ice, water, and mud. Here are some of the 46 species I found today between my home, the drive, and Massawepie (* is first-of-the-season for me): Common Loon - 3 on the open section of water on Long Lake Sharp-shinned Hawk - Little Tupper Lake outlet area off Sabattis Circle Rd. in Long Lake *Broad-winged Hawk - 1 soaring near Dewey Rd. in Piercefield (St. Lawrence Co.) Red-tailed Hawk - Sabattis Circle Rd. Amer. Kestrel - pair at Massawepie (& one at the causeway in Tupper Lake - Franklin Co.) Merlin - 2; 1 near Catamount Pond by the entrance to Massawepie, and 1 near Silver Brook Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Gray Jay Tree Swallow Brown Creeper - many singing Winter Wren - many singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at Massawepie Eastern Bluebird - pair at a nest box at Massawepie Hermit Thrush *Palm Warbler - many singing Swamp Sparrow - one singing at the Tupper Lake causeway *White-throated Sparrow - 1 at Massawepie (calling not singing) *Purple Finch - 1 singing at Massawepie, and 1 singing outside our home in Long Lake Common Redpoll - hundreds at our Long Lake home Hoary Redpoll - 2 observed today A Raccoon found our feeders last night, so it was a sleepless night for me. I will be bringing in our 18 feeders at night now until the redpolls head north. 4/16/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co. *Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at Sabattis Circle Rd. Vesper Sparrow - Sabattis Circle Rd. Fox Sparrow - singing at our neighbor's home 4/15/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) and locations in St. Lawrence Co. *Swamp Sparrow - 1 singing at the Little Tupper Lake outlet on Sabattis Circle Rd. in Long Lake I drove the plowed part of the road into Massawepie (1.5 miles) and turned around since I was driving our Prius. I found White-winged Crossbills where I turned around. Mary Beth Warburton and I went birding in St. Lawrence Co. for a couple hours in the afternoon. Here are a few of the species found: Great Horned Owl *Wilson's Snipe - several winnowing in a Lisbon wetland *Barn Swallow - Canton *Eastern Meadowlark - 1 singing in Lisbon We hiked the trail to the observation tower at Indian Creek Nature Center. Lower Lake was open and we found a pair of Common Loons, Pied-billed Grebes vocalizing, Bufflehead, and drumming Ruffed Grouse. 4/14/13 Long Lake *Northern Flicker - on our suet within 60 seconds after it was put out! The local Hairy Woodpecker did not challenge the N. Flicker, and just waited for it to leave. 4/13/13 Long Lake Hairy Woodpeckers were observed mating. 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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire more
4/17/13 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) 8:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. David Buckley joined me once again for the thrilling adventure of driving into Massawepie Mire in mid-April! It was so thrilling this year (snow, ice, and deep mud), that we decided if we were not out by noon (with temps warming up over freezing) we probably wouldn't get out. There was a tree across the road just before the area where we park, and the mud was so deep we couldn't stop, so we drove over it - it was caked with snow on both sides, but once it melts, it would not be possible to get over it. Hopefully, someone will chain-saw it soon. I won't be venturing into Massawepie again until May! Once I heard all the Palm Warblers singing, it made the scary drive in worth it! The mire was filled with singing Palm Warblers. I found it interesting that in 2011 David and I got into Massawepie on April 12 and found the mire filled with Palm Warblers and Lincoln's Sparrows, but this year, there were no detected Lincoln's Sparrows yet as of the 17th. We hiked 5.4 miles round trip, turning around at Silver Brook. The road had snow, ice, water, and mud. Here are some of the 46 species I found today between my home, the drive, and Massawepie (* is first-of-the-season for me): Common Loon - 3 on the open section of water on Long Lake Sharp-shinned Hawk - Little Tupper Lake outlet area off Sabattis Circle Rd. in Long Lake *Broad-winged Hawk - 1 soaring near Dewey Rd. in Piercefield (St. Lawrence Co.) Red-tailed Hawk - Sabattis Circle Rd. Amer. Kestrel - pair at Massawepie ( one at the causeway in Tupper Lake - Franklin Co.) Merlin - 2; 1 near Catamount Pond by the entrance to Massawepie, and 1 near Silver Brook Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Gray Jay Tree Swallow Brown Creeper - many singing Winter Wren - many singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at Massawepie Eastern Bluebird - pair at a nest box at Massawepie Hermit Thrush *Palm Warbler - many singing Swamp Sparrow - one singing at the Tupper Lake causeway *White-throated Sparrow - 1 at Massawepie (calling not singing) *Purple Finch - 1 singing at Massawepie, and 1 singing outside our home in Long Lake Common Redpoll - hundreds at our Long Lake home Hoary Redpoll - 2 observed today A Raccoon found our feeders last night, so it was a sleepless night for me. I will be bringing in our 18 feeders at night now until the redpolls head north. 4/16/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co. *Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at Sabattis Circle Rd. Vesper Sparrow - Sabattis Circle Rd. Fox Sparrow - singing at our neighbor's home 4/15/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) and locations in St. Lawrence Co. *Swamp Sparrow - 1 singing at the Little Tupper Lake outlet on Sabattis Circle Rd. in Long Lake I drove the plowed part of the road into Massawepie (1.5 miles) and turned around since I was driving our Prius. I found White-winged Crossbills where I turned around. Mary Beth Warburton and I went birding in St. Lawrence Co. for a couple hours in the afternoon. Here are a few of the species found: Great Horned Owl *Wilson's Snipe - several winnowing in a Lisbon wetland *Barn Swallow - Canton *Eastern Meadowlark - 1 singing in Lisbon We hiked the trail to the observation tower at Indian Creek Nature Center. Lower Lake was open and we found a pair of Common Loons, Pied-billed Grebes vocalizing, Bufflehead, and drumming Ruffed Grouse. 4/14/13 Long Lake *Northern Flicker - on our suet within 60 seconds after it was put out! The local Hairy Woodpecker did not challenge the N. Flicker, and just waited for it to leave. 4/13/13 Long Lake Hairy Woodpeckers were observed mating. 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/ --
