10/20/12 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)
Our feeders went up a little over a week ago, and the number of birds visiting continues to increase each day (9 species as of today). Evening Grosbeaks began visiting the feeders on Thursday (10/18) - a flock of 25 to 30, and stayed the entire day. A smaller flock visited yesterday morning, and a pair visited early this morning. Pine Siskin numbers have increased each day, and it was well over a hundred today. Purple Finches could be heard in the trees, but have not yet come down to the feeders. Once again, I set up our baby monitor outside, so we can hear all the outdoor vocalizations inside. There are news stories documenting the population explosion of squirrels this year in the northeast - certainly the case at our house too - Red and Gray Squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks are competing for bird seed each day. We continue to catch one to two mice a day in our house - this is down from the numbers we caught each day all summer! I can't recall a time when we had so many mice coming in our house in SUMMER! With the warmer weather this week, insects are still active - dragonflies, Mourning Cloaks, bees, flies, and the tiny white-blue fluffy insect that appear at this time of year. 10/18/12 Sabattis Circle Road and Shaw Pond (Long Lake) On a brief drive of Sabattis Circle Road in the afternoon, a Common Loon was observed on Little Tupper Lake, a group of 4 Ruffed Grouse were feeding by the edge of the road, and 3 Gray Jays were found at Sabattis Bog. One of the Gray Jays was feeding on something in the grass all along the edge of the road. On Shaw Pond, flocks of Ring-necked Ducks and Wood Ducks continue at this beautiful wetland with mountains behind (a very common place to find photographers). A River Otter floated on its back eating something that was very bloody! 10/17/12 Massawepie Mire (southeastern St. Lawrence Co.) (1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) Wednesday was a spectacular, warm, fall day with calm winds. I hiked 5.5 miles round trip at Massawepie in the afternoon. Out in the open bog, there was not a breath of wind and one of the rare times in life where I was able to revel in the "sounds" of silence. Military jets boomed through the skies shortly after - one of the human sounds that I just can't escape. The tamaracks needles have turned yellow and they glowed on Wednesday at the mire! The fall smells were lovely. During hunting season, it can be nice to hike at Massawepie on weekdays since the land is privately owned by a hunt club. Hunt club members tend to hunt on weekends, so the mire is quiet midweek. I found huge moose tracks by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River - glad I didn't run into that animal! I also found Black Bear tracks farther in. On my way out, I found a Red-bellied Snake (about 8" long) in the road by the bridge over the South Branch of the Grass River. It was going into a lethargic mode for the night and I was able to pick it up to look at its brilliant belly. I moved it to the side of the road just in case a club member happened to drive the road that night. Here are some of the 24 bird species found: Ring-necked Duck - on Massawepie Lake Ruffed Grouse - one drumming, heard both on the way in and way out at the same location Spruce Grouse - male found at exactly the same location where David Buckley and I found a male on April 30th this year! (I was wondering what this species was up to as I hiked - this bird was foraging in brushy vegetation on the ground.) Common Loon - 3 on Massawepie Lake (I stopped at the canoe put-in on my drive out. It was almost dark and one of the loons was calling across the lake, which was like a mirror with no wind - gorgeous!) Merlin - at Silver Brook American Woodcock - 2; one on the way in and one on the way out! Black-backed Woodpecker - heard calling across the bog Pileated Woodpecker Gray Jay - at least 5 (one group of 4 observed about 2.3 miles in and another bird heard vocalizing near the South Branch of the Grass River) Common Raven Boreal Chickadee - at least 3 about 1.75 miles in Brown Creeper Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird - heard calling Yellow-rumped Warbler White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Pine Siskin - the most abundant species! (Many groups of 2 or 3, but also larger flocks of up to ~30 birds) 10/14/12 Shaw Pond in Long Lake At least 2 Eastern Bluebirds were foraging over the pond (along with Yellow-rumped Warblers). A Merlin flew over, and flocks of Wood and Ring-necked Ducks were observed. Two beavers were swimming around together across the pond and a muskrat was busy near where I was standing. 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/ --
