4/27/13 to 4/28/13 Plumley's Point lean-to at the north end of Long Lake & hikes on the Northville-Placid Trail, Hamilton County
This is the time of year when folks with boat-access-only camps at the north end of Long Lake share a great deal with Common Loons and other waterfowl, eagerly awaiting "ice-out". A couple weeks ago, when the water began to open up at the bridge over Long Lake, a pair of Common Goldeneye hovered at the edge of the ice and stared at the 10 miles of ice to the north - it would have made a wonderful photograph! (There is a nesting pair every year at the outlet of Long Lake on the Raquette River.) Email, Facebook, and phone call communication goes on all through April asking about ice conditions. It is almost a competition to see who can boat to their camp first. My husband and I motored 7 miles north from our beach to Plumley's Point lean-to to camp on Saturday. (The only human sign of life was a large group of people at one camp along our way.) Plumley's Point is the farthest point north on Long Lake that still has access to the 136-mile Northville-Placid Trail. I hoped to hear Northern Saw-whet Owls and to check several wetlands for Rusty Blackbirds. I thought I heard a distant saw-whet owl, but it was in the haze of sleep and I never fully woke to confirm it! I did clearly hear several Barred Owls through the night. We also listened to a Beaver smack its tail ALL night along the point! I don't know if our boat was disturbing the animal, or whether it had designs on a tree near our camp and was frustrated with our presence. A Ruffed Grouse drummed all night long also. Common Loons pierced the night with their wild sounds. There was a pair near our camp and they were making the soft "pew" (or "poo") notes back and forth - it was lovely. I checked several beaver wetlands for Rusty Blackbirds and found none - just Common Grackle pairs. On Sunday, one of the folks from the camp (the winners of the competition to be first to arrive!) we passed on our boat ride in joined us for the Northville-Placid Trail hike. He was intrigued by my search for Rusty Blackbirds and fascinated by their vocalizations which I had on my iPhone (comparing some of the sounds they make to a cassette playing in rewind mode - for those of us who still know what a cassette tape is!). This area is filled with beaver activity, so I was discouraged not to find Rusty Blackbirds. I don't know if things will turn around for this species, and it has become a sad situation. We hiked ~ 6 miles round-trip on Sunday in a northeasterly direction on the N-P Trail. Our turn around spot was yet another place that the Beavers had flooded with a dam. I've observed countless beaver dams over the years, but this one was spectacular! It was so mind-boggling, that I sat down on the ground and just stared at it in awe. It was huge, and they had taken down all the trees in the area, leaving lots and lots of stumps. All the trees were debarked and lined up vertically along a gigantic dam as extra support - it was so perfect that it looked as if a human had engineered it. I kept thinking that they did all of that with just TEETH! I wondered how they maneuvered all those trees across the ground to the giant dam. Beavers are truly remarkable creatures. There were still some patches of snow and ice on the trail, and giant chunks of ice left along the banks of Long Lake. Yellow Violets were in bloom and I observed one Mourning Cloak (second one of the season). Here are some of the 35 species found (* first-of-the-season): Ring-necked Duck Bufflehead - migrant pair Ruffed Grouse - many flushed, several heard drumming Common Loon - many Osprey - first one of the season I've observed near Long Lake Bald Eagle - on its nest from last year! Sharp-shinned Hawk - perched over our lean-to, which caused chaos in a pair of nearby nesting Canada Geese *Red-shouldered Hawk - 3 different vocalizing birds along the N-P Trail Broad-winged Hawk - 3 Barred Owl - several Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, & Pileated Woodpecker Blue-headed Vireo - several singing Brown Creeper - many singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - many singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet - many Hermit Thrush - many Yellow-rumped Warbler - many White-throated Sparrow Purple Finch Common Redpoll - flyover American Goldfinch My husband worried all week that it would be too cold to camp Saturday night. It took a lot of convincing to get him to sign up. I have to admit, he was right and it was brutal cold all night! In the morning, the lake was a mirror with a nearly full moon still visible and fog rolling around in huge banks. It is truly one of the most beautiful places on Earth - in my opinion! Hearing just the sounds of (non-human) wildlife for two days is what I live for! (Well, there were a few jets that went over - the only human-made sound that you simply can't escape anymore.) 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/ --
