[nysbirds-l] Extremely late Black-backed Woodpecker nest, Black Bear and more!

[Joan E. Collins]

7/18/13 Minerva (Western Essex Co.)

 

I found an extremely late Black-backed Woodpecker nest today.  I initially
found this nest hole on May 4, 2013, when the male was observed excavating
it, but there was never any evidence of subsequent nesting.  Today, there
are very young birds in the nest hole - the adults are going into the nest
hole to feed.  This nest is 6 to 7 weeks later than normal for our area.
See my latest blog post for more details at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/extremely-late-bl
ack-backed-woodpecker-nest .

 

7/14/13 Whiteface Mountain & Bloomingdale Bog area (Essex and Franklin
Counties)

 

Highlights from a dawn tour up Whiteface Mountain included lovely views of a
singing Bicknell's Thrush looking like a Hudson River School painting (I
posted photos to my Facebook page - link below), Blackpoll Warblers feeding
young, nice views of a Lincoln's Sparrow at Bloomingdale Bog, nice views of
a male Indigo Bunting near its nest, Mourning Warblers calling near their
nest, and an American Kestrel, Savannah Sparrow, and female Bobolink in
large fields not far from Whiteface Mountain.

 

7/11/13 Whiteface Mountain & Bloomingdale (Essex and Franklin Counties)

 

Highlights from a dawn tour up Whiteface Mountain included lovely views of a
singing Bicknell's Thrush, nice views of a Mourning Warbler and male Indigo
Bunting, a female Black-backed Woodpecker and vocalizing Boreal Chickadees
in the Bloomingdale area, and a Black Bear cub!!!

 

7/5/13 Massawepie Mire (& drive on Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake) (St.
Lawrence Co., Franklin Co. and Hamilton Co.)

 

Highlights from a tour to Massawepie Mire included two adult Common Loons
with two chicks, Wilson's Snipe winnowing at Tupper Lake Marsh, a Barred Owl
on Sabattis Circle Road, a family group of Black-backed Woodpeckers (adult
male and female with at least one juvenile), Yellow-bellied Flycatchers at
Sabattis Bog and Massawepie, 2 Gray Jays, lots of wonderful warbler views
(16 species), and nice views of Lincoln's Sparrow and Indigo Bunting.  We
also observed an Eastern Coyote and a small Snapping Turtle.

 

The cone crops on the various coniferous tree species are looking good!  We
should have plenty of food for finches this winter in the Adirondacks.  See
my blog post with photos of the various coniferous tree cone crops at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/cone-crop/cone-crop-in-the-central
-adirondack-mountains .

 

I put together a blog post listing all the species found on dawn tours up
Whiteface for the month of June (including photos) at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/species-lists-for-all
-dawn-tours-up-whiteface-mountain-during-june-2013 .

 

Sean O'Brien and I spent a night and morning in the St. Lawrence Valley on
June 22, 2013.  The moon was nearly full and we found at least 11 singing
Whip-poor-wills on Calaboga Road in Hammond (St. Lawrence Co.)!  We heard
coyotes and Barred Owls also.  We listened to many Marsh Wrens singing in
the middle of the night at Perch River.  Virginia Rail young called at Perch
River.  I found another area with singing Grasshopper Sparrows in northern
Jefferson Co. and Sean recorded them.  We had a long list of species from
this trip - many sparrows, flycatchers, and warblers.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

(315) 244-7127 cell

(518) 624-5528 home

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian


--

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[nysbirds-l] Extremely late Black-backed Woodpecker nest, Black Bear and more!

[Joan E. Collins]

7/18/13 Minerva (Western Essex Co.)

 

I found an extremely late Black-backed Woodpecker nest today.  I initially
found this nest hole on May 4, 2013, when the male was observed excavating
it, but there was never any evidence of subsequent nesting.  Today, there
are very young birds in the nest hole - the adults are going into the nest
hole to feed.  This nest is 6 to 7 weeks later than normal for our area.
See my latest blog post for more details at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/extremely-late-bl
ack-backed-woodpecker-nest .

 

7/14/13 Whiteface Mountain  Bloomingdale Bog area (Essex and Franklin
Counties)

 

Highlights from a dawn tour up Whiteface Mountain included lovely views of a
singing Bicknell's Thrush looking like a Hudson River School painting (I
posted photos to my Facebook page - link below), Blackpoll Warblers feeding
young, nice views of a Lincoln's Sparrow at Bloomingdale Bog, nice views of
a male Indigo Bunting near its nest, Mourning Warblers calling near their
nest, and an American Kestrel, Savannah Sparrow, and female Bobolink in
large fields not far from Whiteface Mountain.

 

7/11/13 Whiteface Mountain  Bloomingdale (Essex and Franklin Counties)

 

Highlights from a dawn tour up Whiteface Mountain included lovely views of a
singing Bicknell's Thrush, nice views of a Mourning Warbler and male Indigo
Bunting, a female Black-backed Woodpecker and vocalizing Boreal Chickadees
in the Bloomingdale area, and a Black Bear cub!!!

 

7/5/13 Massawepie Mire ( drive on Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake) (St.
Lawrence Co., Franklin Co. and Hamilton Co.)

 

Highlights from a tour to Massawepie Mire included two adult Common Loons
with two chicks, Wilson's Snipe winnowing at Tupper Lake Marsh, a Barred Owl
on Sabattis Circle Road, a family group of Black-backed Woodpeckers (adult
male and female with at least one juvenile), Yellow-bellied Flycatchers at
Sabattis Bog and Massawepie, 2 Gray Jays, lots of wonderful warbler views
(16 species), and nice views of Lincoln's Sparrow and Indigo Bunting.  We
also observed an Eastern Coyote and a small Snapping Turtle.

 

The cone crops on the various coniferous tree species are looking good!  We
should have plenty of food for finches this winter in the Adirondacks.  See
my blog post with photos of the various coniferous tree cone crops at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/cone-crop/cone-crop-in-the-central
-adirondack-mountains .

 

I put together a blog post listing all the species found on dawn tours up
Whiteface for the month of June (including photos) at:
http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/species-lists-for-all
-dawn-tours-up-whiteface-mountain-during-june-2013 .

 

Sean O'Brien and I spent a night and morning in the St. Lawrence Valley on
June 22, 2013.  The moon was nearly full and we found at least 11 singing
Whip-poor-wills on Calaboga Road in Hammond (St. Lawrence Co.)!  We heard
coyotes and Barred Owls also.  We listened to many Marsh Wrens singing in
the middle of the night at Perch River.  Virginia Rail young called at Perch
River.  I found another area with singing Grasshopper Sparrows in northern
Jefferson Co. and Sean recorded them.  We had a long list of species from
this trip - many sparrows, flycatchers, and warblers.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

(315) 244-7127 cell

(518) 624-5528 home

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian


--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of NY

[Joan E. Collins]

I conducted the Mountain Birdwatch survey of Whiteface Mountain on June 20,
2013.  The sky was clear with calm winds and the temperature ranged from 39
to 44 degrees (chilly!).  Here are the 6 point count tallies for each
species:

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 (2, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0

Boreal Chickadee - 0

Winter Wren - 13 (2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2)

Bicknell's Thrush - 8 (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0)

Swainson's Thrush - 15 (2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2)

Hermit Thrush - 0

Blackpoll Warbler - 4 (1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)

White-throated Sparrow - 16 (3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3)

Fox Sparrow - 0

Red Squirrel - 0

 

Additional non-surveyed species heard during point counts:

 

Black-backed Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - at every point!

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler - point 6

Dark-eyed Junco

 

Given all the discussion about the missing birds this year and the "quiet"
dawn chorus, I thought it might be interesting to compare this year's
results to last year's on Whiteface:

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 in 2013, and 7 in 2012 (-14%)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Boreal Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Winter Wren - 13 in 2013, and 11 in 2012 (+18%)

Bicknell's Thrush - 8 in 2013, and 9 in 2012 (-11%)

Swainson's Thrush - 15 in 2013, and 18 in 2012 (-17%)

Hermit Thrush - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Blackpoll Warbler - 4 in 2013, and 8 in 2012 (-50%)

White-throated Sparrow - 16 in 2013, and 17 in 2012 (-6%)

Fox Sparrow - 0 in 2013, and 2 in 2012 (actually one bird heard at 2 points)
(-100%)

Red Squirrel - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

 

The only increase from last year's tallies was for Winter Wren, otherwise,
it was all decreases.   The Fox Sparrow singing through the breeding season
on Whiteface Mountain in 2012 was a first for NY.  I was not surprised by
the 50% decline in Blackpoll Warbler tallies - it is obvious on all my trips
up Whiteface this season that the number of Blackpoll Warblers is way down.

 

The sunrise was spectacular during the survey!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of NY

[Joan E. Collins]

I conducted the Mountain Birdwatch survey of Whiteface Mountain on June 20,
2013.  The sky was clear with calm winds and the temperature ranged from 39
to 44 degrees (chilly!).  Here are the 6 point count tallies for each
species:

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 (2, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0

Boreal Chickadee - 0

Winter Wren - 13 (2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2)

Bicknell's Thrush - 8 (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0)

Swainson's Thrush - 15 (2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2)

Hermit Thrush - 0

Blackpoll Warbler - 4 (1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)

White-throated Sparrow - 16 (3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3)

Fox Sparrow - 0

Red Squirrel - 0

 

Additional non-surveyed species heard during point counts:

 

Black-backed Woodpecker

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - at every point!

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler - point 6

Dark-eyed Junco

 

Given all the discussion about the missing birds this year and the quiet
dawn chorus, I thought it might be interesting to compare this year's
results to last year's on Whiteface:

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 6 in 2013, and 7 in 2012 (-14%)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Boreal Chickadee - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Winter Wren - 13 in 2013, and 11 in 2012 (+18%)

Bicknell's Thrush - 8 in 2013, and 9 in 2012 (-11%)

Swainson's Thrush - 15 in 2013, and 18 in 2012 (-17%)

Hermit Thrush - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

Blackpoll Warbler - 4 in 2013, and 8 in 2012 (-50%)

White-throated Sparrow - 16 in 2013, and 17 in 2012 (-6%)

Fox Sparrow - 0 in 2013, and 2 in 2012 (actually one bird heard at 2 points)
(-100%)

Red Squirrel - 0 in 2013, and 0 in 2012

 

The only increase from last year's tallies was for Winter Wren, otherwise,
it was all decreases.   The Fox Sparrow singing through the breeding season
on Whiteface Mountain in 2012 was a first for NY.  I was not surprised by
the 50% decline in Blackpoll Warbler tallies - it is obvious on all my trips
up Whiteface this season that the number of Blackpoll Warblers is way down.

 

The sunrise was spectacular during the survey!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain & boreal bogs

[Joan E. Collins]

On dawn tours up Whiteface Mountain followed by lowland boreal birding on
June 13, 14, and 15, 75 species were found.  Highlights included: wonderful
views of Bicknell's Thrush on Whiteface Mountain all 3 days, Red Crossbills
on 6/15, 10 Gray Jays found (2 family groups of at least 5 birds) in
Bloomingdale on 6/13, 4 Boreal Chickadees on 6/13, gorgeous views of a pair
of Black-backed Woodpeckers feeding young at a nest hole all 3 days, a
Broad-winged Hawk carrying a live snake, a vocal Barred Owl near the
Whiteface Mountain toll gate, an American Woodcock vocalizing and displaying
at the Whiteface toll gate, lots of warblers (17 species) with lovely views
of many including Mourning Warbler, adorable views of a Cliff Swallow
colony, and non avian observations including Snowshoe Hare, Porcupine,
Painted Turtle, Deer, crying Beavers, and Red-bellied Snake.

 

Unusual (or becoming usual) observations included a singing Field Sparrow at
Bloomingdale Bog (N), and Mourning Doves at Bloomingdale Bog (this species
continues to increase in the Adirondacks and oddly enough, into boreal
bogs!), a singing Veery in boreal habitat at Bigelow Rd., and singing Gray
Catbirds.  Only two Lincoln's Sparrows were found in the Bloomingdale area
across 3 days of birding (this area should be filled with this species).

 

I've included several photographs on my business Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

I just got the little plastic device to connect my iPhone to my Kowa scope
and it is so exciting!  I am no photographer, but it is thrilling to
photograph what I see through my scope!  I'll leave serious photography to
Larry Master and Jeff Nadler!

 

I greatly enjoy my work as a birding guide and I meet the most interesting
people!  This past week, I met a gifted young birder and his mother from
NYC, 4 interesting ladies from the Utica area, and 3 fascinating scientists
from the DC area!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain boreal bogs

[Joan E. Collins]

On dawn tours up Whiteface Mountain followed by lowland boreal birding on
June 13, 14, and 15, 75 species were found.  Highlights included: wonderful
views of Bicknell's Thrush on Whiteface Mountain all 3 days, Red Crossbills
on 6/15, 10 Gray Jays found (2 family groups of at least 5 birds) in
Bloomingdale on 6/13, 4 Boreal Chickadees on 6/13, gorgeous views of a pair
of Black-backed Woodpeckers feeding young at a nest hole all 3 days, a
Broad-winged Hawk carrying a live snake, a vocal Barred Owl near the
Whiteface Mountain toll gate, an American Woodcock vocalizing and displaying
at the Whiteface toll gate, lots of warblers (17 species) with lovely views
of many including Mourning Warbler, adorable views of a Cliff Swallow
colony, and non avian observations including Snowshoe Hare, Porcupine,
Painted Turtle, Deer, crying Beavers, and Red-bellied Snake.

 

Unusual (or becoming usual) observations included a singing Field Sparrow at
Bloomingdale Bog (N), and Mourning Doves at Bloomingdale Bog (this species
continues to increase in the Adirondacks and oddly enough, into boreal
bogs!), a singing Veery in boreal habitat at Bigelow Rd., and singing Gray
Catbirds.  Only two Lincoln's Sparrows were found in the Bloomingdale area
across 3 days of birding (this area should be filled with this species).

 

I've included several photographs on my business Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

I just got the little plastic device to connect my iPhone to my Kowa scope
and it is so exciting!  I am no photographer, but it is thrilling to
photograph what I see through my scope!  I'll leave serious photography to
Larry Master and Jeff Nadler!

 

I greatly enjoy my work as a birding guide and I meet the most interesting
people!  This past week, I met a gifted young birder and his mother from
NYC, 4 interesting ladies from the Utica area, and 3 fascinating scientists
from the DC area!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 


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ARCHIVES:
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Philadelphia Vireos, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Black-backed Woodpeckers & more

[Joan E. Collins]

6/10/13 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.)

 

I took a late day hike on the beginning of the Roosevelt Truck Trail and
found a male Black-backed Woodpecker, a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
carrying food, a vocal Boreal Chickadee, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and a
Swainson’s Thrush among other expected boreal habitat species.  A
Broad-winged Hawk vocalized near the railroad bed (1/3 of a mile from the
Roosevelt Truck Trail).

 

6/7/13 to 6/9/13 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival

 

Blog post at:

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/9th-annual-adirondack
-birding-festival

 

6/6/13 Northville-Placid Trail (S) in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

Bill Labes and I took a walk on the N-P Trail and found a vocal Black-backed
Woodpecker (in the area where I observed mating in early May).  We found
many warblers and beautiful wildflowers including Pink Lady’s Slippers
(photo at: http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian ).

 

6/5/13 Dawn Tour up Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.)

 

Blog post at:

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/a-recent-dawn-tour-up
-whiteface-mountain

 

5/31/13 Lake Pleasant (south of Indian Lake in Hamilton Co.)

 

I found several Philadelphia Vireos in an area where I used to tally one
each year during my old BBS route.  The area is about ½ mile north of the
bridge over the Indian Lake – Lewey Lake intersection to 2 miles north of
this location.  I had beautiful, long scope views of a bird on the west side
of Route 30 before it flew to the east side along Indian Lake.  The birds
were found in second growth aspens and beech trees.  I found an Olive-sided
Flycatcher on the Perkins Clearing Road at a wetland over 6.5 miles in (past
Sled Harbor).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Philadelphia Vireos, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Black-backed Woodpeckers more

[Joan E. Collins]

6/10/13 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.)

 

I took a late day hike on the beginning of the Roosevelt Truck Trail and
found a male Black-backed Woodpecker, a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
carrying food, a vocal Boreal Chickadee, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and a
Swainson’s Thrush among other expected boreal habitat species.  A
Broad-winged Hawk vocalized near the railroad bed (1/3 of a mile from the
Roosevelt Truck Trail).

 

6/7/13 to 6/9/13 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival

 

Blog post at:

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/9th-annual-adirondack
-birding-festival

 

6/6/13 Northville-Placid Trail (S) in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

Bill Labes and I took a walk on the N-P Trail and found a vocal Black-backed
Woodpecker (in the area where I observed mating in early May).  We found
many warblers and beautiful wildflowers including Pink Lady’s Slippers
(photo at: http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian ).

 

6/5/13 Dawn Tour up Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.)

 

Blog post at:

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/a-recent-dawn-tour-up
-whiteface-mountain

 

5/31/13 Lake Pleasant (south of Indian Lake in Hamilton Co.)

 

I found several Philadelphia Vireos in an area where I used to tally one
each year during my old BBS route.  The area is about ½ mile north of the
bridge over the Indian Lake – Lewey Lake intersection to 2 miles north of
this location.  I had beautiful, long scope views of a bird on the west side
of Route 30 before it flew to the east side along Indian Lake.  The birds
were found in second growth aspens and beech trees.  I found an Olive-sided
Flycatcher on the Perkins Clearing Road at a wetland over 6.5 miles in (past
Sled Harbor).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Update on Bicknell's Thrush & more

[Joan E. Collins]

6/1/13 Whiteface Mountain, Essex County, NY

 

On a dawn tour of Whiteface Mountain with birders from NYC on Saturday, we
found at least 15 Bicknell's Thrushes between 3900 and 4400'.  After the
extreme weather event with 3 feet of new snow between 5/25 and 5/26, I was
curious to see what we would find.  After my recent post, a birder from NYC
emailed about the Swainson's Thrushes.  He wondered if the cold/snow would
help in "beating them back" down the mountain.  I wondered the same thing,
and it did indeed seem to be the case!  We only heard 3 Swainson's Thrushes
in the 3900 to 4400 foot elevation range, and only one was singing (the
other 2 called).  In the days after the snowfall last week, temperatures
were very warm (80 to 90 degrees) and there were only small, remnant snow
piles left along the road from the plowing by Saturday.  Time will tell if
the Swainson's Thrushes will move back up the peak this breeding season.  I
plan to conduct the Mountain Birdwatch survey as close to last year's date
(6/23/12) as possible for a good comparison.  It was lovely to hear the
Bicknell's Thrushes singing at dawn (& pre-dawn), and as usual, they
switched over to occasional calling after 5 a.m.!  I also noticed that I did
not hear the Black-throated Blue Warbler that I found singing (at around
4200') on 5/19.  There was a Black-throated Green Warbler singing, but lower
down from where I found one on 5/19.  Blackpoll Warblers were found singing
up the peak but far fewer than expected.  It was the same situation for
Yellow-bellied Flycatchers in the 3900 to 4400 foot range.  I will be up on
Whiteface several times a week through the breeding season with dawn tours,
so I'll be able to observe changes that may occur now that the snow/cold is
gone (hopefully gone for the season!).

 

Sean O'Brien, a birder friend from Saranac Lake, was up on Whiteface
Mountain's summit on 5/31, and he called to note the lack of Swainson's
Thrushes after the storm also.

 

The weekend tour was two days, with Saturday spent in boreal habitat (high
and low elevation boreal), and Sunday spent in the vast St. Lawrence Valley
grasslands, wetlands, and shrublands.  In the largest bog (actually a "fen")
in NYS, we found boreal bird species including Yellow-bellied Flycatcher,
Palm Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow, along with many bog plants in bloom -
Labrador Tea and Bog Laurel.  Butterflies were photographed along the way
(Tom Fiore - we found Arctic Jutta again this year!).  I continue to find
the grasslands of the St. Lawrence Valley fascinating, but at times,
heartbreaking, when you return to a mowed field knowing all the species that
were nesting in it.  We spent a great deal of time at a large, Henslow's
Sparrow "colony" where I can't even begin to estimate how many birds occupy
the gigantic wet, unmanaged field.  The birds were buried in the grass -
often just a few feet from us, but mostly remained out of sight.  The Birds
of North America Henslow's Sparrow account mentions that Eastern Meadowlarks
are dominate over Henslow's, and we can add Red-winged Blackbird to that
section after our observations on Sunday!  A few Henslow's Sparrows appeared
and were immediately attacked by Red-winged Blackbirds, which may be a
factor in their singing from the ground, out of sight.  There were very few
Savannah Sparrows heard in this location.  Thanks to Mike Morgan, NYS Dept.
of Environmental Conservation, for sending a journal article discussing the
importance of social cues used by Henslow's Sparrows in choosing a breeding
location - study conducted in Iowa (playbacks were used to entice Henslow's
Sparrows to restored habitat areas).  After spending time reading about
Least Flycatcher aggregates, I am becoming more and more interested in the
social cues used by some species for their choice of breeding habitat.  I
will write another blog on this topic that will focus on Henslow's Sparrows.
At another grassland location, we enjoyed watching Grasshopper Sparrows
vying for singing perches on two old stumps in a large field - and they were
occasionally confronted by Song Sparrows, but it appeared the Grasshopper
Sparrows were winning the stumps!  Overall, we found 115 species, including
20 warbler, 11 sparrow, and 8 flycatcher species.

 

Painted and Snapping Turtles have been laying eggs in the past week.  I've
rescued as many as possible from roadways, where they are often hit.  We
also observed a Mink, Porcupine, Snowshoe Hare, and of course many Deer.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

 


--

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3) 

[nysbirds-l] Update on Bicknell's Thrush more

[Joan E. Collins]

6/1/13 Whiteface Mountain, Essex County, NY

 

On a dawn tour of Whiteface Mountain with birders from NYC on Saturday, we
found at least 15 Bicknell's Thrushes between 3900 and 4400'.  After the
extreme weather event with 3 feet of new snow between 5/25 and 5/26, I was
curious to see what we would find.  After my recent post, a birder from NYC
emailed about the Swainson's Thrushes.  He wondered if the cold/snow would
help in beating them back down the mountain.  I wondered the same thing,
and it did indeed seem to be the case!  We only heard 3 Swainson's Thrushes
in the 3900 to 4400 foot elevation range, and only one was singing (the
other 2 called).  In the days after the snowfall last week, temperatures
were very warm (80 to 90 degrees) and there were only small, remnant snow
piles left along the road from the plowing by Saturday.  Time will tell if
the Swainson's Thrushes will move back up the peak this breeding season.  I
plan to conduct the Mountain Birdwatch survey as close to last year's date
(6/23/12) as possible for a good comparison.  It was lovely to hear the
Bicknell's Thrushes singing at dawn ( pre-dawn), and as usual, they
switched over to occasional calling after 5 a.m.!  I also noticed that I did
not hear the Black-throated Blue Warbler that I found singing (at around
4200') on 5/19.  There was a Black-throated Green Warbler singing, but lower
down from where I found one on 5/19.  Blackpoll Warblers were found singing
up the peak but far fewer than expected.  It was the same situation for
Yellow-bellied Flycatchers in the 3900 to 4400 foot range.  I will be up on
Whiteface several times a week through the breeding season with dawn tours,
so I'll be able to observe changes that may occur now that the snow/cold is
gone (hopefully gone for the season!).

 

Sean O'Brien, a birder friend from Saranac Lake, was up on Whiteface
Mountain's summit on 5/31, and he called to note the lack of Swainson's
Thrushes after the storm also.

 

The weekend tour was two days, with Saturday spent in boreal habitat (high
and low elevation boreal), and Sunday spent in the vast St. Lawrence Valley
grasslands, wetlands, and shrublands.  In the largest bog (actually a fen)
in NYS, we found boreal bird species including Yellow-bellied Flycatcher,
Palm Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow, along with many bog plants in bloom -
Labrador Tea and Bog Laurel.  Butterflies were photographed along the way
(Tom Fiore - we found Arctic Jutta again this year!).  I continue to find
the grasslands of the St. Lawrence Valley fascinating, but at times,
heartbreaking, when you return to a mowed field knowing all the species that
were nesting in it.  We spent a great deal of time at a large, Henslow's
Sparrow colony where I can't even begin to estimate how many birds occupy
the gigantic wet, unmanaged field.  The birds were buried in the grass -
often just a few feet from us, but mostly remained out of sight.  The Birds
of North America Henslow's Sparrow account mentions that Eastern Meadowlarks
are dominate over Henslow's, and we can add Red-winged Blackbird to that
section after our observations on Sunday!  A few Henslow's Sparrows appeared
and were immediately attacked by Red-winged Blackbirds, which may be a
factor in their singing from the ground, out of sight.  There were very few
Savannah Sparrows heard in this location.  Thanks to Mike Morgan, NYS Dept.
of Environmental Conservation, for sending a journal article discussing the
importance of social cues used by Henslow's Sparrows in choosing a breeding
location - study conducted in Iowa (playbacks were used to entice Henslow's
Sparrows to restored habitat areas).  After spending time reading about
Least Flycatcher aggregates, I am becoming more and more interested in the
social cues used by some species for their choice of breeding habitat.  I
will write another blog on this topic that will focus on Henslow's Sparrows.
At another grassland location, we enjoyed watching Grasshopper Sparrows
vying for singing perches on two old stumps in a large field - and they were
occasionally confronted by Song Sparrows, but it appeared the Grasshopper
Sparrows were winning the stumps!  Overall, we found 115 species, including
20 warbler, 11 sparrow, and 8 flycatcher species.

 

Painted and Snapping Turtles have been laying eggs in the past week.  I've
rescued as many as possible from roadways, where they are often hit.  We
also observed a Mink, Porcupine, Snowshoe Hare, and of course many Deer.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

 


--

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3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush & 3-feet of snow on the Adirondack High Peaks

[Joan E. Collins]

I have had a number of inquiries by phone and email regarding the heavy,
late snowfall that took place in the Adirondack Mountains over Memorial Day
weekend and its implications for Bicknell's Thrush and other neotropical
migrants that recently returned.  I wrote a blog post with thoughts on this
subject, and on severe weather events and climate change (photo by Aaron
Kellett, Whiteface Mountain Manager) at:

 

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/climate-change/extreme-weather-eve
nts-and-climate-change

 

This link, with the photo taken by Aaron Kellett, is also posted to my
Facebook page at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

Yesterday, I drove just west of the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence Valley
grasslands and shrublands, which always feels like you've traveled to the
Midwest, with a completely different suite of bird species from the
mountains!  I enjoyed finding Henslow's Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows,
Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and more in the grasslands, and Blue-winged
and Golden-winged Warblers in the shrublands among many other species.  As I
drove back into the Adirondacks later in the day, it was such a bizarre
sight to view the snow-capped mountains looking a lot more like typical
February rather than almost June!

 

I'll be up on Whiteface again for a dawn tour in a few days and I'll report
back on the conditions.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush 3-feet of snow on the Adirondack High Peaks

[Joan E. Collins]

I have had a number of inquiries by phone and email regarding the heavy,
late snowfall that took place in the Adirondack Mountains over Memorial Day
weekend and its implications for Bicknell's Thrush and other neotropical
migrants that recently returned.  I wrote a blog post with thoughts on this
subject, and on severe weather events and climate change (photo by Aaron
Kellett, Whiteface Mountain Manager) at:

 

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/climate-change/extreme-weather-eve
nts-and-climate-change

 

This link, with the photo taken by Aaron Kellett, is also posted to my
Facebook page at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

 

Yesterday, I drove just west of the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence Valley
grasslands and shrublands, which always feels like you've traveled to the
Midwest, with a completely different suite of bird species from the
mountains!  I enjoyed finding Henslow's Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows,
Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and more in the grasslands, and Blue-winged
and Golden-winged Warblers in the shrublands among many other species.  As I
drove back into the Adirondacks later in the day, it was such a bizarre
sight to view the snow-capped mountains looking a lot more like typical
February rather than almost June!

 

I'll be up on Whiteface again for a dawn tour in a few days and I'll report
back on the conditions.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


--

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ARCHIVES:
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2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bobolinks

[Joan E. Collins]

5/22/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Eastern Wood-Pewee arrived outside our house today.  A migrant *Tennessee
Warbler was singing at dawn outside our home.

 

I had a lovely view of one of the breeding Mourning Warblers on our property
this morning.

 

5/21/13 Tupper Lake Marsh (Franklin Co.) & Sabattis Bog (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were back yesterday at Sabattis Bog.  There are
Bobolinks at Tupper Lake Marsh again this year - way out from the platform
(bring a scope).  They are in the same area as the Sedge Wren.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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ARCHIVES:
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3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bobolinks

[Joan E. Collins]

5/22/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Eastern Wood-Pewee arrived outside our house today.  A migrant *Tennessee
Warbler was singing at dawn outside our home.

 

I had a lovely view of one of the breeding Mourning Warblers on our property
this morning.

 

5/21/13 Tupper Lake Marsh (Franklin Co.)  Sabattis Bog (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were back yesterday at Sabattis Bog.  There are
Bobolinks at Tupper Lake Marsh again this year - way out from the platform
(bring a scope).  They are in the same area as the Sedge Wren.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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ARCHIVES:
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2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Sedge Wren, Bicknell's Thrush, & other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

*: First-of-the-season

 

5/19/13 Tupper Lake Marsh (Franklin Co.) & Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.)

 

At 3:30 a.m. this morning, I stopped at Tupper Lake Marsh (there is a
platform here that overlooks a huge marsh).  It was spectacular - no cars,
calm winds, brilliant star-lit sky.  Swamp and Song Sparrows were
(nocturnally) singing.  Amer. Woodcocks were displaying.  A Barred Owl
called from across Tupper Lake.  American Toads and Spring Peepers
vocalized.  And a *Sedge Wren was singing!  Historically, there was another
Sedge Wren record not far from this location noted by Charlcie and Marian
Delehanty on July 5, 2000. I am fond of the fascinating Sedge Wren song, so
it delayed me quite a bit!  The wren is a good distance out in the marsh, so
it helps to visit on a calm-wind night - I would recommend a night visit
when car traffic is minimal.

 

I found 8 *Bicknell's Thrushes between 3900 and 4300 feet on Whiteface
Mountain between 6:15 and 7 a.m. this morning.  All 8 birds were calling,
not singing.  There were many Swainson's Thrushes and *Blackpoll Warblers
singing.  For over a decade now, I have been observing species expand their
breeding ranges upward on mountains.  Today, I found Black-throated Green
and Black-throated Blue Warblers singing at 4200 feet!  There are even more
Amer. Robins on the upper reaches of the mountain this year.  There was also
a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird at 4200 feet - he was sitting on the snow
and intermittently drinking the dripping snow-melt water.  I did not hear
any Yellow-bellied Flycatchers yet.  And.the Woodchuck was observed again
today!  Today, it was between 3800 and 3900 feet and had a mouthful of birch
bark!

 

Mammals:  The Woodchuck on Whiteface, 3 Porcupines (1 in the road I had to
swerve to avoid and 1 adult with a baby near the toll gate at Whiteface),
and a Red Fox with a mouthful of prey in the road.

 

Cones: It should be a great winter!  Cone crops on Balsam Fir, Red Spruce,
and White Pine look great.  I will check other coniferous tree species soon.

 

There is still snow on Whiteface!

 

5/18/13 Trail to West Mountain and Shallow Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Great Crested Flycatcher

*Canada Warbler

 

5/17/13 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Essex Co.) & Route 28N in Long Lake (Hamilton
Co.)

 

*Olive-sided Flycatcher - singing from a wetland that is unfortunately on
private land along Route 28N in Long Lake

*Swainson's Thrush - Roosevelt Truck Trail

 

Moose tracks were observed again on this trail.

 

5/16/13 Various locations in Essex Co. birding with Sean O'Brien

 

*Cape May Warbler - at least 4 singing birds at the Lake Placid Golf Course;
we had lovely views of one that dropped from its lofty heights down to about
20 feet up to forage.

 

In the gale force winds of Thursday, we were on the summit of Whiteface
Mountain in late afternoon where we first found the Woodchuck at 4200
feet!!!  This is the strangest thing I have ever encountered over 4000 feet
in the Adirondacks!  It seems it would be nearly impossible to dig a burrow
at that elevation!

 

5/14/13 Wildflower Tour on the Ampersand Mountain Trail in Franklin Co.

 

On a wildflower tour with a couple from Philadelphia, PA, we found the
following flowers:

 

Hobblebush

Early Fly Honeysuckle

Two-leaved Toothwart

Painted Trillium

Purple Trillium

False Solomon's Seal

Hairy Solomon's Seal

Smooth Solomon's Seal

Wild Sarsaparilla

Canada Mayflower

Starflower

Foamflower

Goldthread

Carolina Spring Beauty

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Trout Lily

Clintonia

Canada Violet

YellowViolet

Marsh Blue Violet

Bluets - in Tupper Lake

 

On the drive home, I observed an adult Porcupine with a baby along Route 30
between Tupper Lake and Long Lake.  There are some photographs posted to my
blog and on my business Facebook page (listed below).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

https://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/blog

 

 


--

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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] Sedge Wren, Bicknell's Thrush, other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

*: First-of-the-season

 

5/19/13 Tupper Lake Marsh (Franklin Co.)  Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.)

 

At 3:30 a.m. this morning, I stopped at Tupper Lake Marsh (there is a
platform here that overlooks a huge marsh).  It was spectacular - no cars,
calm winds, brilliant star-lit sky.  Swamp and Song Sparrows were
(nocturnally) singing.  Amer. Woodcocks were displaying.  A Barred Owl
called from across Tupper Lake.  American Toads and Spring Peepers
vocalized.  And a *Sedge Wren was singing!  Historically, there was another
Sedge Wren record not far from this location noted by Charlcie and Marian
Delehanty on July 5, 2000. I am fond of the fascinating Sedge Wren song, so
it delayed me quite a bit!  The wren is a good distance out in the marsh, so
it helps to visit on a calm-wind night - I would recommend a night visit
when car traffic is minimal.

 

I found 8 *Bicknell's Thrushes between 3900 and 4300 feet on Whiteface
Mountain between 6:15 and 7 a.m. this morning.  All 8 birds were calling,
not singing.  There were many Swainson's Thrushes and *Blackpoll Warblers
singing.  For over a decade now, I have been observing species expand their
breeding ranges upward on mountains.  Today, I found Black-throated Green
and Black-throated Blue Warblers singing at 4200 feet!  There are even more
Amer. Robins on the upper reaches of the mountain this year.  There was also
a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird at 4200 feet - he was sitting on the snow
and intermittently drinking the dripping snow-melt water.  I did not hear
any Yellow-bellied Flycatchers yet.  And.the Woodchuck was observed again
today!  Today, it was between 3800 and 3900 feet and had a mouthful of birch
bark!

 

Mammals:  The Woodchuck on Whiteface, 3 Porcupines (1 in the road I had to
swerve to avoid and 1 adult with a baby near the toll gate at Whiteface),
and a Red Fox with a mouthful of prey in the road.

 

Cones: It should be a great winter!  Cone crops on Balsam Fir, Red Spruce,
and White Pine look great.  I will check other coniferous tree species soon.

 

There is still snow on Whiteface!

 

5/18/13 Trail to West Mountain and Shallow Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Great Crested Flycatcher

*Canada Warbler

 

5/17/13 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Essex Co.)  Route 28N in Long Lake (Hamilton
Co.)

 

*Olive-sided Flycatcher - singing from a wetland that is unfortunately on
private land along Route 28N in Long Lake

*Swainson's Thrush - Roosevelt Truck Trail

 

Moose tracks were observed again on this trail.

 

5/16/13 Various locations in Essex Co. birding with Sean O'Brien

 

*Cape May Warbler - at least 4 singing birds at the Lake Placid Golf Course;
we had lovely views of one that dropped from its lofty heights down to about
20 feet up to forage.

 

In the gale force winds of Thursday, we were on the summit of Whiteface
Mountain in late afternoon where we first found the Woodchuck at 4200
feet!!!  This is the strangest thing I have ever encountered over 4000 feet
in the Adirondacks!  It seems it would be nearly impossible to dig a burrow
at that elevation!

 

5/14/13 Wildflower Tour on the Ampersand Mountain Trail in Franklin Co.

 

On a wildflower tour with a couple from Philadelphia, PA, we found the
following flowers:

 

Hobblebush

Early Fly Honeysuckle

Two-leaved Toothwart

Painted Trillium

Purple Trillium

False Solomon's Seal

Hairy Solomon's Seal

Smooth Solomon's Seal

Wild Sarsaparilla

Canada Mayflower

Starflower

Foamflower

Goldthread

Carolina Spring Beauty

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Trout Lily

Clintonia

Canada Violet

YellowViolet

Marsh Blue Violet

Bluets - in Tupper Lake

 

On the drive home, I observed an adult Porcupine with a baby along Route 30
between Tupper Lake and Long Lake.  There are some photographs posted to my
blog and on my business Facebook page (listed below).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

https://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/blog

 

 


--

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] 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival

[Joan E. Collins]

The 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival will be held on June 7, 8, and 9
(the second weekend in June).  For a complete description of events, visit:

 

http://www.adirondackexperience.com/outdoor-recreation/birding-trails/hamilt
on-county-birding-festival.html

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


--

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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] 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival

[Joan E. Collins]

The 9th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival will be held on June 7, 8, and 9
(the second weekend in June).  For a complete description of events, visit:

 

http://www.adirondackexperience.com/outdoor-recreation/birding-trails/hamilt
on-county-birding-festival.html

 

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] Hamilton & Essex Counties

[Joan E. Collins]

5/4/13 Minerva (Essex County), Roosevelt Truck Trail, Railroad Bed,
Vanderwhacker Mountain Trail, & Hewitt Eddy Trail (* first-of-the-season)

 

I hiked ~9 miles on 4 different trails in western Essex County today.  I
found a Black-backed Woodpecker nest location, and as usual, the male was
doing all the excavation work.  The female foraged nearby and called to the
male.  It is quite remarkable to watch how hard the male Black-backed
Woodpecker works, non-stop all day.  I also found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
nest site.  Ruffed Grouse seem to be everywhere (including eating our lilac
bush leaves/buds outside the house) and I had to stop several times today
while driving to wait for grouse to stroll across the highway.  On the
Roosevelt Truck Trail, a Boreal Chickadee came to the edge of the trail
vocalizing.  A Broad-winged Hawk vocalized as did many other new arrivals
and resident species.  The only first-of-the-season species was a *Nashville
Warbler at a marsh along Route 28N in Newcomb.  An American Bittern
vocalized from the marsh along the railroad bed (S) in Minerva. 

 

The dirt road to the Vanderwhacker Mountain Trail is accessible, but a bit
muddy with ice and snow in some sections.  It is a rough road and a high
clearance vehicle is best.  The marshes did not appear to have any beaver
activity and I did not hear any Rusty Blackbirds (one of the places they
used to nest each year) - just Common Grackles.  Trout Lilies are in bloom.
Pine Sawyers could be heard chewing.  Black flies emerged today!

 

5/3/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Blackburnian Warbler - singing outside our house

 

*Least Flycatcher - 2 at the Little Tupper Lake outlet (Bill Labes found 2
at Lake Eaton on 5/2, which is a new early date for Hamilton Co.)

 

Lincoln's Sparrows are singing at Sabattis Bog

 

5/2/13 Ferd's Bog & Brown's Tract Inlet (Hamilton Co.)

 

The Raquette Lake highway department person said it will probably be May
18th before access to Uncas Road from the Raquette Lake end will be open.
The Eagle Bay end of Uncas Road is only open for about 2 miles before you
encounter a Road Closed sign.  I parked and walked to the Ferd's Bog
trailhead.  I accessed the Brown's Tract Inlet trail from Route 28 (the 8th
Lake carry trail).  Warblers: Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue,
Yellow-rumped, Pine, Palm, and Northern Waterthrush.

 

I hiked the lovely boardwalk at Brown's Tract Inlet over the water (built
for a canoe put-in, but it is a great birding location!).  At the end of the
boardwalk, 3 Otters suddenly appeared (wild vocalizations!) swimming at me
very quickly.  After a momentary panic wondering what I did to anger them,
it was apparent they did not see me.  When they did spot me, they
disappeared underwater.  I was standing on the end of the boardwalk/dock
with lots of piles of bones around me - the Otters are using this location
to eat their prey (fish/frogs)!  I left so they would have their feeding
table back.

 

Migrants continue to trickle in very slowly - so far, it has been a very
unusual migration season.  It is eerily quiet.

 

Jim Murray observed an Eastern Towhee outside his Long Lake house for
several days feeding among other sparrow species - this is an unusual
species for Hamilton Co.  Northern Cardinals are singing and setting up
territories in locations all around Long Lake!  (They just recently began to
winter in Long Lake during the past decade.)  There will be quite a change
for this species range map in the next breeding bird Atlas for NY!  The open
circle of the Adirondacks on the map looks like it may well fill in.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Hamilton Essex Counties

[Joan E. Collins]

5/4/13 Minerva (Essex County), Roosevelt Truck Trail, Railroad Bed,
Vanderwhacker Mountain Trail,  Hewitt Eddy Trail (* first-of-the-season)

 

I hiked ~9 miles on 4 different trails in western Essex County today.  I
found a Black-backed Woodpecker nest location, and as usual, the male was
doing all the excavation work.  The female foraged nearby and called to the
male.  It is quite remarkable to watch how hard the male Black-backed
Woodpecker works, non-stop all day.  I also found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
nest site.  Ruffed Grouse seem to be everywhere (including eating our lilac
bush leaves/buds outside the house) and I had to stop several times today
while driving to wait for grouse to stroll across the highway.  On the
Roosevelt Truck Trail, a Boreal Chickadee came to the edge of the trail
vocalizing.  A Broad-winged Hawk vocalized as did many other new arrivals
and resident species.  The only first-of-the-season species was a *Nashville
Warbler at a marsh along Route 28N in Newcomb.  An American Bittern
vocalized from the marsh along the railroad bed (S) in Minerva. 

 

The dirt road to the Vanderwhacker Mountain Trail is accessible, but a bit
muddy with ice and snow in some sections.  It is a rough road and a high
clearance vehicle is best.  The marshes did not appear to have any beaver
activity and I did not hear any Rusty Blackbirds (one of the places they
used to nest each year) - just Common Grackles.  Trout Lilies are in bloom.
Pine Sawyers could be heard chewing.  Black flies emerged today!

 

5/3/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

*Blackburnian Warbler - singing outside our house

 

*Least Flycatcher - 2 at the Little Tupper Lake outlet (Bill Labes found 2
at Lake Eaton on 5/2, which is a new early date for Hamilton Co.)

 

Lincoln's Sparrows are singing at Sabattis Bog

 

5/2/13 Ferd's Bog  Brown's Tract Inlet (Hamilton Co.)

 

The Raquette Lake highway department person said it will probably be May
18th before access to Uncas Road from the Raquette Lake end will be open.
The Eagle Bay end of Uncas Road is only open for about 2 miles before you
encounter a Road Closed sign.  I parked and walked to the Ferd's Bog
trailhead.  I accessed the Brown's Tract Inlet trail from Route 28 (the 8th
Lake carry trail).  Warblers: Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue,
Yellow-rumped, Pine, Palm, and Northern Waterthrush.

 

I hiked the lovely boardwalk at Brown's Tract Inlet over the water (built
for a canoe put-in, but it is a great birding location!).  At the end of the
boardwalk, 3 Otters suddenly appeared (wild vocalizations!) swimming at me
very quickly.  After a momentary panic wondering what I did to anger them,
it was apparent they did not see me.  When they did spot me, they
disappeared underwater.  I was standing on the end of the boardwalk/dock
with lots of piles of bones around me - the Otters are using this location
to eat their prey (fish/frogs)!  I left so they would have their feeding
table back.

 

Migrants continue to trickle in very slowly - so far, it has been a very
unusual migration season.  It is eerily quiet.

 

Jim Murray observed an Eastern Towhee outside his Long Lake house for
several days feeding among other sparrow species - this is an unusual
species for Hamilton Co.  Northern Cardinals are singing and setting up
territories in locations all around Long Lake!  (They just recently began to
winter in Long Lake during the past decade.)  There will be quite a change
for this species range map in the next breeding bird Atlas for NY!  The open
circle of the Adirondacks on the map looks like it may well fill in.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Camping on Long Lake

[Joan E. Collins]

4/27/13 to 4/28/13 Plumley's Point lean-to at the north end of Long Lake &
hikes on the Northville-Placid Trail, Hamilton County

 

This is the time of year when folks with boat-access-only camps at the north
end of Long Lake share a great deal with Common Loons and other waterfowl,
eagerly awaiting "ice-out".A couple weeks ago, when the water began to
open up at the bridge over Long Lake, a pair of Common Goldeneye hovered at
the edge of the ice and stared at the 10 miles of ice to the north - it
would have made a wonderful photograph!  (There is a nesting pair every year
at the outlet of Long Lake on the Raquette River.)  Email, Facebook, and
phone call communication goes on all through April asking about ice
conditions.  It is almost a competition to see who can boat to their camp
first.

 

My husband and I motored 7 miles north from our beach to Plumley's Point
lean-to to camp on Saturday.  (The only human sign of life was a large group
of people at one camp along our way.)  Plumley's Point is the farthest point
north on Long Lake that still has access to the 136-mile Northville-Placid
Trail.  I hoped to hear Northern Saw-whet Owls and to check several wetlands
for Rusty Blackbirds.  I thought I heard a distant saw-whet owl, but it was
in the haze of sleep and I never fully woke to confirm it!  I did clearly
hear several Barred Owls through the night.  We also listened to a Beaver
smack its tail ALL night along the point!  I don't know if our boat was
disturbing the animal, or whether it had designs on a tree near our camp and
was frustrated with our presence.  A Ruffed Grouse drummed all night long
also.  Common Loons pierced the night with their wild sounds.  There was a
pair near our camp and they were making the soft "pew" (or "poo") notes back
and forth - it was lovely.

 

I checked several beaver wetlands for Rusty Blackbirds and found none - just
Common Grackle pairs.  On Sunday, one of the folks from the camp (the
winners of the competition to be first to arrive!) we passed on our boat
ride in joined us for the Northville-Placid Trail hike.  He was intrigued by
my search for Rusty Blackbirds and fascinated by their vocalizations which I
had on my iPhone (comparing some of the sounds they make to a cassette
playing in rewind mode - for those of us who still know what a cassette tape
is!).  This area is filled with beaver activity, so I was discouraged not to
find Rusty Blackbirds.  I don't know if things will turn around for this
species, and it has become a sad situation.

 

We hiked ~ 6 miles round-trip on Sunday in a northeasterly direction on the
N-P Trail.  Our turn around spot was yet another place that the Beavers had
flooded with a dam.  I've observed countless beaver dams over the years, but
this one was spectacular!  It was so mind-boggling, that I sat down on the
ground and just stared at it in awe.  It was huge, and they had taken down
all the trees in the area, leaving lots and lots of stumps.  All the trees
were debarked and lined up vertically along a gigantic dam as extra support
- it was so perfect that it looked as if a human had engineered it.  I kept
thinking that they did all of that with just TEETH!  I wondered how they
maneuvered all those trees across the ground to the giant dam.  Beavers are
truly remarkable creatures.

 

There were still some patches of snow and ice on the trail, and giant chunks
of ice left along the banks of Long Lake.  Yellow Violets were in bloom and
I observed one Mourning Cloak (second one of the season).  Here are some of
the 35 species found (* first-of-the-season):

 

Ring-necked Duck

Bufflehead - migrant pair

Ruffed Grouse - many flushed, several heard drumming

Common Loon - many

Osprey - first one of the season I've observed near Long Lake

Bald Eagle - on its nest from last year!

Sharp-shinned Hawk - perched over our lean-to, which caused chaos in a pair
of nearby nesting Canada Geese

*Red-shouldered Hawk - 3 different vocalizing birds along the N-P Trail

Broad-winged Hawk - 3

Barred Owl - several

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, & Pileated
Woodpecker

Blue-headed Vireo - several singing

Brown Creeper - many singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - many

Hermit Thrush - many

Yellow-rumped Warbler - many

White-throated Sparrow

Purple Finch

Common Redpoll - flyover

American Goldfinch

 

My husband worried all week that it would be too cold to camp Saturday
night.  It took a lot of convincing to get him to sign up.  I have to admit,
he was right and it was brutal cold all night!  In the morning, the lake was
a mirror with a nearly full moon still visible and fog rolling around in
huge banks.  It is truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth - in my
opinion!  Hearing just the sounds of (non-human) wildlife for two days is
what I live for!  (Well, there were a few jets that went over - the only
human-made sound that you simply can't escape anymore.)

 

[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire & more

[Joan E. Collins]

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


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[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire more

[Joan E. Collins]

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


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[nysbirds-l] Hermit Thrush, Red-necked Grebes, & more

[Joan E. Collins]

4/11/13 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

A Hermit Thrush arrived today outside our house - the earliest arrival date
for this location.  (This may also be a new early record for Hamilton Co.)
A Fox Sparrow could be heard singing all morning.  Hundreds of Dark-eyed
Juncos continue to surround our house in addition to hundreds of redpolls (2
female Hoary Redpolls were observed perched outside our kitchen window).  I
am going through huge amounts of bird seed each day.  With all the arrivals,
migrants, irruptives, and year-round birds (20 species), it sounded like a
jungle over the baby monitor.

 

I encountered a very vocal Gray Jay this morning giving a call that I've
heard them give near their nest sites.  Their young should be fledging in
about a week and a half.

 

Lorraine Pine reported 2 Red-necked Grebes and 1 Horned Grebe at the south
end of Long Lake where the water is opening up.

 

4/10/13 Blue Mountain Lake & Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

A Fox Sparrow was singing outside our home.  I found a Red-necked Grebe on
Long Lake observed from the beach (near the bridge).  Lorraine Pine found
one at the south end (about 4 miles from the one I observed).  Lorraine also
observed 2 Common Loons at the south end of Long Lake. A Merlin was observed
at the Long Lake ball field.  

 

I had to travel to Glens Falls, and on the drive home, I stopped at the
marsh by Lake Durant in Blue Mountain Lake.  There was a pair of American
Black Ducks and a pair of Wood Ducks on a small brook at the edge of the
marsh.  The Black Ducks were vocalizing non-stop.  As I watched them, a Mink
came charging across the snow and swam at them!  The Black Ducks teamed up
with the Wood Ducks in a huddle - and the Wood Ducks also began to vocalize.
The chaos ended when the Mink went off hunting into the snowy marsh.  I
watched the Mink for over 30 minutes - the longest I have been able to watch
this active weasel species.  It kept finding openings in the snow and would
drop into the water - then reappear and shake off like a dog!  It appeared
to be eating small prey, but finally (after a half hour), it emerged with a
huge fish and bounded across the snowy marsh for the forest.  It had to swim
across the brook.  It came out of the water, took the fish up a snowy bank
and dropped it, then raced back to the brook and caught another large fish
(which I assume it spotted when it swam across with the first fish).  It
dropped that fish on the snow and then rolled around and around in the snow
(as my dogs used to do) then picked up both fish and ran into the forest.  I
was surprised that such a large fish was found in such a shallow marsh.  I
was so thrilled to be observing the Mink, that I ignored a Belted Kingfisher
that was perched on the wire near my car and fishing in the brook.  I could
hear it splashing into the brook, but I never took my eyes off the Mink!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Hermit Thrush, Red-necked Grebes, more

[Joan E. Collins]

4/11/13 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

A Hermit Thrush arrived today outside our house - the earliest arrival date
for this location.  (This may also be a new early record for Hamilton Co.)
A Fox Sparrow could be heard singing all morning.  Hundreds of Dark-eyed
Juncos continue to surround our house in addition to hundreds of redpolls (2
female Hoary Redpolls were observed perched outside our kitchen window).  I
am going through huge amounts of bird seed each day.  With all the arrivals,
migrants, irruptives, and year-round birds (20 species), it sounded like a
jungle over the baby monitor.

 

I encountered a very vocal Gray Jay this morning giving a call that I've
heard them give near their nest sites.  Their young should be fledging in
about a week and a half.

 

Lorraine Pine reported 2 Red-necked Grebes and 1 Horned Grebe at the south
end of Long Lake where the water is opening up.

 

4/10/13 Blue Mountain Lake  Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

A Fox Sparrow was singing outside our home.  I found a Red-necked Grebe on
Long Lake observed from the beach (near the bridge).  Lorraine Pine found
one at the south end (about 4 miles from the one I observed).  Lorraine also
observed 2 Common Loons at the south end of Long Lake. A Merlin was observed
at the Long Lake ball field.  

 

I had to travel to Glens Falls, and on the drive home, I stopped at the
marsh by Lake Durant in Blue Mountain Lake.  There was a pair of American
Black Ducks and a pair of Wood Ducks on a small brook at the edge of the
marsh.  The Black Ducks were vocalizing non-stop.  As I watched them, a Mink
came charging across the snow and swam at them!  The Black Ducks teamed up
with the Wood Ducks in a huddle - and the Wood Ducks also began to vocalize.
The chaos ended when the Mink went off hunting into the snowy marsh.  I
watched the Mink for over 30 minutes - the longest I have been able to watch
this active weasel species.  It kept finding openings in the snow and would
drop into the water - then reappear and shake off like a dog!  It appeared
to be eating small prey, but finally (after a half hour), it emerged with a
huge fish and bounded across the snowy marsh for the forest.  It had to swim
across the brook.  It came out of the water, took the fish up a snowy bank
and dropped it, then raced back to the brook and caught another large fish
(which I assume it spotted when it swam across with the first fish).  It
dropped that fish on the snow and then rolled around and around in the snow
(as my dogs used to do) then picked up both fish and ran into the forest.  I
was surprised that such a large fish was found in such a shallow marsh.  I
was so thrilled to be observing the Mink, that I ignored a Belted Kingfisher
that was perched on the wire near my car and fishing in the brook.  I could
hear it splashing into the brook, but I never took my eyes off the Mink!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Winter Wrens, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

4/10/13 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

Winter Wrens arrived overnight.  One began singing outside our window at 6
a.m. and I could hear two more wrens farther down the mountain we live on.

 

Another species that also arrived outside our home is the Mourning Dove -
not a species we tend to discuss on the lists, but there has been a
remarkable range expansion for this bird during the past couple decades.
Mourning Dove is now a regular breeding species at our house - in a heavily
forested location at 2,000 feet.  They have also moved into all the boreal
bogs.  Kevin McGowan discussed the range expansion into the Central
Adirondacks in the Mourning Dove species account in The Second Atlas of
Breeding Birds in New York State.  I suspect the last remaining "white" (no
detection) blocks in the Adirondacks will be filled in by the 2020 Atlas if
the rapid rate of expansion continues.

 

Thanks to the baby monitor that we use to bring in the outside sounds, I
went outside at 1 a.m. (hoping not to find a Black Bear at our feeders) and
I found a Flying Squirrel - and it "flew" as I walked toward it!  It feeds
at the black oil seed hearts feeder, but it also managed to rip open two of
the thistle sock feeders.  I fell back asleep, but awoke a short time later
to Barred Owl "monkey" calls, which I love to hear.  I woke my husband
worried that the Barred Owls would eat the Flying Squirrel, and he mumbled
something to the effect that he was sleeping!  It occurred to me that the
excitement of spring for birders is not often shared by non-birders!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Winter Wrens, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

4/10/13 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

Winter Wrens arrived overnight.  One began singing outside our window at 6
a.m. and I could hear two more wrens farther down the mountain we live on.

 

Another species that also arrived outside our home is the Mourning Dove -
not a species we tend to discuss on the lists, but there has been a
remarkable range expansion for this bird during the past couple decades.
Mourning Dove is now a regular breeding species at our house - in a heavily
forested location at 2,000 feet.  They have also moved into all the boreal
bogs.  Kevin McGowan discussed the range expansion into the Central
Adirondacks in the Mourning Dove species account in The Second Atlas of
Breeding Birds in New York State.  I suspect the last remaining white (no
detection) blocks in the Adirondacks will be filled in by the 2020 Atlas if
the rapid rate of expansion continues.

 

Thanks to the baby monitor that we use to bring in the outside sounds, I
went outside at 1 a.m. (hoping not to find a Black Bear at our feeders) and
I found a Flying Squirrel - and it flew as I walked toward it!  It feeds
at the black oil seed hearts feeder, but it also managed to rip open two of
the thistle sock feeders.  I fell back asleep, but awoke a short time later
to Barred Owl monkey calls, which I love to hear.  I woke my husband
worried that the Barred Owls would eat the Flying Squirrel, and he mumbled
something to the effect that he was sleeping!  It occurred to me that the
excitement of spring for birders is not often shared by non-birders!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Sparrow species, Evening Grosbeaks, etc

[Joan E. Collins]

4/9/13 Long Lake, NY (Northern Hamilton Co.)

 

There were very few Golden-crowned Kinglets that stayed north this winter.
It appears they have returned!  One was singing outside our house this
morning and I found quite a few while out birding midday.  It was the same
situation for Evening Grosbeaks, and they too, appeared today.  There were
two vocal males at a feeder location on our road.  There is a huge movement
of sparrow species underway and they lined the roadways.  I found six
species: Amer. Tree, Vesper, Fox, Song, and White-crowned Sparrows, and
Dark-eyed Juncos.  The Vesper Sparrows were mixed with White-crowned and
Song Sparrows at the Long Lake Beach location.  I had my scope trained on a
Vesper Sparrow when a couple of Long Lake birders stopped to see what I was
observing.  They had never seen a Vesper Sparrow, so I'm glad they stopped!
There was literally a river of Dark-eyed Juncos flowing down our road as I
drove home - I stopped since it was such a remarkable sight, and that's when
I heard the Evening Grosbeaks.  The homeowner said they arrived today.  Many
of the sparrows I found today were singing, which was lovely.

 

A female Black-backed Woodpecker was loudly vocalizing at Sabattis Bog in
the same group of trees that I often find this bird (I assume it is the same
bird).

 

We continue to have hundreds of Common Redpolls visiting our feeders,
including the 4 Hoary Redpolls.  Our ground is still covered in snow and the
forecast calls for 10 more inches of snow on Thursday night.  The water on
14-mile Long Lake is just beginning to open up under the bridge.  I've
observed Mallards, Canada Geese, and Common Mergansers on this small section
of open water, but no Common Loons yet.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Sparrow species, Evening Grosbeaks, etc

[Joan E. Collins]

4/9/13 Long Lake, NY (Northern Hamilton Co.)

 

There were very few Golden-crowned Kinglets that stayed north this winter.
It appears they have returned!  One was singing outside our house this
morning and I found quite a few while out birding midday.  It was the same
situation for Evening Grosbeaks, and they too, appeared today.  There were
two vocal males at a feeder location on our road.  There is a huge movement
of sparrow species underway and they lined the roadways.  I found six
species: Amer. Tree, Vesper, Fox, Song, and White-crowned Sparrows, and
Dark-eyed Juncos.  The Vesper Sparrows were mixed with White-crowned and
Song Sparrows at the Long Lake Beach location.  I had my scope trained on a
Vesper Sparrow when a couple of Long Lake birders stopped to see what I was
observing.  They had never seen a Vesper Sparrow, so I'm glad they stopped!
There was literally a river of Dark-eyed Juncos flowing down our road as I
drove home - I stopped since it was such a remarkable sight, and that's when
I heard the Evening Grosbeaks.  The homeowner said they arrived today.  Many
of the sparrows I found today were singing, which was lovely.

 

A female Black-backed Woodpecker was loudly vocalizing at Sabattis Bog in
the same group of trees that I often find this bird (I assume it is the same
bird).

 

We continue to have hundreds of Common Redpolls visiting our feeders,
including the 4 Hoary Redpolls.  Our ground is still covered in snow and the
forecast calls for 10 more inches of snow on Thursday night.  The water on
14-mile Long Lake is just beginning to open up under the bridge.  I've
observed Mallards, Canada Geese, and Common Mergansers on this small section
of open water, but no Common Loons yet.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Great Gray Owl & more!

[Joan E. Collins]

3/30/13 Hamilton, Franklin, Essex, Clinton Counties

 

Two Barred Owls are hooting back and forth outside our Long Lake house
tonight as I write this post!  It looks like we'll have nesting Barred Owls
in our yard again this year.

 

While returning to Long Lake after an all day birding tour, a Great Gray Owl
was observed in southern Franklin County.  A birder from NJ spotted the bird
as I was driving 60 miles per hour!  (I've birded with her before and she
has "raptor eyes"!)  She said, "Stop the car, I think I just saw a Great
Gray Owl"!  I 180-ed with the car, and looked into the beautiful face of a
Great Gray Owl!  We continued to watch the bird perch and actively hunt.
Larry Master made it to our location from Lake Placid in record time!  He
took some wonderful photos which he plans to post.  I didn't keep track of
the time, but I suspect we observed the bird for about an hour and a half.

 

The NJ birder stopped at our home yesterday at dawn to observe our Common
and Hoary Redpoll feeder birds and then we spent the whole day birding
today.  Here are some of the 40 species found:

 

Snow Goose - hundreds migrating north

Ring-necked Ducks - filling in on open water

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Ruffed Grouse

Turkey Vulture

Cooper's Hawk - Bloomingdale

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon - Plattsburgh

Barred Owl - Sabattis Bog

Great Gray Owl - southern Franklin Co.

Black-backed Woodpecker - at least 5 (probably 7 since we heard two more
drumming that would have been a long bushwhack); two pairs and a solo bird
in the Bloomingdale area.  We spent a lot of time watching one pair
communicating back and forth through tapping.

Pileated Woodpecker - 2 today (1 yesterday at my home)

Boreal Chickadee - 6 (groups of 1, 3, and 2 in Bloomingdale)

Brown Creeper - singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - Bloomingdale area

Pine Grosbeak - 2 in Plattsburgh feeding on crab apples along Montcalm Rd.
near the intersection with Ash Road.

 

3/29/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk - preying on the redpolls at our feeders

Northern Saw-whet Owl - 1 vocalizing outside our home (dinner time)

Hoary Redpoll - 3 (1 male and 2 females); For the first time ever, I had two
female Hoary Redpolls in one scope view sitting near each other!

 

3/28/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co., and Plattsburgh and Chazy in Clinton Co.

 

A Barred Owl was vocalizing outside our home at dawn.

 

I found two flocks of Bohemian Waxwings: ~60 at Lake Alice Wildlife
Management Area and 5 outside Hawkins Hall at SUNY Plattsburgh.  The
Bohemian Waxwings at Lake Alice were fly-catching at the wetland near the
intersection of Ridge and Macadam Roads (it was over 50 degrees at the
time).  A Peregrine Falcon tried to catch a Rock Pigeon as I watched the
Bohemian Waxwings at Hawkins Hall - the same location where a Peregrine was
observed today.

 

3/26/13 St. Lawrence County

 

Waterfowl (Snow & Canada Geese, Amer. Black Duck, Mallard, Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Hooded, Common, and Red-breasted Mergansers), 2 Bald
Eagles, and 2 Pine Grosbeaks outside Pizza Hut in Massena!

 

3/25/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Black-backed Woodpecker at Sabattis Bog

 

3/24/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Barred Owl - 2 hooting back and forth at Sabattis Bog (late afternoon)

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 at the boreal forest by the Round Lake outlet
into Little Tupper Lake

 

We still have ~2 feet of snow on the ground in Long Lake (lots of lake
effect snow).  There is very little snow in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid,
and no snow in Plattsburgh.  The temperature difference between Plattsburgh
and Long Lake has been about 10 to 15 degrees.  It doesn't feel like spring
in Long Lake yet.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Great Gray Owl more!

[Joan E. Collins]

3/30/13 Hamilton, Franklin, Essex, Clinton Counties

 

Two Barred Owls are hooting back and forth outside our Long Lake house
tonight as I write this post!  It looks like we'll have nesting Barred Owls
in our yard again this year.

 

While returning to Long Lake after an all day birding tour, a Great Gray Owl
was observed in southern Franklin County.  A birder from NJ spotted the bird
as I was driving 60 miles per hour!  (I've birded with her before and she
has raptor eyes!)  She said, Stop the car, I think I just saw a Great
Gray Owl!  I 180-ed with the car, and looked into the beautiful face of a
Great Gray Owl!  We continued to watch the bird perch and actively hunt.
Larry Master made it to our location from Lake Placid in record time!  He
took some wonderful photos which he plans to post.  I didn't keep track of
the time, but I suspect we observed the bird for about an hour and a half.

 

The NJ birder stopped at our home yesterday at dawn to observe our Common
and Hoary Redpoll feeder birds and then we spent the whole day birding
today.  Here are some of the 40 species found:

 

Snow Goose - hundreds migrating north

Ring-necked Ducks - filling in on open water

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Ruffed Grouse

Turkey Vulture

Cooper's Hawk - Bloomingdale

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon - Plattsburgh

Barred Owl - Sabattis Bog

Great Gray Owl - southern Franklin Co.

Black-backed Woodpecker - at least 5 (probably 7 since we heard two more
drumming that would have been a long bushwhack); two pairs and a solo bird
in the Bloomingdale area.  We spent a lot of time watching one pair
communicating back and forth through tapping.

Pileated Woodpecker - 2 today (1 yesterday at my home)

Boreal Chickadee - 6 (groups of 1, 3, and 2 in Bloomingdale)

Brown Creeper - singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - Bloomingdale area

Pine Grosbeak - 2 in Plattsburgh feeding on crab apples along Montcalm Rd.
near the intersection with Ash Road.

 

3/29/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk - preying on the redpolls at our feeders

Northern Saw-whet Owl - 1 vocalizing outside our home (dinner time)

Hoary Redpoll - 3 (1 male and 2 females); For the first time ever, I had two
female Hoary Redpolls in one scope view sitting near each other!

 

3/28/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co., and Plattsburgh and Chazy in Clinton Co.

 

A Barred Owl was vocalizing outside our home at dawn.

 

I found two flocks of Bohemian Waxwings: ~60 at Lake Alice Wildlife
Management Area and 5 outside Hawkins Hall at SUNY Plattsburgh.  The
Bohemian Waxwings at Lake Alice were fly-catching at the wetland near the
intersection of Ridge and Macadam Roads (it was over 50 degrees at the
time).  A Peregrine Falcon tried to catch a Rock Pigeon as I watched the
Bohemian Waxwings at Hawkins Hall - the same location where a Peregrine was
observed today.

 

3/26/13 St. Lawrence County

 

Waterfowl (Snow  Canada Geese, Amer. Black Duck, Mallard, Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Hooded, Common, and Red-breasted Mergansers), 2 Bald
Eagles, and 2 Pine Grosbeaks outside Pizza Hut in Massena!

 

3/25/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Black-backed Woodpecker at Sabattis Bog

 

3/24/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co.

 

Barred Owl - 2 hooting back and forth at Sabattis Bog (late afternoon)

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 at the boreal forest by the Round Lake outlet
into Little Tupper Lake

 

We still have ~2 feet of snow on the ground in Long Lake (lots of lake
effect snow).  There is very little snow in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid,
and no snow in Plattsburgh.  The temperature difference between Plattsburgh
and Long Lake has been about 10 to 15 degrees.  It doesn't feel like spring
in Long Lake yet.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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RE: [nysbirds-l] Crossbill question

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Greg/All,

 

Very observant!  It is not 50-50, at least for White-winged Crossbill.  Info
from the Birds of North America White-winged Crossbill account:

 

"Lower mandible crosses to right approximately 3 times more often than to
left (Benkman 1988c
 )."

 

Here is the info from the Birds of North American Red Crossbill account:

 

"Lower mandible crosses to right as often as to left."

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-74921622-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-74921622-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of greg prelich
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:19 AM
To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Crossbill question

 

I've been looking at some photos I took recently of Crossbills and noticed
that on one bird the upper mandible crosses over the right side of the lower
mandible and on another bird it crosses on the left. Does anybody out there
know if there is a preference either way, or is it a 50% proposition?

Greg Prelich
New Rochelle

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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RE: [nysbirds-l] Crossbill question

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Greg/All,

 

Very observant!  It is not 50-50, at least for White-winged Crossbill.  Info
from the Birds of North America White-winged Crossbill account:

 

Lower mandible crosses to right approximately 3 times more often than to
left (Benkman 1988c
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/027/articles/biblio/bib008 ).

 

Here is the info from the Birds of North American Red Crossbill account:

 

Lower mandible crosses to right as often as to left.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-74921622-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-74921622-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of greg prelich
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:19 AM
To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Crossbill question

 

I've been looking at some photos I took recently of Crossbills and noticed
that on one bird the upper mandible crosses over the right side of the lower
mandible and on another bird it crosses on the left. Does anybody out there
know if there is a preference either way, or is it a 50% proposition?

Greg Prelich
New Rochelle

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[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls & other Northern NY birds

[Joan E. Collins]

I have been absent from email for several weeks due to 5 different family
emergencies.  Someone on NYS Birds asked about a Hoary Redpoll location.  We
continue to have large numbers of redpolls - hundreds of Commons and at
least 4 Hoary Redpolls (1 male and 3 females) at our Long Lake feeders.
Birders are welcome to view our feeders if they can let us know the
date/time ahead.  So far, everyone who has visited has had success in
viewing a Hoary Redpoll.

 

Here are some recent sightings from northern NY locations:

 

2/10/13 Long Lake (Hamilton County)

 

Bohemian Waxwing - a flock of 60 to 70 birds perched at the edge of our lawn
in Long Lake.  Bohemian Waxwings occasionally show up in Long Lake during
the winter, but this was the first time we have had this species on our
property.

Hoary Redpoll - I observed 4 on our front porch among hundreds of Common
Redpolls.

 

2/14/13 Bloomingdale area (Franklin/Essex Counties), Tupper Lake (Franklin
Co.), Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

Ruffed Grouse - Bloomingdale

Bald Eagle - 2 adults flying together over Route 3 by the intersection with
Coreys Rd.

Barred Owl - Long Lake

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 females (1 along Bigelow Rd. in Bloomingdale & 1
at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake)

Gray Jay - 11 (3 at Sabattis Bog, 6 at Bloomingdale Bog, and 2 along Bigelow
Rd.)

Bohemian Waxwing - ~20 in a crab apple tree by the Tupper Lake school
entrance on Stetson Rd.

 

2/15/13 Various St. Lawrence Co. locations

 

Rough-legged Hawk - 2 (1 light morph on Route 30 in Madrid, and 1 light
morph at the intersection of Routes 30 & 27 in Lisbon)

Horned Lark - 11 (Lisbon & Madrid)

Bohemian Waxwing - 10 in Ogdensburg

Snow Bunting - Lisbon

Pine Grosbeak - 11 (1 in Canton, groups of 6 and 4 in Ogdensburg)

 

On a tour with 3 birders from the NYC area over the weekend, we found 45
species.  We spent Saturday in boreal habitat and Sunday in the St. Lawrence
Valley.  Here are some of the species found:

 

2/16/13 Bloomingdale area (Franklin/Essex Counties) & Sabattis Bog (Hamilton
Co.)

 

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 (1 male on Oregon Plains Rd. in Bloomingdale & 1
female at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake)

Boreal Chickadee - 13 (groups of 1,1,1,5, & 5 along Oregon Plains and
Bigelow Rds.)

Brown Creeper - singing on Oregon Plains Rd.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Oregon Plains Rd.

Gray Jay - 8 at Bloomingdale Bog

White-winged Crossbill - 8 (only 2 females) on Oregon Plains Rd.  They were
in the area for a long time and spent time foraging on spruce cones and
gritting in the road.

Common Redpoll - ~10 at Bloomingdale Bog

 

2/17/13 Various St. Lawrence Co. locations

 

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

Bald Eagle - 4 (1 Lisbon, 2 Madrid, and 1 Massena)

Cooper's Hawk - Ogdensburg

Red-tailed Hawk - 10

Rough-legged Hawk - 2 (1 light and 1 dark morph) Route 30 in Madrid

Herring Gull

Glaucous Gull - 1 (possibly 2 as I saw one on the water also - may have been
the same perched bird later) at Hawkins Point in Massena.  Interesting - the
USA-Canada border runs right through the middle of the Moses-Saunders Dam!
So, technically, the Glaucous Gull was perched in Canada - But, we did see
it flying in the USA before it perched!!!

Great Black-backed Gull - many at Hawkins Point in Massena

Northern Shrike - Route 15 in Rensselaer Falls at Lower Lake (Town of
Canton)

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Tufted Titmouse

Bohemian Waxwing - at least 80 in Canton feeding in fruit trees on Farmer
St.

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting - several locations including scope views at Lisbon Beach

Northern Cardinal

Pine Grosbeak - ~10 in Canton feeding in a large spruce (eating the new
vegetation) at St. Lawrence Univ.

House Finch

 

We stopped by Lisbon Beach and found birders from the Saranac Lake area who
had not observed the Smew (& reported meeting other birders who did not find
it on Sunday either).  Jeff Bolsinger posted his Smew photographs, taken on
Saturday, on the Northern NY Birds website.  As Jeff posted, conditions were
not ideal for viewing waterfowl on the river with bitter cold, wind, and
heat shimmer.

 

2/18/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

The three birders from NYC and I braved the bitter cold to watch our feeder
redpolls through scopes at 8 a.m.  We observed a brilliant female Hoary
Redpoll feeding among the Common Redpolls.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

(315) 244-7127 cell

(518) 624-5528 home

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

 

 

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls other Northern NY birds

[Joan E. Collins]

I have been absent from email for several weeks due to 5 different family
emergencies.  Someone on NYS Birds asked about a Hoary Redpoll location.  We
continue to have large numbers of redpolls - hundreds of Commons and at
least 4 Hoary Redpolls (1 male and 3 females) at our Long Lake feeders.
Birders are welcome to view our feeders if they can let us know the
date/time ahead.  So far, everyone who has visited has had success in
viewing a Hoary Redpoll.

 

Here are some recent sightings from northern NY locations:

 

2/10/13 Long Lake (Hamilton County)

 

Bohemian Waxwing - a flock of 60 to 70 birds perched at the edge of our lawn
in Long Lake.  Bohemian Waxwings occasionally show up in Long Lake during
the winter, but this was the first time we have had this species on our
property.

Hoary Redpoll - I observed 4 on our front porch among hundreds of Common
Redpolls.

 

2/14/13 Bloomingdale area (Franklin/Essex Counties), Tupper Lake (Franklin
Co.), Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

Ruffed Grouse - Bloomingdale

Bald Eagle - 2 adults flying together over Route 3 by the intersection with
Coreys Rd.

Barred Owl - Long Lake

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 females (1 along Bigelow Rd. in Bloomingdale  1
at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake)

Gray Jay - 11 (3 at Sabattis Bog, 6 at Bloomingdale Bog, and 2 along Bigelow
Rd.)

Bohemian Waxwing - ~20 in a crab apple tree by the Tupper Lake school
entrance on Stetson Rd.

 

2/15/13 Various St. Lawrence Co. locations

 

Rough-legged Hawk - 2 (1 light morph on Route 30 in Madrid, and 1 light
morph at the intersection of Routes 30  27 in Lisbon)

Horned Lark - 11 (Lisbon  Madrid)

Bohemian Waxwing - 10 in Ogdensburg

Snow Bunting - Lisbon

Pine Grosbeak - 11 (1 in Canton, groups of 6 and 4 in Ogdensburg)

 

On a tour with 3 birders from the NYC area over the weekend, we found 45
species.  We spent Saturday in boreal habitat and Sunday in the St. Lawrence
Valley.  Here are some of the species found:

 

2/16/13 Bloomingdale area (Franklin/Essex Counties)  Sabattis Bog (Hamilton
Co.)

 

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 (1 male on Oregon Plains Rd. in Bloomingdale  1
female at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake)

Boreal Chickadee - 13 (groups of 1,1,1,5,  5 along Oregon Plains and
Bigelow Rds.)

Brown Creeper - singing on Oregon Plains Rd.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Oregon Plains Rd.

Gray Jay - 8 at Bloomingdale Bog

White-winged Crossbill - 8 (only 2 females) on Oregon Plains Rd.  They were
in the area for a long time and spent time foraging on spruce cones and
gritting in the road.

Common Redpoll - ~10 at Bloomingdale Bog

 

2/17/13 Various St. Lawrence Co. locations

 

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

Bald Eagle - 4 (1 Lisbon, 2 Madrid, and 1 Massena)

Cooper's Hawk - Ogdensburg

Red-tailed Hawk - 10

Rough-legged Hawk - 2 (1 light and 1 dark morph) Route 30 in Madrid

Herring Gull

Glaucous Gull - 1 (possibly 2 as I saw one on the water also - may have been
the same perched bird later) at Hawkins Point in Massena.  Interesting - the
USA-Canada border runs right through the middle of the Moses-Saunders Dam!
So, technically, the Glaucous Gull was perched in Canada - But, we did see
it flying in the USA before it perched!!!

Great Black-backed Gull - many at Hawkins Point in Massena

Northern Shrike - Route 15 in Rensselaer Falls at Lower Lake (Town of
Canton)

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Tufted Titmouse

Bohemian Waxwing - at least 80 in Canton feeding in fruit trees on Farmer
St.

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting - several locations including scope views at Lisbon Beach

Northern Cardinal

Pine Grosbeak - ~10 in Canton feeding in a large spruce (eating the new
vegetation) at St. Lawrence Univ.

House Finch

 

We stopped by Lisbon Beach and found birders from the Saranac Lake area who
had not observed the Smew ( reported meeting other birders who did not find
it on Sunday either).  Jeff Bolsinger posted his Smew photographs, taken on
Saturday, on the Northern NY Birds website.  As Jeff posted, conditions were
not ideal for viewing waterfowl on the river with bitter cold, wind, and
heat shimmer.

 

2/18/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

The three birders from NYC and I braved the bitter cold to watch our feeder
redpolls through scopes at 8 a.m.  We observed a brilliant female Hoary
Redpoll feeding among the Common Redpolls.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

(315) 244-7127 cell

(518) 624-5528 home

http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/

 

 

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls & other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

1/19/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

This morning, a group of 12 people, 10 from Saw Mill River Audubon and 2
from the Audubon Society of the Capital Region, visited our feeders for an
hour (trip organized by Christine McCluskey).  They planned to arrive
between 8 and 8:30 a.m.  I went outside a few minutes after 8 and the
redpoll flocks were swirling around over our lawn (~200).  They immediately
settled into the trees surrounding our house and I had non-stop scope views
of a brilliant female Hoary Redpoll.  The birds only visited the feeders
once before the visitors arrived, and spent most of the time preening up in
the trees.  The temps are unusually warm today (upper 20s at dawn).  I had
my scope trained on the female Hoary Redpoll as all the cars drove up our
driveway at 8:30 - I was sure it would spook the flock and they would miss
seeing the birds.  As it turns out, the female Hoary Redpoll never moved and
everyone had views of the bird through my scope!  The bird even turned
several times, allowing views of its brilliant white rump!  It can be very
difficult to have long views of a Hoary Redpoll in a scope because redpolls
are often "flighty" going between trees or the feeders.  This is by far the
longest view I've had of this species in one spot (~15 minutes)!  I believe
I now have 3 Hoary Redpolls visiting - 2 females and 1 male.  Sometimes you
can lose redpoll flocks in warm-ups, but the numbers visiting our feeders
actually increased in the warm-up last weekend.  Hopefully, that will be the
case this (warm) weekend too.

 

1/18/13 St. Lawrence Co. locations (mid-morning to mid-afternoon)

 

I combined a bit of birding with a grocery trip to St. Lawrence Co.
yesterday.  (One of the few disadvantages of living in the middle of nowhere
is 3 hour round trips to a major grocery store!).  Here are a few of the
species found:

 

Common Goldeneye - Hawkins Point in Massena

Common Merganser - Hawkins Point in Massena

Ruffed Grouse - in a tree on Robinson Bay Rd. in Massena

Bald Eagle - adult flying over the small airport in Potsdam

Great Black-backed Gull - many at Hawkins Point in Massena (sitting up on
the Moses-Saunders Dam)

Northern Shrike - adult along the short drive into Hawkins Point (off
Robinson Bay Rd.)

Common Raven - 2 on the bridge to Barnhart Island in Massena (I believe the
same bridge where Mary Curtis has been observing a pair of Peregrine
Falcons).  One of the ravens dropped a stick as I sat to watch what it was
up to.  Then, it flew to the peak of the bridge (second one in) and hopped
up a flight of stairs, then hovered (for a long time) under a metal beam -
with its bill inserted into a cache location!  It finally pulled its bill
out and had a piece of meat!  Raven behavior is endlessly fascinating to me!

Horned Lark - 11 on Planty Rd. in Madrid

Northern Mockingbird - 1!  (I assume this is the same bird that Mary Curtis
recently posted.)  This is only the second N. Mockingbird I have observed in
St. Lawrence Co.  The bird was on the short drive into Hawkins Point in
shrubby vegetation along a side dirt road (that someone has been driving
even in the snow).  The only reason I spotted the bird was that it flew
across that side dirt road - and then sat perfectly still in bitter cold
temps.  It was also interesting to me that this bird was about 200 feet from
where I had been watching the N. Shrike hunting a half hour earlier!

American Tree Sparrow

Pine Grosbeak - 11 (all in Massena); 3 on Horton Rd. in a crab apple tree
near the intersection with Rt. 131, 3 at the other end of Horton Rd. in
buckthorn vegetation (I could hear more vocalizing, but could only see 3),
and 5 on Rt. 42 between Horton and Dennison Rds.

Common Redpoll - a large flock at feeders located at the end of Kinnie Rd.
in Massena; The birds were snow burrowing on roof snow near the feeders!

Amer. Goldfinch - with the same redpoll flock above

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

1/19/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

This morning, a group of 12 people, 10 from Saw Mill River Audubon and 2
from the Audubon Society of the Capital Region, visited our feeders for an
hour (trip organized by Christine McCluskey).  They planned to arrive
between 8 and 8:30 a.m.  I went outside a few minutes after 8 and the
redpoll flocks were swirling around over our lawn (~200).  They immediately
settled into the trees surrounding our house and I had non-stop scope views
of a brilliant female Hoary Redpoll.  The birds only visited the feeders
once before the visitors arrived, and spent most of the time preening up in
the trees.  The temps are unusually warm today (upper 20s at dawn).  I had
my scope trained on the female Hoary Redpoll as all the cars drove up our
driveway at 8:30 - I was sure it would spook the flock and they would miss
seeing the birds.  As it turns out, the female Hoary Redpoll never moved and
everyone had views of the bird through my scope!  The bird even turned
several times, allowing views of its brilliant white rump!  It can be very
difficult to have long views of a Hoary Redpoll in a scope because redpolls
are often flighty going between trees or the feeders.  This is by far the
longest view I've had of this species in one spot (~15 minutes)!  I believe
I now have 3 Hoary Redpolls visiting - 2 females and 1 male.  Sometimes you
can lose redpoll flocks in warm-ups, but the numbers visiting our feeders
actually increased in the warm-up last weekend.  Hopefully, that will be the
case this (warm) weekend too.

 

1/18/13 St. Lawrence Co. locations (mid-morning to mid-afternoon)

 

I combined a bit of birding with a grocery trip to St. Lawrence Co.
yesterday.  (One of the few disadvantages of living in the middle of nowhere
is 3 hour round trips to a major grocery store!).  Here are a few of the
species found:

 

Common Goldeneye - Hawkins Point in Massena

Common Merganser - Hawkins Point in Massena

Ruffed Grouse - in a tree on Robinson Bay Rd. in Massena

Bald Eagle - adult flying over the small airport in Potsdam

Great Black-backed Gull - many at Hawkins Point in Massena (sitting up on
the Moses-Saunders Dam)

Northern Shrike - adult along the short drive into Hawkins Point (off
Robinson Bay Rd.)

Common Raven - 2 on the bridge to Barnhart Island in Massena (I believe the
same bridge where Mary Curtis has been observing a pair of Peregrine
Falcons).  One of the ravens dropped a stick as I sat to watch what it was
up to.  Then, it flew to the peak of the bridge (second one in) and hopped
up a flight of stairs, then hovered (for a long time) under a metal beam -
with its bill inserted into a cache location!  It finally pulled its bill
out and had a piece of meat!  Raven behavior is endlessly fascinating to me!

Horned Lark - 11 on Planty Rd. in Madrid

Northern Mockingbird - 1!  (I assume this is the same bird that Mary Curtis
recently posted.)  This is only the second N. Mockingbird I have observed in
St. Lawrence Co.  The bird was on the short drive into Hawkins Point in
shrubby vegetation along a side dirt road (that someone has been driving
even in the snow).  The only reason I spotted the bird was that it flew
across that side dirt road - and then sat perfectly still in bitter cold
temps.  It was also interesting to me that this bird was about 200 feet from
where I had been watching the N. Shrike hunting a half hour earlier!

American Tree Sparrow

Pine Grosbeak - 11 (all in Massena); 3 on Horton Rd. in a crab apple tree
near the intersection with Rt. 131, 3 at the other end of Horton Rd. in
buckthorn vegetation (I could hear more vocalizing, but could only see 3),
and 5 on Rt. 42 between Horton and Dennison Rds.

Common Redpoll - a large flock at feeders located at the end of Kinnie Rd.
in Massena; The birds were snow burrowing on roof snow near the feeders!

Amer. Goldfinch - with the same redpoll flock above

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls/Huge flocks of Bohemian Waxwings

[Joan E. Collins]

Redpolls have been daily visitors to our Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) feeders
since December 29 (before that date we had intermittent small flocks).  I
have regularly observed one female Hoary Redpoll, and on Saturday (1/12/13),
I observed 2 female Hoary Redpolls among a flock of over 200 Common Redpolls
on our back porch.  I was in St. Lawrence Co. on Sunday when my husband told
me we had huge numbers of redpolls visiting the feeders (which was
surprising given the warm-up that occurred yesterday).  Even with yet
another unusually warm day today, numbers of redpolls remained high (& a lot
of seed consumed).

 

I visited St. Lawrence Co. on Thursday, 1/10/13, ahead of our NYSOA field
trip yesterday.  I began at dawn in Potsdam and then drove the same route we
took yesterday from Canton.  Here are a few additional observations (to the
field trip post):

 

Bufflehead - Rt. 131 Hopson's Bay in Massena

Common Goldeneye - Rt. 131 Hopson's Bay and Hawkins Point in Massena

Red-breasted Merganser - 2 among many Common Mergansers at Hawkins Point in
Massena

Cooper's Hawk - perched at a house on Fairlane Dr. in Canton (see Bohemian
Waxwing below)

Rough-legged Hawk - 2; one dark morph along Route 11 northeast of Potsdam by
the intersection with Regan Rd. (a usual winter location for this species),
and one light morph soaring over the intersection of Irish Settlement Rd.
and Route 15 in Canton

Pileated Woodpecker - Robinson Bay Rd. (Massena)

Northern Shrike - 1 along Regan Rd. in Potsdam

Horned Lark - 15 to 20 on Route 27 in Lisbon

Bohemian Waxwing - >1000!  In the morning, I found a flock of over 100
feeding along Route 11 northeast of Potsdam (not far from Stockholm Rd.) in
buckthorn - a usual location where I find them in winter each year.  Also in
the a.m., in Canton, I viewed the Pine Grosbeaks on Route 11 and then turned
down Harrison St. where I immediately observed hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings
filling the trees for a block from Harrison St. to Church St. along Judson
St.  It appeared to be a gathering and then the birds broke away in large
flocks with some heading north and some heading west (in the direction of
SUNY Canton).  I found one of the large flocks flying around Fairlane Dr.
where I could also hear more Pine Grosbeaks vocalizing (but never saw the
grosbeaks).  The Bohemian Waxwing flock flew into a tree where a Cooper's
Hawk had just landed and perched above the raptor for about half a minute
before flying off.  At the end of the day (around sunset), in Massena, I was
leaving Hawkins Point and driving down Robinson Bay Rd. when I spotted a
Bohemian Waxwing flock perched in a tree.  I began to count them, when more
and more kept flying in - hundreds, and I gave up counting.  I observed a
behavior I had not seen before - they filled the road (like gritting birds).
It was in the high 30s and there was some water forming at the sides of the
roads from snowmelt, but it was difficult to see what the birds were
actually doing in the road since there were so many.  I stood outside my car
and the sound of their vocalizations was deafening!  (It was reminiscent of
all the times I would go into the huge flocks of over 700 behind our house
when we lived in Potsdam when they were intent on feeding in the buckthorn
and didn't mind my presence.)  The birds all flew off (in large groups) to
the southeast in the direction of the Wiley Dondero Canal.

Snow Bunting - a flock of over 120 on Route 30 in Madrid (same road where we
found the 9 Snow Buntings yesterday).  They flew across a large field and
perched at the top of a deciduous tree - my scope revealed they were
preening.

Pine Grosbeak - many - in Potsdam, a small flock appeared to be gritting on
May Rd.; same locations as yesterday in Canton and Ogdensburg; and a large
flock feeding along Rt 131 in Massena just before the intersection with
Barnhart Island Rd.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] NYSOA St. Lawrence Valley Field Trip

[Joan E. Collins]

1/13/13 St. Lawrence County locations (7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

 

On Sunday, eighteen people attended the NYS Ornithological Association's
field trip held in the St. Lawrence Valley to view winter bird visitors.
St. Lawrence County had record-breaking warm temperatures on Saturday and
came close to breaking records on Sunday.  The Sunday temperatures, both low
and high for the day, were over 30 degrees higher than average!  It was in
the high 50s.  We had some rain in the morning and then thick fog over the
snow and open water around the county.  The St. Lawrence River is mostly
open water.  Normally, at this time of year, waterfowl and gulls can be
found congregated at the open water near Moses-Saunders Dam (Massena),
viewed from Hawkins Point, but with the river mostly open, waterfowl and
gulls are scattered.

 

The field trip was a car-birding excursion across the northern section of
St. Lawrence County.  We formed a train of 5 cars and drove a circuit from
Canton to Rensselaer Falls to Ogdensburg to Lisbon to Madrid to Waddington
to Massena to Winthrop to Potsdam and back to Canton!  The birding itinerary
took us through villages, shrubby habitat, open farm country (which ended up
being "fog" country on Sunday!), river edge, swamps, and deciduous forest.
We had 4 walkie-talkies (thanks to Ann Spencer and Mary Normandia) which
helped communication between cars.  Car-birding has its comical challenges -
when someone sees a bird and asks you to stop the car (suddenly) and you
hope the car behind doesn't ram into you!  And then, because the stop can't
be instantaneous, you get asked to back-up, but there is a train of 4 cars
behind you by this point!  At a couple of our stops, in front of someone's
house, the homeowners came out to see what was going on, and we think we may
have started a couple people on the road to becoming birders as a result!
One young man was excited that there were 40 Pine Grosbeaks perched in his
backyard and declared that he was going to go inside and google "Pine
Grosbeak" right away!  (He also kindly offered that we could go in his
backyard to see the birds even closer if we wanted.)  Another woman viewed
the 18 Bohemian Waxwings across from her driveway through one of the
participant's binoculars!

 

Regardless of the morning rain and fog, we still managed to find quite a few
winter visitors among other birds on Sunday.  Here are some of the species
found:

 

Trumpeter Swan - 3 at the outlet of Lower Lake on Route 15 in Canton (2
adults and a juvenile)  (This area had been frozen last Thursday.)

Waterfowl - Amer. Black Duck, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

Red-tailed Hawk - 10

Amer. Kestrel

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Belted Kingfisher - 1 at the outlet of Lower Lake on Route 15 in Canton
(given climate change, Belted Kingfisher is becoming a year-round bird up
north)

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker - Hawkins Point

Northern Shrike - 4 (3 adults and 1 juvenile), 2 different locations on
Irish Settlement Rd. in Canton, 1 in Madrid, and 1 in Massena on Robinson
Bay Rd.

Common Raven

American Robin

Bohemian Waxwing - 24 (6 in Massena on Horton Rd. and 18 on Route 11
northeast of Potsdam)

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting - 9 in Madrid (Route 30)

Northern Cardinal -many

Pine Grosbeak - 63 (15 in Canton along Route 11, ~40 in Ogdensburg, and 8 in
Massena on Horton Rd.)

Common Redpoll - hundreds!  (We found a probable Hoary Redpoll in a large
flock in Canton, but it was at a distance high in a tree.)

 

One of the Pine Grosbeaks in Ogdensburg was an adult male.  This was the
first adult male that I've seen this winter!  This is certainly the most
unusual irruption I've ever observed for this species.  I assume the adult
males stayed north since I hear it is the same case in VT, NH, and ME -
birders only viewing females and young birds.  There is a lot of fruit left
on the trees in Ogdensburg, so Pine Grosbeaks will probably be there all
winter.  The birds are located by the St. Lawrence River ranging from
Caroline St. to Riverside Dr. to State St. to Washington St. (immediately
drive behind the buildings to the left) to Crescent St. to Greene St.  In
Canton, I've been viewing Pine Grosbeaks in the same fruit tree for 2 months
now!  The large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings can polish off the fruit in a
tree with remarkable speed compared to Pine Grosbeaks!

 

It was great to meet birders from around New York State over the weekend!
Thank you to Kathy Schneider for organizing NYSOA's quarterly
presentations/field trips around the state.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] NYSOA St. Lawrence Valley Field Trip

[Joan E. Collins]

1/13/13 St. Lawrence County locations (7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

 

On Sunday, eighteen people attended the NYS Ornithological Association's
field trip held in the St. Lawrence Valley to view winter bird visitors.
St. Lawrence County had record-breaking warm temperatures on Saturday and
came close to breaking records on Sunday.  The Sunday temperatures, both low
and high for the day, were over 30 degrees higher than average!  It was in
the high 50s.  We had some rain in the morning and then thick fog over the
snow and open water around the county.  The St. Lawrence River is mostly
open water.  Normally, at this time of year, waterfowl and gulls can be
found congregated at the open water near Moses-Saunders Dam (Massena),
viewed from Hawkins Point, but with the river mostly open, waterfowl and
gulls are scattered.

 

The field trip was a car-birding excursion across the northern section of
St. Lawrence County.  We formed a train of 5 cars and drove a circuit from
Canton to Rensselaer Falls to Ogdensburg to Lisbon to Madrid to Waddington
to Massena to Winthrop to Potsdam and back to Canton!  The birding itinerary
took us through villages, shrubby habitat, open farm country (which ended up
being fog country on Sunday!), river edge, swamps, and deciduous forest.
We had 4 walkie-talkies (thanks to Ann Spencer and Mary Normandia) which
helped communication between cars.  Car-birding has its comical challenges -
when someone sees a bird and asks you to stop the car (suddenly) and you
hope the car behind doesn't ram into you!  And then, because the stop can't
be instantaneous, you get asked to back-up, but there is a train of 4 cars
behind you by this point!  At a couple of our stops, in front of someone's
house, the homeowners came out to see what was going on, and we think we may
have started a couple people on the road to becoming birders as a result!
One young man was excited that there were 40 Pine Grosbeaks perched in his
backyard and declared that he was going to go inside and google Pine
Grosbeak right away!  (He also kindly offered that we could go in his
backyard to see the birds even closer if we wanted.)  Another woman viewed
the 18 Bohemian Waxwings across from her driveway through one of the
participant's binoculars!

 

Regardless of the morning rain and fog, we still managed to find quite a few
winter visitors among other birds on Sunday.  Here are some of the species
found:

 

Trumpeter Swan - 3 at the outlet of Lower Lake on Route 15 in Canton (2
adults and a juvenile)  (This area had been frozen last Thursday.)

Waterfowl - Amer. Black Duck, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser

Wild Turkey

Red-tailed Hawk - 10

Amer. Kestrel

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Belted Kingfisher - 1 at the outlet of Lower Lake on Route 15 in Canton
(given climate change, Belted Kingfisher is becoming a year-round bird up
north)

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker - Hawkins Point

Northern Shrike - 4 (3 adults and 1 juvenile), 2 different locations on
Irish Settlement Rd. in Canton, 1 in Madrid, and 1 in Massena on Robinson
Bay Rd.

Common Raven

American Robin

Bohemian Waxwing - 24 (6 in Massena on Horton Rd. and 18 on Route 11
northeast of Potsdam)

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting - 9 in Madrid (Route 30)

Northern Cardinal -many

Pine Grosbeak - 63 (15 in Canton along Route 11, ~40 in Ogdensburg, and 8 in
Massena on Horton Rd.)

Common Redpoll - hundreds!  (We found a probable Hoary Redpoll in a large
flock in Canton, but it was at a distance high in a tree.)

 

One of the Pine Grosbeaks in Ogdensburg was an adult male.  This was the
first adult male that I've seen this winter!  This is certainly the most
unusual irruption I've ever observed for this species.  I assume the adult
males stayed north since I hear it is the same case in VT, NH, and ME -
birders only viewing females and young birds.  There is a lot of fruit left
on the trees in Ogdensburg, so Pine Grosbeaks will probably be there all
winter.  The birds are located by the St. Lawrence River ranging from
Caroline St. to Riverside Dr. to State St. to Washington St. (immediately
drive behind the buildings to the left) to Crescent St. to Greene St.  In
Canton, I've been viewing Pine Grosbeaks in the same fruit tree for 2 months
now!  The large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings can polish off the fruit in a
tree with remarkable speed compared to Pine Grosbeaks!

 

It was great to meet birders from around New York State over the weekend!
Thank you to Kathy Schneider for organizing NYSOA's quarterly
presentations/field trips around the state.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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3) 

[nysbirds-l] Hoary Redpolls/Huge flocks of Bohemian Waxwings

[Joan E. Collins]

Redpolls have been daily visitors to our Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) feeders
since December 29 (before that date we had intermittent small flocks).  I
have regularly observed one female Hoary Redpoll, and on Saturday (1/12/13),
I observed 2 female Hoary Redpolls among a flock of over 200 Common Redpolls
on our back porch.  I was in St. Lawrence Co. on Sunday when my husband told
me we had huge numbers of redpolls visiting the feeders (which was
surprising given the warm-up that occurred yesterday).  Even with yet
another unusually warm day today, numbers of redpolls remained high ( a lot
of seed consumed).

 

I visited St. Lawrence Co. on Thursday, 1/10/13, ahead of our NYSOA field
trip yesterday.  I began at dawn in Potsdam and then drove the same route we
took yesterday from Canton.  Here are a few additional observations (to the
field trip post):

 

Bufflehead - Rt. 131 Hopson's Bay in Massena

Common Goldeneye - Rt. 131 Hopson's Bay and Hawkins Point in Massena

Red-breasted Merganser - 2 among many Common Mergansers at Hawkins Point in
Massena

Cooper's Hawk - perched at a house on Fairlane Dr. in Canton (see Bohemian
Waxwing below)

Rough-legged Hawk - 2; one dark morph along Route 11 northeast of Potsdam by
the intersection with Regan Rd. (a usual winter location for this species),
and one light morph soaring over the intersection of Irish Settlement Rd.
and Route 15 in Canton

Pileated Woodpecker - Robinson Bay Rd. (Massena)

Northern Shrike - 1 along Regan Rd. in Potsdam

Horned Lark - 15 to 20 on Route 27 in Lisbon

Bohemian Waxwing - 1000!  In the morning, I found a flock of over 100
feeding along Route 11 northeast of Potsdam (not far from Stockholm Rd.) in
buckthorn - a usual location where I find them in winter each year.  Also in
the a.m., in Canton, I viewed the Pine Grosbeaks on Route 11 and then turned
down Harrison St. where I immediately observed hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings
filling the trees for a block from Harrison St. to Church St. along Judson
St.  It appeared to be a gathering and then the birds broke away in large
flocks with some heading north and some heading west (in the direction of
SUNY Canton).  I found one of the large flocks flying around Fairlane Dr.
where I could also hear more Pine Grosbeaks vocalizing (but never saw the
grosbeaks).  The Bohemian Waxwing flock flew into a tree where a Cooper's
Hawk had just landed and perched above the raptor for about half a minute
before flying off.  At the end of the day (around sunset), in Massena, I was
leaving Hawkins Point and driving down Robinson Bay Rd. when I spotted a
Bohemian Waxwing flock perched in a tree.  I began to count them, when more
and more kept flying in - hundreds, and I gave up counting.  I observed a
behavior I had not seen before - they filled the road (like gritting birds).
It was in the high 30s and there was some water forming at the sides of the
roads from snowmelt, but it was difficult to see what the birds were
actually doing in the road since there were so many.  I stood outside my car
and the sound of their vocalizations was deafening!  (It was reminiscent of
all the times I would go into the huge flocks of over 700 behind our house
when we lived in Potsdam when they were intent on feeding in the buckthorn
and didn't mind my presence.)  The birds all flew off (in large groups) to
the southeast in the direction of the Wiley Dondero Canal.

Snow Bunting - a flock of over 120 on Route 30 in Madrid (same road where we
found the 9 Snow Buntings yesterday).  They flew across a large field and
perched at the top of a deciduous tree - my scope revealed they were
preening.

Pine Grosbeak - many - in Potsdam, a small flock appeared to be gritting on
May Rd.; same locations as yesterday in Canton and Ogdensburg; and a large
flock feeding along Rt 131 in Massena just before the intersection with
Barnhart Island Rd.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] FW: Common Pochard images

[Joan E. Collins]

Here is an update on the Common Pochard from Larry Master (& some
photographs).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 7:30 AM
To: joan.coll...@frontier.com
Subject: FW: Common Pochard images

 

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 7:28 AM
To: 'northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'jtrim...@oeb.harvard.edu'; 'kmcfarl...@vtecostudies.org';
'astr...@uvm.edu'; 'Chris Rimmer'; 'erichyne...@gmail.com';
'iwor...@uvm.edu'; 'vzeo0...@myfairpoint.net'; 'John Marshall'; 'Frank Gill'
Subject: RE: Common Pochard images

 

I was told this morning that the Pochard photo link didn't work.  Please try
this longer one:
https://plus.google.com/photos/112372647343297818289/albums/5829050524084151
633?authkey=CKT3w_rgm-iXCQ 

 

Larry

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 10:44 PM
To: 'northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'jtrim...@oeb.harvard.edu'; 'kmcfarl...@vtecostudies.org';
'astr...@uvm.edu'; 'Chris Rimmer'; 'erichyne...@gmail.com';
'iwor...@uvm.edu'; 'vzeo0...@myfairpoint.net'; 'John Marshall'; 'Frank Gill'
Subject: Common Pochard images

 

Some grainy downloadable images (taken at 1456 mm equivalent and then
savagely cropped) of the Common Pochard taken under the Vermont side of the
Lake Champlain bridge this morning are posted at http://tinyurl.com/akn5bsz.
I also noted two male Tufted Ducks (an adult and a first winter bird), two
Barrow's Goldeneyes, a Glaucous Gull, White-winged Scoter, Gadwalls, and
hundreds of Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes,
Mallards, Black Ducks, Redpolls, Bald Eagle, Great Black-backed, Herring,
and Ring-billed Gulls.

 

In other years we have noted Tufted Ducks on the New York side of the lake
(e.g., off Ausable Marsh in the spring) with an occasional "Redhead" mixed
in with hundreds of scaup, goldeneyes, etc., as today.  I know that I have
always glossed over the "Redheads" as just that and not given a thought to
the possibility of Common Pochard.  That will now change.

 

Given tonight's deep freeze (it's -19 F and dropping at our house as I write
this), I strongly suspect the water near the bridge will freeze up tonight
and the ducks will move off shore and/or up lake and not be as easily
viewable tomorrow.

 

Larry Master

Lake Placid, NY

lawrencemas...@gmail.com

www.masterimages.org  

www.intervalelowlands.org

 


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[nysbirds-l] FW: Common Pochard images

[Joan E. Collins]

Here is an update on the Common Pochard from Larry Master ( some
photographs).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 7:30 AM
To: joan.coll...@frontier.com
Subject: FW: Common Pochard images

 

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 7:28 AM
To: 'northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'jtrim...@oeb.harvard.edu'; 'kmcfarl...@vtecostudies.org';
'astr...@uvm.edu'; 'Chris Rimmer'; 'erichyne...@gmail.com';
'iwor...@uvm.edu'; 'vzeo0...@myfairpoint.net'; 'John Marshall'; 'Frank Gill'
Subject: RE: Common Pochard images

 

I was told this morning that the Pochard photo link didn't work.  Please try
this longer one:
https://plus.google.com/photos/112372647343297818289/albums/5829050524084151
633?authkey=CKT3w_rgm-iXCQ 

 

Larry

 

From: Larry Master [mailto:lawrencemas...@gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 10:44 PM
To: 'northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'jtrim...@oeb.harvard.edu'; 'kmcfarl...@vtecostudies.org';
'astr...@uvm.edu'; 'Chris Rimmer'; 'erichyne...@gmail.com';
'iwor...@uvm.edu'; 'vzeo0...@myfairpoint.net'; 'John Marshall'; 'Frank Gill'
Subject: Common Pochard images

 

Some grainy downloadable images (taken at 1456 mm equivalent and then
savagely cropped) of the Common Pochard taken under the Vermont side of the
Lake Champlain bridge this morning are posted at http://tinyurl.com/akn5bsz.
I also noted two male Tufted Ducks (an adult and a first winter bird), two
Barrow's Goldeneyes, a Glaucous Gull, White-winged Scoter, Gadwalls, and
hundreds of Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes,
Mallards, Black Ducks, Redpolls, Bald Eagle, Great Black-backed, Herring,
and Ring-billed Gulls.

 

In other years we have noted Tufted Ducks on the New York side of the lake
(e.g., off Ausable Marsh in the spring) with an occasional Redhead mixed
in with hundreds of scaup, goldeneyes, etc., as today.  I know that I have
always glossed over the Redheads as just that and not given a thought to
the possibility of Common Pochard.  That will now change.

 

Given tonight's deep freeze (it's -19 F and dropping at our house as I write
this), I strongly suspect the water near the bridge will freeze up tonight
and the ducks will move off shore and/or up lake and not be as easily
viewable tomorrow.

 

Larry Master

Lake Placid, NY

lawrencemas...@gmail.com

www.masterimages.org http://www.masterimages.org/ 

www.intervalelowlands.org

 


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ARCHIVES:
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Redpolls, Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

Some of the birds observed around Northern New York over the past week (most
recent dates first):

 

12/16/12  I've been seeing flocks of redpolls all over Northern NY - at
feeders, and feeding in birch trees and fields.  Several large flocks have
been observed in the village of Long Lake, and today, a flock found its way
to our feeders (up at 2,000').

 

12/12/12 & 12/11/12  I was out birding with Dale Dancis, Kathy Drake, Anne
Lazarus, and Louise Fraza, all from NYC.  We spent Tuesday in the St.
Lawrence Valley, and Wednesday in the boreal habitat of Franklin Co.  Here
are a few of the 44 species found:

 

Gadwall - Massena

Bufflehead - Massena

Common Goldeneye - Massena & Norwood

Hooded Merganser - Louisville & Massena

Common Merganser - Many along the St. Lawrence River

Ruffed Grouse - flushed in Bloomingdale; also many fresh tracks in the snow
at Bloomingdale & Santa Clara

Common Loon - Waddington

Bald Eagle - Massena

Pileated Woodpecker - several

Northern Shrike -Madrid

Gray Jay - at least 3 in Bloomingdale

Boreal Chickadee - at least 3 at Madawaska vocalizing and flying across the
road

Brown Creeper - Bloomingdale

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Madawaska, & Bloomingdale.

Bohemian Waxwing - ~175 in 3 flocks (20, 30 & 125) - towns of Potsdam &
Norfolk

Snow Bunting - ~20 to 30 in Massena

Pine Grosbeak - ~39 in 5 flocks (2, 4, 4, 25, & 4) Canton, Waddington,
Massena, and Santa Clara

House Finch - ~25 to 30 in Waddington

Red Crossbill - 1 flyover in Bloomingdale.

White-winged Crossbill - 7 in two groups; 1 vocalizing flyover, and a flock
of 6 vocalizing birds flying over in Bloomingdale

Common Redpoll - many flocks: Potsdam, Canton, Madrid, Massena,
Bloomingdale, and Paul Smiths

 

We also observed a porcupine in Massena!  At Madawaska, we observed Snow
Fleas (Springtails) on the snow - a more typical (late winter) March sight!
I don't ever recall seeing Snow Fleas in December.

 

12/9/12  Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, and I drove a big loop from Saranac Lake up
through Franklin Co. to the border and WSW across St. Lawrence Co. then back
around to Saranac Lake.  Here are a few of the 51 species found:

 

Snow Goose - hundreds, thousands?!!  - covering fields in northern Franklin
Co.

Gadwall - Massena

Amer. Black Duck

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Pied-billed Grebe - same place (I've recently posted) at the causeway to
Wilson Hill

Great Blue Heron - Saranac River

Bald Eagle - 5! (Santa Clara, Massena, and Waddington)

Rough-legged Hawk - 1 in Westville

Belted Kingfisher - 1 at Robinson Creek in Massena (We actually ignored a
flock of Pine Grosbeaks to watch this kingfisher eat a sunfish that was
almost as big as the bird!  We couldn't believe our eyes when the bird
swallowed the fish whole - just a remarkable thing to witness through a
scope!)

Northern Flicker - 1 in Massena

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Shrike - 1 in Waddington

Gray Jay -  heard in Santa Clara along Route 458 where road kill deer are
dropped (we stopped to see if there were any Golden Eagles - we found a Bald
Eagle and calling Gray Jays!)

Brown Creeper - Bloomingdale

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Bloomingdale

American Robin - 1 in Massena!

Cedar Waxwing - 2 in Fort Covington

Pine Grosbeak - 92 in 5 flocks (2, 6, 20, 60, and 4 in Westville, Fort
Covington, Massena, and Waddington)  Mary Curtis recently sent me her lovely
photography website, and it was great to meet her in Massena as we were
surrounded by 60 Pine Grosbeaks!

Common Redpoll - many flocks in Bloomingdale, Westville, Hogansburg,
Massena, and Waddington (a probable Hoary Redpoll was in the Waddington
flock, but our observation of this flock, that was feeding in a field, was
too brief)

 

While we were on the Barnhart Island Bridge watching waterfowl below, a pack
of coyotes howled from the forest.

 

12/7/12  David Buckley and I car-birded a few areas in Tupper Lake, Saranac
Lake, and Bloomingdale for a few hours in the morning.  We found 2 Bohemian
Waxwings and a flock of 30 to 40 redpolls in Tupper Lake.  A Northern Shrike
was perched along Route 3 by Coreys Road.  We observed 6 Gray Jays and
several redpoll flocks (some large) in Bloomingdale.  On my drive home, I
found 2 Bald Eagles in Tupper Lake, a male Black-backed Woodpecker at
Sabattis Bog, and 4 Hooded Mergansers on the Round Lake outlet on Sabattis
Circle Rd.

 

12/6/12  I drove from Long Lake to Ferd's Bog in the afternoon.  (I also
hiked the Shallow Lake and Brown's Tract Inlet Trails.)  Here are a few of
the species found:

 

On Blue Mountain Lake: 3 Amer. Black Ducks, 3 Hooded Mergansers, and 1
Red-necked Grebe!  There were 3 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Common Loon observed
on Raquette Lake.  At Ferd's Bog, an adult Golden Eagle flew right over me
when I was standing in the sunny open bog - lovely!  A Black-backed
Woodpecker called from across the bog.  An adult Northern Shrike was perched
at the bog edge and White-winged Crossbills were heard and 

[nysbirds-l] Redpolls, Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

Some of the birds observed around Northern New York over the past week (most
recent dates first):

 

12/16/12  I've been seeing flocks of redpolls all over Northern NY - at
feeders, and feeding in birch trees and fields.  Several large flocks have
been observed in the village of Long Lake, and today, a flock found its way
to our feeders (up at 2,000').

 

12/12/12  12/11/12  I was out birding with Dale Dancis, Kathy Drake, Anne
Lazarus, and Louise Fraza, all from NYC.  We spent Tuesday in the St.
Lawrence Valley, and Wednesday in the boreal habitat of Franklin Co.  Here
are a few of the 44 species found:

 

Gadwall - Massena

Bufflehead - Massena

Common Goldeneye - Massena  Norwood

Hooded Merganser - Louisville  Massena

Common Merganser - Many along the St. Lawrence River

Ruffed Grouse - flushed in Bloomingdale; also many fresh tracks in the snow
at Bloomingdale  Santa Clara

Common Loon - Waddington

Bald Eagle - Massena

Pileated Woodpecker - several

Northern Shrike -Madrid

Gray Jay - at least 3 in Bloomingdale

Boreal Chickadee - at least 3 at Madawaska vocalizing and flying across the
road

Brown Creeper - Bloomingdale

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Madawaska,  Bloomingdale.

Bohemian Waxwing - ~175 in 3 flocks (20, 30  125) - towns of Potsdam 
Norfolk

Snow Bunting - ~20 to 30 in Massena

Pine Grosbeak - ~39 in 5 flocks (2, 4, 4, 25,  4) Canton, Waddington,
Massena, and Santa Clara

House Finch - ~25 to 30 in Waddington

Red Crossbill - 1 flyover in Bloomingdale.

White-winged Crossbill - 7 in two groups; 1 vocalizing flyover, and a flock
of 6 vocalizing birds flying over in Bloomingdale

Common Redpoll - many flocks: Potsdam, Canton, Madrid, Massena,
Bloomingdale, and Paul Smiths

 

We also observed a porcupine in Massena!  At Madawaska, we observed Snow
Fleas (Springtails) on the snow - a more typical (late winter) March sight!
I don't ever recall seeing Snow Fleas in December.

 

12/9/12  Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, and I drove a big loop from Saranac Lake up
through Franklin Co. to the border and WSW across St. Lawrence Co. then back
around to Saranac Lake.  Here are a few of the 51 species found:

 

Snow Goose - hundreds, thousands?!!  - covering fields in northern Franklin
Co.

Gadwall - Massena

Amer. Black Duck

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Pied-billed Grebe - same place (I've recently posted) at the causeway to
Wilson Hill

Great Blue Heron - Saranac River

Bald Eagle - 5! (Santa Clara, Massena, and Waddington)

Rough-legged Hawk - 1 in Westville

Belted Kingfisher - 1 at Robinson Creek in Massena (We actually ignored a
flock of Pine Grosbeaks to watch this kingfisher eat a sunfish that was
almost as big as the bird!  We couldn't believe our eyes when the bird
swallowed the fish whole - just a remarkable thing to witness through a
scope!)

Northern Flicker - 1 in Massena

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Shrike - 1 in Waddington

Gray Jay -  heard in Santa Clara along Route 458 where road kill deer are
dropped (we stopped to see if there were any Golden Eagles - we found a Bald
Eagle and calling Gray Jays!)

Brown Creeper - Bloomingdale

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Bloomingdale

American Robin - 1 in Massena!

Cedar Waxwing - 2 in Fort Covington

Pine Grosbeak - 92 in 5 flocks (2, 6, 20, 60, and 4 in Westville, Fort
Covington, Massena, and Waddington)  Mary Curtis recently sent me her lovely
photography website, and it was great to meet her in Massena as we were
surrounded by 60 Pine Grosbeaks!

Common Redpoll - many flocks in Bloomingdale, Westville, Hogansburg,
Massena, and Waddington (a probable Hoary Redpoll was in the Waddington
flock, but our observation of this flock, that was feeding in a field, was
too brief)

 

While we were on the Barnhart Island Bridge watching waterfowl below, a pack
of coyotes howled from the forest.

 

12/7/12  David Buckley and I car-birded a few areas in Tupper Lake, Saranac
Lake, and Bloomingdale for a few hours in the morning.  We found 2 Bohemian
Waxwings and a flock of 30 to 40 redpolls in Tupper Lake.  A Northern Shrike
was perched along Route 3 by Coreys Road.  We observed 6 Gray Jays and
several redpoll flocks (some large) in Bloomingdale.  On my drive home, I
found 2 Bald Eagles in Tupper Lake, a male Black-backed Woodpecker at
Sabattis Bog, and 4 Hooded Mergansers on the Round Lake outlet on Sabattis
Circle Rd.

 

12/6/12  I drove from Long Lake to Ferd's Bog in the afternoon.  (I also
hiked the Shallow Lake and Brown's Tract Inlet Trails.)  Here are a few of
the species found:

 

On Blue Mountain Lake: 3 Amer. Black Ducks, 3 Hooded Mergansers, and 1
Red-necked Grebe!  There were 3 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Common Loon observed
on Raquette Lake.  At Ferd's Bog, an adult Golden Eagle flew right over me
when I was standing in the sunny open bog - lovely!  A Black-backed
Woodpecker called from across the bog.  An adult Northern Shrike was perched
at the bog edge and White-winged Crossbills were heard and observed 

[nysbirds-l] More Pine Grosbeaks & other finches

[Joan E. Collins]

11/17/12 - Charlotte Demers (the person with the Harris's Sparrow in her
yard) just emailed to say a Pine Grosbeak just showed up outside her Newcomb
house!  (She also has Bohemian Waxwings and Evening Grosbeaks.)

 

Yesterday, 11/16/12, I found 2 Pine Grosbeaks while driving to the Long Lake
Post Office (northern Hamilton Co.).  They were in a bush with small red
berries - not many berries left and I didn't find re-find them later in the
afternoon.  I should have mentioned in my post from Thursday that while I
have yet to find an adult male Pine Grosbeak, several of the birds I saw on
Thursday and one of the two yesterday were young males - if you get a good
look with binoculars, you can see some color in the breast feathers of young
males.

 

Larry Master of Lake Placid has heard reports of Pine Grosbeaks in Lake
Placid, Ray Brook, Bloomingdale, and Wilmington (all Essex Co.).  It looks
like we have a nice irruption underway for this species!

 

Also yesterday, I drove Sabattis Circle Road in the afternoon (Long Lake).
I stopped at the outlet of Little Tupper Lake (one of my favorite birding
stops - it always seems like unexpected things happen at this spot!) and
while I was observing a Common Loon, I spotted 3 River Otters.  They were
actively diving - almost always in perfect synch.  They appeared as huge,
cork-like periscopes when they popped up!  I came back an hour later after
birding around Sabattis Bog, and found a single Snow Bunting with two Amer.
Tree Sparrows by the outlet.  One sparrow kept sideling up to the bunting.
The bunting would only take it for so long and then very aggressively lunge
at the sparrow.  I was surprised to see the otters still in the same
location out on the lake.  A small flock of 4 vocalizing redpolls flew
through the birch trees.  After awhile, I heard loud sounds of ice breaking
(with calm winds).  The otters made it over to the outlet and were popping
their heads up through the ice!  One swam under the bridge and got up on the
ice on the outlet and was making red-squirrel type barking sounds!  I
watched the group of 3 fishing, eating, running around the ice, interacting,
and vocalizing (a whole range of fascinating vocalizations).  After watching
the otters for a long time, I was about to get back in the car, when 3 Red
Crossbills (I suspect type 3) flew right over me.

 

I am fascinated by the finch movements this fall, and wondering how far
south the irruption ranges will end up.  I heard from Matt Orsie of West
Virginia on Wednesday - he had a Common Redpoll at his feeder!  He said that
in addition to an above average influx of Pine Siskins and Purple Finches in
WV, they also have reports of Evening Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls - plus
both crossbill species in Virginia!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Harris's Sparrow in Newcomb (Essex Co.)

[Joan E. Collins]

11/17/12 Newcomb (western Essex Co.)

 

Charlotte Demers just emailed a photo of a Harris's Sparrow at her feeders
in Newcomb.  It is a first winter bird.  She doesn't know how long it has
been around since she has been gone all week.  The bird was discovered as
she was doing Project Feederwatch this morning.  She asked that visitors
observe the feeders from the road - the feeders are on the right side of the
house and easily viewed from the road.  Charlotte's house is on Sanford
Lane.  Take Adam's Lane (off Route 28N) to the end (only a few hundred feet)
and Charlotte's blue house is directly ahead at the intersection with
Sanford Lane.  (I recently posted the Bohemian Waxwings at this location.
Charlotte mentioned that although the fruit is gone from the tree on her
front lawn, there were still 3 Bohemian Waxwings in it this morning.  In
addition to Northern Cardinals at her feeders, a Tufted Titmouse also showed
up today - certainly not usual species for the heavily wooded central
Adirondacks!)

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Harris's Sparrow in Newcomb (Essex Co.)

[Joan E. Collins]

11/17/12 Newcomb (western Essex Co.)

 

Charlotte Demers just emailed a photo of a Harris's Sparrow at her feeders
in Newcomb.  It is a first winter bird.  She doesn't know how long it has
been around since she has been gone all week.  The bird was discovered as
she was doing Project Feederwatch this morning.  She asked that visitors
observe the feeders from the road - the feeders are on the right side of the
house and easily viewed from the road.  Charlotte's house is on Sanford
Lane.  Take Adam's Lane (off Route 28N) to the end (only a few hundred feet)
and Charlotte's blue house is directly ahead at the intersection with
Sanford Lane.  (I recently posted the Bohemian Waxwings at this location.
Charlotte mentioned that although the fruit is gone from the tree on her
front lawn, there were still 3 Bohemian Waxwings in it this morning.  In
addition to Northern Cardinals at her feeders, a Tufted Titmouse also showed
up today - certainly not usual species for the heavily wooded central
Adirondacks!)

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] More Pine Grosbeaks other finches

[Joan E. Collins]

11/17/12 - Charlotte Demers (the person with the Harris's Sparrow in her
yard) just emailed to say a Pine Grosbeak just showed up outside her Newcomb
house!  (She also has Bohemian Waxwings and Evening Grosbeaks.)

 

Yesterday, 11/16/12, I found 2 Pine Grosbeaks while driving to the Long Lake
Post Office (northern Hamilton Co.).  They were in a bush with small red
berries - not many berries left and I didn't find re-find them later in the
afternoon.  I should have mentioned in my post from Thursday that while I
have yet to find an adult male Pine Grosbeak, several of the birds I saw on
Thursday and one of the two yesterday were young males - if you get a good
look with binoculars, you can see some color in the breast feathers of young
males.

 

Larry Master of Lake Placid has heard reports of Pine Grosbeaks in Lake
Placid, Ray Brook, Bloomingdale, and Wilmington (all Essex Co.).  It looks
like we have a nice irruption underway for this species!

 

Also yesterday, I drove Sabattis Circle Road in the afternoon (Long Lake).
I stopped at the outlet of Little Tupper Lake (one of my favorite birding
stops - it always seems like unexpected things happen at this spot!) and
while I was observing a Common Loon, I spotted 3 River Otters.  They were
actively diving - almost always in perfect synch.  They appeared as huge,
cork-like periscopes when they popped up!  I came back an hour later after
birding around Sabattis Bog, and found a single Snow Bunting with two Amer.
Tree Sparrows by the outlet.  One sparrow kept sideling up to the bunting.
The bunting would only take it for so long and then very aggressively lunge
at the sparrow.  I was surprised to see the otters still in the same
location out on the lake.  A small flock of 4 vocalizing redpolls flew
through the birch trees.  After awhile, I heard loud sounds of ice breaking
(with calm winds).  The otters made it over to the outlet and were popping
their heads up through the ice!  One swam under the bridge and got up on the
ice on the outlet and was making red-squirrel type barking sounds!  I
watched the group of 3 fishing, eating, running around the ice, interacting,
and vocalizing (a whole range of fascinating vocalizations).  After watching
the otters for a long time, I was about to get back in the car, when 3 Red
Crossbills (I suspect type 3) flew right over me.

 

I am fascinated by the finch movements this fall, and wondering how far
south the irruption ranges will end up.  I heard from Matt Orsie of West
Virginia on Wednesday - he had a Common Redpoll at his feeder!  He said that
in addition to an above average influx of Pine Siskins and Purple Finches in
WV, they also have reports of Evening Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls - plus
both crossbill species in Virginia!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Pine Grosbeaks/redpolls/Bohemian Waxwings/etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/15/12 St. Lawrence Co. locations
(Potsdam-Madrid-Waddington-Louisville-Massena)

 

I traveled to Potsdam for a morning car appointment, and afterwards, had 4
hours of light left for birding:

 

Bohemian Waxwing: ~45; 5 at Brookview Dr. in Waddington (with the Pine
Grosbeaks), and a flock of ~40 at the intersection of Robinson Bay Rd. and
Barnhart Island Rd. in Massena.  There were at least 2 Cedar Waxwings mixed
in with the Bohemians.  There were also American Robins feeding in the same
crab apple tree.

 

Pine Grosbeak: total of 15; 4 at Clarkson University in Potsdam (usually a
reliable location when this species irrupts), at least 7 on Brookview Dr. in
Waddington (Brookview runs between Routes 44 & 37), and 4 in Massena at
Hawkins Point (originally found by Mary Curtis).  None of the birds were
adult males.  Pine Grosbeaks are adorable and sweet - with vocalizations
that match this "personality"!  I observed the Pine Grosbeaks at Clarkson
for about a half hour.

 

House Finch: small flock in a berry bush on Brookview Dr. in Waddington

 

Waterfowl at various locations along the river:

Canada Goose

Mallard

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe (one on Long Lake in Hamilton Co.)

There were large rafts of resting ducks at Wilson Hill.  I tried to view
them from the causeway, but I was looking directly into the sun and at a
great distance, they appeared to be black blobs.  Morning would be the best
time to observe waterfowl at this location.

 

11/14/12 Newcomb & Minerva in Essex County:

 

On a drive to Glens Falls, I stopped along the way at a few locations in
Newcomb and Minerva.  In Newcomb, redpolls were heard in the vicinity of a
feeder, and a pair of Northern Cardinals visited another feeder (remarkable
how quickly this species is expanding its range).  On a short walk of the
Hewitt Eddy Trail in Minerva, I found at least 3 Boreal Chickadees and a
flyover flock of redpolls.  In the village of Minerva, a small flock of
Common Redpolls visited a feeder.

 

11/13/12 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) & Tupper Lake (Franklin Co.):

 

At a feeder location in the hamlet of Long Lake, I found a small flock of
Common Redpolls, a single Pine Siskin, and a small flock of American
Goldfinches.  There were 3 Evening Grosbeaks in Tupper Lake along Route
30/3.  On Sabattis Circle Road, 2 Gray Jays glided across the road in front
of my car.

 

11/12/12 Long Lake - Evening Grosbeaks perched near our feeders, but I
didn't notice them actually come down to feed.  Redpolls were heard outside
our house at dawn.

 

11/11/12 Long Lake - Two Red Crossbills flew over our lawn at dawn.  Four
Evening Grosbeaks perched outside our house.

 

11/9/12 Long Lake - On Sabattis Circle Road a small flock of White-winged
Crossbills was heard flying overhead.

 

We lost the hoards of Pine Siskins from our feeders over a week ago (& I'm
no longer hearing them on hikes).  There is a small flock of American
Goldfinches visiting and Evening Grosbeaks just perch in the trees near the
house.  I haven't been home the past couple days to know if redpolls have
found our feeders yet.

 

Nocturnal visitors: Raccoons (adorable, but destructive) and tonight, I
found a flying squirrel on our porch!  It climbed up on our porch roof and
flew (from 2 stories up) to a tree quite a distance away - just a remarkable
sight!  We are overrun with Red and Gray Squirrels during the day.  I bought
a couple squirrel feeders to put in the trees to keep them away from the
bird feeders, but I need to wait until the raccoons are no longer active.
Years ago, before our climate dramatically changed, raccoons and black bears
were never a problem after mid-Oct.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY  

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Pine Grosbeaks/redpolls/Bohemian Waxwings/etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/15/12 St. Lawrence Co. locations
(Potsdam-Madrid-Waddington-Louisville-Massena)

 

I traveled to Potsdam for a morning car appointment, and afterwards, had 4
hours of light left for birding:

 

Bohemian Waxwing: ~45; 5 at Brookview Dr. in Waddington (with the Pine
Grosbeaks), and a flock of ~40 at the intersection of Robinson Bay Rd. and
Barnhart Island Rd. in Massena.  There were at least 2 Cedar Waxwings mixed
in with the Bohemians.  There were also American Robins feeding in the same
crab apple tree.

 

Pine Grosbeak: total of 15; 4 at Clarkson University in Potsdam (usually a
reliable location when this species irrupts), at least 7 on Brookview Dr. in
Waddington (Brookview runs between Routes 44  37), and 4 in Massena at
Hawkins Point (originally found by Mary Curtis).  None of the birds were
adult males.  Pine Grosbeaks are adorable and sweet - with vocalizations
that match this personality!  I observed the Pine Grosbeaks at Clarkson
for about a half hour.

 

House Finch: small flock in a berry bush on Brookview Dr. in Waddington

 

Waterfowl at various locations along the river:

Canada Goose

Mallard

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe (one on Long Lake in Hamilton Co.)

There were large rafts of resting ducks at Wilson Hill.  I tried to view
them from the causeway, but I was looking directly into the sun and at a
great distance, they appeared to be black blobs.  Morning would be the best
time to observe waterfowl at this location.

 

11/14/12 Newcomb  Minerva in Essex County:

 

On a drive to Glens Falls, I stopped along the way at a few locations in
Newcomb and Minerva.  In Newcomb, redpolls were heard in the vicinity of a
feeder, and a pair of Northern Cardinals visited another feeder (remarkable
how quickly this species is expanding its range).  On a short walk of the
Hewitt Eddy Trail in Minerva, I found at least 3 Boreal Chickadees and a
flyover flock of redpolls.  In the village of Minerva, a small flock of
Common Redpolls visited a feeder.

 

11/13/12 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)  Tupper Lake (Franklin Co.):

 

At a feeder location in the hamlet of Long Lake, I found a small flock of
Common Redpolls, a single Pine Siskin, and a small flock of American
Goldfinches.  There were 3 Evening Grosbeaks in Tupper Lake along Route
30/3.  On Sabattis Circle Road, 2 Gray Jays glided across the road in front
of my car.

 

11/12/12 Long Lake - Evening Grosbeaks perched near our feeders, but I
didn't notice them actually come down to feed.  Redpolls were heard outside
our house at dawn.

 

11/11/12 Long Lake - Two Red Crossbills flew over our lawn at dawn.  Four
Evening Grosbeaks perched outside our house.

 

11/9/12 Long Lake - On Sabattis Circle Road a small flock of White-winged
Crossbills was heard flying overhead.

 

We lost the hoards of Pine Siskins from our feeders over a week ago ( I'm
no longer hearing them on hikes).  There is a small flock of American
Goldfinches visiting and Evening Grosbeaks just perch in the trees near the
house.  I haven't been home the past couple days to know if redpolls have
found our feeders yet.

 

Nocturnal visitors: Raccoons (adorable, but destructive) and tonight, I
found a flying squirrel on our porch!  It climbed up on our porch roof and
flew (from 2 stories up) to a tree quite a distance away - just a remarkable
sight!  We are overrun with Red and Gray Squirrels during the day.  I bought
a couple squirrel feeders to put in the trees to keep them away from the
bird feeders, but I need to wait until the raccoons are no longer active.
Years ago, before our climate dramatically changed, raccoons and black bears
were never a problem after mid-Oct.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY  

 

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Common Redpolls/White-winged Crossbills/Finch movements, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/6/12 Southeastern St. Lawrence Co. (Piercefield and Massawepie Mire)
Clear, cold (18 to 32 degrees), calm winds

 

David Buckley and I hiked about 5.5 miles round trip at Massawepie Mire
today.  On the drive from David's home in Piercefield, we found a flock of
~10 Common Redpolls feeding on (abundant) birch catkins along Main St. in
Piercefield.  The birds were feeding non-stop and did not appear to take any
notice of us.  A Red-winged Blackbird flew over at this location.

 

Here are some of the species found at Massawepie:

 

Hooded Merganser - on Massawepie Lake

Ruffed Grouse

Common Loon - Massawepie Lake

Black-backed Woodpecker - female

Gray Jay - 3 heard

Boreal Chickadee - 4 observed

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1

White-winged Crossbill - heard throughout the hike, with several observed
flying over us (one large flock heard)

American Goldfinch

 

Waterfowl in Hamilton Co. (town of Long Lake) on the drive home: 12 Amer.
Black Ducks on the Round Lake outlet, 3 Bufflehead, 6 Hooded Mergansers, and
2 Common Loons on Little Tupper Lake, Ring-necked Duck and 3 Hooded
Mergansers on Minnow Pond, and 3 Hooded Mergansers on Shaw Pond.

 

A male Northern Cardinal was foraging along the road near the Lake Eaton
campsite entrance in Long Lake (not a very common sight in Long Lake -
geographic center of the Adirondack Park).

 

11/4/12 Lake Champlain locations in Essex Co., overcast, cold, moderate
winds (very cold along the lake!)

 

Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, Linda LaPan, and I drove to the Lake Champlain
valley on Sunday.  Brian McAllister and 4 Paul Smith's College students were
in another car, and Joe and Pat Demko were in a third car.  We spent most of
the time birding together.  Areas we visited included Westport, Essex,
Whallon's Bay, and Noblewood.  We tallied 53 species which included hearing
a first-of-the-season Common Redpoll flock.  Here are a few of the species
found:

 

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Greater Yellowlegs

Bonaparte's Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

Eastern Bluebird

Bohemian Waxwing - ~35 to 40 on Newman Rd. in Lake Placid

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Snow Bunting - 5 on the beach at Noblewood

Red-winged Blackbird

White-winged Crossbill - 5 heard and observed flying over us

Common Redpoll

American Goldfinch

 

Finch movements:  Joe Demko (from NJ) mentioned that White-winged Crossbills
were being observed as far south as Cape May in New Jersey.  I have received
several email messages from birders downstate (for me, "downstate" is
defined as the Southern Adirondacks to NYC!) - from southern NY, NYC, and
Long Island, with reports of Evening Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills.
In the past week in Long Lake, Pine Siskin numbers have sharply dropped,
Evening Grosbeaks disappeared from feeders, and American Goldfinches moved
in!  Purple Finches left some time ago (they normally leave the mountains in
winter).  White-winged Crossbills are still widespread.  My last summer
sighting of White-winged Crossbill was August 8 (after their winter nesting,
I continued to find them well into the summer).  Then there was a gap of 2.5
months of no sightings before they became widespread on Oct. 23.  I have
heard/observed them on every outing since Oct. 23.  Finch movements this
fall are quite interesting.  Hopefully, Common Redpolls will find our
feeders soon.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Common Redpolls/White-winged Crossbills/Finch movements, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/6/12 Southeastern St. Lawrence Co. (Piercefield and Massawepie Mire)
Clear, cold (18 to 32 degrees), calm winds

 

David Buckley and I hiked about 5.5 miles round trip at Massawepie Mire
today.  On the drive from David's home in Piercefield, we found a flock of
~10 Common Redpolls feeding on (abundant) birch catkins along Main St. in
Piercefield.  The birds were feeding non-stop and did not appear to take any
notice of us.  A Red-winged Blackbird flew over at this location.

 

Here are some of the species found at Massawepie:

 

Hooded Merganser - on Massawepie Lake

Ruffed Grouse

Common Loon - Massawepie Lake

Black-backed Woodpecker - female

Gray Jay - 3 heard

Boreal Chickadee - 4 observed

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1

White-winged Crossbill - heard throughout the hike, with several observed
flying over us (one large flock heard)

American Goldfinch

 

Waterfowl in Hamilton Co. (town of Long Lake) on the drive home: 12 Amer.
Black Ducks on the Round Lake outlet, 3 Bufflehead, 6 Hooded Mergansers, and
2 Common Loons on Little Tupper Lake, Ring-necked Duck and 3 Hooded
Mergansers on Minnow Pond, and 3 Hooded Mergansers on Shaw Pond.

 

A male Northern Cardinal was foraging along the road near the Lake Eaton
campsite entrance in Long Lake (not a very common sight in Long Lake -
geographic center of the Adirondack Park).

 

11/4/12 Lake Champlain locations in Essex Co., overcast, cold, moderate
winds (very cold along the lake!)

 

Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, Linda LaPan, and I drove to the Lake Champlain
valley on Sunday.  Brian McAllister and 4 Paul Smith's College students were
in another car, and Joe and Pat Demko were in a third car.  We spent most of
the time birding together.  Areas we visited included Westport, Essex,
Whallon's Bay, and Noblewood.  We tallied 53 species which included hearing
a first-of-the-season Common Redpoll flock.  Here are a few of the species
found:

 

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Greater Yellowlegs

Bonaparte's Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

Eastern Bluebird

Bohemian Waxwing - ~35 to 40 on Newman Rd. in Lake Placid

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Snow Bunting - 5 on the beach at Noblewood

Red-winged Blackbird

White-winged Crossbill - 5 heard and observed flying over us

Common Redpoll

American Goldfinch

 

Finch movements:  Joe Demko (from NJ) mentioned that White-winged Crossbills
were being observed as far south as Cape May in New Jersey.  I have received
several email messages from birders downstate (for me, downstate is
defined as the Southern Adirondacks to NYC!) - from southern NY, NYC, and
Long Island, with reports of Evening Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills.
In the past week in Long Lake, Pine Siskin numbers have sharply dropped,
Evening Grosbeaks disappeared from feeders, and American Goldfinches moved
in!  Purple Finches left some time ago (they normally leave the mountains in
winter).  White-winged Crossbills are still widespread.  My last summer
sighting of White-winged Crossbill was August 8 (after their winter nesting,
I continued to find them well into the summer).  Then there was a gap of 2.5
months of no sightings before they became widespread on Oct. 23.  I have
heard/observed them on every outing since Oct. 23.  Finch movements this
fall are quite interesting.  Hopefully, Common Redpolls will find our
feeders soon.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] White-winged Crossbills & Bohemian Waxwings

[Joan E. Collins]

11/2/12 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.) 36 degrees,
overcast/drizzling/a few snowflakes!

 

Janet Allison and I hiked about 4 miles round trip on the Roosevelt Truck
Trail this morning.  The most abundant species was White-winged Crossbill -
even outnumbering the Pine Siskins!  White-winged Crossbills were heard
throughout the hike with two larger flocks encountered.  We saw the second
large flock, which numbered about 25 to 30, as the birds flew over us at the
end of our hike.  Other finches: Pine Siskins (several locations) and
Evening Grosbeaks (2 locations).  We also found two different Black-backed
Woodpeckers (1 male and 1 female) and 6 Boreal Chickadees (groups of 4 and
2).

 

On my drive back to Long Lake, I ventured down Adams lane in Newcomb hoping
to find Bohemian Waxwings.  At the intersection of Adams and Sanford Lanes,
I spotted a waxwing flock (~25) perched over a crab apple tree, which flew
off as I approached.  I drove around the neighborhood and came back to the
crab apple tree and found a solo Cedar Waxwing, which flew off after a few
seconds.  I birded another location by the Hudson River and came back again
to find a solo Bohemian Waxwing in the crab apple tree!  I watched the bird
for a long time and it was still in the tree when I left.  I suspect most of
the flock I found earlier were Bohemians.  The tree had plenty of fruit, so
they will be there for at least a couple more days.  A Bald Eagle was flying
over the golf course along the Hudson River.  At the bridge over the Hudson
on Route 28N, ~40 Evening Grosbeaks were visiting feeders on the northwest
side of the bridge.

 

I've encountered White-winged Crossbills on every outing I've done in the
past couple weeks.  I found them again on Wednesday (10/31/12) at the outlet
of Little Tupper Lake (Hamilton Co.) along Sabattis Circle Rd. (also a
Black-backed Woodpecker at Sabattis Bog down the road from this location).
During the Northern NY Audubon field trip up Azure Mountain (Franklin Co.)
on Sunday (10/28/12), White-winged Crossbills were heard on the summit and
at the parking area (in addition to several locations along Blue Mountain
Rd. after the climb).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] White-winged Crossbills Bohemian Waxwings

[Joan E. Collins]

11/2/12 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.) 36 degrees,
overcast/drizzling/a few snowflakes!

 

Janet Allison and I hiked about 4 miles round trip on the Roosevelt Truck
Trail this morning.  The most abundant species was White-winged Crossbill -
even outnumbering the Pine Siskins!  White-winged Crossbills were heard
throughout the hike with two larger flocks encountered.  We saw the second
large flock, which numbered about 25 to 30, as the birds flew over us at the
end of our hike.  Other finches: Pine Siskins (several locations) and
Evening Grosbeaks (2 locations).  We also found two different Black-backed
Woodpeckers (1 male and 1 female) and 6 Boreal Chickadees (groups of 4 and
2).

 

On my drive back to Long Lake, I ventured down Adams lane in Newcomb hoping
to find Bohemian Waxwings.  At the intersection of Adams and Sanford Lanes,
I spotted a waxwing flock (~25) perched over a crab apple tree, which flew
off as I approached.  I drove around the neighborhood and came back to the
crab apple tree and found a solo Cedar Waxwing, which flew off after a few
seconds.  I birded another location by the Hudson River and came back again
to find a solo Bohemian Waxwing in the crab apple tree!  I watched the bird
for a long time and it was still in the tree when I left.  I suspect most of
the flock I found earlier were Bohemians.  The tree had plenty of fruit, so
they will be there for at least a couple more days.  A Bald Eagle was flying
over the golf course along the Hudson River.  At the bridge over the Hudson
on Route 28N, ~40 Evening Grosbeaks were visiting feeders on the northwest
side of the bridge.

 

I've encountered White-winged Crossbills on every outing I've done in the
past couple weeks.  I found them again on Wednesday (10/31/12) at the outlet
of Little Tupper Lake (Hamilton Co.) along Sabattis Circle Rd. (also a
Black-backed Woodpecker at Sabattis Bog down the road from this location).
During the Northern NY Audubon field trip up Azure Mountain (Franklin Co.)
on Sunday (10/28/12), White-winged Crossbills were heard on the summit and
at the parking area (in addition to several locations along Blue Mountain
Rd. after the climb).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] White-winged Crossbills in the Adirondacks

[Joan E. Collins]

Today (10/27/12) was the fifth day in a row that I've found White-winged
Crossbills.  (Mary Beth Warburton mentioned she found a flock of over 20 in
Potsdam (St. Lawrence Co.) this past Tuesday.)  All 5 locations are areas
where White-winged Crossbills nested this past winter.  I did continue to
observe/hear White-winged Crossbills throughout the summer, but I have not
heard any in a couple months.  Crossbill movements are often a bit
perplexing, and I don't know if the birds I've found during the past week
are still the winter nesters hanging around or birds on the move.

 

12/27/12 Blueberry Mountain in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) & the Hewitt Eddy
Trail & Boreas River Bridge in Minerva (Essex Co.)

 

Mid-afternoon, my husband and I did our annual bushwhack up Blueberry
Mountain and we were joined by my sister's 9-old granddaughter (her first
mountain climb).  After boating for about 4 to 5 miles, the climb is a
2-mile round trip hike with a 1,000' elevation gain to open cliffs with
spectacular views.  Just before coming out of the trees to the open rocks
near the summit, I found a female Black-backed Woodpecker.  My 9-year old
grand-niece is unusually coordinated with binocs - after only a sentence or
two trying to describe the bird's location, I handed her the binocs.  Just
as I was going to explain how to location the bird with them, she said, "I'm
looking at it!"  And, "Wow, it has a black back!"  On the summit rocks, I
heard White-winged Crossbills the entire time - foraging all around us.
When we got back to the boat at sunset, 19 Common Loons were grouped
together across the lake!  This is the largest gathering I've ever observed
on Long Lake.  We found two more on the ride home (bill touching, which was
also observed in the large group), so a total of 21.  The lake was a mirror
and the rising moon over the mountains was gorgeous.

 

In the morning, after a brief hike on the Hewitt Eddy Trail in Minerva (lots
of Pine Siskins, which are still everywhere), I stopped at the Boreas River
and found Boreal Chickadees vocalizing in a mixed flock.  A Snowshoe Hare
hopped along Route 28N - its legs had turned completely white, but its body
was still brown!

 

At our home, we continue to have Evening Grosbeaks visiting our feeders each
day, in addition to hoards of Pine Siskins (going through a lot of seed).
Two raccoons have also discovered the feeders.

 

10/26/12 Long Lake - home

 

White-winged Crossbills flew over our house as I filled the feeders at dawn.

 

10/25/12 Shallow Lake Trail & Ferd's Bog (Town of Long Lake in Hamilton Co.)

 

Late afternoon, at Beaver Brook on the trail to Shallow Lake, I found 2 Gray
Jays, a Yellow-rumped Warbler (fly-catching insects in the 70 degree heat),
White-winged Crossbills foraging in the trees across the brook, Pine
Siskins, and 6 hunters (3 parties) - there is one less Ruffed Grouse on that
trail now (they planned to eat it).

 

At Ferd's Bog, now sunset, 3 Gray Jays came to the boardwalk and I shared my
almonds.  I put almond pieces a few feet from me so the birds wouldn't be
nervous and I sat very still.  One of the birds hopped up to me and it
reached its bill under my pant-leg and came out with a piece of almond I
must have dropped!  Their powers of observation are remarkable!

 

10/24/12 Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)

 

While I was watching the first-of-the-season (for me) American Tree Sparrows
at the outlet of Little Tupper Lake on Sabattis Circle Road, White-winged
Crossbills flew over (around 4:30 p.m.)

 

10/23/12 Roosevelt Truck Trail in Minerva (Essex Co.)

 

In a late afternoon hike of the Roosevelt Truck Trail, I found a calling
White-winged Crossbill (around 4:30 p.m.).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Spruce Grouse, Evening Grosbeaks, & more sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

10/20/12 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

Our feeders went up a little over a week ago, and the number of birds
visiting continues to increase each day (9 species as of today).  Evening
Grosbeaks began visiting the feeders on Thursday (10/18) - a flock of 25 to
30, and stayed the entire day.  A smaller flock visited yesterday morning,
and a pair visited early this morning.  Pine Siskin numbers have increased
each day, and it was well over a hundred today.  Purple Finches could be
heard in the trees, but have not yet come down to the feeders.  Once again,
I set up our baby monitor outside, so we can hear all the outdoor
vocalizations inside.  

 

There are news stories documenting the population explosion of squirrels
this year in the northeast - certainly the case at our house too - Red and
Gray Squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks are competing for bird seed each day.
We continue to catch one to two mice a day in our house - this is down from
the numbers we caught each day all summer!  I can't recall a time when we
had so many mice coming in our house in SUMMER!

 

With the warmer weather this week, insects are still active - dragonflies,
Mourning Cloaks, bees, flies, and the tiny white-blue fluffy insect that
appear at this time of year.

 

10/18/12 Sabattis Circle Road and Shaw Pond (Long Lake)

 

On a brief drive of Sabattis Circle Road in the afternoon, a Common Loon was
observed on Little Tupper Lake, a group of 4 Ruffed Grouse were feeding by
the edge of the road, and 3 Gray Jays were found at Sabattis Bog.  One of
the Gray Jays was feeding on something in the grass all along the edge of
the road.

 

On Shaw Pond, flocks of Ring-necked Ducks and Wood Ducks continue at this
beautiful wetland with mountains behind (a very common place to find
photographers).  A River Otter floated on its back eating something that was
very bloody!

 

10/17/12 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) (1 p.m. to 6:30
p.m.)

 

Wednesday was a spectacular, warm, fall day with calm winds.  I hiked 5.5
miles round trip at Massawepie in the afternoon.  Out in the open bog, there
was not a breath of wind and one of the rare times in life where I was able
to revel in the "sounds" of silence.  Military jets boomed through the skies
shortly after - one of the human sounds that I just can't escape.  The
tamaracks needles have turned yellow and they glowed on Wednesday at the
mire!  The fall smells were lovely.  During hunting season, it can be nice
to hike at Massawepie on weekdays since the land is privately owned by a
hunt club.  Hunt club members tend to hunt on weekends, so the mire is quiet
midweek.

 

I found huge moose tracks by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass
River - glad I didn't run into that animal!  I also found Black Bear tracks
farther in.  On my way out, I found a Red-bellied Snake (about 8" long) in
the road by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River.  It was
going into a lethargic mode for the night and I was able to pick it up to
look at its brilliant belly.  I moved it to the side of the road just in
case a club member happened to drive the road that night.  Here are some of
the 24 bird species found:

 

Ring-necked Duck - on Massawepie Lake

Ruffed Grouse - one drumming, heard both on the way in and way out at the
same location

Spruce Grouse - male found at exactly the same location where David Buckley
and I found a male on April 30th this year!  (I was wondering what this
species was up to as I hiked - this bird was foraging in brushy vegetation
on the ground.)

Common Loon - 3 on Massawepie Lake (I stopped at the canoe put-in on my
drive out.  It was almost dark and one of the loons was calling across the
lake, which was like a mirror with no wind - gorgeous!)

Merlin - at Silver Brook

American Woodcock - 2; one on the way in and one on the way out!

Black-backed Woodpecker - heard calling across the bog

Pileated Woodpecker

Gray Jay - at least 5 (one group of 4 observed about 2.3 miles in and
another bird heard vocalizing near the South Branch of the Grass River)

Common Raven

Boreal Chickadee - at least 3 about 1.75 miles in

Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird - heard calling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Pine Siskin - the most abundant species! (Many groups of 2 or 3, but also
larger flocks of up to ~30 birds)

 

10/14/12 Shaw Pond in Long Lake

 

At least 2 Eastern Bluebirds were foraging over the pond (along with
Yellow-rumped Warblers).  A Merlin flew over, and flocks of Wood and
Ring-necked Ducks were observed.   Two beavers were swimming around together
across the pond and a muskrat was busy near where I was standing.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY 


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[nysbirds-l] Spruce Grouse, Evening Grosbeaks, more sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

10/20/12 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)

 

Our feeders went up a little over a week ago, and the number of birds
visiting continues to increase each day (9 species as of today).  Evening
Grosbeaks began visiting the feeders on Thursday (10/18) - a flock of 25 to
30, and stayed the entire day.  A smaller flock visited yesterday morning,
and a pair visited early this morning.  Pine Siskin numbers have increased
each day, and it was well over a hundred today.  Purple Finches could be
heard in the trees, but have not yet come down to the feeders.  Once again,
I set up our baby monitor outside, so we can hear all the outdoor
vocalizations inside.  

 

There are news stories documenting the population explosion of squirrels
this year in the northeast - certainly the case at our house too - Red and
Gray Squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks are competing for bird seed each day.
We continue to catch one to two mice a day in our house - this is down from
the numbers we caught each day all summer!  I can't recall a time when we
had so many mice coming in our house in SUMMER!

 

With the warmer weather this week, insects are still active - dragonflies,
Mourning Cloaks, bees, flies, and the tiny white-blue fluffy insect that
appear at this time of year.

 

10/18/12 Sabattis Circle Road and Shaw Pond (Long Lake)

 

On a brief drive of Sabattis Circle Road in the afternoon, a Common Loon was
observed on Little Tupper Lake, a group of 4 Ruffed Grouse were feeding by
the edge of the road, and 3 Gray Jays were found at Sabattis Bog.  One of
the Gray Jays was feeding on something in the grass all along the edge of
the road.

 

On Shaw Pond, flocks of Ring-necked Ducks and Wood Ducks continue at this
beautiful wetland with mountains behind (a very common place to find
photographers).  A River Otter floated on its back eating something that was
very bloody!

 

10/17/12 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) (1 p.m. to 6:30
p.m.)

 

Wednesday was a spectacular, warm, fall day with calm winds.  I hiked 5.5
miles round trip at Massawepie in the afternoon.  Out in the open bog, there
was not a breath of wind and one of the rare times in life where I was able
to revel in the sounds of silence.  Military jets boomed through the skies
shortly after - one of the human sounds that I just can't escape.  The
tamaracks needles have turned yellow and they glowed on Wednesday at the
mire!  The fall smells were lovely.  During hunting season, it can be nice
to hike at Massawepie on weekdays since the land is privately owned by a
hunt club.  Hunt club members tend to hunt on weekends, so the mire is quiet
midweek.

 

I found huge moose tracks by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass
River - glad I didn't run into that animal!  I also found Black Bear tracks
farther in.  On my way out, I found a Red-bellied Snake (about 8 long) in
the road by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River.  It was
going into a lethargic mode for the night and I was able to pick it up to
look at its brilliant belly.  I moved it to the side of the road just in
case a club member happened to drive the road that night.  Here are some of
the 24 bird species found:

 

Ring-necked Duck - on Massawepie Lake

Ruffed Grouse - one drumming, heard both on the way in and way out at the
same location

Spruce Grouse - male found at exactly the same location where David Buckley
and I found a male on April 30th this year!  (I was wondering what this
species was up to as I hiked - this bird was foraging in brushy vegetation
on the ground.)

Common Loon - 3 on Massawepie Lake (I stopped at the canoe put-in on my
drive out.  It was almost dark and one of the loons was calling across the
lake, which was like a mirror with no wind - gorgeous!)

Merlin - at Silver Brook

American Woodcock - 2; one on the way in and one on the way out!

Black-backed Woodpecker - heard calling across the bog

Pileated Woodpecker

Gray Jay - at least 5 (one group of 4 observed about 2.3 miles in and
another bird heard vocalizing near the South Branch of the Grass River)

Common Raven

Boreal Chickadee - at least 3 about 1.75 miles in

Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird - heard calling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Pine Siskin - the most abundant species! (Many groups of 2 or 3, but also
larger flocks of up to ~30 birds)

 

10/14/12 Shaw Pond in Long Lake

 

At least 2 Eastern Bluebirds were foraging over the pond (along with
Yellow-rumped Warblers).  A Merlin flew over, and flocks of Wood and
Ring-necked Ducks were observed.   Two beavers were swimming around together
across the pond and a muskrat was busy near where I was standing.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY 


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[nysbirds-l] Red Crossbills

[Joan E. Collins]

9/6/12 Long Lake (northern Hamilton County)

 

This morning, at about 8:45 a.m., 8 Red Crossbills flew directly over me
heading southwest (I was on our lawn having just returned from hiking with
our dogs).  They were moving fast and calling - the vocalizations sounded
closest to Type 3.  (Thanks to Matt Young for sending me all his Red
Crossbill recordings last year.)  Red Crossbills nested in the area at the
end of last summer (2011), and again this past winter, along with
White-winged Crossbills.  I've been regularly hearing White-winged
Crossbills throughout the summer, but before today, the last Red Crossbills
found were on June 9th (at least 2 on Blue Mountain) and a single bird
fly-over bird on July 13 (Spring Pond Bog).

 

Mike Bryant sent me beautiful photographs of the Red Crossbills in Central
Park - very exciting!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Red Crossbills

[Joan E. Collins]

9/6/12 Long Lake (northern Hamilton County)

 

This morning, at about 8:45 a.m., 8 Red Crossbills flew directly over me
heading southwest (I was on our lawn having just returned from hiking with
our dogs).  They were moving fast and calling - the vocalizations sounded
closest to Type 3.  (Thanks to Matt Young for sending me all his Red
Crossbill recordings last year.)  Red Crossbills nested in the area at the
end of last summer (2011), and again this past winter, along with
White-winged Crossbills.  I've been regularly hearing White-winged
Crossbills throughout the summer, but before today, the last Red Crossbills
found were on June 9th (at least 2 on Blue Mountain) and a single bird
fly-over bird on July 13 (Spring Pond Bog).

 

Mike Bryant sent me beautiful photographs of the Red Crossbills in Central
Park - very exciting!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire & Black-billed Cuckoos

[Joan E. Collins]

8/8/12 Massawepie Mire, southeastern St. Lawrence Co.

 

On Wednesday, I was out birding with Marnie Mitchell, from Tennessee, at
Massawepie Mire (we also drove Sabattis Circle Road twice and birded at
Tupper Lake Marsh).  Marnie was interested in photographing birds, so we
frequently stopped on the long drive into the mire (at every lake, wetland,
or when we spotted raptors, etc.).  I had a rather unusual experience.  At
nearly every stop, we found a singing Black-billed Cuckoo!  I got to the
point where I just started laughing every time we stopped and heard yet
another singing Black-billed Cuckoo!  We tallied TWELVE by the time we
reached our hiking turn-around location (Silver Brook).  The tenth bird was
perched in a tree along the dirt road, nearly 3 miles in on our hike.  It
sang and called on and off, with another bird answering farther away.  We
had to ignore a group of Gray Jays as we observed the cuckoo!  This is the
second time I've observed a Black-billed Cuckoo in my scope at Massawepie
this year.  I was with a group of 3 birders on July 2nd when we found a
family group of Black-billed Cuckoos.  The red orbital ring is just
beautiful to see through a scope!  The birds were very vocal.  On our drive
out, in the afternoon, the birds were still singing!  (. at a time of day,
and year, when most species have become much less vocal)  It was fascinating
to find the cuckoos across such a wide range of habitats - deciduous forest,
lake edges, mixed forest, boreal forest and bog, and open logged areas.
(The family group found on July 2nd was in a heavily logged area.)  The bird
we observed captivated us with its interesting vocalizations and I wished
Sean O'Brien had been there with his recording equipment.  We left the bird
after observing it for a long time.  On our hike back out, the bird was
still in the same place!  Cuckoos, like crossbills, are intriguing and
perplexing species to me!

 

As expected after nesting this winter in the Adirondacks, I have been
regularly hearing White-winged Crossbills this spring/summer.  We heard them
several times on Wednesday at Massawepie.  Other highlights included at
least two Evening Grosbeaks, three groups of Gray Jays, a female
Black-backed Woodpecker, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher family, and a Merlin
family (in an area close to where they nested this year).  Here is our
complete list of species:

 

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Black Duck - 3

Ruffed Grouse - at least 5

Common Loon - 9! (Deer Pond group of 2 adults/2 young, Tupper Lake group of
2 adults/2 young, and a flyover bird at Massawepie)

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Merlin - family of at least 4 by Catamount Pond, and a solo bird at the mire

Ring-billed Gull

Black-billed Cuckoo - 12!!! (Including a nice, long visual look at one!)

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker - female (nice views!)

Northern Flicker

Eastern Wood-Pewee - singing

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - family group (mostly calling, one song heard)

Alder Flycatcher - singing

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Gray Jay - 3 different groups (Including nice visuals of one group)

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper - a few songs heard!

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush - singing

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Nashville Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler - singing

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler - singing

Blackburnian Warbler

Palm Warbler

American Redstart - singing

Common Yellowthroat

Canada Warbler - several singing!

Scarlet Tanager - singing (female observed)

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow - singing

White-throated Sparrow - singing

Dark-eyed Junco - singing

White-winged Crossbill - heard calling several times as they fed in trees as
we hiked out

American Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak - at least 2 perched and vocalizing; a female flew over us
as we were stopped on our drive in

 

We also observed a coyote (very thin and unhealthy looking) and a snowshoe
hare on Sabattis Circle Rd.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Massawepie Mire Black-billed Cuckoos

[Joan E. Collins]

8/8/12 Massawepie Mire, southeastern St. Lawrence Co.

 

On Wednesday, I was out birding with Marnie Mitchell, from Tennessee, at
Massawepie Mire (we also drove Sabattis Circle Road twice and birded at
Tupper Lake Marsh).  Marnie was interested in photographing birds, so we
frequently stopped on the long drive into the mire (at every lake, wetland,
or when we spotted raptors, etc.).  I had a rather unusual experience.  At
nearly every stop, we found a singing Black-billed Cuckoo!  I got to the
point where I just started laughing every time we stopped and heard yet
another singing Black-billed Cuckoo!  We tallied TWELVE by the time we
reached our hiking turn-around location (Silver Brook).  The tenth bird was
perched in a tree along the dirt road, nearly 3 miles in on our hike.  It
sang and called on and off, with another bird answering farther away.  We
had to ignore a group of Gray Jays as we observed the cuckoo!  This is the
second time I've observed a Black-billed Cuckoo in my scope at Massawepie
this year.  I was with a group of 3 birders on July 2nd when we found a
family group of Black-billed Cuckoos.  The red orbital ring is just
beautiful to see through a scope!  The birds were very vocal.  On our drive
out, in the afternoon, the birds were still singing!  (. at a time of day,
and year, when most species have become much less vocal)  It was fascinating
to find the cuckoos across such a wide range of habitats - deciduous forest,
lake edges, mixed forest, boreal forest and bog, and open logged areas.
(The family group found on July 2nd was in a heavily logged area.)  The bird
we observed captivated us with its interesting vocalizations and I wished
Sean O'Brien had been there with his recording equipment.  We left the bird
after observing it for a long time.  On our hike back out, the bird was
still in the same place!  Cuckoos, like crossbills, are intriguing and
perplexing species to me!

 

As expected after nesting this winter in the Adirondacks, I have been
regularly hearing White-winged Crossbills this spring/summer.  We heard them
several times on Wednesday at Massawepie.  Other highlights included at
least two Evening Grosbeaks, three groups of Gray Jays, a female
Black-backed Woodpecker, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher family, and a Merlin
family (in an area close to where they nested this year).  Here is our
complete list of species:

 

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Black Duck - 3

Ruffed Grouse - at least 5

Common Loon - 9! (Deer Pond group of 2 adults/2 young, Tupper Lake group of
2 adults/2 young, and a flyover bird at Massawepie)

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Merlin - family of at least 4 by Catamount Pond, and a solo bird at the mire

Ring-billed Gull

Black-billed Cuckoo - 12!!! (Including a nice, long visual look at one!)

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker - female (nice views!)

Northern Flicker

Eastern Wood-Pewee - singing

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - family group (mostly calling, one song heard)

Alder Flycatcher - singing

Blue-headed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Gray Jay - 3 different groups (Including nice visuals of one group)

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper - a few songs heard!

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush - singing

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Nashville Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler - singing

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler - singing

Blackburnian Warbler

Palm Warbler

American Redstart - singing

Common Yellowthroat

Canada Warbler - several singing!

Scarlet Tanager - singing (female observed)

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow - singing

White-throated Sparrow - singing

Dark-eyed Junco - singing

White-winged Crossbill - heard calling several times as they fed in trees as
we hiked out

American Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak - at least 2 perched and vocalizing; a female flew over us
as we were stopped on our drive in

 

We also observed a coyote (very thin and unhealthy looking) and a snowshoe
hare on Sabattis Circle Rd.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks of NY

[Joan E. Collins]

I posted this to our Mountain Birdwatch list serve, but thought it might be
of interest to NYS Birds and Northern NY Birds also.

 

6/23/12 Whiteface Mountain, 4,865', clear, calm winds, temp 52 to 58
degrees.

 

After the past decade climbing mountains in the dark, and/or carrying a
camping pack up peaks, it is a joy to have a drive-up mountain!  Four of the
six survey points are along the Whiteface Memorial Highway, so I can
actually drive between points also!  (Points 5 and 6 are down the trail, so
I actually have to walk a little!)  I abandoned a survey on Wednesday, June
20th due to 40 mph winds and blowing fog (Judith told me she abandoned Big
Slide the same morning!).  Sean O'Brien had accompanied me to record
Bicknell's Thrush and the Fox Sparrow (more on this bird below) for the
Cornell Lab.  We spent a sleepless night in my car buffeted by high winds
that never abated.  Saturday morning's conditions were perfect.  Here are
the results (given that we actually do 4 surveys at each of 6 points now, I
took the highest count of a species for each point):

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 7 (1,1,1,1,2,1)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0

Boreal Chickadee - 0

Winter Wren - 11 (2,2,2,2,1,2)

Bicknell's Thrush - 9 (3,1,2,2,1,0)

Swainson's Thrush - 18 (5,3,3,3,2,2)

Hermit Thrush - 0

Blackpoll Warbler - 8 (3,1,1,1,1,1)

White-throated Sparrow - 17 (3,3,5,3,2,1)

Fox Sparrow - 2 (0,0,1,1,0,0) An outlier way out of range!

 

Red Squirrel - 0

 

Additional non-surveyed species found on Whiteface's summit:

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - they have been up there for several years now!

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler (heard at point 6)

Dark-eyed Junco

White-winged Crossbill

Pine Siskin

 

I am frequently on Whiteface Mountain with clients and I found the singing
Fox Sparrow on June 14th.  The bird is holding a territory at a location
between 4200 and 4300 feet.  It was still there as of yesterday, June 24th.
Fox Sparrows do not breed in NY, although maybe that will change now?!  Sean
O'Brien accompanied me again for the Saturday survey and he recorded both
Bicknell's Thrush and the Fox Sparrow (beautiful recordings and I wish I had
his wonderful recording equipment).  I suspect I heard the same Fox Sparrow
at points 3 and 4, so there is probably only one.  When the Fox Sparrow
began to sing at my 3rd point, I could still see Sean down the road.  He
looked up my way and although I couldn't see his expression, I know he was
smiling!

 

Sean and I have both been alarmed by the changes on Whiteface this year.  It
appears that Swainson's Thrush is now the most abundant thrush species on
the summit.  Sean had an earlier trip up Whiteface and was unable to find a
singing Bicknell's Thrush to record among all the singing Swainson's
Thrushes.  Last year, I would estimate that it had become 50-50 at the
summit, but it is clearly apparent this year that Swainson's Thrushes have
rapidly overtaken Bicknell's Thrushes in numbers.  (Yesterday, several
Swainson's Thrushes were observed carrying food for young near the summit.)

 

I surveyed Blue Mountain (3750') for many years, and I could usually count
~15 singing birds on my hike to the summit for the 4:30 a.m. survey (this
peak is no longer surveyed).  This year, I led a nocturnal climb up the peak
during the Adirondack Birding Festival on June 9th in perfect conditions
(clear with calm winds) and we only heard 3 calling birds and no singing.
The summit was filled with singing Swainson's Thrushes.  It was truly
alarming.  The movement of Swainson's Thrushes into higher elevations has
been extremely rapid.  (A change that Dan Lambert predicted would occur as
our springs warm due to climate change - the cold springs kept Swainson's
Thrushes in lower elevations.)

 

To end on a lighter note, we found 2 snowshoe hares on Wednesday night near
the summit, and one Saturday morning!  The high winds and blowing fog on
Tuesday-Wednesday made for a surreal experience on Whiteface.  Sean and I
drove up to the parking lot during the night and the tunnel into the
mountain was lit up with fluorescent lights!  Also, the ticket takers' radio
was playing.  It was like an eerie scene from "The Shining"!  The light
coming out of the tunnel looked odd amid the blowing fog and the radio
playing with no one there was just creepy.  For those unfamiliar with
Whiteface, Franklin D. Roosevelt had the road, tunnel, and elevator built in
the 1930s.  The tunnel is very long and leads to an elevator that goes up
300 feet to the actual summit rocks.  Every time I get in that tunnel, the
"what ifs" start in my head - "what if there is an earthquake", etc.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks of NY

[Joan E. Collins]

I posted this to our Mountain Birdwatch list serve, but thought it might be
of interest to NYS Birds and Northern NY Birds also.

 

6/23/12 Whiteface Mountain, 4,865', clear, calm winds, temp 52 to 58
degrees.

 

After the past decade climbing mountains in the dark, and/or carrying a
camping pack up peaks, it is a joy to have a drive-up mountain!  Four of the
six survey points are along the Whiteface Memorial Highway, so I can
actually drive between points also!  (Points 5 and 6 are down the trail, so
I actually have to walk a little!)  I abandoned a survey on Wednesday, June
20th due to 40 mph winds and blowing fog (Judith told me she abandoned Big
Slide the same morning!).  Sean O'Brien had accompanied me to record
Bicknell's Thrush and the Fox Sparrow (more on this bird below) for the
Cornell Lab.  We spent a sleepless night in my car buffeted by high winds
that never abated.  Saturday morning's conditions were perfect.  Here are
the results (given that we actually do 4 surveys at each of 6 points now, I
took the highest count of a species for each point):

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 7 (1,1,1,1,2,1)

Black-capped Chickadee - 0

Boreal Chickadee - 0

Winter Wren - 11 (2,2,2,2,1,2)

Bicknell's Thrush - 9 (3,1,2,2,1,0)

Swainson's Thrush - 18 (5,3,3,3,2,2)

Hermit Thrush - 0

Blackpoll Warbler - 8 (3,1,1,1,1,1)

White-throated Sparrow - 17 (3,3,5,3,2,1)

Fox Sparrow - 2 (0,0,1,1,0,0) An outlier way out of range!

 

Red Squirrel - 0

 

Additional non-surveyed species found on Whiteface's summit:

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin - they have been up there for several years now!

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler (heard at point 6)

Dark-eyed Junco

White-winged Crossbill

Pine Siskin

 

I am frequently on Whiteface Mountain with clients and I found the singing
Fox Sparrow on June 14th.  The bird is holding a territory at a location
between 4200 and 4300 feet.  It was still there as of yesterday, June 24th.
Fox Sparrows do not breed in NY, although maybe that will change now?!  Sean
O'Brien accompanied me again for the Saturday survey and he recorded both
Bicknell's Thrush and the Fox Sparrow (beautiful recordings and I wish I had
his wonderful recording equipment).  I suspect I heard the same Fox Sparrow
at points 3 and 4, so there is probably only one.  When the Fox Sparrow
began to sing at my 3rd point, I could still see Sean down the road.  He
looked up my way and although I couldn't see his expression, I know he was
smiling!

 

Sean and I have both been alarmed by the changes on Whiteface this year.  It
appears that Swainson's Thrush is now the most abundant thrush species on
the summit.  Sean had an earlier trip up Whiteface and was unable to find a
singing Bicknell's Thrush to record among all the singing Swainson's
Thrushes.  Last year, I would estimate that it had become 50-50 at the
summit, but it is clearly apparent this year that Swainson's Thrushes have
rapidly overtaken Bicknell's Thrushes in numbers.  (Yesterday, several
Swainson's Thrushes were observed carrying food for young near the summit.)

 

I surveyed Blue Mountain (3750') for many years, and I could usually count
~15 singing birds on my hike to the summit for the 4:30 a.m. survey (this
peak is no longer surveyed).  This year, I led a nocturnal climb up the peak
during the Adirondack Birding Festival on June 9th in perfect conditions
(clear with calm winds) and we only heard 3 calling birds and no singing.
The summit was filled with singing Swainson's Thrushes.  It was truly
alarming.  The movement of Swainson's Thrushes into higher elevations has
been extremely rapid.  (A change that Dan Lambert predicted would occur as
our springs warm due to climate change - the cold springs kept Swainson's
Thrushes in lower elevations.)

 

To end on a lighter note, we found 2 snowshoe hares on Wednesday night near
the summit, and one Saturday morning!  The high winds and blowing fog on
Tuesday-Wednesday made for a surreal experience on Whiteface.  Sean and I
drove up to the parking lot during the night and the tunnel into the
mountain was lit up with fluorescent lights!  Also, the ticket takers' radio
was playing.  It was like an eerie scene from The Shining!  The light
coming out of the tunnel looked odd amid the blowing fog and the radio
playing with no one there was just creepy.  For those unfamiliar with
Whiteface, Franklin D. Roosevelt had the road, tunnel, and elevator built in
the 1930s.  The tunnel is very long and leads to an elevator that goes up
300 feet to the actual summit rocks.  Every time I get in that tunnel, the
what ifs start in my head - what if there is an earthquake, etc.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Fox Sparrow continues on Whiteface Mountain

[Joan E. Collins]

6/15 & 6/16/12 Whiteface Mountain, Essex Co.

 

The Fox Sparrow was found singing again on Friday and Saturday up on
Whiteface Mountain.  So, you have to wonder if any females are listening
(other than me that is.)?  It is a long way to Maine and Canada from
Whiteface Mountain!  The bird is holding a territory between the "Lake
Placid" and "Wilmington" turns - across the road from the picnic table (on
the right as you drive up) by the slide.  Even from the parking lot, much
higher up, the Fox Sparrow's voice can be heard loudly echoing up the peak.
One of my clients almost got a photograph yesterday, but the bird was behind
a fir tree.  Sean O'Brien plans to accompany me during my Mountain Birdwatch
survey this week to record the bird.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Fox Sparrow continues on Whiteface Mountain

[Joan E. Collins]

6/15  6/16/12 Whiteface Mountain, Essex Co.

 

The Fox Sparrow was found singing again on Friday and Saturday up on
Whiteface Mountain.  So, you have to wonder if any females are listening
(other than me that is.)?  It is a long way to Maine and Canada from
Whiteface Mountain!  The bird is holding a territory between the Lake
Placid and Wilmington turns - across the road from the picnic table (on
the right as you drive up) by the slide.  Even from the parking lot, much
higher up, the Fox Sparrow's voice can be heard loudly echoing up the peak.
One of my clients almost got a photograph yesterday, but the bird was behind
a fir tree.  Sean O'Brien plans to accompany me during my Mountain Birdwatch
survey this week to record the bird.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Fox Sparrow on Whiteface!

[Joan E. Collins]

6/14/12 Whiteface Mountain, Essex County

 

I was on Whiteface Mountain earlier today with Cheryl Harner and Jan Auburn,
from Ohio, and a Fox Sparrow was singing midway between the "Lake Placid
Turn" and the "Wilmington Turn" across the road from a picnic table
pull-off.  We spent time on the summit and when we came back, the Fox
Sparrow was still singing!  So, is the Fox Sparrow moving its range to the
south?!  The habitat is actually perfect near the summit.  If anyone has any
thoughts about this observation, I would be interested in hearing them!  I
will be on Whiteface at least 3 more times in the next week, so I can keep
an eye on this location (one of trips will be for a Mountain Birdwatch
survey and it will be interesting to see if I tally a Fox Sparrow!).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Fox Sparrow on Whiteface!

[Joan E. Collins]

6/14/12 Whiteface Mountain, Essex County

 

I was on Whiteface Mountain earlier today with Cheryl Harner and Jan Auburn,
from Ohio, and a Fox Sparrow was singing midway between the Lake Placid
Turn and the Wilmington Turn across the road from a picnic table
pull-off.  We spent time on the summit and when we came back, the Fox
Sparrow was still singing!  So, is the Fox Sparrow moving its range to the
south?!  The habitat is actually perfect near the summit.  If anyone has any
thoughts about this observation, I would be interested in hearing them!  I
will be on Whiteface at least 3 more times in the next week, so I can keep
an eye on this location (one of trips will be for a Mountain Birdwatch
survey and it will be interesting to see if I tally a Fox Sparrow!).

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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RE: [nysbirds-l] Bicknell's & more, Ulster Co. high peaks, 5/12-13

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Tom/All,

 

I always enjoy your reports!

 

I wanted to comment on your Swainson's Thrush observation.  Swainson's
Thrushes found nesting in Bicknell's Thrush habitat is no longer "uncommon"
or an "anomaly"!  A decade ago, it was uncommon, but no longer - and now
expected.  One of the most dramatic climate-related changes I've observed
over the past 12 years is the upslope movement of Swainson's Thrushes.  The
change has been remarkably rapid.  During the course of conducting Mountain
Birdwatch surveys since 2001, I observed Swainson's Thrushes move upslope to
the very summits, and at times outnumber Bicknell's Thrushes on the summits
of Blue Mountain and Pillsbury Mountain.  Last year, it was worrisome to
find that there were just as many Swainson's Thrushes singing on Whiteface
Mountain's summit area (elevation 4865') as there were Bicknell's Thrushes.
I use the term "worrisome" since Dan Lambert, formerly of the Vermont Center
for Ecostudies, listed this upslope movement of Swainson's Thrushes as a
potential climate-related threat to Bicknell's Thrush nearly a decade ago.
He listed Swainson's Thrush as a "potential" threat since scientists are not
sure what effect competition from SWTH will have on Bicknell's Thrush.
Historically, Swainson's Thrushes were kept at lower elevations by very cold
spring weather, which we no longer have in the North Country.  Years ago, I
used to dress in winter attire to conduct surveys, and now I could do it in
shorts (not to mention that we ran our heat in June back then!).

 

For the remarkable increase in Swainson's Thrush numbers at high elevation
over the past decade, see the Mountain Birdwatch 2010-2011 Annual Report to
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service by Dr. Judith Scarl, PDF found
at: http://www.vtecostudies.org/reports.html (4th report down the page).
(Graph is on page 9.)  The issue of competition from Swainson's Thrush is
also referenced in the "Petition to List the Bicknell's Thrush as Threatened
or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act" (2010).

 

Unfortunately, the dramatic upslope movement of Swainson's Thrushes in the
Adirondack and Catskill Mountains won't be displayed in Atlas data since the
range change is elevational, and not north-south-east-west in nature.

 

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies Mountain Birdwatch project has rolled out
"revision 2" and changed the protocols and mountains surveyed.  My new peak
is Whiteface Mountain, and it will be interesting to see how many Swainson's
Thrushes I detect during the survey - I will post the results in June!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

From: bounce-58195079-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-58195079-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Fiore
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:06 AM
To: nysbirds-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Bicknell's & more, Ulster Co. high peaks, 5/12-13

 

Saturday-Sunday, 12 & 13 May, 2012

 

I took off for the highest peak in the Catskill range on Saturday and also
hiked through the (lower but rugged) trail across the two peaks immediately
northeast - out of Phoenicia, Ulster Co. - this is the well-trodden
Wittenberg, Cornell, and Slide Mountain[s] ridge, with a highest elevation
on Slide Mt. well over 4,000 ft. and more importantly to one particular
localized breeding bird, a place of good spruce-fir thickets and forest,
mainly in the elevations over 3,500, and especially above 3,800 ft. above
sea-level.  In my hike, arriving at Slide Mt.'s summit area at about 7:15
p.m. Saturday (5/12), I glimpsed one & heard that plus another Bicknell's
Thrush. Having camped nearby at nearly 3,500 ft., on Sunday morning from 5
to about 6:30 a.m., I saw & heard at least 6 additional Bicknell's Thrush,
with one seen almost as well as I usually do at this location on May visits
- the birds were all calling more than singing this time, and I venture the
theory (perhaps mistakenly) that a lot of these may have arrived even as
recently as Sat. night, or in just the past few days and are not
fully-voiced just yet... as well perhaps only males are on the territory now
with females soon to be - it was not likely the weather was inhibiting song,
as it was quite nice (almost balmy overnight, and just slightly hazy first
thing Sunday, with very little breeze), but in any case this was both my
earliest look for this species on spring nesting grounds, and also among my
quietest experience of them. The calling Bicknell's however were certainly
heard well, as anyone knows who's been in close proximity on breeding
grounds knows they can be startlingly loud, in a sometimes fairly quiet
habitat. The Bicknell's were not heard and certainly not seen after about 7
a.m. on Sunday, nor before about 7 p.m. Saturday eve. (As the season goes
along however these birds will get a lot more vocal in the courtship period
and again when young ones are fledged and learning their vocalizations.) A
single Swainson's Thrush was singing from an open perch near the spruce-fir
habitat, 

RE: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, N.Y. City 4/14 & WATER

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Tom/All,

 

It is great to read about the migrants on their way through NYC!  Wanda &
Mike Moccio and I found Palm Warblers singing on territory in Massawepie
Mire on Friday, April 13.  (I posted the past four day's observations to
Northern NY Birds.)  I was at Massawepie on Wednesday, April 11 and did not
find any Palm Warblers.  The earliest arrival date I've been able to
document was April 12, 2010.  As usual, it is always the first warbler
species I find in the Adirondacks.  There have been two reports of Pine
Warblers - one in the Champlain Valley on 4/7 and one in the St. Lawrence
Valley on 4/9.

 

Tom mentioned the lack of water, which is problem for the birds this spring.
Even my non-birding husband has noticed that all the birds are hanging out
in the ditches along the roadways trying to find water from remnant snow
banks.  I noticed the hoards of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches we
still have at our feeders are also focusing their time where the last of the
snow banks along our driveway just melted.  This morning I cleaned out an
old ceramic bird bath and filled it with water - it instantly became Grand
Central Station to our feeder birds.  There isn't enough room for all the
birds, so my husband is going to take one of our old snow-disk sleds and
fill it with water to help.  I am sure the situation is even worse
downstate.  In the Adirondacks, we've had some rain, snow, and hail over the
past week, which has helped fill some of the nearly empty vernal pools and
puddles.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

From: bounce-47841321-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-47841321-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Fiore
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 11:00 PM
To: nysbirds-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, N.Y. City 4/14

 

Saturday 14 April, 2012  -  

Riverside Park, Inwood Hill Park, Central Park: Manhattan, N.Y. City

 

The day began (at first light) with a very strong flow of 'new' migrants,
including some apparent onward morning flight of various passerines as seen
from the northern end of Central Park, and still at least somewhat evident a
1/2-hour after sunrise.  Many more Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers were
moving than in any previous day this spring, and accompanying them were a
more modest number of additional warbler species with Palm Warbler an easy
second in their overall numbers.  A very good sparrow flight also took place
with Chipping Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow predominant, also including
a strong contingent of Dark-eyed Junco.  Continuing in good numbers were
Ruby-crowned Kinglets, aided by fresh reinforcements.

 

Now, what a lot of birders also will be interested in are some of the "new"
arrivals and the uncommon spp. amongst those:  there were at least (to my
knowledge) 3 YELLOW-THROATED Warblers in Manhattan today - the first,
previously reported here & elsewhere, was noted from the n. end of Riverside
Park and was found by Tom Perlman - with whom I birded for a bit in Central
Park's north end along with other birders. That bird (the Riverside Pk.
Yellow-throated) was seen, after Tom & others spread the word, by no fewer
than 40+ birders in the mid-day period and was pretty cooperative for many
who showed up then. It did not seem to be vocal but stayed in one pin oak
tree, along with multiple nearby Yellow-rumped, Palm, and some Pine
Warblers, and other high-up migrants.  The location was just very slightly
north (a few yards) of the paved park path within Riverside Park to the
north of the north entry to the small sanctuary area, and the path that
leads from 120 Street / Riverside Drive down into the park and (below) to
the tennis courts & small brick building housing the tennis "house" &
restrooms.  This also happens to be just north & up-slope of the "drip" in
Riverside, which is on and is starting to be active now (a few warblers &
other migrants visiting it this day). 

 

Another Yellow-throated Warbler was in far northern Manhattan in Inwood
Park, near the "Clove" path, or the central wooded path which leads from the
lagoon area up to the highest ground - this bird was singing and was very
high in the oak trees, well-known to any regulars of that park as an
extremely high canopy & thus potentially a very tough bird - however there
is a path that allows a bit of a view out into canopy from just above the
"clove" and with the warbler singing on & off it was possible to re-find it,
if only sporadically, in the hours between 3 & 5 p.m. - there were a variety
of other warbler spp. and other expected migrants in Inwood Park as well in
the afternoon & it seemed likely that the morning hours there may have been
quite productive. I did not see any other birders at that hour, however, but
there are a small group of devoted Inwood Hill area birders.  

 

Also, a number of birders were able to see a Yellow-throated Warbler in
Central Park's Ramble area, at the NW portion of that area, known as the
"Upper Lobe" of the lake, not far in from 

RE: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, N.Y. City 4/14 WATER

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Tom/All,

 

It is great to read about the migrants on their way through NYC!  Wanda 
Mike Moccio and I found Palm Warblers singing on territory in Massawepie
Mire on Friday, April 13.  (I posted the past four day's observations to
Northern NY Birds.)  I was at Massawepie on Wednesday, April 11 and did not
find any Palm Warblers.  The earliest arrival date I've been able to
document was April 12, 2010.  As usual, it is always the first warbler
species I find in the Adirondacks.  There have been two reports of Pine
Warblers - one in the Champlain Valley on 4/7 and one in the St. Lawrence
Valley on 4/9.

 

Tom mentioned the lack of water, which is problem for the birds this spring.
Even my non-birding husband has noticed that all the birds are hanging out
in the ditches along the roadways trying to find water from remnant snow
banks.  I noticed the hoards of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches we
still have at our feeders are also focusing their time where the last of the
snow banks along our driveway just melted.  This morning I cleaned out an
old ceramic bird bath and filled it with water - it instantly became Grand
Central Station to our feeder birds.  There isn't enough room for all the
birds, so my husband is going to take one of our old snow-disk sleds and
fill it with water to help.  I am sure the situation is even worse
downstate.  In the Adirondacks, we've had some rain, snow, and hail over the
past week, which has helped fill some of the nearly empty vernal pools and
puddles.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

From: bounce-47841321-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-47841321-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Fiore
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 11:00 PM
To: nysbirds-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, N.Y. City 4/14

 

Saturday 14 April, 2012  -  

Riverside Park, Inwood Hill Park, Central Park: Manhattan, N.Y. City

 

The day began (at first light) with a very strong flow of 'new' migrants,
including some apparent onward morning flight of various passerines as seen
from the northern end of Central Park, and still at least somewhat evident a
1/2-hour after sunrise.  Many more Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers were
moving than in any previous day this spring, and accompanying them were a
more modest number of additional warbler species with Palm Warbler an easy
second in their overall numbers.  A very good sparrow flight also took place
with Chipping Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow predominant, also including
a strong contingent of Dark-eyed Junco.  Continuing in good numbers were
Ruby-crowned Kinglets, aided by fresh reinforcements.

 

Now, what a lot of birders also will be interested in are some of the new
arrivals and the uncommon spp. amongst those:  there were at least (to my
knowledge) 3 YELLOW-THROATED Warblers in Manhattan today - the first,
previously reported here  elsewhere, was noted from the n. end of Riverside
Park and was found by Tom Perlman - with whom I birded for a bit in Central
Park's north end along with other birders. That bird (the Riverside Pk.
Yellow-throated) was seen, after Tom  others spread the word, by no fewer
than 40+ birders in the mid-day period and was pretty cooperative for many
who showed up then. It did not seem to be vocal but stayed in one pin oak
tree, along with multiple nearby Yellow-rumped, Palm, and some Pine
Warblers, and other high-up migrants.  The location was just very slightly
north (a few yards) of the paved park path within Riverside Park to the
north of the north entry to the small sanctuary area, and the path that
leads from 120 Street / Riverside Drive down into the park and (below) to
the tennis courts  small brick building housing the tennis house 
restrooms.  This also happens to be just north  up-slope of the drip in
Riverside, which is on and is starting to be active now (a few warblers 
other migrants visiting it this day). 

 

Another Yellow-throated Warbler was in far northern Manhattan in Inwood
Park, near the Clove path, or the central wooded path which leads from the
lagoon area up to the highest ground - this bird was singing and was very
high in the oak trees, well-known to any regulars of that park as an
extremely high canopy  thus potentially a very tough bird - however there
is a path that allows a bit of a view out into canopy from just above the
clove and with the warbler singing on  off it was possible to re-find it,
if only sporadically, in the hours between 3  5 p.m. - there were a variety
of other warbler spp. and other expected migrants in Inwood Park as well in
the afternoon  it seemed likely that the morning hours there may have been
quite productive. I did not see any other birders at that hour, however, but
there are a small group of devoted Inwood Hill area birders.  

 

Also, a number of birders were able to see a Yellow-throated Warbler in
Central Park's Ramble area, at the NW portion of that area, known as the
Upper Lobe of the lake, not far in from the W. 77 Street park 

[nysbirds-l] Finch update/Massawepie Mire/Roosevelt Truck Trail

[Joan E. Collins]

Hamilton & St. Lawrence Counties

 

I returned to Long Lake on April 2nd after being away for nearly 3 weeks.
There was 2 feet of snow when I left on March 14th.  Currently, there are
just a few isolated patches of snow left in sheltered areas of the woods and
virtually no mud at all.  My husband reported that seaplanes and boats went
into Long Lake in March - certainly a new early record.  Red and
White-winged Crossbills are still around and the huge Pine Siskin irruption
continues.

 

I drove into Massawepie Mire yesterday, April 8 - an early record for me in
spring - and there was no mud on the road!  My prior early record was April
12, 2010 when David Buckley and I found the mire already full of singing
Palm Warblers.  Yesterday, I did not find any Palm Warblers, so I am slowly
honing in on an actual arrival date for this species.  (Yesterday, I did not
find any Pine Warblers either.)  I began the hike at 6:40 a.m. (very cold)
and I hiked 6 miles round-trip (just short of the Grass River Flow).
Highlights included a non-stop singing Northern Shrike - I was in
ear-birding heaven!  The first year bird went through a whole barrage of
different vocalizations.  Another highlight was the impressive numbers of
White-winged Crossbills (including young) foraging on black spruce cones
(mostly calling, but there was still some singing too).  I was alarmed by
the dry conditions at the mire.  Given the lack of snow and warm temps, the
vernal pools, which are normally abundant at the mire, were non-existent.
There is also a lot of tree damage from the constant high-wind storms.  On
another negative note, there was a great deal of logging (again) over the
winter, and many areas along the drive looked like a lunar landscape.  (I'll
post my eBird report below.)

 

I also hiked the Mountaineer Trail around Massawepie Lake yesterday -
similar species were found and there was a Common Loon on the lake.  (Also a
Common Loon on Catamount Pond by the entrance to Massawepie.)  The first
Common Loon on Long Lake was observed on April 5th.  I hiked the Roosevelt
Truck Trail on April 7th (eBird report below).White-winged Crossbills
were found on all hikes over the past week (Northville-Placid Trail (S) in
Long Lake on 4/4, Sabattis Bog on 4/6, Roosevelt Truck Trail on 4/7, and
Massawepie Mire on 4/8).  I also found a dead (road-killed) female
White-winged Crossbill near a marsh along Route 28N in Newcomb.  I observed
3 male White-winged Crossbills gritting near the Route 28N - Blue Ridge Road
intersection on 4/7.  A road-killed Pine Siskin was found on Route 28N near
the Lindsay Marsh Trailhead.  There was a group of about 10 siskins gritting
and when they flew up, there was one bird left behind - the dead bird.  As I
sat in my car watching, a Pine Siskin kept flying down to the dead bird and
hopping around it - very sad.

 

eBird reports:

 

Massawepie Mire, St. Lawrence, US-NY

Apr 8, 2012 6:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Protocol: Traveling

6.0 mile(s)

20 species

 

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)  1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)  2

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)  1 1st year bird vocalizing!

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)  2

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  60

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  2

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  30

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  12

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  16 Many singing birds along the
3-mile hike in.

Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  8

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  20

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  8

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  60

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)  2

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  18

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  68 Throughout the mire and
juveniles observed.  Birds were flying around the mire and feeding on black
spruce cones.

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  120 Huge irruption continues...

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail--Southern Trailhead, Essex, US-NY Apr 7, 2012 10:00 AM
- 1:00 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.0 mile(s)

15 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  2

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)  1

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)  1

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  1

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  25

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  3

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  9

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  16

Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  4

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  15

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  40

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  2

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  3

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  2

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  60

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Also yesterday (on Easter), I found 

[nysbirds-l] Finch update/Massawepie Mire/Roosevelt Truck Trail

[Joan E. Collins]

Hamilton  St. Lawrence Counties

 

I returned to Long Lake on April 2nd after being away for nearly 3 weeks.
There was 2 feet of snow when I left on March 14th.  Currently, there are
just a few isolated patches of snow left in sheltered areas of the woods and
virtually no mud at all.  My husband reported that seaplanes and boats went
into Long Lake in March - certainly a new early record.  Red and
White-winged Crossbills are still around and the huge Pine Siskin irruption
continues.

 

I drove into Massawepie Mire yesterday, April 8 - an early record for me in
spring - and there was no mud on the road!  My prior early record was April
12, 2010 when David Buckley and I found the mire already full of singing
Palm Warblers.  Yesterday, I did not find any Palm Warblers, so I am slowly
honing in on an actual arrival date for this species.  (Yesterday, I did not
find any Pine Warblers either.)  I began the hike at 6:40 a.m. (very cold)
and I hiked 6 miles round-trip (just short of the Grass River Flow).
Highlights included a non-stop singing Northern Shrike - I was in
ear-birding heaven!  The first year bird went through a whole barrage of
different vocalizations.  Another highlight was the impressive numbers of
White-winged Crossbills (including young) foraging on black spruce cones
(mostly calling, but there was still some singing too).  I was alarmed by
the dry conditions at the mire.  Given the lack of snow and warm temps, the
vernal pools, which are normally abundant at the mire, were non-existent.
There is also a lot of tree damage from the constant high-wind storms.  On
another negative note, there was a great deal of logging (again) over the
winter, and many areas along the drive looked like a lunar landscape.  (I'll
post my eBird report below.)

 

I also hiked the Mountaineer Trail around Massawepie Lake yesterday -
similar species were found and there was a Common Loon on the lake.  (Also a
Common Loon on Catamount Pond by the entrance to Massawepie.)  The first
Common Loon on Long Lake was observed on April 5th.  I hiked the Roosevelt
Truck Trail on April 7th (eBird report below).White-winged Crossbills
were found on all hikes over the past week (Northville-Placid Trail (S) in
Long Lake on 4/4, Sabattis Bog on 4/6, Roosevelt Truck Trail on 4/7, and
Massawepie Mire on 4/8).  I also found a dead (road-killed) female
White-winged Crossbill near a marsh along Route 28N in Newcomb.  I observed
3 male White-winged Crossbills gritting near the Route 28N - Blue Ridge Road
intersection on 4/7.  A road-killed Pine Siskin was found on Route 28N near
the Lindsay Marsh Trailhead.  There was a group of about 10 siskins gritting
and when they flew up, there was one bird left behind - the dead bird.  As I
sat in my car watching, a Pine Siskin kept flying down to the dead bird and
hopping around it - very sad.

 

eBird reports:

 

Massawepie Mire, St. Lawrence, US-NY

Apr 8, 2012 6:40 AM - 11:40 AM

Protocol: Traveling

6.0 mile(s)

20 species

 

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)  1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)  2

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)  1 1st year bird vocalizing!

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)  2

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  60

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  2

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  30

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  12

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  16 Many singing birds along the
3-mile hike in.

Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  8

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  20

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  8

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  60

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)  2

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  18

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  68 Throughout the mire and
juveniles observed.  Birds were flying around the mire and feeding on black
spruce cones.

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  120 Huge irruption continues...

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail--Southern Trailhead, Essex, US-NY Apr 7, 2012 10:00 AM
- 1:00 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.0 mile(s)

15 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  2

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)  1

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)  1

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  1

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  25

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  3

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  9

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  16

Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  4

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  15

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  40

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  2

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  3

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  2

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  60

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Also yesterday (on Easter), I found a 

[nysbirds-l] Northern Saw-whet Owl/Red-shouldered Hawk/Crossbills etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

3/12/12 Ferd's Bog (Hamilton Co.) 10:30 - 1:30 p.m.

 

It was a bit scary driving Uncas Rd. today, and I suspect the town will
close it soon given the snowy slush and mud (as they did last year).  I
almost turned around.but I kept going.  I used snowshoes so I could leave
the trail and circle the bog.  The beaver dam crossing in snowshoes was also
scary.  With the rapid warm-up, I started to drop through the snow on my
hike out even in snowshoes.  I think I hit the last day to easily hike off
trail.

 

This has been the most unusual (bizarre) winter I can ever recall, and it
seems like "normal" is disappearing.  When I was across the bog, I heard a
Northern Saw-whet Owl tooting!  My first thought was that a birder must be
playing a tape.  But then I thought, no one in their right mind would have
driven down Uncas Rd. today..yeah, I know.  I continued on with my two Gray
Jay companions.  Then, I heard it again.  I scanned for a birder and didn't
see anyone or hear any snow crunching footsteps.  Then, I heard it a 3rd
time, and as I hiked out, it tooted a 4th time!  There were no other
footprints in the snow, no one else signed the register, and there were no
other car tracks down the road!  I've heard Northern Saw-whet Owls give the
scary call note during the day, but I've never heard tooting midday.  I
immediately checked the BNA (Birds of North America) when I got home and the
only reference to this behavior was a saw-whet responding midday to a tape.
But I didn't play any tapes!  The weather was sunny and calm (perfectly
calm).  So, I guess I now know that Northern Saw-whet Owls DO sing during
the day!  Here are some of the 18 species found at the bog:

 

Snow Goose - flocks going overhead

Canada Goose - flocks going overhead

*Northern Saw-whet Owl

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2; male and female at the edge of the bog not far
from the boardwalk

Gray Jay - 2; They were my constant companions today - so much so, that it
felt like I was hiking with my dogs!  I found myself talking to them the
entire hike.  I noticed something about their behavior today that I never
noticed before.  I was feeding them small walnut pieces, and they often
picked up several pieces in their mouth before heading out to cache them.
If the bird picked up 3 pieces, it cached them in 3 different trees, if it
picked up 2 pieces, it cached them in 2 trees, etc.  They are such
remarkable birds.

Boreal Chickadee - several flocks around the bog

Brown Creeper - many singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing

Purple Finch - many singing

White-winged Crossbill - many with lots of singing around the bog

Pine Siskin - seemingly limitless numbers

 

3/11/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva (Hamilton & Essex Counties)

 

I spent the morning birding with Mike Bryant and his wife Ray Slyper from
NYC.  Here are some of the 25 species we found:

 

Ruffed Grouse

Red-shouldered Hawk - beautiful views today of the bird on a dead snag in
the sun (across the road from where we found it the day before in Long Lake)

Barred Owl - sang twice late morning in Newcomb!

Song Sparrow - singing in Long Lake

*Common Grackle - 4; first of the season in Newcomb

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - pair at a marsh along the road in Minerva (scope views)

White-winged Crossbill - singing in Long Lake, Newcomb, and Minerva (scope
views in Newcomb)

Pine Siskin

Evening Grosbeak - Long Lake, Newcomb, and Minerva (scope views in Long
Lake)

 

3/10/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva (Hamilton & Essex Counties) 5 new inches
of snow overnight

 

I spent the day birding with Anna Hrycin and Josefa Benson of Rochester.
Here are some of the 24 species found:

 

*Red-shouldered Hawk - (Long Lake) first of the season and new early record
for Hamilton Co.

*Killdeer - 1!  First of the season and new early record for Hamilton Co.;
This bird was observed flying low over Long Lake at dawn to the town beach.
It began to vocalize, so we walked over to see it and all you could see was
the top of the bird with the rest buried in all the new snow!  It was
bobbing its head and it looked ridiculous!  I felt very bad for this migrant
that touched down into a world of snow and cold. 

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 female in Minerva on the Roosevelt Truck Trail

Boreal Chickadee - 6 (3 groups of 2) along the Roosevelt Truck Trail

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - heard in Long Lake and along the Roosevelt Truck Trail in
Minerva

White-winged Crossbill - singing at Sabattis Bog and along the Roosevelt
Truck Trail

Evening Grosbeak - several locations

 

A few other older observations:

 

3/7/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva

 

Amer. Robin

Bohemian Waxwing - ~20 in two berry bushes near the bridge on the west side
of Long Lake.  This is the first time I've found Bohemian Waxwings in Long
Lake.

*Song Sparrow - first of the season and new early record for Hamilton Co.;
singing near the bridge over Long Lake

Red Crossbill - pair gritting near the bridge over Long Lake

 

Sabattis Bog:

[nysbirds-l] Northern Saw-whet Owl/Red-shouldered Hawk/Crossbills etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

3/12/12 Ferd's Bog (Hamilton Co.) 10:30 - 1:30 p.m.

 

It was a bit scary driving Uncas Rd. today, and I suspect the town will
close it soon given the snowy slush and mud (as they did last year).  I
almost turned around.but I kept going.  I used snowshoes so I could leave
the trail and circle the bog.  The beaver dam crossing in snowshoes was also
scary.  With the rapid warm-up, I started to drop through the snow on my
hike out even in snowshoes.  I think I hit the last day to easily hike off
trail.

 

This has been the most unusual (bizarre) winter I can ever recall, and it
seems like normal is disappearing.  When I was across the bog, I heard a
Northern Saw-whet Owl tooting!  My first thought was that a birder must be
playing a tape.  But then I thought, no one in their right mind would have
driven down Uncas Rd. today..yeah, I know.  I continued on with my two Gray
Jay companions.  Then, I heard it again.  I scanned for a birder and didn't
see anyone or hear any snow crunching footsteps.  Then, I heard it a 3rd
time, and as I hiked out, it tooted a 4th time!  There were no other
footprints in the snow, no one else signed the register, and there were no
other car tracks down the road!  I've heard Northern Saw-whet Owls give the
scary call note during the day, but I've never heard tooting midday.  I
immediately checked the BNA (Birds of North America) when I got home and the
only reference to this behavior was a saw-whet responding midday to a tape.
But I didn't play any tapes!  The weather was sunny and calm (perfectly
calm).  So, I guess I now know that Northern Saw-whet Owls DO sing during
the day!  Here are some of the 18 species found at the bog:

 

Snow Goose - flocks going overhead

Canada Goose - flocks going overhead

*Northern Saw-whet Owl

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2; male and female at the edge of the bog not far
from the boardwalk

Gray Jay - 2; They were my constant companions today - so much so, that it
felt like I was hiking with my dogs!  I found myself talking to them the
entire hike.  I noticed something about their behavior today that I never
noticed before.  I was feeding them small walnut pieces, and they often
picked up several pieces in their mouth before heading out to cache them.
If the bird picked up 3 pieces, it cached them in 3 different trees, if it
picked up 2 pieces, it cached them in 2 trees, etc.  They are such
remarkable birds.

Boreal Chickadee - several flocks around the bog

Brown Creeper - many singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing

Purple Finch - many singing

White-winged Crossbill - many with lots of singing around the bog

Pine Siskin - seemingly limitless numbers

 

3/11/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva (Hamilton  Essex Counties)

 

I spent the morning birding with Mike Bryant and his wife Ray Slyper from
NYC.  Here are some of the 25 species we found:

 

Ruffed Grouse

Red-shouldered Hawk - beautiful views today of the bird on a dead snag in
the sun (across the road from where we found it the day before in Long Lake)

Barred Owl - sang twice late morning in Newcomb!

Song Sparrow - singing in Long Lake

*Common Grackle - 4; first of the season in Newcomb

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - pair at a marsh along the road in Minerva (scope views)

White-winged Crossbill - singing in Long Lake, Newcomb, and Minerva (scope
views in Newcomb)

Pine Siskin

Evening Grosbeak - Long Lake, Newcomb, and Minerva (scope views in Long
Lake)

 

3/10/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva (Hamilton  Essex Counties) 5 new inches
of snow overnight

 

I spent the day birding with Anna Hrycin and Josefa Benson of Rochester.
Here are some of the 24 species found:

 

*Red-shouldered Hawk - (Long Lake) first of the season and new early record
for Hamilton Co.

*Killdeer - 1!  First of the season and new early record for Hamilton Co.;
This bird was observed flying low over Long Lake at dawn to the town beach.
It began to vocalize, so we walked over to see it and all you could see was
the top of the bird with the rest buried in all the new snow!  It was
bobbing its head and it looked ridiculous!  I felt very bad for this migrant
that touched down into a world of snow and cold. 

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 female in Minerva on the Roosevelt Truck Trail

Boreal Chickadee - 6 (3 groups of 2) along the Roosevelt Truck Trail

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - heard in Long Lake and along the Roosevelt Truck Trail in
Minerva

White-winged Crossbill - singing at Sabattis Bog and along the Roosevelt
Truck Trail

Evening Grosbeak - several locations

 

A few other older observations:

 

3/7/12 Long Lake, Newcomb, Minerva

 

Amer. Robin

Bohemian Waxwing - ~20 in two berry bushes near the bridge on the west side
of Long Lake.  This is the first time I've found Bohemian Waxwings in Long
Lake.

*Song Sparrow - first of the season and new early record for Hamilton Co.;
singing near the bridge over Long Lake

Red Crossbill - pair gritting near the bridge over Long Lake

 

Sabattis Bog:

FW: [nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch images

[Joan E. Collins]

Positive news from Nancy Loomis is below!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: Nancy Loomis [mailto:loomis.na...@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 6:51 AM
To: Joan E. Collins
Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch images

 

Joan can you get it out there that the Rosy Finch is still here.  People want 
to know and I am on my way to work and Janet is also working.  Thank You. Also 
mention the sign in log is in the garage.

 


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FW: [nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch images

[Joan E. Collins]

Positive news from Nancy Loomis is below!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: Nancy Loomis [mailto:loomis.na...@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 6:51 AM
To: Joan E. Collins
Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch images

 

Joan can you get it out there that the Rosy Finch is still here.  People want 
to know and I am on my way to work and Janet is also working.  Thank You. Also 
mention the sign in log is in the garage.

 


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[nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch update

[Joan E. Collins]

3/6/12

 

Janet Akin, sister of Nancy Loomis (homeowner), reported that the
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch showed up at 6:26 a.m. this morning.  Nancy sent me
a message that a TV crew from Channel 7 out of Watertown is on the way to
her house!  Little does the rosy finch know how famous it is becoming!
Locust Grove must be experiencing a boon in tourism!

 

Nancy also mentioned "what a nice bunch of guys" visited yesterday, and
today, she mentioned it has been great to meet everyone visiting.  She
particularly enjoyed reading Corey Finger's blog (I'll list the link below
for members of Northern NY Birds):

 

http://1birds.com/gray-crowned-rosy-finch-in-new-york.htm

 

Beautiful photos Corey!  Thank you for writing such an interesting blog - I
found it wonderful to read more about the bird's behavior, and its behavior
around the other feeder species.  Thanks to Benjamin and Seth for
identifying the bird's subspecies.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch update

[Joan E. Collins]

3/6/12

 

Janet Akin, sister of Nancy Loomis (homeowner), reported that the
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch showed up at 6:26 a.m. this morning.  Nancy sent me
a message that a TV crew from Channel 7 out of Watertown is on the way to
her house!  Little does the rosy finch know how famous it is becoming!
Locust Grove must be experiencing a boon in tourism!

 

Nancy also mentioned what a nice bunch of guys visited yesterday, and
today, she mentioned it has been great to meet everyone visiting.  She
particularly enjoyed reading Corey Finger's blog (I'll list the link below
for members of Northern NY Birds):

 

http://1birds.com/gray-crowned-rosy-finch-in-new-york.htm

 

Beautiful photos Corey!  Thank you for writing such an interesting blog - I
found it wonderful to read more about the bird's behavior, and its behavior
around the other feeder species.  Thanks to Benjamin and Seth for
identifying the bird's subspecies.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Red & White-winged Crossbills/Evening Grosbeaks/etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

February 17-20, 2012 St. Lawrence Valley & Adirondacks (St. Lawrence,
Hamilton, Franklin, and Essex Counties)

 

The record warm winter this year is truly alarming.  Some of the unusual
results in northern NY: a lot of open water; lack of snow; intermittent rain
nearly every week, springtails (snow fleas) have been observed since January
(usually it is late March); Black Bear tracks in the snow; huge Amer. Crow
flocks returned in January and they have been battling Common Ravens
(normally this behavior begins in March); most of my feeder species are
birds that normally leave the mountains in Oct.; Brown Creepers have been
singing each day since 2/11; Anthony Collerton and I observed a Golden Eagle
soaring over Big Brook in Long Lake on 2/16; and in the past two days,
Brenda Inskeep and I observed 2 Red-tailed Hawks in the mountains (Lake
Clear area, and Blue Mountain Lake).  It doesn't feel like "February" at all
in the Adirondacks.

 

Finches:  The Pine Siskin irruption is HUGE and I think there is a siskin
(maybe several) in every bush of the Adirondacks!  There is a good irruption
of White-winged Crossbills and they have been actively singing for several
weeks now.  Red Crossbills are also singing (first singing heard on 2/8),
but are not as widespread as White-winged Crossbills.  The Red Crossbills
can be found along the Route 28-Route 28N corridor including Inlet/Raquette
Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Long Lake, and Minerva.  They nested last summer
and now appear to be doing a winter nesting in the same areas.  Several days
ago, I observed a male Red Crossbill gritting on Route 28 between Blue
Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake along with 2 juvenile Red Crossbills.
Evening Grosbeaks showed up in Long Lake on February 4 and have been
observed every day since (not sure where they were before 2/4!).  Purple
Finches and Amer. Goldfinches never left the mountains this year and Purple
Finches are vocalizing as if it was already spring.

 

2/17/12 St. Lawrence Co.

 

I had an early morning appointment in Potsdam, so I spent a few hours
birding in the area.  I traveled the "magic rectangle" (the St. Lawrence
Valley's equivalent of the "magic triangle" in the Lake Champlain Valley!) -
Regan Rd. to May Rd. to Pleasant Valley Rd. to Stockholm Rd. to Route 11
back to Regan Rd. (where I go to see Bohemian Waxwings, Northern Shrikes,
and Rough-legged Hawks).  Bohemian Waxwings are very reliable in this
location every winter because of the vast invasive buckthorn vegetation.
This year, the waxwings have competitors with record numbers of Amer. Robins
staying north.  Some of the species found:

 

Rough-legged Hawk - dark morph (Route 11 Potsdam)

Northern Shrike - Robinson Bay Rd. in Massena

Bohemian Waxwing - 135; (110 on May Rd. and 25 on Pleasant Valley Rd. in
Potsdam)  I only counted the birds perched high - there were many more down
in the buckthorn vegetation out of sight.

 

2/18/12 Hamilton & Essex Counties

 

Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, and I spent several hours birding in Long Lake,
Ferd's Bog, and the Newcomb-Minerva area.  Some of the species found:

 

Gray Jay - 2 at Ferd's Bog

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - by Long Lake

White-winged Crossbill - many singing at Ferd's Bog and along Route 28N in
Newcomb

Pine Siskin - countless

Evening Grosbeak - ~ 50 in Long Lake

 

2/19/12 & 2/20/12 Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Essex Counties

 

Brenda Inskeep and I birded in Hannawa Falls/Potsdam/Stockholm in St.
Lawrence Co., and then traveled to the Paul Smith's/Bloomingdale area in
Franklin Co. on Sunday.  This morning, we birded in Long Lake and Raquette
Lake (Ferd's Bog) in Hamilton Co.  Some of the 34 species found:

 

Ruffed Grouse - 5 flushed on Bigelow Rd.

Bald Eagle - soaring over May Rd. in Potsdam

Rough-legged Hawk - 3; (2 in Hannawa Falls and 1 in Potsdam)

Northern Flicker - 1 (early? Or did it ever leave?!) on Regan Rd. in Potsdam

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Shrike - 3 (1 at the Sweeney - Back Hannawa Rd. intersection; 1 on
Regan Rd. which we watched stab a mole/shrew, then pick it up in its bill
and transfer to toes as it flew into the bushes; 1 at the Pleasant Valley
Rd. - Stockholm Rd. intersection)

Gray Jay - 1 in Bloomingdale and 2 at Ferd's Bog

Boreal Chickadee - 5 at Bigelow Rd. (2 flocks)

Brown Creeper - singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Bohemian Waxwing - 81 (30 in Hannawa Falls (Route 56), 40 on May Rd. in
Potsdam, and 11 on Fletcher Farm Rd. in Bloomingdale)

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - singing in Long Lake

White-winged Crossbill - many singing in Bloomingdale, Ferd's Bog, and Route
28N in Newcomb

Pine Siskin

Evening Grosbeak - ~50 in Long Lake and at least one on the Keese Mills Rd.
in Paul Smith's

 

We observed a perplexing behavior - a battle between a male Evening Grosbeak
and a male Red Crossbill in Long Lake (near where the Red Crossbills are
singing/nesting).  The grosbeak aggressively chased the crossbill back and
forth for several minutes.  I suspect the 

[nysbirds-l] Red White-winged Crossbills/Evening Grosbeaks/etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

February 17-20, 2012 St. Lawrence Valley  Adirondacks (St. Lawrence,
Hamilton, Franklin, and Essex Counties)

 

The record warm winter this year is truly alarming.  Some of the unusual
results in northern NY: a lot of open water; lack of snow; intermittent rain
nearly every week, springtails (snow fleas) have been observed since January
(usually it is late March); Black Bear tracks in the snow; huge Amer. Crow
flocks returned in January and they have been battling Common Ravens
(normally this behavior begins in March); most of my feeder species are
birds that normally leave the mountains in Oct.; Brown Creepers have been
singing each day since 2/11; Anthony Collerton and I observed a Golden Eagle
soaring over Big Brook in Long Lake on 2/16; and in the past two days,
Brenda Inskeep and I observed 2 Red-tailed Hawks in the mountains (Lake
Clear area, and Blue Mountain Lake).  It doesn't feel like February at all
in the Adirondacks.

 

Finches:  The Pine Siskin irruption is HUGE and I think there is a siskin
(maybe several) in every bush of the Adirondacks!  There is a good irruption
of White-winged Crossbills and they have been actively singing for several
weeks now.  Red Crossbills are also singing (first singing heard on 2/8),
but are not as widespread as White-winged Crossbills.  The Red Crossbills
can be found along the Route 28-Route 28N corridor including Inlet/Raquette
Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Long Lake, and Minerva.  They nested last summer
and now appear to be doing a winter nesting in the same areas.  Several days
ago, I observed a male Red Crossbill gritting on Route 28 between Blue
Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake along with 2 juvenile Red Crossbills.
Evening Grosbeaks showed up in Long Lake on February 4 and have been
observed every day since (not sure where they were before 2/4!).  Purple
Finches and Amer. Goldfinches never left the mountains this year and Purple
Finches are vocalizing as if it was already spring.

 

2/17/12 St. Lawrence Co.

 

I had an early morning appointment in Potsdam, so I spent a few hours
birding in the area.  I traveled the magic rectangle (the St. Lawrence
Valley's equivalent of the magic triangle in the Lake Champlain Valley!) -
Regan Rd. to May Rd. to Pleasant Valley Rd. to Stockholm Rd. to Route 11
back to Regan Rd. (where I go to see Bohemian Waxwings, Northern Shrikes,
and Rough-legged Hawks).  Bohemian Waxwings are very reliable in this
location every winter because of the vast invasive buckthorn vegetation.
This year, the waxwings have competitors with record numbers of Amer. Robins
staying north.  Some of the species found:

 

Rough-legged Hawk - dark morph (Route 11 Potsdam)

Northern Shrike - Robinson Bay Rd. in Massena

Bohemian Waxwing - 135; (110 on May Rd. and 25 on Pleasant Valley Rd. in
Potsdam)  I only counted the birds perched high - there were many more down
in the buckthorn vegetation out of sight.

 

2/18/12 Hamilton  Essex Counties

 

Sean O'Brien, Ted Mack, and I spent several hours birding in Long Lake,
Ferd's Bog, and the Newcomb-Minerva area.  Some of the species found:

 

Gray Jay - 2 at Ferd's Bog

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - by Long Lake

White-winged Crossbill - many singing at Ferd's Bog and along Route 28N in
Newcomb

Pine Siskin - countless

Evening Grosbeak - ~ 50 in Long Lake

 

2/19/12  2/20/12 Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Essex Counties

 

Brenda Inskeep and I birded in Hannawa Falls/Potsdam/Stockholm in St.
Lawrence Co., and then traveled to the Paul Smith's/Bloomingdale area in
Franklin Co. on Sunday.  This morning, we birded in Long Lake and Raquette
Lake (Ferd's Bog) in Hamilton Co.  Some of the 34 species found:

 

Ruffed Grouse - 5 flushed on Bigelow Rd.

Bald Eagle - soaring over May Rd. in Potsdam

Rough-legged Hawk - 3; (2 in Hannawa Falls and 1 in Potsdam)

Northern Flicker - 1 (early? Or did it ever leave?!) on Regan Rd. in Potsdam

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Shrike - 3 (1 at the Sweeney - Back Hannawa Rd. intersection; 1 on
Regan Rd. which we watched stab a mole/shrew, then pick it up in its bill
and transfer to toes as it flew into the bushes; 1 at the Pleasant Valley
Rd. - Stockholm Rd. intersection)

Gray Jay - 1 in Bloomingdale and 2 at Ferd's Bog

Boreal Chickadee - 5 at Bigelow Rd. (2 flocks)

Brown Creeper - singing

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Bohemian Waxwing - 81 (30 in Hannawa Falls (Route 56), 40 on May Rd. in
Potsdam, and 11 on Fletcher Farm Rd. in Bloomingdale)

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill - singing in Long Lake

White-winged Crossbill - many singing in Bloomingdale, Ferd's Bog, and Route
28N in Newcomb

Pine Siskin

Evening Grosbeak - ~50 in Long Lake and at least one on the Keese Mills Rd.
in Paul Smith's

 

We observed a perplexing behavior - a battle between a male Evening Grosbeak
and a male Red Crossbill in Long Lake (near where the Red Crossbills are
singing/nesting).  The grosbeak aggressively chased the crossbill back and
forth for several minutes.  I suspect the crossbill 

[nysbirds-l] Bohemian Waxwings & other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

1/22/12 Afternoon trip to St. Lawrence Co.

 

I found 2 different flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in St. Lawrence Co. today.
One flock of 22 was observed along Route 56 just north of the village of
South Colton at noon (Town of Colton).  Another flock of 20 birds was found
along Route 11 just southwest of the intersection with Stockholm Rd. (Town
of Stockholm).  As I've mentioned in other years, the rectangular area of
Regan Rd. - May Rd. - Pleasant Valley Road - Stockholm Rd. - Route 11 - back
to Regan Rd. in the towns of Potsdam and Stockholm, is a terrific place to
look for this species in winter.  After finding the first flock on Route 56,
I decided to visit the second area to see if I'd find more.

 

Sean O'Brien and Ted Mack also found Bohemian Waxwings today. (They were
heading east toward the Lake Champlain Valley, while I headed northwest to
the St. Lawrence Valley.)  Sean asked me to post: They found a mixed waxwing
flock of 44 birds, roughly half Bohemian and half Cedar, just north of the
village of Saranac Lake (Essex Co. near the border with Franklin Co.) along
Route 3 (past the brick pump house).

 

The Bohemian flocks we found today were first-of-the-season for all of us.

 

Also along Route 56, between South Colton and Colton, I found a flock of 25
Cedar Waxwings.  American Robins were encountered throughout the afternoon.
A light phase Rough-legged Hawk was found along Regan Rd. (Potsdam).  A
Northern Shrike was observed along Route 310 northwest of Rutherford Rd. in
Madrid.

 

Waterfowl at Hawkins Point in Massena:

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Amer. Black Duck

Mallard

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye - males were doing their interesting behavior (as a group)
of sticking out their head, then snapping it backwards!

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

 

I thought about counting the waterfowl for eBird, but I was so cold that
tears were running down my face and I couldn't feel my hands (with 2 layers
of gloves/mittens)!  I stayed long enough to scan the Common Goldeneyes for
any Barrow's, and then I headed for the heated car!

 

The Pine Siskin irruption continues to be huge in the Adirondacks and I
encountered flocks throughout the early part of the drive - many gritting in
the roads.  Along Bancroft Rd. (off Route 3 in Piercefield), I found a Gray
Jay.  This road is a short half circle with interesting boreal habitat.  (I
drove this road on 1/16/12 and found 2 Gray Jays, 20 Pine Siskins, 2 Purple
Finches and 2 Common Ravens.)  Also on my drive, I stopped at the Leonard
Pond Trailhead (Route 56 in the Town of Colton); I heard Purple Finches,
White-winged Crossbills, and Pine Siskins. (Also heard on 1/16/12 at this
location.)

 

On a recent bitter cold day, 1/15/12, I drove to several Newcomb-Minerva
locations in Essex Co.  There were many Pine Siskins, and White-winged
Crossbills were singing at several locations.  I turned around at the Hewitt
Eddy Trailhead (in Minerva on Route 28N), where I heard Pine Siskins and
singing White-winged Crossbills.  After I turned the car around, I spotted a
dead male Red Crossbill on top of the snow bank at the side of the road.  It
was on top of newly plowed snow, so it probably had died that morning.  As I
was looking at the bird, another Red Crossbill flew over calling, and I
sadly wondered if it was the dead bird's mate.  It appears the Red
Crossbills are continuing to stay in areas where they nested late last
summer.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Bohemian Waxwings other sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

1/22/12 Afternoon trip to St. Lawrence Co.

 

I found 2 different flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in St. Lawrence Co. today.
One flock of 22 was observed along Route 56 just north of the village of
South Colton at noon (Town of Colton).  Another flock of 20 birds was found
along Route 11 just southwest of the intersection with Stockholm Rd. (Town
of Stockholm).  As I've mentioned in other years, the rectangular area of
Regan Rd. - May Rd. - Pleasant Valley Road - Stockholm Rd. - Route 11 - back
to Regan Rd. in the towns of Potsdam and Stockholm, is a terrific place to
look for this species in winter.  After finding the first flock on Route 56,
I decided to visit the second area to see if I'd find more.

 

Sean O'Brien and Ted Mack also found Bohemian Waxwings today. (They were
heading east toward the Lake Champlain Valley, while I headed northwest to
the St. Lawrence Valley.)  Sean asked me to post: They found a mixed waxwing
flock of 44 birds, roughly half Bohemian and half Cedar, just north of the
village of Saranac Lake (Essex Co. near the border with Franklin Co.) along
Route 3 (past the brick pump house).

 

The Bohemian flocks we found today were first-of-the-season for all of us.

 

Also along Route 56, between South Colton and Colton, I found a flock of 25
Cedar Waxwings.  American Robins were encountered throughout the afternoon.
A light phase Rough-legged Hawk was found along Regan Rd. (Potsdam).  A
Northern Shrike was observed along Route 310 northwest of Rutherford Rd. in
Madrid.

 

Waterfowl at Hawkins Point in Massena:

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Amer. Black Duck

Mallard

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye - males were doing their interesting behavior (as a group)
of sticking out their head, then snapping it backwards!

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

 

I thought about counting the waterfowl for eBird, but I was so cold that
tears were running down my face and I couldn't feel my hands (with 2 layers
of gloves/mittens)!  I stayed long enough to scan the Common Goldeneyes for
any Barrow's, and then I headed for the heated car!

 

The Pine Siskin irruption continues to be huge in the Adirondacks and I
encountered flocks throughout the early part of the drive - many gritting in
the roads.  Along Bancroft Rd. (off Route 3 in Piercefield), I found a Gray
Jay.  This road is a short half circle with interesting boreal habitat.  (I
drove this road on 1/16/12 and found 2 Gray Jays, 20 Pine Siskins, 2 Purple
Finches and 2 Common Ravens.)  Also on my drive, I stopped at the Leonard
Pond Trailhead (Route 56 in the Town of Colton); I heard Purple Finches,
White-winged Crossbills, and Pine Siskins. (Also heard on 1/16/12 at this
location.)

 

On a recent bitter cold day, 1/15/12, I drove to several Newcomb-Minerva
locations in Essex Co.  There were many Pine Siskins, and White-winged
Crossbills were singing at several locations.  I turned around at the Hewitt
Eddy Trailhead (in Minerva on Route 28N), where I heard Pine Siskins and
singing White-winged Crossbills.  After I turned the car around, I spotted a
dead male Red Crossbill on top of the snow bank at the side of the road.  It
was on top of newly plowed snow, so it probably had died that morning.  As I
was looking at the bird, another Red Crossbill flew over calling, and I
sadly wondered if it was the dead bird's mate.  It appears the Red
Crossbills are continuing to stay in areas where they nested late last
summer.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Red & White-winged Crossbills & a BLACK BEAR!!!

[Joan E. Collins]

12/14/11 Minerva & Newcomb (Essex County)

 

I hiked the Roosevelt Truck Trail today because I lost my favorite water
bottle on the trail on Monday!  (I came out too late on Monday to re-hike
it.)  With the new reality of our warmer climate, I am often asked what
Black Bears do when there is little or no snow on the ground at this time of
year.  Well I found the answer today!  A large Black Bear had hiked much of
the trail sometime between Monday night and this morning.  I did a double
take when I realized the tracks in the snow paralleling mine were not my
tracks from Monday, but the tracks of a large Black Bear - the paw tracks
were larger than my winter boot!  It was a bit unnerving and I kept much
more alert as I continued the hike.  (I also got out my bear protection - my
whistle!  It is my psychological protection and kept my knees from shaking!)

 

On Monday, a Red Crossbill was singing at the second camp site on the
Roosevelt Truck Trail.  Today, I heard two Red Crossbills singing - once
again at the second camp site, and earlier on the trail.  As I listened to
the interesting call note of a female Red Crossbill (heard both on the way
in and the way out at the second camp site), White-winged Crossbills flew in
behind me and one sang 3 times!  (I've been finding them calling, but today
was the first time I've heard singing.)  While all this was happening, a
huge flock of over 100 Pine Siskins was creating a din nearby and a couple
of Purple Finches flew over!  It felt like finch grand central station.  I
found 23 Red Crossbills and 8 White-winged Crossbills during the hike, with
a nice observation of a Red Crossbill pair at the second camp site on the
way in.  On a stop along Route 28N (.7 miles southeast of the Route 28N and
Blue Ridge Rd. intersection) on my drive home, I found 5 more Red Crossbills
- definitely a different "type" from the Roosevelt Truck Trail birds.  I
also found a Black-backed Woodpecker at this stop.

 

In addition to Black Bears still being active, I am still finding waterfowl
on the large lakes (Common Loon, Bufflehead, Common & Hooded Mergansers,
Ring-necked Duck, etc.) and Blue Jays, Purple Finches, and Amer. Goldfinches
- species that have usually left our mountain area by now.  Numbers of Pine
Siskins are still remarkable - I found 450 in a short walk of the trail to
Raquette Falls last week (feeding on birch seeds, hemlock cone seeds and
balsam fir cone seeds).  I hear siskins outside our house all day, including
a flock of 80 this morning.  They have plenty to eat in the forest and are
not yet coming to the feeders.  A pair of River Otters was observed in
Middle Cat Pond (intersection of Sabattis Circle Rd. and Route 30 in the
Town of Long Lake) on Dec. 6.  At one point, they surfaced facing each other
and appeared as mirror images - one of those moments when I wish I had a
camera handy!

 

I added 9 new eBird lists today, but I'll paste-in just today's 2 lists
below:

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail (southern trailhead), Essex, US-NY Dec 14, 2011 10:00
AM - 2:30 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.2 mile(s)

Comments: Black Bear tracks in the snow (2") for a long distance along
the trail!!!

15 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  4 1 bird alone and 3 birds together

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  10

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  2

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  62

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  11 Flocks of 3, 5, and 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  26

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  1

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  20

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  17

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  6

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  23 Two different birds singing - one
by the second camp site.

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  8 One bird sang 3 times!
Also at the second camp site.

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  195 There was a flock of over 100 near the
second camp site.

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2

 

Route 28N Brook .7 SE of Blue Ridge Rd. Intersection, Essex, US-NY Dec 14,
2011 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM

Protocol: Stationary

4 species

 

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  1

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  2

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  5 Three on one side of the road and
two on the other

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  4 Feeding in tamaracks

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Singing Red White-winged Crossbills a BLACK BEAR!!!

[Joan E. Collins]

12/14/11 Minerva  Newcomb (Essex County)

 

I hiked the Roosevelt Truck Trail today because I lost my favorite water
bottle on the trail on Monday!  (I came out too late on Monday to re-hike
it.)  With the new reality of our warmer climate, I am often asked what
Black Bears do when there is little or no snow on the ground at this time of
year.  Well I found the answer today!  A large Black Bear had hiked much of
the trail sometime between Monday night and this morning.  I did a double
take when I realized the tracks in the snow paralleling mine were not my
tracks from Monday, but the tracks of a large Black Bear - the paw tracks
were larger than my winter boot!  It was a bit unnerving and I kept much
more alert as I continued the hike.  (I also got out my bear protection - my
whistle!  It is my psychological protection and kept my knees from shaking!)

 

On Monday, a Red Crossbill was singing at the second camp site on the
Roosevelt Truck Trail.  Today, I heard two Red Crossbills singing - once
again at the second camp site, and earlier on the trail.  As I listened to
the interesting call note of a female Red Crossbill (heard both on the way
in and the way out at the second camp site), White-winged Crossbills flew in
behind me and one sang 3 times!  (I've been finding them calling, but today
was the first time I've heard singing.)  While all this was happening, a
huge flock of over 100 Pine Siskins was creating a din nearby and a couple
of Purple Finches flew over!  It felt like finch grand central station.  I
found 23 Red Crossbills and 8 White-winged Crossbills during the hike, with
a nice observation of a Red Crossbill pair at the second camp site on the
way in.  On a stop along Route 28N (.7 miles southeast of the Route 28N and
Blue Ridge Rd. intersection) on my drive home, I found 5 more Red Crossbills
- definitely a different type from the Roosevelt Truck Trail birds.  I
also found a Black-backed Woodpecker at this stop.

 

In addition to Black Bears still being active, I am still finding waterfowl
on the large lakes (Common Loon, Bufflehead, Common  Hooded Mergansers,
Ring-necked Duck, etc.) and Blue Jays, Purple Finches, and Amer. Goldfinches
- species that have usually left our mountain area by now.  Numbers of Pine
Siskins are still remarkable - I found 450 in a short walk of the trail to
Raquette Falls last week (feeding on birch seeds, hemlock cone seeds and
balsam fir cone seeds).  I hear siskins outside our house all day, including
a flock of 80 this morning.  They have plenty to eat in the forest and are
not yet coming to the feeders.  A pair of River Otters was observed in
Middle Cat Pond (intersection of Sabattis Circle Rd. and Route 30 in the
Town of Long Lake) on Dec. 6.  At one point, they surfaced facing each other
and appeared as mirror images - one of those moments when I wish I had a
camera handy!

 

I added 9 new eBird lists today, but I'll paste-in just today's 2 lists
below:

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail (southern trailhead), Essex, US-NY Dec 14, 2011 10:00
AM - 2:30 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.2 mile(s)

Comments: Black Bear tracks in the snow (2) for a long distance along
the trail!!!

15 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  4 1 bird alone and 3 birds together

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  10

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  2

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  62

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  11 Flocks of 3, 5, and 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  26

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  1

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  20

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  17

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  6

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  23 Two different birds singing - one
by the second camp site.

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  8 One bird sang 3 times!
Also at the second camp site.

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  195 There was a flock of over 100 near the
second camp site.

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2

 

Route 28N Brook .7 SE of Blue Ridge Rd. Intersection, Essex, US-NY Dec 14,
2011 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM

Protocol: Stationary

4 species

 

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  1

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  2

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)  5 Three on one side of the road and
two on the other

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  4 Feeding in tamaracks

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Roosevelt Truck Trail in MInerva, Essex Co.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/16/11 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva, Essex Co.)

 

I had a beautiful walk on the Roosevelt Truck Trail today.  I don't recall
ever finding as many Boreal Chickadees on one walk before.  Views of the
Boreal Chickadees were terrific throughout the hike.  Winds were calm all
day (not as forecast) and it began to drizzle only on my drive home.  There
are two wheelchair accessible camping sites along this dirt road trail
(there is a gate, but you can call your local DEC office to get the lock
combination to drive to the camp sites).  There are tents sites, picnic
tables with large overhangs at one end for wheelchairs, firewood, fire pits,
and wheelchair accessible outhouses.  The camp sites are lovely and
extremely quiet - I had lunch at the second camp site today.

 

The Roosevelt Truck Trail is becoming one of my favorite birding trails
(this is the location where I found 3 singing Cape May Warblers in the
spring).  It has wonderful boreal habitat.  In the morning fog, it felt
primeval.  The first bird I found - just outside my car - was a male
Black-backed Woodpecker.  As I hiked, I heard what sounded like another
Black-backed Woodpecker, so I started to bushwhack toward the sound.  What I
found was hemlock cones dropping to the ground - and at least 120 Pine
Siskins in a feeding frenzy in the huge hemlock tree above me!  The tree
appeared to be boiling with siskins - it was quite a sight!  The siskins
moved to a birch tree next to the hemlock so I was able to finally count
them.  I found another group of 3 Black-backed Woodpeckers (2 were giving
the rattle call) on my way out - I believe there were actually 4, but I
could only hear/observe 3 at once.

 

One of the Ruffed Grouse was drumming and I heard yet another new (to me)
Common Raven vocalization (their vocalizations seem endless).

 

I will paste in my eBird report:

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail (southern trailhead), Essex, US-NY Nov 16, 2011 9:45
AM - 2:15 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.2 mile(s)

Comments: 39 to 50 degrees, calm winds, cloudy.  Wonderful bird walk!

18 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  4

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  4

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  15

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  5

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  57

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  20 5 Flocks: 2, 3, 7, 4, 4

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  24

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  5

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  26

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  10

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  20

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  4

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  235

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  6

Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus)  5

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] Roosevelt Truck Trail in MInerva, Essex Co.

[Joan E. Collins]

11/16/11 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva, Essex Co.)

 

I had a beautiful walk on the Roosevelt Truck Trail today.  I don't recall
ever finding as many Boreal Chickadees on one walk before.  Views of the
Boreal Chickadees were terrific throughout the hike.  Winds were calm all
day (not as forecast) and it began to drizzle only on my drive home.  There
are two wheelchair accessible camping sites along this dirt road trail
(there is a gate, but you can call your local DEC office to get the lock
combination to drive to the camp sites).  There are tents sites, picnic
tables with large overhangs at one end for wheelchairs, firewood, fire pits,
and wheelchair accessible outhouses.  The camp sites are lovely and
extremely quiet - I had lunch at the second camp site today.

 

The Roosevelt Truck Trail is becoming one of my favorite birding trails
(this is the location where I found 3 singing Cape May Warblers in the
spring).  It has wonderful boreal habitat.  In the morning fog, it felt
primeval.  The first bird I found - just outside my car - was a male
Black-backed Woodpecker.  As I hiked, I heard what sounded like another
Black-backed Woodpecker, so I started to bushwhack toward the sound.  What I
found was hemlock cones dropping to the ground - and at least 120 Pine
Siskins in a feeding frenzy in the huge hemlock tree above me!  The tree
appeared to be boiling with siskins - it was quite a sight!  The siskins
moved to a birch tree next to the hemlock so I was able to finally count
them.  I found another group of 3 Black-backed Woodpeckers (2 were giving
the rattle call) on my way out - I believe there were actually 4, but I
could only hear/observe 3 at once.

 

One of the Ruffed Grouse was drumming and I heard yet another new (to me)
Common Raven vocalization (their vocalizations seem endless).

 

I will paste in my eBird report:

 

Roosevelt Truck Trail (southern trailhead), Essex, US-NY Nov 16, 2011 9:45
AM - 2:15 PM

Protocol: Traveling

5.2 mile(s)

Comments: 39 to 50 degrees, calm winds, cloudy.  Wonderful bird walk!

18 species

 

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  4

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  1

Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)  4

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  15

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2

Common Raven (Corvus corax)  5

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  57

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  20 5 Flocks: 2, 3, 7, 4, 4

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  24

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  5

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  26

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  10

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)  20

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)  4

Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  235

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  6

Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus)  5

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 


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[nysbirds-l] White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11-9-11 (Submitted most locations to eBird, but I'll do a quick summary)

 

Pine Siskins continue to be remarkably abundant in the Adirondacks.  There
are so many, that it feels like the entire population must currently be in
the Adirondacks!  Everywhere you stop, you hear them.  This morning, the
trees outside our house were once again filled with siskins (none yet at the
feeders).  Purple Finches and Amer. Goldfinches are also currently
widespread, but in far fewer numbers than siskins.  Blue Jays also continue
to be abundant.  Most exciting this morning, I found 4 flocks of
White-winged Crossbills!  (Total of 35)  I was able to view 2 flocks with my
scope.  Here are some of the species found:

 

(Birded from 7:45 a.m. to noon, clear skies, 37 to 64 degree range)

 

Our house (Long Lake, Hamilton Co.):

Purple Finch - 5

Pine Siskin - 40

Amer. Goldfinch - 3

 

Route 28N .7 miles southeast of the intersection with the Blue Ridge Rd. in
Newcomb, Essex Co.:

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 (I find them here about 50% of the time I stop)

Boreal Chickadee - 5 (3 on one side of the road and 2 on the other)

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 25 (two flocks: one 19 and one 6.  The flock of 19
was feeding on tamarack cones - nice scope views!)

Pine Siskin - 60

Amer. Goldfinch - 7

 

Railroad Bed south off Route 28N in Minerva, Essex Co.: (This is one of the
locations where Red Crossbills nested this past summer, but I didn't find
any today.)

Pileated Woodpecker - 3

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 8 (One flock feeding on black spruce cones - nice
scope views!)

Pine Siskin - 100 (Feeding on black spruce cones, balsam fir cones, and
tamarack cones.  It was very hard to count the number of siskins and 100 is
a very conservative estimate.  You could see them all the way down the
railroad bed in the trees.)

Evening Grosbeak - 12 (In a large white pine.  I was able to see 5 before
the flock of 12 flew off (4 males, 1 female)).

 

As I was hiking back to my car on the railroad bed, I was thinking it would
really make my day if I could also find Evening Grosbeaks.  Just a few
seconds later, I found the flock of 12!  They were in a large white pine
right along Route 28N across from my car.

 

Hewitt Eddy Trail in Minerva, Essex Co.:

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 2 (They were flying over as I got out of my car.
It is possible I was seeing the end of a larger flock.)

Pine Siskin - 40

Amer. Goldfinch - 6

 

Blue Jays are abundant everywhere also.  One of the Blue Jays gave a perfect
Broad-winged Hawk vocalization!  I also found a few flocks of Dark-eyed
Juncos.  I had hoped to also visit the Boreas River bridge area and hike the
Roosevelt Truck Trail, but both locations had hunters.

 

It appears we have an exciting finch winter ahead!  There is certainly an
abundance of food for them this year.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, etc.

[Joan E. Collins]

11-9-11 (Submitted most locations to eBird, but I'll do a quick summary)

 

Pine Siskins continue to be remarkably abundant in the Adirondacks.  There
are so many, that it feels like the entire population must currently be in
the Adirondacks!  Everywhere you stop, you hear them.  This morning, the
trees outside our house were once again filled with siskins (none yet at the
feeders).  Purple Finches and Amer. Goldfinches are also currently
widespread, but in far fewer numbers than siskins.  Blue Jays also continue
to be abundant.  Most exciting this morning, I found 4 flocks of
White-winged Crossbills!  (Total of 35)  I was able to view 2 flocks with my
scope.  Here are some of the species found:

 

(Birded from 7:45 a.m. to noon, clear skies, 37 to 64 degree range)

 

Our house (Long Lake, Hamilton Co.):

Purple Finch - 5

Pine Siskin - 40

Amer. Goldfinch - 3

 

Route 28N .7 miles southeast of the intersection with the Blue Ridge Rd. in
Newcomb, Essex Co.:

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 (I find them here about 50% of the time I stop)

Boreal Chickadee - 5 (3 on one side of the road and 2 on the other)

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 25 (two flocks: one 19 and one 6.  The flock of 19
was feeding on tamarack cones - nice scope views!)

Pine Siskin - 60

Amer. Goldfinch - 7

 

Railroad Bed south off Route 28N in Minerva, Essex Co.: (This is one of the
locations where Red Crossbills nested this past summer, but I didn't find
any today.)

Pileated Woodpecker - 3

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 8 (One flock feeding on black spruce cones - nice
scope views!)

Pine Siskin - 100 (Feeding on black spruce cones, balsam fir cones, and
tamarack cones.  It was very hard to count the number of siskins and 100 is
a very conservative estimate.  You could see them all the way down the
railroad bed in the trees.)

Evening Grosbeak - 12 (In a large white pine.  I was able to see 5 before
the flock of 12 flew off (4 males, 1 female)).

 

As I was hiking back to my car on the railroad bed, I was thinking it would
really make my day if I could also find Evening Grosbeaks.  Just a few
seconds later, I found the flock of 12!  They were in a large white pine
right along Route 28N across from my car.

 

Hewitt Eddy Trail in Minerva, Essex Co.:

Purple Finch - 6

White-winged Crossbill - 2 (They were flying over as I got out of my car.
It is possible I was seeing the end of a larger flock.)

Pine Siskin - 40

Amer. Goldfinch - 6

 

Blue Jays are abundant everywhere also.  One of the Blue Jays gave a perfect
Broad-winged Hawk vocalization!  I also found a few flocks of Dark-eyed
Juncos.  I had hoped to also visit the Boreas River bridge area and hike the
Roosevelt Truck Trail, but both locations had hunters.

 

It appears we have an exciting finch winter ahead!  There is certainly an
abundance of food for them this year.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 


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[nysbirds-l] Pine Siskins & other sightings in Hamilton Co.

[Joan E. Collins]

10/27/11 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.), 34 degrees, calm winds, low
cloud ceiling, snow covered landscape!  (Last night's snow was the first of
the season in Long Lake.)

 

Pine Siskin continues to be the most abundant species encountered on outings
(& outside our house, but none at the feeders yet).  Today, the number of
siskins was even more remarkable.  Flocks were encountered everywhere I
walked and whenever I stopped my car.  I visited the outlet area of Little
Tupper Lake and Sabattis Bog (10 a.m. to noon), both on Sabattis Circle Rd.
in Long Lake.  The outlet area of Little Tupper Lake is often an exciting
birding location, and this morning it was filled with birds.  There were a
couple hundred Pine Siskins at this spot - calling and singing - it was
loud!  The first bird heard when I got out of the car was a singing Rusty
Blackbird.  After an hour of birding at this location, I was just about to
get in my car (freezing with completely numb hands) when a male Rusty
Blackbird flew into the berry bushes a few feet from me.  It was picking the
red berries - it would pause for a moment with a large berry in its bill
before swallowing it - one of those moments when I wished Jeff Nadler was
there with his camera!  After eating berries, it flew up to a branch on a
dead snag, and a Pine Siskin joined it - yet another wonderful photo
opportunity!  The morning became even more exciting at Sabattis Bog.  Here
are some of the 30 species encountered this morning:

 

Ruffed Grouse

Common Loon

Turkey Vulture - 2

Northern Goshawk - flying over the trees surrounding Sabattis Bog

Red-tailed Hawk - 3

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2, one male and one female

Northern Flicker - several

Gray Jay - 2

Common Raven

Boreal Chickadee - 4 (2 groups of at least 2)

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Yellow-rumped Warbler - small flock, one bird had no tail

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow (small flock of ~10 found near the intersection of
Tarbell Hill Lane and Route 28N - same location I found them yesterday
(10/26/11))

Dark-eyed Junco

Rusty Blackbird

Common Grackle

Purple Finch

White-winged Crossbill - one heard near Sabattis Bog

Pine Siskin - hundreds (there was a huge flock heard at the intersection of
Route 30 and Sabattis Circle Rd.)

 

Blue Jays and Amer. Robins continue to be abundant also.  Geese were on the
move, but with the low clouds, it was impossible to see them.

 

While I was walking at Sabattis Bog, a car stopped, and the people asked if
I was looking for the moose!  I should keep a tally of how many times I am
asked that question!  They told me that people have recently been observing
a moose on Sabattis Circle Rd.

 

10/25/11 Long Lake

 

Two Hermit Thrushes were observed in the trees outside our home.  While I
was out with our dogs in the evening, I heard a fox calling.  Later in the
evening, a coyote pack howled, which was amplified over the baby monitor we
have on our porch to bring in feeder bird sounds.  

 

10/22/11 Northville-Placid Trail (S) in Long Lake

 

I hiked 2 miles round trip on the N-P Trail (S).  A Ruffed Grouse was
drumming as if it were spring - heard several times on the way in and way
out.  A Black-backed Woodpecker called and flew between the tops of two
trees.  A Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrushes, Winter Wrens, and Pine
Siskins were some of the other species found.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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[nysbirds-l] Pine Siskins other sightings in Hamilton Co.

[Joan E. Collins]

10/27/11 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.), 34 degrees, calm winds, low
cloud ceiling, snow covered landscape!  (Last night's snow was the first of
the season in Long Lake.)

 

Pine Siskin continues to be the most abundant species encountered on outings
( outside our house, but none at the feeders yet).  Today, the number of
siskins was even more remarkable.  Flocks were encountered everywhere I
walked and whenever I stopped my car.  I visited the outlet area of Little
Tupper Lake and Sabattis Bog (10 a.m. to noon), both on Sabattis Circle Rd.
in Long Lake.  The outlet area of Little Tupper Lake is often an exciting
birding location, and this morning it was filled with birds.  There were a
couple hundred Pine Siskins at this spot - calling and singing - it was
loud!  The first bird heard when I got out of the car was a singing Rusty
Blackbird.  After an hour of birding at this location, I was just about to
get in my car (freezing with completely numb hands) when a male Rusty
Blackbird flew into the berry bushes a few feet from me.  It was picking the
red berries - it would pause for a moment with a large berry in its bill
before swallowing it - one of those moments when I wished Jeff Nadler was
there with his camera!  After eating berries, it flew up to a branch on a
dead snag, and a Pine Siskin joined it - yet another wonderful photo
opportunity!  The morning became even more exciting at Sabattis Bog.  Here
are some of the 30 species encountered this morning:

 

Ruffed Grouse

Common Loon

Turkey Vulture - 2

Northern Goshawk - flying over the trees surrounding Sabattis Bog

Red-tailed Hawk - 3

Black-backed Woodpecker - 2, one male and one female

Northern Flicker - several

Gray Jay - 2

Common Raven

Boreal Chickadee - 4 (2 groups of at least 2)

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Yellow-rumped Warbler - small flock, one bird had no tail

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow (small flock of ~10 found near the intersection of
Tarbell Hill Lane and Route 28N - same location I found them yesterday
(10/26/11))

Dark-eyed Junco

Rusty Blackbird

Common Grackle

Purple Finch

White-winged Crossbill - one heard near Sabattis Bog

Pine Siskin - hundreds (there was a huge flock heard at the intersection of
Route 30 and Sabattis Circle Rd.)

 

Blue Jays and Amer. Robins continue to be abundant also.  Geese were on the
move, but with the low clouds, it was impossible to see them.

 

While I was walking at Sabattis Bog, a car stopped, and the people asked if
I was looking for the moose!  I should keep a tally of how many times I am
asked that question!  They told me that people have recently been observing
a moose on Sabattis Circle Rd.

 

10/25/11 Long Lake

 

Two Hermit Thrushes were observed in the trees outside our home.  While I
was out with our dogs in the evening, I heard a fox calling.  Later in the
evening, a coyote pack howled, which was amplified over the baby monitor we
have on our porch to bring in feeder bird sounds.  

 

10/22/11 Northville-Placid Trail (S) in Long Lake

 

I hiked 2 miles round trip on the N-P Trail (S).  A Ruffed Grouse was
drumming as if it were spring - heard several times on the way in and way
out.  A Black-backed Woodpecker called and flew between the tops of two
trees.  A Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrushes, Winter Wrens, and Pine
Siskins were some of the other species found.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY


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RE: [nysbirds-l] nocturnal flight call listening on Mount Pleasant tonight.

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Bill/All,

 

I was out last night from about midnight to 1 a.m. and it was remarkable!  I
liked your image of awestruck birders wandering around in darkness!  I've
given up the notion of a good night's sleep at this time of year - I don't
have any recording equipment.yet, but I've spent years just listening truly
in "awe" of bird migration.  Last night, there were 10 to 30 calls per
minute flowing overhead.  We live in the central Adirondacks (Long Lake) at
2,000'.  There is no human noise on our mountain except occasional jets
going over. (Nor are there any lights to obscure the stars, planets, and
Milky Way band from view.)  I arrived home very late in intermittent fog.  I
listened in fog conditions and at first, most of the birds heard were
Swainson's Thrushes high overhead.  I also heard Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a
Scarlet Tanager, and many warblers.  Standing in the fog, there were several
moments when the birds were so low, that it felt like you could reach out
and touch them as they flew by!  (And I felt thankful that wind turbines are
not allowed in the Adirondack Park.)

 

I will be out again tonight - I may even spend the whole night out.  I would
join you on Mount Pleasant if it were only closer.  It is terrific to know
that there are others outside in "awe" of this remarkable phenomenon too.
It is wonderful that you offered your nocturnal activity to the list serve
members - enjoy the night!

 

Take care,

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-38020663-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-38020663-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Bill Evans
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2011 10:14 AM
To: Cortland nature listserve; natural history network; CAYUGABIRDS-L
Birding
Cc: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] nocturnal flight call listening on Mount Pleasant
tonight.

 

Greetings Birders,

 

For anyone interested in listening to nocturnal flight calls of migrating
birds, I'll be in the vicinity of Cornell's Hartung-Boothroyd Astronomical
Observatory on Mount Pleasant tonight from 9PM-midnight with a couple
amplified microphone listening stations. I'll also have a realtime NEXRAD
display for observing the migration via weather radar.

 

Last night was the first big nocturnal movement of birds across central NY
in the past two weeks. The forecast tonight is for light northerly winds and
I'm anticipating another large flight with a great variety of warblers along
with lots of Swainson's Thrush and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the mix.

 

Should be very pleasant outside tonight. Temps are forecasted to be in the
low 60s, dropping into the high 50s. There are no lights atop Mount Pleasant
so bring a flashlight. Please take caution in driving by and in parking on
the side of Mount Pleasant Rd as awestruck birders may be wandering around
in the darkness. And as always, when you arrive keep voices down and be
respectful of others who are trying to listen.

 

For directions, seach Google maps for "Hartung-Boothroyd". If you'd like any
other information, email me before 7PM tonight.

 

The conditions look good for listening to night migrants across most of New
York State tonight. If you can't make it over to Ithaca, find your nearest
open hilltop and get out for a listen.

 

Bill Evans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RE: [nysbirds-l] nocturnal flight call listening on Mount Pleasant tonight.

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Bill/All,

 

I was out last night from about midnight to 1 a.m. and it was remarkable!  I
liked your image of awestruck birders wandering around in darkness!  I've
given up the notion of a good night's sleep at this time of year - I don't
have any recording equipment.yet, but I've spent years just listening truly
in awe of bird migration.  Last night, there were 10 to 30 calls per
minute flowing overhead.  We live in the central Adirondacks (Long Lake) at
2,000'.  There is no human noise on our mountain except occasional jets
going over. (Nor are there any lights to obscure the stars, planets, and
Milky Way band from view.)  I arrived home very late in intermittent fog.  I
listened in fog conditions and at first, most of the birds heard were
Swainson's Thrushes high overhead.  I also heard Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a
Scarlet Tanager, and many warblers.  Standing in the fog, there were several
moments when the birds were so low, that it felt like you could reach out
and touch them as they flew by!  (And I felt thankful that wind turbines are
not allowed in the Adirondack Park.)

 

I will be out again tonight - I may even spend the whole night out.  I would
join you on Mount Pleasant if it were only closer.  It is terrific to know
that there are others outside in awe of this remarkable phenomenon too.
It is wonderful that you offered your nocturnal activity to the list serve
members - enjoy the night!

 

Take care,

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-38020663-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-38020663-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Bill Evans
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2011 10:14 AM
To: Cortland nature listserve; natural history network; CAYUGABIRDS-L
Birding
Cc: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] nocturnal flight call listening on Mount Pleasant
tonight.

 

Greetings Birders,

 

For anyone interested in listening to nocturnal flight calls of migrating
birds, I'll be in the vicinity of Cornell's Hartung-Boothroyd Astronomical
Observatory on Mount Pleasant tonight from 9PM-midnight with a couple
amplified microphone listening stations. I'll also have a realtime NEXRAD
display for observing the migration via weather radar.

 

Last night was the first big nocturnal movement of birds across central NY
in the past two weeks. The forecast tonight is for light northerly winds and
I'm anticipating another large flight with a great variety of warblers along
with lots of Swainson's Thrush and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the mix.

 

Should be very pleasant outside tonight. Temps are forecasted to be in the
low 60s, dropping into the high 50s. There are no lights atop Mount Pleasant
so bring a flashlight. Please take caution in driving by and in parking on
the side of Mount Pleasant Rd as awestruck birders may be wandering around
in the darkness. And as always, when you arrive keep voices down and be
respectful of others who are trying to listen.

 

For directions, seach Google maps for Hartung-Boothroyd. If you'd like any
other information, email me before 7PM tonight.

 

The conditions look good for listening to night migrants across most of New
York State tonight. If you can't make it over to Ithaca, find your nearest
open hilltop and get out for a listen.

 

Bill Evans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

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RE:[nysbirds-l] NNYBirds: Red Crossbill report from around the state/cone crops (long)

[Joan E. Collins]

Hamilton and Essex Counties

 

I just wanted to clarify one of the Red Crossbill locations:  I joined Matt
and Julie on Friday, August 12th, 2011.  Red Crossbills have been found
along Vanderwhacker Brook on an old railroad bed in the town of Minerva.
(The Vanderwhacker Mountain Trail is 4 miles from this location.)  Mike
Moccio found the birds along the railroad bed on 7/30/11.  I found at least
3 Red Crossbills at this location on 8/2/11.  We found the birds again on
Friday (8/12/11).  The railroad bed location is just off Route 28N south.

 

I found several White-winged Crossbills on Tahawus Road - Upper Works area
(Newcomb) last fall - this location is always an excellent place to search
for White-winged Crossbills.  Hopefully, they will show up soon.

 

I found Red Crossbills at Brown's Tract Inlet on 7/28/11 and again with Matt
and Julie on 8/12/11.  So the locations along Vanderwhacker Brook (railroad
bed) and Brown's Tract Inlet are currently reliable sites for this species.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Matthew Young
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 4:28 PM
To: northern_ny_bi...@yahoogroups.com; NNY Birds; NYSbirds-L@cornell.edu
Cc: m...@cornell.edu
Subject: NNYBirds: Red Crossbill report from around the state/cone crops
(long)

 

  

Hello all,

Julie and I got back from Adirondacks last night (it's going to be a good 
year for crossbills in the northeast!):

Red Crossbill tally from northern NY:

Brown Tract Inlet western Adirondacks: 2-3 pairs of Type 10s and two pairs 
of Type 2 --all within the same general area breeding side-by-side.
Tahawus Rd southern High Peaks Region eastern ADKS: one Type 10
Vanderwhacker Trail Newcomb just south of High Peaks east-central ADKS: 4-6 
Type 10s

In recent days, Red Crossbills have also been reported from near Tupper 
Lake (Dear Pond Trail), Paul Smiths and Boreas River areas. 

Cone crop assessment for Adirondacks:

5=excellent
4=good
3=fair
2=poor
1=bad

White spruce: 4.75
Red spruce: 4.5
Black spruce: 4.0
Norway spruce: 4.75 (very local in North Country)
Balsam fir: 4.5
N. white cedar: 5
Eastern hemlock: 5
Tamarack: 4
E. white pine: 3.75
Red Pine: 2.25 (fair crop in Sevey Coners area)

Overall, best cone crop (bumper!) since 2000 and perhaps before. Spruce 
crop was a bit better in North Country in 2000 than this year, but when you 
add in the cone crops on the hemlock and white pine this year, I'd rate 
this one a bit better. The white pine cone crop in many areas of the 
central and northern Adirondacks is more in the good to very good range, 
but from Sevey Corners to Cranberry Lake it's rather poor. It's very 
unusual to have white pine producing a good cone crop in the same year that 
all the other soft-coned conifers are producing good to great crops. The 
tamarack crop is quite variable in spots as well, with some areas in the 
very good range, and others in the fair range. 

Tally from southern NY recent weeks:

Month ago (mid July) I recorded 8-10 Type 1 Red Crossbills on territory in 
the Southern 
Hills south of Syracuse (i.e. Pharsalia, North Rd; Otselic, Ridge Rd; 
Muller Hill). Chris Wood and I did a tour of the same areas on 7/31 and had 
3 Red Crossbills, one undetermined Type (probably Type 1 but it was too 
distant) and a pair of Type 10s on the same road (North Rd Pharsalia) 
there's been 1-2 pairs of Type 1s. Many Type 1s were likely just quiet and 
nesting.

Cone crop assessment for central NY (there's great synchrony across much of 
the state and northeast this year!):

5=excellent
4=good
3=fair
2=poor
1=bad

White spruce: 4.5
Red spruce: 4.75
Black spruce: (didn't look at enough in central NY where it is rare)
Norway spruce: 4.5 (common in central NY)
Balsam fir: 4.5 (local in central NY)
Eastern hemlock: 5
N. white cedar: 4.5 (local in central NY)
European larch: 4.25 (fairly common in central NY)
Tamarack: 4.75 (local in central NY)
E. white pine: 3.75
Red Pine: 2.50 

WW Crossbills are already on territory in parts of New Hampshire and Maine, 
and I suspect some will start to turn up in the Adirondacks on territory by 
end of month/first half of September. I was a little surprised I did not 
turn a few up in the Tahawus Rd area where white spruce is quite common 
compared to other areas of the Adirondacks. If I were to predict, I'd say 
we'll have a good breeding year for Pine Siskin, WW Crossbills, and many 
types of Red Crossbills (1, 2, 10 and perhaps 3). If I were to compare, I'd 
say it'll end up being a better year than 2006-07 (which was a nice 
moderate invasion of siskins, WW Crossbills, and Red crossbill types 1, 3 
and 10), but not quite as good a year for WW Crossbills as 2000-01BUT, 
it will be better for Red Crossbills than in 2000-01 when Reds were nearly 
non-existent in that amazing WW Crossbill/siskin breeding invasion. 

cheers, and sorry for the ramblings,
Matt Young

[Non-text portions of this 

[nysbirds-l] Red Crossbills & other Northern NY sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Essex, and Clinton Counties

 

I wanted to post a few highlights from my birding trips over the past month.
I apologize for the lateness of some of my sightings (as I mentioned in mid
July, I suffered a close loss in June, and energy for email has been
difficult).

 

The historic late-April flooding in northern NY took a huge toll on trails,
bridges, and roads.  I have found many bridges on trails completely
destroyed (or moved!).  Trails are littered with downed trees.  Dirt roads
and trails are washed out.  Given the state budget situation and major cut
backs in DEC personnel, it looks like the damage won't be fixed anytime
soon.

 

Cone crop:  Remarkable!  I have been observing the cone crop on conifers in
the Adirondacks and it could be quite a year for finches!  All spruce
species look excellent.  Balsam fir, white cedar, tamarack, and hemlock also
look excellent.  Some of the larger white pine trees have huge cone crops -
looking like bunches of bananas.  I still need to spend time checking on red
pines.  Matt Young has more detailed data (he actually counts the cones in
quadrants!).

 

7/30/11 Low's Ridge - Upper Dam Trail (St. Lawrence Co.)

 

Last evening, I hiked about 1 to 1.5 miles in on the Low's Ridge - Upper Dam
Trail.  I found numerous Palm Warblers (many juveniles) and Lincoln's
Sparrows were singing (also many juveniles observed).  There was also a
family of 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers foraging together.

 

7/28/11 Moose River Plains/Ferd's Bog/Brown's Tract Inlet (Hamilton Co.) -
some of the 48 species:

 

Hooded Merganser - 2 females on Icehouse Pond

Broad-winged Hawk - 2 juveniles in their nest - absolutely adorable - this
is the second time I've observed them, and they are just about to leave the
nest.  The nest seems unusually low for this species.  Thanks to Jeff Nadler
for letting me know about this location.

Black-billed Cuckoo - singing at Helldiver Pond in Moose River Plains

Swainson's Thrush

13 warbler species including Northern Waterthrush & Canada Warbler (singing)

Lincoln's Sparrow

Indigo Bunting

Red Crossbill - 1 flyover calling bird at Helldiver Pond, and several
SINGING birds at Brown's Tract Inlet!

 

7/27/11 Massawepie Mire (St. Lawrence Co.) - some of the 35 species:

 

Broad-winged Hawk

Amer. Kestrel - 2

Gray Jay - at least 10!  We found 2 adults at the beginning of the bog and
at least 8 birds at the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River (I
suspect there were many more, but I could only count 8 at once).  We
observed many juveniles and adults - it was apparent that multiple families
were together.  This is the second time I have observed multiple families
foraging together - I have also observed this behavior in Blue Jays.  Also,
there were multiple Blue Jay families interacting with the Gray Jay families
- it was a wild scene!

Palm Warbler

Canada Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

 

(Interesting behavior note:  I was guiding a group of 14 people on this
hike, and one of the men kept holding out his hand with wild blueberries for
the Cedar Waxwings.  Several of the birds circled him and flew just over his
hand - it certainly appeared as if they were debating landing on his hand!)

 

7/22/11 Moose River Plains (Hamilton Co.) - some of 41 species:

 

Broad-winged Hawk - same 2 juveniles plus the adult

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Boreal Chickadee - at least 8; 2 before the Red River, 2 at the Red River,
and 4 at Helldiver Pond

Swainson's Thrush

14 warbler species including Northern Waterthrush & Canada Warbler

Indigo Bunting - nest site with both adults observed

 

7/15/11 Mount Adams (Essex Co.) (Suspension bridge over the Hudson River was
destroyed in the April floods - took us a LONG time to get across!)

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Bicknell's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush

Blackpoll Warbler - family group

 

7/2/11 and 7/4/11 Sabattis Bog (Hamilton Co.), Oregon Plains Rd. &
Bloomingdale Bog (Franklin Co.), Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.), Silver Lake
Bog (Clinton Co.), Moose Pond Rd. (Essex Co.), Tupper Lake causeway (road
between Simon Pond & Tupper Lake) (Franklin Co.), Massawepie Mire (St.
Lawrence Co.), Dead Creek Flow Trail at Wanakena (St. Lawrence Co.)

 

Some of the 86 species found:

Virginia Rail - Trail to Dead Creek Flow at Wanakena (thanks to Bernie Carr
who was on this trail earlier in the day and noted the species in the
register)

Black-backed Woodpecker

Olive-sided Flycatcher - at least 3 along the trail to Dead Creek Flow in
Wanakena, and 1 at Massawepie

Eastern Wood-Pewee - numbers seem way down this year

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe - on Whiteface Mt's summit!

Philadelphia Vireo - 4-way intersection at Massawepie

Gray Jay

Boreal Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Whiteface Mt.

Bicknell's Thrush - 4 singing males all within view, perched on dead snags
on Whiteface Mt.  We had fantastic scope views of 3 - we could see right
into their mouths they were so close!  The 

[nysbirds-l] Red Crossbills other Northern NY sightings

[Joan E. Collins]

Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Essex, and Clinton Counties

 

I wanted to post a few highlights from my birding trips over the past month.
I apologize for the lateness of some of my sightings (as I mentioned in mid
July, I suffered a close loss in June, and energy for email has been
difficult).

 

The historic late-April flooding in northern NY took a huge toll on trails,
bridges, and roads.  I have found many bridges on trails completely
destroyed (or moved!).  Trails are littered with downed trees.  Dirt roads
and trails are washed out.  Given the state budget situation and major cut
backs in DEC personnel, it looks like the damage won't be fixed anytime
soon.

 

Cone crop:  Remarkable!  I have been observing the cone crop on conifers in
the Adirondacks and it could be quite a year for finches!  All spruce
species look excellent.  Balsam fir, white cedar, tamarack, and hemlock also
look excellent.  Some of the larger white pine trees have huge cone crops -
looking like bunches of bananas.  I still need to spend time checking on red
pines.  Matt Young has more detailed data (he actually counts the cones in
quadrants!).

 

7/30/11 Low's Ridge - Upper Dam Trail (St. Lawrence Co.)

 

Last evening, I hiked about 1 to 1.5 miles in on the Low's Ridge - Upper Dam
Trail.  I found numerous Palm Warblers (many juveniles) and Lincoln's
Sparrows were singing (also many juveniles observed).  There was also a
family of 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers foraging together.

 

7/28/11 Moose River Plains/Ferd's Bog/Brown's Tract Inlet (Hamilton Co.) -
some of the 48 species:

 

Hooded Merganser - 2 females on Icehouse Pond

Broad-winged Hawk - 2 juveniles in their nest - absolutely adorable - this
is the second time I've observed them, and they are just about to leave the
nest.  The nest seems unusually low for this species.  Thanks to Jeff Nadler
for letting me know about this location.

Black-billed Cuckoo - singing at Helldiver Pond in Moose River Plains

Swainson's Thrush

13 warbler species including Northern Waterthrush  Canada Warbler (singing)

Lincoln's Sparrow

Indigo Bunting

Red Crossbill - 1 flyover calling bird at Helldiver Pond, and several
SINGING birds at Brown's Tract Inlet!

 

7/27/11 Massawepie Mire (St. Lawrence Co.) - some of the 35 species:

 

Broad-winged Hawk

Amer. Kestrel - 2

Gray Jay - at least 10!  We found 2 adults at the beginning of the bog and
at least 8 birds at the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River (I
suspect there were many more, but I could only count 8 at once).  We
observed many juveniles and adults - it was apparent that multiple families
were together.  This is the second time I have observed multiple families
foraging together - I have also observed this behavior in Blue Jays.  Also,
there were multiple Blue Jay families interacting with the Gray Jay families
- it was a wild scene!

Palm Warbler

Canada Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

 

(Interesting behavior note:  I was guiding a group of 14 people on this
hike, and one of the men kept holding out his hand with wild blueberries for
the Cedar Waxwings.  Several of the birds circled him and flew just over his
hand - it certainly appeared as if they were debating landing on his hand!)

 

7/22/11 Moose River Plains (Hamilton Co.) - some of 41 species:

 

Broad-winged Hawk - same 2 juveniles plus the adult

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Boreal Chickadee - at least 8; 2 before the Red River, 2 at the Red River,
and 4 at Helldiver Pond

Swainson's Thrush

14 warbler species including Northern Waterthrush  Canada Warbler

Indigo Bunting - nest site with both adults observed

 

7/15/11 Mount Adams (Essex Co.) (Suspension bridge over the Hudson River was
destroyed in the April floods - took us a LONG time to get across!)

 

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Bicknell's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush

Blackpoll Warbler - family group

 

7/2/11 and 7/4/11 Sabattis Bog (Hamilton Co.), Oregon Plains Rd. 
Bloomingdale Bog (Franklin Co.), Whiteface Mountain (Essex Co.), Silver Lake
Bog (Clinton Co.), Moose Pond Rd. (Essex Co.), Tupper Lake causeway (road
between Simon Pond  Tupper Lake) (Franklin Co.), Massawepie Mire (St.
Lawrence Co.), Dead Creek Flow Trail at Wanakena (St. Lawrence Co.)

 

Some of the 86 species found:

Virginia Rail - Trail to Dead Creek Flow at Wanakena (thanks to Bernie Carr
who was on this trail earlier in the day and noted the species in the
register)

Black-backed Woodpecker

Olive-sided Flycatcher - at least 3 along the trail to Dead Creek Flow in
Wanakena, and 1 at Massawepie

Eastern Wood-Pewee - numbers seem way down this year

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe - on Whiteface Mt's summit!

Philadelphia Vireo - 4-way intersection at Massawepie

Gray Jay

Boreal Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Whiteface Mt.

Bicknell's Thrush - 4 singing males all within view, perched on dead snags
on Whiteface Mt.  We had fantastic scope views of 3 - we could see right
into their mouths they were so close!  The 

RE: [nysbirds-l] Status of Henslow's Sparrow in NYS

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Angus/All,

 

I am planning to do a "highlights" of my late spring/early summer sightings
- late due to grieving over a close loss in June - this report will include
Henslow's Sparrows sightings.

 

I took clients from California to see Henslow's Sparrows in St. Lawrence
County - in Hammond on June 14th.  We found 8 singing males on one road
alone in very windy conditions (at 5:15 a.m.) - so we would have found many
more if we could have heard birds farther into the fields.  We had
spectacular scope views of singing males carrying nesting material.  I am
reluctant to name the road since all the lands in Hammond are private.  The
particular fields in Hammond where Henslow's Sparrows can be found are not
generally cut over early, so they stand a good chance of nesting success - I
would hate to jeopardize this by calling attention to the species.

 

I spoke to Jeff Bolsinger (Kingbird Regional Editor for St. Lawrence Co.)
and we discussed the frustration with the fact that much of St. Lawrence Co.
was block-busted during the Atlas.  In my opinion, St. Lawrence Co. is
probably the most exciting place to bird in NYS (lacking only ocean habitat)
and it was poorly covered during the Atlas.  I hope that during the 2020
Atlas, more resources can be invested in covering this important birding
area that is home to many rare species in NYS.

 

I recently bought "The Ecology and Economics of the Birds Along the Northern
Boundary of New York State" by A. Sidney Hyde, 1939, Roosevelt Wildlife
Bulletin Volume 7 Number 2.  In this book, a colony of 20 pairs of Henslow's
Sparrows was documented at the mouth of Crooked Creek in Hammond (where 4
specimens were "collected").  This location is 3 miles from where we found 8
singing males in June.  In my opinion, a concerted effort to find Henslow's
Sparrows in the Hammond area will probably turn up even more locations than
I am currently aware of.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-37778405-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-37778405-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Angus Wilson
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 12:38 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Status of Henslow's Sparrow in NYS

 

Bulletin board postings are naturally slanted to positive news and don't do
such a good job recording disappearances, either of particular individuals
(is the Hooded Crow still being seen?) or of populations. The recent
discovery of two Henslow's Sparrows in a field near Ames (Montgomery Co.)
got me thinking: are these are the only sightings for New York State this
season? 

Looking at eBird (a better resource for this type of question) says no, but
only just. Evidently, small numbers (the entries are for 1 bird each) are
still present in Fort Drum and the nearby Perch River WMA (Jefferson Co.)
and a little to the north in St. Lawrence County. But according to eBird,
that's it. I suspect official surveys will have come up with a few more at
these sites but still.

Have other traditional breeding sites in western and central NYS been
checked and found negative? Is total extirpation as a breeding species
imminent? At what point should Henslow's Sparrow be added to the NYSARC
review list? Heady questions. It would give me peace of mind to know if
other breeding sites still exist. Precise locations are not necessary, just
enough to know whether or not the breeding population in now confined to a
relatively small area in the St. Lawrence Transition. 

Unfortunately I don't have the The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New
York State (McGowan and Corwin 2008) at hand but I am sure this
indispensable resource for state birds has much to say on this troubling
topic. In 1999, the DEC reclassified the sparrow as Threatened (from Species
of Special Concern) but my sense is that the decline has continued
unchecked.

-- 
Angus Wilson
New York City & The Springs, NY, USA
http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/

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RE: [nysbirds-l] Status of Henslow's Sparrow in NYS

[Joan E. Collins]

Hi Angus/All,

 

I am planning to do a highlights of my late spring/early summer sightings
- late due to grieving over a close loss in June - this report will include
Henslow's Sparrows sightings.

 

I took clients from California to see Henslow's Sparrows in St. Lawrence
County - in Hammond on June 14th.  We found 8 singing males on one road
alone in very windy conditions (at 5:15 a.m.) - so we would have found many
more if we could have heard birds farther into the fields.  We had
spectacular scope views of singing males carrying nesting material.  I am
reluctant to name the road since all the lands in Hammond are private.  The
particular fields in Hammond where Henslow's Sparrows can be found are not
generally cut over early, so they stand a good chance of nesting success - I
would hate to jeopardize this by calling attention to the species.

 

I spoke to Jeff Bolsinger (Kingbird Regional Editor for St. Lawrence Co.)
and we discussed the frustration with the fact that much of St. Lawrence Co.
was block-busted during the Atlas.  In my opinion, St. Lawrence Co. is
probably the most exciting place to bird in NYS (lacking only ocean habitat)
and it was poorly covered during the Atlas.  I hope that during the 2020
Atlas, more resources can be invested in covering this important birding
area that is home to many rare species in NYS.

 

I recently bought The Ecology and Economics of the Birds Along the Northern
Boundary of New York State by A. Sidney Hyde, 1939, Roosevelt Wildlife
Bulletin Volume 7 Number 2.  In this book, a colony of 20 pairs of Henslow's
Sparrows was documented at the mouth of Crooked Creek in Hammond (where 4
specimens were collected).  This location is 3 miles from where we found 8
singing males in June.  In my opinion, a concerted effort to find Henslow's
Sparrows in the Hammond area will probably turn up even more locations than
I am currently aware of.

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

 

From: bounce-37778405-13418...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-37778405-13418...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Angus Wilson
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 12:38 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Status of Henslow's Sparrow in NYS

 

Bulletin board postings are naturally slanted to positive news and don't do
such a good job recording disappearances, either of particular individuals
(is the Hooded Crow still being seen?) or of populations. The recent
discovery of two Henslow's Sparrows in a field near Ames (Montgomery Co.)
got me thinking: are these are the only sightings for New York State this
season? 

Looking at eBird (a better resource for this type of question) says no, but
only just. Evidently, small numbers (the entries are for 1 bird each) are
still present in Fort Drum and the nearby Perch River WMA (Jefferson Co.)
and a little to the north in St. Lawrence County. But according to eBird,
that's it. I suspect official surveys will have come up with a few more at
these sites but still.

Have other traditional breeding sites in western and central NYS been
checked and found negative? Is total extirpation as a breeding species
imminent? At what point should Henslow's Sparrow be added to the NYSARC
review list? Heady questions. It would give me peace of mind to know if
other breeding sites still exist. Precise locations are not necessary, just
enough to know whether or not the breeding population in now confined to a
relatively small area in the St. Lawrence Transition. 

Unfortunately I don't have the The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New
York State (McGowan and Corwin 2008) at hand but I am sure this
indispensable resource for state birds has much to say on this troubling
topic. In 1999, the DEC reclassified the sparrow as Threatened (from Species
of Special Concern) but my sense is that the decline has continued
unchecked.

-- 
Angus Wilson
New York City  The Springs, NY, USA
http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/

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[nysbirds-l] NYSOA Massawepie Mire field trip 5/28/11

[Joan E. Collins]

Massawepie Mire, Southeastern St. Lawrence Co., overcast with occasional
brief showers

 

Ten people took part in the NYS Ornithological Association's field trip to
Massawepie Mire on Saturday.  (Sorry for the delayed post, but I am with a
family member in the hospital in Albany.)  With all the recent rain deluges,
the road in was washed out in places (but still traversable) and the dirt
road we hiked into the mire was wetter than I have ever seen it.  It was so
wet that Mallards were making use of the vernal pools!  Mosquitoes were
intense in the warm, humid conditions.  The few times that the sun broke
out, the mosquitoes died down and black flies came out!

 

One of the things that I most enjoy about birding is finding unexpected
species - we found 2 on Saturday.  Just before we went out into the open
bog, I heard a Brown Thrasher!  It was perched in the middle of the bog.  As
we approached it, two Grays Jays flew off - it appeared they had been
harassing the thrasher.  I continued to hear the Brown Thrasher's loud
vocalizations during our traverse of the huge bog.  On our hike out, just
before the first bridge, I hung back from the group a bit to listen for
Black-backed Woodpeckers (the last likely spot on our hike out) and instead,
I heard a Field Sparrow sing in mature boreal habitat!  I caught up with
everyone at the bridge and asked if anyone lives among Field Sparrows and
when they had returned.  I was told quite some time ago, so this bird was
not likely a migrant.  As it turns out, I received a phone call from Sean
O'Brien yesterday to tell me he had visited Massawepie Mire on Monday with
Ted Mack and they too found a singing Field Sparrow!  (They found the bird
in the same vicinity.)  He also called Larry Master who told Sean that a
Field Sparrow once spent an entire season at Bloomingdale Bog.  It will be
interesting to see if this Field Sparrow spends the breeding season at
Massawepie Mire.

 

We found 58 species, including 16 warbler species and 7 sparrow species.
Northern Waterthrushes can be found in an area with many Canada Warblers,
but were not singing by the time our group reached that location.  Pine
Warblers can sometimes be found on the hike, but can definitely be found
along the Mountaineer Trail, which we did not hike.  I heard 5 singing
Mourning Warblers, and there are even more found by continuing to drive
straight at the 4 corners location for ~ 1.5 miles to a metal gate - an area
that has been heavily logged.  We did not have time to drive this section.
That area also has many Indigo Buntings and a Veery.  Eastern Phoebes were
missing from the bridge locations, and this is the first year we failed to
find a Gray Catbird near our parking location.  Logging operations continue
on the perimeter of the bog.

 

Here are some of the 58 species found:

 

Spruce Grouse - 1 male!  On our hike out, Bill Schneider yelled that he saw
a Spruce Grouse.  We looked up and the grouse flew up from the dirt road
into a tree, then dropped back down onto the road and walked straight toward
us!  It got within 15 feet (we didn't need binocs) and then tried to go
around us by going into the brushy habitat along the road.  We were all
still as statues as the grouse approached us.  Instead of continuing past
us, it paralleled us as we continue our hike out.  This was certainly a
birding highlight of my year!

Bald Eagle - 2, soaring together

Broad-winged Hawk

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Wood Pewee

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Blue-headed Vireo

Gray Jay - 2

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird - several

Hermit Thrush

Brown Thrasher

Cedar Waxwing

Warblers: Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia,
Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian,
Palm, Black-and-white, Amer. Redstart, Ovenbird, Mourning, Common
Yellowthroat, and Canada.

Sparrows: Chipping, Field, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-throated, and
Dark-eyed Junco

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Purple Finch

 

The cone crop developing on the spruces is quite remarkable!

 

Eight in our group had a late lunch at the "Thirsty Moose Pub & Grub" a
short distance from Massawepie.

 

Observers (I don't have the list of observers' hometowns with me):

Janet Allison - Minerva & ?downstate

Clint Anglin - Troy

Joan Collins - Long Lake (leader)

Michael Greco - Albany

Naomi Jaffe - Troy

Celeste Morien - Buffalo area

Gwen Morien - Buffalo area

Kathy & Bill Schneider - Newcomb & Stuyvesant

Mike J. - Watertown

 


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RE:[nysbirds-l] NNYBirds: Sightings in Hamilton-Franklin-St. Lawrence Counties

[Joan E. Collins]

I forgot to mention that on 3/24/11, I observed a Fisher cross Oregon Plains
Rd. at 7:30 a.m. (Bloomingdale area).  The Fisher crossed north of the
Bigelow - Oregon Plains intersection, and not far from the Muzzy - Oregon
Plains intersection.  Exciting!

 

Joan Collins

Long Lake, NY

 

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