Red Crossbills continue to be abundant in the boreal habitat of the central Adirondacks (western Essex Co. and Hamilton Co.). They are traveling in flocks and feeding fledglings! I sent Matt Young several recordings and he identified Red Crossbill Types 1, 3, and 10. (All from one location.) Pine Siskins are starting to move in.
I hiked a newly cut trail to Wolf Pond in the North Hudson area (Essex Co.) that begins on the Blueridge Road at the Boreas River Bridge on Aug. 30th (see species below). The DEC hopes to officially "open" the trail in November - the SCA (Student Conservation Association) crew is doing finishing touches this fall. Trail markers and signs will be added. It is state land and can be hiked now. The trail is 2.4 miles long (4.8 miles round trip). The trail has terrific boreal habitat (& birds!). There is a brand new lean-to located along the trail by the pond. I blogged this trail (with lots of photos) and as soon as it is published, I will post the link. Five of us paddled to Wolf Pond on 9/12 - it was quite an "adventure" (3 bushwhack canoe carries in thick boreal habitat and several Beaver dams to get over along Wolf Pond Brook!). It was wonderful to be at scenic Wolf Pond with a boat this time around. There are fantastic views of the High Peaks. A displaying American Woodcock on 9/19 was quite a surprise! Sightings from the past few weeks: 9/23/17 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) On this hot day, I hiked the Northville-Placid Trail (S) in Long Lake (very shaded) in the afternoon. I found a pair of foraging Black-backed Woodpeckers and watched them for 2 hours. The female would occasionally move trees and then very quietly drum. The male would then follow and forage in the trees that the female had just left! It was interesting to observe this behavior - the female was definitely deciding on where they would forage the entire time I observed them. (I've been off Facebook for several months, but I just posted a photo of the male woodpecker.) A juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was around them for a while also. Two different Winter Wrens were found calling along the trail. I was chatting back and forth with one on my way out when I looked up to see a couple hiking in! They didn't have binoculars, and I decided I wouldn't try to explain my behavior because I'm sure they thought I was crazy! I also observed a Black-throated Blue Warbler. 9/22/17 Long Lake I found 6 Gray Jays along Sabattis Circle Road (3 at the Round Lake Trailhead and 3 at Sabattis Bog). I observed many Palm Warblers, 1 Nashville Warbler, and many Yellow-rumped Warblers. 9/20/17 - A group of 8 Common Loons together on Long Lake - preening and diving. Out birding on 9/19/17 in North Hudson, Minerva, Newcomb, Long Lake, and Tupper Lake locations, we found the following 53 species: Canada Goose Wood Duck American Black Duck Mallard Ring-necked Duck Ruffed Grouse - Rock Pond area Wild Turkey Pied-billed Grebe - Shaw Pond Sandhill Crane - 3! (family group along Stetson Road eating apples!) American Woodcock - displaying on our drive out of the Spring Pond Bog Preserve in the evening!!! Common Loon - 2 (adult with a young bird on Simon Pond in Tupper Lake) Double-crested Cormorant - Rock Pond Great Blue Heron Bald Eagle - adult over Tupper Lake Belted Kingfisher Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - 4! (2 calling back and forth on opposite sides of the Hudson River along Santanoni Dr. (Newcomb) and 2 by the Roosevelt Truck Trail along Route 28N (Minerva) - one flew over us (one gave the rattle call)) Northern Flicker - many! Pileated Woodpecker Merlin - over Tupper Lake Blue-headed Vireo - many Red-eyed Vireo Gray Jay - 4 (3 at Sabattis Bog in Long Lake, and 1 heard near the Sand Pond Marsh in North Hudson) Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee - many! (easily over 20 with flocks in North Hudson (several flocks), Minerva, and Newcomb) Red-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper - singing Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing Purple Finch Red Crossbill - many, including fledglings! (the most abundant species that day!) (some singing) American Goldfinch Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat - singing! Magnolia Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler - one singing! Palm Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler - singing! Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow - singing at dawn (Shaw Pond) White-throated Sparrow - singing Dark-eyed Junco When I left my home pre-dawn that morning, many Swainson's Thrushes were calling as they landed from their nocturnal flights. I found it interesting that we didn't hear any calling during the day when it appeared there had been a large overnight flight for this species. 9/18/17 Long Lake - Bay-breasted Warbler in our yard at dawn. I found 4 Gray Jays along Sabattis Circle Road - (2 at the Little Tupper Lake inlet area and 2 at the Round Lake Trailhead). 9/17/17 Long Lake - A Hermit Thrush gave one song at dawn (rare to hear singing after mid-August) - lovely! I observed an odd behavior on both 9/17 and 9/16/17 in the evening around 10 p.m. Two nights in a row, I seemed to disturb a roosting Dark-eyed Junco near the edge of our driveway and it flew to another spot using my headlights! 9/14/17 Long Lake - 8 Gray Jays along Sabattis Circle Road (1 at the Little Tupper Lake inlet area, 4 at the Round Lake Trailhead, and 3 at Sabattis Bog) Ellie George, her dog Maple, and I went birding the morning of 9/13/17 in the North Hudson, Newcomb, and Minerva areas. We found the following 34 species: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (last date observed) Turkey Vulture Broad-winged Hawk Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 at the Route 28N marsh in Newcomb Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Gray Jay - Santanoni Dr. in Newcomb Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing Purple Finch Red Crossbill - many! Pine Siskin - 1 along the railroad bed in Minerva (with Red Crossbills) American Goldfinch Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Bay-breasted Warbler - off Santanoni Dr. Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Song Sparrow Scarlet Tanager - female - nice view! 9/12/17 Wolf Pond Brook canoe to Wolf Pond (North Hudson, Essex Co.) Evelyn Greene, Bonnie Vicki, Amy Vedder, Fuat Latif, and I paddled to Wolf Pond via Wolf Pond Brook (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). I found more birds by hiking the new trail at an earlier hour, but we still found Red Crossbills calling along the brook and 7 Boreal Chickadees (2 different flocks of 5 and at least 2). An American Kestrel hunted the bog at the edge of Wolf Pond and 2 Belted Kingfishers flew around together among many other expected species. 9/11/17 Long Lake & Tupper Lake (Franklin Co.) I birded for a few hours in Long Lake and Tupper Lake. Here are a few of the 47 species found that day: Wood Duck American Black Duck Ruffed Grouse - 3 (female with 2 older young on Sabattis Circle Road) Pied-billed Grebe - Shaw Pond in Long Lake Sandhill Crane - family of 3 in Tupper Lake along Stetson Road Bald Eagle - adult over Route 30 in Long Lake Sharp-shinned Hawk Barred Owl - outside our home Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - juvenile outside our home Black-backed Woodpecker - marsh along Route 30 in Long Lake Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Gray Jay - 6 (3 at Sabattis Bog, and 3 in the Spring Pond Bog Preserve) Winter Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Gray Catbird - 2 Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler - 3 in the Spring Pond Bog Preserve (I got some nice photos - will post to Facebook) Blackburnian Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Palm Warbler - many Yellow-rumped Warbler Wilson's Warbler - male - lovely! (It was foraging in habitat in the Spring Pond Bog Preserve that looked exactly like its' nesting habitat.) Lincoln's Sparrow White-throated Sparrow There was a Beaver swimming around at Shaw Pond. 9/10/17 Newcomb locations and a hike of the East River Trail to Lake Sally I planned to hike the East River Trail to Lake Sally and stopped to bird at a few locations in Newcomb on the drive. A few of the species found: American Black Duck Common Merganser Common Loon - on Lake Jimmy Belted Kingfisher Black-backed Woodpecker - male along Route 28N (where I was observing Red Crossbills) Gray Jay - 2 by the golf course along Santanoni Dr. Boreal Chickadee - 2 along Tahawus Road Red Crossbill - ~35! (~30 along Route 28N just past the intersection with the Blueridge Road, and ~5 along Tahawus Road) I observed fledglings being fed and many flocks on both sides of the road. I ignored the Black-backed Woodpecker to watch the Red Crossbills, and when I went back to my car, the woodpecker was only about 20 to 30 feet away! Pine Siskin - singing among the Red Crossbills on Route 28N Blackpoll Warbler - trail Black-throated Blue Warbler - trail Black-throated Green Warbler - trail 9/9/17 Long Lake A Great Horned Owl was hunting midday at Minnow Pond along Route 30 in Long Lake near the entrance to Sabattis Circle Road (which might explain why the Osprey chicks disappeared this year). I found 2 Merlins near the Little Tupper Lake inlet along Sabattis Circle Road. Two Gray Jays called, but wouldn't come over for food with the Merlins in the area. There were 2 more Gray Jays at the Round Lake Trailhead and many Palm Warblers at Sabattis Bog. 9/7/17 Long Lake I found a singing Red Crossbill near the Little Tupper Lake inlet along Sabattis Circle Road. Six Gray Jays along the road (groups of 2, 1, and 3), Cedar Waxwing family, Black-backed Woodpecker and Palm Warblers at Sabattis Bog, and Eastern Bluebirds in hamlet of Long Lake. 9/2/17 Massawepie Mire bike trip (St. Lawrence Co.) I biked at Massawepie to Silver Brook in the afternoon. I stopped on the drive to check Deer Pond - I observed an adult Common Loon with an older chick - so the nest that I posted in June, that was on a log at the edge of the road, worked out! Blackberries were ripe and it was so distracting on the drive-in, that I nearly ran out of time for the bike ride! I had a beautiful "forest bathing" experience (if you are not familiar with this, you can google it!) at Silver Brook (one of my favorite places). I laid under a huge White Pine watching the ripples from Silver Brook reflected on the branches and needles above me (it was mesmerizing) and I observed the insects/arachnids going about their lives all around me.I listened to birds and crickets.I slept.anyway, it was lovely! (I was telling my younger son about Forest Bathing and that it is popular among Millenials like himself. He had a long, very funny response, and said it sounded more like a "60s-thing"! He may be right!) It is always hard to leave Massawepie! Here are some of the species found: Ruby-throated Hummingbird Sandhill Crane - family of 3 along Dugal Road in Tupper Lake (on my drive) Common Loon - adult with chick on Deer Pond along Massawepie Rd. Broad-winged Hawk - 2 Black-backed Woodpecker - female just before Silver Brook (yelling at 2 Common Ravens) Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe - 2 Gray Jay - 2 by the Little Tupper Lake inlet (on my drive) Winter Wren Hermit Thrush Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Magnolia Warbler Palm Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Lincoln's Sparrow - just 1! Nice view! Common Grackle - huge flock observed on my drive home along Route 30 in Tupper Lake 8/30/17 Wolf Pond Trail in North Hudson (Essex Co.) This is the trail I described above. Species from the hike: Common Loon - 1 Double-crested Cormorant - 3 Broad-winged Hawk - 2 Belted Kingfisher - 1 Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - 3 (1 female foraging near an old ATV trail on the southeastern side of the pond, and 2 males foraging close together in a tree behind the new lean-to (not too far from the female) - I assume it was an adult male with a young male) Northern Flicker Red-eyed Vireo Gray Jay - 5 (two different groups of 3 and 2) Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee - 5 (two different flocks of at least 2 and 3) Red-breasted Nuthatch - several Brown Creeper - several Winter Wren - many including one singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - many Swainson's Thrush - several Hermit Thrush - several American Robin Cedar Waxwing Purple Finch Red Crossbill - many (particularly in the first half of the hike) American Goldfinch Ovenbird - nice view! Common Yellowthroat Magnolia Warbler Blackburnian Warbler - nice view! Black-throated Blue Warbler - singing Yellow-rumped Warbler Song Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Joan Collins President, NYS Ornithological Association Editor, New York Birders Long Lake, NY (315) 244-7127 cell (518) 624-5528 home http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/ http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
