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 -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
