Some of the sightings over the past week from Hamilton, Essex, Franklin, and St. Lawrence Counties:
9/9/13 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) David Buckley and I had a lovely hike at Massawepie Mire yesterday - calm winds, perfect temperatures, mostly clear skies. I was ecstatic when David and I observed a Bobcat ahead of us on the trail at 10:30 a.m. (about 2 miles into our hike)! It didn't appear to hear or smell us, so it wasn't running away. It moved along the edge of the dirt road (heading away from us), and then crossed the road and disappeared into the forest. It was a much larger animal than I imagined this species to be. What a thrilling experience! David and I birded on the drive in and began the hike at about 8 a.m. David mentioned that it was the "birdiest" he had ever seen Massawepie! Palm Warblers were abundant as usual and it appeared that they were all foraging on the dirt road - in addition to many other species. It was so busy that it was hard to know where to look next! We hiked to Silver Brook (just under 6 miles round trip). Here are the 45 species found: Canada Goose - a few flocks overhead Wood Duck Common Loon Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Broad-winged Hawk Amer. Kestrel Merlin Black-billed Cuckoo - great views! It was giving its amphibian-sounding call (heard also on migration) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker - male Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Gray Jay - 7 (groups of 2 and 5) Blue Jay Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee - 7 (groups of 3 and 4) Red-breasted Nuthatch Winter Wren - singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - singing Veery - several migrants foraging among Amer. Robins (lots of skirmishes between these 2 species), Cedar Waxwings, and White-throated Sparrows Swainson's Thrush - 1 Hermit Thrush - several American Robin Cedar Waxwing Northern Parula - singing Magnolia Warbler - several Cape May Warbler - 3 observed Yellow-rumped Warbler - abundant Blackburnian Warbler - 1 Pine Warbler - 1 Palm Warbler - abundant Common Yellowthroat - several; some singing Wilson's Warbler - 1 Scarlet Tanager - 1 Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow - several observed, and one sang once! White-throated Sparrow - abundant Dark-eyed Junco Purple Finch American Goldfinch There were many butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies observed also. It continues to be a great season for mushrooms! 9/8/13 - Last day I observed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at our feeders. 9/7/13 Whiteface Mountain at dawn, and the Bloomingdale area (Essex and Franklin Counties) On a tour with a couple from Virginia, we birded Whiteface Mountain at dawn (very cold!), and areas in Bloomingdale. Here are some of the 42 species found: Double-crested Cormorant - 1 on Lake Flower in Saranac Lake American Kestrel Belted Kingfisher Gray Jay - 12! (groups of 4, 3, and 5); the group of 5 was actively caching food including a mushroom cap! Black-capped Chickadee - still feeding young Boreal Chickadee - 8! (groups of 5, 2, and at least 1) Brown Creeper Winter Wren - singing Golden-crowned Kinglet - singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet Bicknell's Thrush - 15 calling birds on Whiteface and one partial song at dawn! Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing - extremely abundant this year and still feeding young Nashville Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-and-white Warbler - singing Common Yellowthroat - singing Swamp Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak We also found Moose tracks that spanned the entire length of Bigelow Road! 9/6/13 Sabattis Circle Road (including Sabattis Bog), Tupper Lake Marsh, Lake Durant, Moose River Plains, and Raquette Lake (mostly Hamilton Co. and Franklin Co. for Tupper Lake Marsh) On a tour with a birder from North Carolina, we mostly did a car-birding trip in Hamilton Co. (we did hike a bit at Moose River Plains including Helldiver Pond). Here are some of the 46 species found: Common Loon - 3; one adult on Lake Durant and an adult with a chick on Raquette Lake Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4 Cooper's Hawk - 2 Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Belted Kingfisher - several Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2 Eastern Phoebe - near Lake Durant Gray Jay -heard at Sabattis Bog Boreal Chickadee - several at Helldiver Pond Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush Gray Catbird Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Common Yellowthroat There were many people hiking and camping at Helldiver Pond in Moose River Plains due to a Moose sighting at this location making the newspaper. The dirt road at Moose River Plains was hit hard this year by the severe weather this spring/summer. Crews are working on the road, but it is in rough shape. 9/4/13 Whiteface Mountain, Bloomingdale area, and Tupper Lake (Essex and Franklin Counties) I was on Whiteface Mountain at dawn in high winds (very cold!) - hard to even stand at the parking area, so I dropped down in elevation. I heard ~15 to 20 Bicknell's Thrushes calling with one song at dawn. Swainson's Thrushes had abandoned high elevation by this date. Winter Wrens and Blackpoll Warblers were singing at dawn (by 9/7, see above, we did not detect or observe any Blackpoll Warbles on the summit of Whiteface). I found 44 species this day including 8 Boreal Chickadees and several Cape May Warblers in the Bloomingdale area. Ring-necked Ducks have been observed at the Tupper Lake causeway in the past week. 9/3/13 Hanging Spear Falls Trail (High Peaks area in Essex Co.) I ventured over to the Hanging Spears Falls Trail (Tahawus area) to pick berries last Tuesday. I found the suspension bridge over the Hudson River is still out - 2.5 years after floods took it out in April of 2011! So I had to take off my boots and socks, roll up my pants and wade across. Then, I found that the boardwalk over Lake Jimmy went out this year from the severe weather! They re-routed the trail around the lake. I met a young Paul Smith's College student who had just completed the 46 High Peaks by climbing Allen Mountain - he said that the bridge across the Opalescent River is also still out and he had to wade across it. He mentioned that he has talked with trail crews and they do not have the man-power to deal with all the problems caused by severe weather in the Adirondacks. Climate change continues to take its toll. I found a Scarlet Tanager on the drive over and 2 Swainson's Thrushes and 1 Hermit Thrush along the trail as I hiked. I also observed several orchid species - one very tiny orchid that is not listed in any of my wildflower guides. 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/[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/ --
