(Some recent trips, and a few backtracks from mid-December)
1/3/14 Plattsburgh, Clinton Co. Sean OBrien and I visited areas in Clinton Co. this afternoon. Lake Champlain is quickly freezing in the bitter cold! We found a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Horned Larks, and two Snowy Owls at the Plattsburgh location that Paul Osenbaugh has posted. 1/1/14 St. Lawrence Valley (Canton Ogdensburg Lisbon Waddington Massena) Some of the species found: Bufflehead Hawkins Point Common Goldeneye Hawkins Pt. (Photo on my Facebook page below) Common Merganser Hawkins Pt. Bald Eagle Lisbon Red-tailed Hawk 4 Rough-legged Hawk 4 (3 light morph, and 1 dark) Iceland Gull Hawkins Pt. solo bird on the rocks by the boat launch Great Black-backed Gull many at Hawkins Pt. on the dam Pileated Woodpecker Northern Shrike 12/31/13 Franklin Co. to St. Lawrence Valley (Santa Clara Hopkinton Lawrence North Lawrence Brasher Massena) Some of the species found: Similar waterfowl to 1/1/14 Bald Eagle 6 (2 in Santa Clara and 4 at Hawkins Pt.) Photo on my Facebook page of one of the Santa Clara eagles after it was feeding on a deer carcass. The 4 adult Bald Eagles at Hawkins Point kept the hundreds (likely thousands) of gulls from landing at dusk. The sky was filled with gulls as Jeff Bolsinger reported, many white-winged gulls it was a remarkable sight in very snowy, cold conditions. Northern Harrier male on Rt. 55 in Hopkinton Glaucous Gull among many Great Black-backed Gulls on the rocks at the Hawkins Pt. boat launch. Just as I was about to photograph it, the gulls took flight as the 4 Bald Eagles flew in. Snowy Owl at the Massena airport (Photo on my Facebook page below) 12/30/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) Ruffed Grouse outside our house in a cherry tree (Photo on my Facebook page below) 12/29/13 Saranac Lake Christmas Bird Count Sean OBrien, my long-term CBC birding partner, and I went owling and covered Bloomingdale boreal areas for the count. Here are some of the 17 species found: Ruffed Grouse - 2 Barred Owl 5! Black-backed Woodpecker 7 (a new record for the count) Pileated Woodpecker 5 Gray Jay 5 (Photos on my Facebook page below) Common Raven 8 Boreal Chickadee 9 Red-breasted Nuthatch 27 Brown Creeper 4 Golden-crowned Kinglet 27 Purple Finch 11 We met a family group walking at the bog. I snapped a photo of a young woman from Oregon (visiting family in Saranac Lake) feeding raisins to a Gray Jay. I posted the photo to my Facebook page (with her permission). I love the beautiful expression on her face as she and the Gray Jay are looking at one another! 12/27/13 Crown Point, Essex Co., and Addison, VT I had a fantastic day in the Champlain Valley! Some of the species found: Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk many Rough-legged Hawk lost count likely close to 30 (about ¾ light morph) in Addison (a couple were found at Crown Point) Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 on Lake St. in Addison Northern Flicker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Snowy Owl 5 in Addison (locations on VT list serve) (Photos on my Facebook page below) Amer. Robin hundreds flying south at dusk! Horned Lark Snow Bunting 12/23/13 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) Black-backed Woodpecker 3 along Sabattis Circle Road (Photos of a female on my Facebook page below) Amer. Tree Sparrow Purple Finch 12/17/13 Long Lake My older son observed an Ermine hunting around in our backyard (near a feeder area)! 12/15/13 Indian Lake, Hamilton Co. I picked up our older son from the Albany airport and we drove home in a terrible snow storm in the Adirondacks (in the dark). Between North River and Indian Lake, my car started to slide off the road (around 6:15 p.m.). The visibility was awful and the roads became extremely slippery. I grabbed my sons arm and said hold on, as I tried to slow the car down quickly. Just as we stopped, my son said, Deer, then immediately corrected to MOOSE, MOOSE!!! I looked up and there were two moose in the road heading right to left a cow in the oncoming lane and a large calf in front of our car. My son had moved our cell phones so he could have his IPod playing music. After a few seconds of shock, I told my son to grab our phones so we could take a photograph, but the moose went down the steep bank before we could get a photo. After the excitement, we looked at each other with the realization that if I hadnt stopped the car to keep from sliding off the road, we would have hit the moose or worse, I would have tried to avoid that and I might have flipped our car on the steep bank. The timing was just strange. We drove about a mile when we spotted yet another cow and calf on the right side of the road!!! I often see moose tracks and scat, but in 16 years living in the north country, I have only observed one moose until that night! I used to have a BBS route along that section of Route 28 and I know there are large wetlands in that area. They really are hard to see at night, and I find myself driving even slower now. After we arrived home, a Barred Owl vocalized outside our house (heard over the baby monitor). 12/12/13 Long Lake, Hamilton Co. and Newcomb, Essex Co. Gray Jay perched at the top of tree along Route 30 (photo on my Facebook page) Boreal Chickadee 6 (5 on Route 28N near the Newcomb-Minerva line, and one on the Tahawus Rd.) 12/10/13 Jefferson County I spent several hours driving the peninsulas at the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. Here are some of the species found: Tundra Swan (a couple photos on my Facebook page) Gadwall Amer. Black Duck Redhead Lesser Scaup White-winged Scoter 1 Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Bald Eagle 1 Northern Harrier 2 males Red-tailed Hawk 2 Rough-legged Hawk 2 (1 light, 1 dark morph) Amer. Kestrel Belted Kingfisher Joan Collins Long Lake, NY (315) 244-7127 cell (518) 624-5528 home http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/ http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
