Long Lake (Hamilton Co.)
Just after my last post, we lost the Pine Siskins and Purple Finches from our feeders, and gained American Goldfinches. I have not heard any Purple Finches over the past week. Pine Siskin flocks are no longer abundant, but I am still hearing roughly one flock per outing now. American Goldfinch flocks are now abundant. On 11/1/14, there were 2 Snow Buntings along Route 30 in Long Lake. Two male Bufflehead were observed on Little Tupper Lake. 10/31/14 Halloween on the Roosevelt Truck Trail (Minerva in Essex Co.) Halloween was spent in boreal habitat on the Roosevelt Truck Trail guiding a birder from Lake George. Here are some of the species found: "Northern Goshawk" - a perfect vocalization in the exact area where we observed a distant raptor zoom through the forest during a field trip in August (I believed it was likely a Northern Goshawk that day) But.there were several Gray Jays in the area on Friday, and they began to imitate parts of the Northern Goshawk vocalization. So it is also possible that it was a Gray Jay imitating a Northern Goshawk! If it was an imitation, it was absolutely perfect. Black-backed Woodpecker - one female observed calling and foraging Northern Flicker - 1 Pileated Woodpecker - 1 Gray Jay - 6 (groups of 1 and 4 found along the trail, and another one found foraging along Route 28N - very chatty bird!) Common Raven Boreal Chickadee - 8 (groups of 3, 4, and 1) Brown Creeper - several Winter Wren - 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet - many Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Common Grackle Pine Siskin - one flock heard American Goldfinch - abundant 10/30/14 Massawepie Mire (St. Lawrence Co.) David Buckley and I hiked 6 miles round trip at Massawepie Mire. We found many Moose tracks, including tracks of a cow and calf walking side by side on the Grass River Club road. I photographed a huge track likely made by a bull Moose. We ran into the caretaker and he said they have been observing a cow and calf, and a huge bull Moose on the property. Here are some of the species found: American Wigeon - 3 on Deer Pond observed on our drive into Massawepie - a bit surprising for this location Common Loon - Deer Pond Gray Jay - at least 10! We actually lost count because we ran into them everywhere! Common Raven Boreal Chickadee - 4 Brown Creeper Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 Eastern Bluebird American Tree Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Common Grackle Pine Siskin - 1 flock American Goldfinch On our drive back to Piercefield, David spotted 5 Snow Buntings by Gull Pond Road. This was a first of the season for both of us. Chipping Sparrows were observed along Sabattis Circle Road. One Greater Scaup and one Lesser Scaup were observed together on Long Lake. 10/29/14 Long Lake A male Ruffed Grouse was in full display along Sabattis Circle Road! It is hard to imagine what goes on in the mind of a Ruffed Grouse! Two Gray Jays were active at Sabattis Bog. 10/28/14 Blue Mountain Lake (Hamilton Co.) I observed the season's first American Tree Sparrow along the newly opened O'Neil Flow Road. This area has been heavily logged (many, many clear-cuts) - unfortunately, the clear-cutting is all legal. I guess Mourning Warblers will eventually enjoy the area. 10/27/14 Roosevelt Truck Trail (Essex Co.) I hiked part of the Roosevelt Truck Trail in the afternoon. I found one Ruffed Grouse, 1 Black-backed Woodpecker, 1 Gray Jay, 7 Boreal Chickadees (groups of 1, 1, 3, and 2) and a flock of Pine Siskins. 10/24/14 Long Lake We came home in the dark after seeing a movie and found a Deer next to our house and an adorable Flying Squirrel on our back porch feeders! The squirrel disappeared and I went out on the front porch to see if it was there, and a fox gave its loud, eerie vocalization from somewhere on our lawn. A Barred Owl immediately began hooting as the fox called! It was an interesting night! I posted photos of the displaying Ruffed Grouse, large Moose track, American Wigeon, Snow Buntings, sunrise/Gray Jay, and Bufflehead to my Facebook page below. 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/ --