Plateau Mountain, Greene County Monday, 03 June and Wednesday, 05 June 2013
This year I conducted two early morning breeding bird surveys on the summit of Plateau Mountain in the Catskills for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies Mountain Birdwatch program (one on the north end of the two-mile long plateau, the second on my traditional south end). Employing six 20-minute point counts/survey, the effort starts before sunrise and attempts to document the presence of Bicknell's Thrush and six additional target species that breed in the high-elevation coniferous forest. Weather conditions were ideal on 05 June, with cold temperatures (48° F), clear skies and relatively little wind. The combination of clear crisp skies and lack of light pollution made for spectacular star gazing on Plateau's dark summit ledge overlook. Conditions Monday were noticeably warmer and much more humid with temperatures ranging from 62-65° F with intermittent light rain at the summit, followed by cloudy skies later in the morning. Highlights from the mountain (including the early morning ascent in darkness, survey period, post-count walk across the plateau, and the lower elevation descent) include approximately 15 Bicknell's Thrush, 12 Swainson's Thrush, 10 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 10 Blackpoll Warblers, 9 Winter Wrens, 12 Magnolia Warblers, 8 White-throated Sparrows, 5 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 12 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 6 Purple Finches, 5 Dark-eyed Juncos, and a singing male Mourning Warbler in the same location I have encountered a singing male in several recent past years. Blackburnian and Yellow-rumped Warblers were also present in typically good numbers at higher elevations. Overall, numbers of most species were down compared to previous years, and Bicknell's Thrush in particular were detected in notably fewer instances. As is often the case, most birds were heard vocalizing, but one Bicknell's Thrush silently flew in during a point count and perched 15 feet away on an exposed branch at eye level, providing an uncommonly good look at this dense forest dweller. I did not detect Northern Saw-whet Owl, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, or Canada Warbler this year. The traditional Barred Owl was once again calling from Devil's Tombstone on both nights, and I encountered another interesting moth phenomenon. On the 03 ascent under warm, humid conditions, there were literally thousands of small non-descript moths flying at low and mid elevations, including into my headlamp. This moth has been present in good numbers in some previous years, but this past Monday was the largest and most widespread flight I have ever encountered on this mountain. Remarkably, there were NO moths flying two nights later during the colder June 05 ascent. Temperature related, or a highly synchronized and limited flight period? Following the survey, I descended the mountain and encountered another singing Mourning Warbler apparently on territory in Stony Clove Notch, and discovered several locations hosting Pepper and Salt Skippers. I also noted numerous roadkill moths and butterflies along the shoulder of Rte. 214, including the remains of a Luna Moth, and many flying Tiger Swallowtails. The extremely steep sides of Hunter and Plateau Mountain flank Stony Clove Notch and apparently effectively funnel leps out onto Rte 214 where they encounter high-speed traffic and significant mortality. The following is a complete list of bird species encountered on Plateau Mountain over the two-day period (adjusted to avoid duplication): Barred Owl (1- vocalizing on the ascent) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Hairy Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (10) Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay (3) Common Raven (2) Red-breasted Nuthatch (5) Brown Creeper (4) Winter Wren (9) Golden-crowned Kinglet (12) Bicknell's Thrush (15) Swainson's Thrush (12) Hermit Thrush (6) Cedar Waxwing (1) Magnolia Warbler (12) Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler (typically numerous) Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler (typically numerous) Blackpoll Warbler (10) Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Mourning Warbler (1) Scarlet Tanager White-throated Sparrow (8) Dark-eyed Junco (4) Rose-breasted Grosbeak Purple Finch (6) Steve M. Chorvas Saugerties, 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/ --
