Wednesday, 15 June 2011 Hunter Mountain, Greene County (and surrounding area)
This past Wednesday I conducted an annual Vermont Center for Ecostudies Mountain Birdwatch survey for Bicknell's Thrush (and other high-elevation breeding bird species) on Hunter Mountain in the Catskills. The survey starts just before first light and lasted approximately three hours, visiting six pre-determined stations to conduct 20-minute point counts. Bird activity was fairly quiet during the six point counts, but I did encounter several Bicknell's Thrush during the count and ~15 overall on the mountain. Vocalizing Swainson's Thrush and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher were fewer than I have come to expect on Catskill High Peaks at this time of the year, but I have typically conducted these surveys during the first week of June in past years. It was also nice to hear four singing White-throated Sparrows throughout the morning and several singing Hermit Thrushes throughout the day. Most notable were two or three singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the area of the survey. The kinglets were loud and persistent, alternately singing their familiar song and the version that is very reminiscent of a Carolina Wren. This alternate song is something I only hear kinglets vocalize on their breeding territory, and have never heard this vocalization in the valley during migration. I have previously encountered breeding RCKI on both Hunter and Plateau Mountain in the Catskills, but this year the kinglets were singing from an entirely different area of the mountain, and oddly, I did not detect any Golden-crowned Kinglets, typically present in large numbers in years when Ruby-crowns were detected. Below is the complete of bird species with conservative number of individuals from the early morning ascent in darkness, the point counts and summit area, and the slow descent back down the mountain later in the day (unsuccessfully searching for an elusive butterfly that is known to inhabit the abundant American Beech canopy and occasionally visit the trail surface beneath). Not included in this list are some additional observations from post-count sites in Greene County that I traditionally visit in search of butterflies following the mountain survey. I ended the day at Colgate Lake with Ravens calling, singing White-throated Sparrows, Veery, and Hermit Thrush singing, a flock of Cedar Waxwings (15+) feeding on wild strawberries in an open field, and several singing Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers in the adjacent woodland. As the sun set below the East Jewett Range to the west, a Spotted Sandpiper foraged along the lake shoreline, a large beaver ambled up out of the water to feed on hillside clover, and a female Common Merganser with six baseball-sized young approached in the water to a very close range, providing the best views I have ever had of their very colorful and charming ducklings. The young playfully darted across the surface of the water at amazingly fast speed, diving and popping up all around the ever alert hen. When the distance was too close, or she finally noticed my presence standing motionless on the shoreline deck, she vocalized two notes and all six ducklings immediately scurried into a tight line directly behind her, the first four managing to mount her back as they swam off to the far side of the lake. A very fitting end to a very enjoyable day of nature observations. Steve M. Chorvas Saugerties, NY Hunter Mountain, 15 June 2011 Barred Owl 1 (vocalizing from the trailhead at 2:30 a.m.) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5 Hairy Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 5 Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo American Crow Common Raven 5 Black-capped Chickadee 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Winter Wren 8+ Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2-3 Veery 3 Bicknell's Thrush ~15 Swainson's Thrush 4 Hermit Thrush 8 Wood Thrush 1 American Robin Yellow Warbler 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 2 Magnolia Warbler 6 Black-throated Blue Warbler 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (numerous) Black-throated Green Warbler 2 Blackburnian Warbler 8+ Blackpoll Warbler 20+ American Redstart 2 Ovenbird 3 Louisiana Waterthrush 1 Canada Warbler 1 Scarlet Tanager 1 White-throated Sparrow 4 Dark-eyed Junco 6 Purple Finch 2 American Goldfinch -- 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/ --
