Just a few notes from the summer/fall before recent sightings:
Red and White-winged Crossbills that nested over the winter lingered into July. Bruce Dudek and I observed a female White-winged Crossbill perched at a marsh in Newcomb on June 24th, and I continued to occasionally hear this species at Sabattis Bog (where they nested during the winter). The only unusual report is that Black-billed Cuckoos appeared to nest in a widespread area across the Adirondacks (many areas in Essex and Hamilton Counties). On Aug. 4, I found a family group of Black-billed Cuckoos outside our house in Long Lake. It certainly appears this species is becoming more common in the Adirondacks. (Also unusual, many waterfowl species nested early - including reports of Wood Duck young in April! Many Common Loons nested a month early. It was a mild winter followed by very early ice-out on the lakes. Hairy Woodpeckers appeared to nest 1 to 2 weeks earlier than usual also.) After completing my annual Mountain Birdwatch survey on Whiteface Mountain on June 30, 2016, I stopped at a Black-backed Woodpecker nest site I'd been observing for two months in the Town of St. Armand. The solo baby - a female - had just fledged and was on a tree adjacent to the nest tree! The nest hole was only 3.5 feet off the ground so I worried it would be predated. I observed her for 2 hours being fed non-stop by the adult male. She stayed in the same tree the entire time and called relentlessly! I used my scope and iPhone attachment to take photos and videos. I posted a video today on my Facebook page. I posted lists of species from trips during May, June, July, Aug., and Sept. on my website at: May 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/may-2016-tours-sp ecies-lists June 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/june-2016-tours-s pecies-lists July 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/july-2016-tours-s pecies-lists August 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/august-2016-tours -species-lists September 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/nesting-behavior/september-2016-to urs-species-lists The trip on July 11 was particularly memorable. Out with a couple from North Carolina, we spent over 4 hours on the summit of Whiteface Mountain observing many active Bicknell's Thrushes (4:30 - 8:30 a.m.). It was interesting to observe this species chase away a family of foraging Amer. Robins. During the night, we listened to a singing Black-billed Cuckoo, a calling Amer. Woodcock and Common Loons at the Little Tupper Lake inlet along Sabattis Circle Road. At the Tupper Lake marsh, we heard a Virginia Rail and several Wilson's Snipes. Later in the morning, after descending Whiteface Mountain, we found a foraging Black-billed Cuckoo along River Road that we watched for about a half-hour - it would forage and then watch us - and forage and then watch us - over and over - such a fascinating species! We also observed a male and female Mourning Warbler carrying food for young. And we found 4 Black-backed Woodpeckers, 14 Gray Jays, and 6 Boreal Chickadees. It was a lovely day. I also posted links to my ROOST (Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism) blogs by year (2014, 2015, and 2016): 2016: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/links-to-joans-2016-r oost-blogs 2015: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/links-to-joans-2015-r oost-blogs 2014: http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/boreal-birds/links-to-joans-2014-r oost-blogs The most recent blog is about a canoe trip on Fishing Brook in September, which just opened to the public this summer ("Fishing Brook Bog" will open in the summer of 2017). It has beautiful boreal habitat and I found 2 Black-backed Woodpeckers and Rusty Blackbirds during the trip. I also spent a long time with the largest Snapping Turtle I've ever found! (photos in the blog) Recent sightings (large lakes are not yet frozen, but we continue to have a snow-cover): Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Siskins continue to move around. Many people in Long Lake have reported Evening Grosbeaks showing up for a day or two at their feeders and then disappearing. We had Evening Grosbeaks show up outside our house on Oct. 27, but we still had Black Bears around, so our feeders were not up yet. I observed flocks in Newcomb on several occasions in Oct. and Nov., but I haven't observed any recently. Gray Tree Frogs called into November and I've been observing Springtails ("Snow Fleas") for the past month! 12/6/16 Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) Black-backed Woodpecker - Rt. 30 Long Lake Gray Jay - 7 (2 Rt. 30, 3 Round Lake Trailhead on Sabattis Circle Road, and 2 at Sabattis Bog) I often bring food to a pair of Gray Jays along Route 30 in Long Lake. Two months ago, something happened to one and only one bird was showing up - today, a new Gray Jay followed it in! It was not a "tame" bird and didn't come down for the food until I got into my car. The tame bird was quite vocal! I'm glad it found a new mate. A Muskrat was feeding on edge-ice on Little Tupper Lake. I am regularly seeing 3. 12/5/16 Long Lake Pine Siskin - we continue to have one at our feeders. 12/4/16 Long Lake and Tupper Lake (Franklin Co.) Ring-necked Duck - 11 on Tupper Lake Hooded Merganser - 2 on Tupper Lake and 7 on Little Tupper Lake Barred Owl - hunting along Sabattis Circle Road by the Round Lake Trail Black-backed Woodpecker - 2 (1 along Route 30 and 1 at the Round Lake Trail) Gray Jay - 7 Boreal Chickadee - 2 along Route 30 And one River Otter, and two Muskrats on Little Tupper Lake. 12/2/16 Long Lake, Newcomb, and Minerva (Essex Co.) Gray Jay - 9 (6 in Long Lake locations, and 3 in Minerva by the snowmobile trail - one came to my hand for food so someone must be feeding them!) Boreal Chickadee - flock of 5 along the snowmobile trail in Minerva Pine Siskin - flyover flock in Minerva Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers are around, but there are very few Red-breasted Nuthatches. Two River Otters and one Beaver were observed by the Hudson River in Newcomb. 11/30/16 Long Lake A Barred Owl vocalized near the baby monitor we have set up to bring in the outside sounds - it blasted me out of bed! I ran into 2 birders from Sullivan Co. at Sabattis Bog - we fed Gray Jays and they mentioned they were hoping to see a Black-backed Woodpecker. A few minutes later, I heard a Black-backed Woodpecker calling and we were able to observe it (a male). They headed on to Saranac Lake and I continued to watch the woodpecker for another hour. On my drive home, I observed an adult Golden Eagle heading south along Route 30 in Long Lake. 11/27-28/16 Northern Jefferson Co. (Cape Vincent, Pt. Peninsula, and Pillar Pt.) Ann Spencer and I met in northern Jefferson Co. at sunset on 11/27. We were hoping to see Short-eared Owls, but we didn't find any. Although, we did see a distant silhouette of an owl - likely a Great Horned. We stayed at the Duck Away Motel in Chaumont. Here are some of the species found on 11/28/16: Tundra Swan ~150 off Pt. Peninsula Wood Duck Gadwall - 1 Long-tailed Duck Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Wild Turkey Common Loon - many off the end of Pillar Point Pied-billed Grebe - 1 near Pt. Peninsula Double-crested Cormorant - 2 Northern Harrier - 1 male Red-tailed Hawk - 8 Rough-legged Hawk - 5 (1 dark morph) Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Belted Kingfisher - 1 Amer. Kestrel - 2 Peregrine Falcon - 1 Northern Shrike - 1 actively hunting bird on Pt. Peninsula; The bird was very close to us and appeared so intent on hunting that it completely ignored us. Cedar Waxwing - I drove a loop around Pillar Pt. in the afternoon and found flocks of Cedar Waxwings everywhere I stopped - they were eating Buckthorn berries. There were hundreds! Snow Bunting - many flocks We heard several Coyotes packs howling on 11/27 and observed a Porcupine on Pt. Peninsula on 11/28. Lots of other sightings, but I'll just list a couple of notable observations: 11/22/16 Long Lake Midday, a huge Black Bear was standing up in deep snow at the edge of Sabattis Circle Road scratching a telephone pole! 11/18/16 David Buckley and I drove a large circle to the St. Lawrence Valley (up to Massena) and over to Malone (to see the remarkable Snow Goose spectacle at Rotary Lake at sunset). (Lots of waterfowl species on the trip.) Sadly, we found a dead Barred Owl in the road by Waddington - it was 11:30 a.m. and it was still warm, so it must have just been hit. Things don't look good again this winter for raptors with little prey. We found a huge Amer. Toad in the road by Hawkins Point in Massena! (We stopped and coaxed it off the road before it was hit.) We observed thousands of Snow Geese in Malone - in several huge waves as they came in at sunset to Rotary Lake. The sound was deafening as they flew over us. Eileen and Tom Wheeler, and Mary Beth and Bill Warburton were also at Rotary Lake that night to see the Snow Geese. 10/31/16 Halloween on Sabattis Circle Road! I ran into Alan Belford on Sabattis Circle Road at the Little Tupper Lake inlet area and we observed 23 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Golden Eagle, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, Gray Jays, and a river of migrating Amer. Crows flowing by. I'll be catching up on Facebook this month with photos going back to June. We have been feeding 40 to 50 Wild Turkeys (this species fared very well with another mild winter) - we continued to feed them over the summer. The cracked corn attracted a remarkable cast of mammal characters. In late August, a female Black Bear showed up with triplets that were just a bit bigger in size than a house cat! On 3 occasions, an Eastern Coyote showed up with 2 Raccoons and they ate the corn side by side! And a beautiful Gray Fox showed up several times. It was a fascinating summer/fall! Joan Collins President, NYS Ornithological Association Editor, New York Birders 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/ --
