A few March reports:
The 3/12 - 3/13/14 blizzard dumped more than a foot of snow on Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co. in the central Adirondacks). Twenty-four hours before the storm began, behavior at our feeders completely changed. I was down to just a few Amer. Goldfinches (again, this is the first winter we have ever had goldfinches) from the hundreds that came to our feeders throughout most of the winter, when the numbers suddenly jumped back to hundreds on Tuesday - certainly a record day. My husband asked me to turn off the baby monitor because he couldn't think over the intense sound of so many birds! I spoke to Larry Master (Lake Placid) that day and he was having a similar experience at his feeders. It reminded me of Zora Neale Hurston's classic, "Their Eyes were Watching God" when people noticed major changes in animal behavior a day before a major hurricane hit Florida earlier in the twentieth century. I could tell that the storm was going to be intense by the behavior of the birds on Tuesday. March 7, 2014 Long Lake I've been watching a pair of Gray Jays in Long Lake that are likely nest building. It is fascinating to watch Gray Jay nesting behavior! A solo Snow Bunting was flying around the Little Tupper Lake outlet area and a Ruffed Grouse was walking along the edge of Sabattis Circle Road. March 6, 2014 Long Lake Late afternoon along Route 30 in Long Lake, I found a Black-backed Woodpecker, 8 Boreal Chickadees (flocks on opposite sides of the road that appeared to be separate flocks by their behavior), 2 Gray Jays and a dead Ruffed Grouse along Sabattis Circle Road. The highlight for me was observing an Ermine cross the road at Sabattis Bog in its white winter plumage! On my way home, I stopped at the intersection of Route 28N and Tarbell Hill Lane to listen for Black-backed Woodpeckers when I heard a wild sound in the forest. I fluctuated between 3 different bird species and then decided that it might not even be avian! I recorded 18 seconds before it stopped. (No answers yet from a couple ear-birder friends.) I had hiked down the snowmobile trail toward the sound. As I was standing on the trail hoping the mystery animal would continue to vocalize, a coyote began to vocalize very close to me - it was the creepiest sound I've ever heard one give and I got a very good recording since it was so close. Fascinating animals! 3/4/14 Minerva (Essex Co.), Long Lake (Hamilton Co.), and Tupper Lake & Bloomingdale (Franklin Co.) On a tour with two birders from Vermont and downstate NY, we visited boreal habitat locations in Minerva, Long Lake, Tupper Lake, and Bloomingdale. Here are some of the 33 species found that day: Amer. Black Duck Greater Scaup Common Merganser Ruffed Grouse Wild Turkey Bald Eagle - 3 Black-backed Woodpecker - female Pileated Woodpecker Gray Jay - many (photos on my Facebook page below) Boreal Chickadee - 3 different locations (photos on my Facebook page) Brown Creeper Golden-crowned Kinglet Purple Finch Red Crossbill - over 10! (photo on my Facebook page of several gritting) The women have been best friends since college, and they suddenly decided to make snow angels on one of our hikes! (I included a couple photos on my Facebook page!) March 3, 2014 Lester Flow-Cheney Pond loop (Essex Co.) ~ 6 miles I cross-country skied the trail to Lester Dam and came back on the Lester Flow and across Cheney Pond (only because there was a guy skiing somewhere ahead of me - if I found ski tracks leading to a hole in the ice, I was going to turn around!!!). It was a beautiful sunny day so I had gorgeous views of the High Peaks from the flow. I also found 3 flocks of Boreal Chickadees along the forest trail to Lester Dam. Once out on the flow, it was extremely windy and 10 degrees that day, so I didn't linger for birds! March 1, 2014 Northern New York Audubon - Long Lake Parks & Recreation Field Trip on the Roosevelt Truck Trail (Essex Co.) There were four of us on the snowshoe birding field trip to the Roosevelt Truck Trail - just enough people for Long Lake to run the "Little Bus"! Jerry, the driver, dropped us off at the north trailhead on the Blue Ridge Road and picked us up at the south trailhead on Route 28N - so we only had to hike 2.5 miles. We decided to leave the snowshoes behind in the bus since the trail appeared to be packed. Right out of the bus, I heard a woodpecker. We bushwhacked (in thigh deep snow!) to a female Black-backed Woodpecker vocalizing and another drumming bird nearby. As we were observing the woodpecker in my scope, Red Crossbills flew into the tops of the trees over us calling loudly. We made our way back to the trail and found a flock of Boreal Chickadees! Then, the drumming woodpecker came flying in toward the female bird giving the Black-backed Woodpecker rattle call! We found a third Black-backed Woodpecker - a male - right along the trail toward the south end. Boreal Chickadees were found in 4 different locations (3, 3, 1, 1). There were lots of animals tracks along the trail - River Otter, Snowshoe Hare, Red Squirrel, Vole, Gray Fox, and Ruffed Grouse. The most interesting observation, for me, was finding a dead tree covered in Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) - I posted 4 photos to my Facebook page along with a photo of the male Black-backed Woodpecker. Here is some info about Lungwort I posted to Facebook: Lungwort is a folios lichen and a composite organism consisting of 3 different species (fungus, green algae, and cyanobacteria). It is an indicator for healthy ecosystems such as old growth forests. Lungwort is sensitive to air pollution and cannot survive in polluted areas such as cities and developed areas (it is endangered in many European countries due to air pollution and habitat loss). In the northeastern US, it is a favorite food of Moose. 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/ --
