12/21/15 Long Lake, Newcomb, & Minerva (Hamilton & Essex Counties)
At our feeders, we continue to have Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, and Amer. Goldfinches. The Pine Siskin numbers increase each day and it sounded like a jungle outside our house today! I'm also finding these 3 finch species nearly everywhere I go. I found a huge mixed flock of finches gritting on Route 28N between Long Lake and Newcomb. Large lakes are still completely open, and small, still ponds and lakes are partially frozen. We have just a dusting of snow (that will melt when it reaches nearly 60 degrees on Christmas Eve). A few other species found this morning: Gray Jay - 6 at Sabattis Bog (& many Blue Jays) Boreal Chickadee - 3 at a marsh near the Newcomb-Minerva town line Amer. Tree Sparrow - marsh in Newcomb Dark-eyed Junco - Tahawus Road in Newcomb Purple Finch - widespread Red Crossbill - at least 12 (2 along Sabattis Circle Road near the Little Tupper Lake inlet - male singing, at least 5 in Newcomb (including a pair with a singing male), 3 near the railroad bed in Minerva, and at least 2 by the Boreas River Bridge) The birds in Newcomb sounded like Type 2s. I posted photos of the Newcomb pair on my Facebook page below. The male's upper mandible pointed to the right and the female's to the left. Pine Siskin - widespread with several large flocks American Goldfinch - widespread 12/17/15 Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake I found 4 Gray Jays at Sabattis Bog and 4 Red Crossbills by the Little Tupper Lake inlet on my drive out. 12/16/15 Sabattis Circle Road & Long Lake This was a 6 finch species day on Sabattis Circle Road! Here are some of the species found: Greater Scaup - 2 (male & female) on Long Lake Hooded Merganser - 2 (male & female) on Little Tupper Lake Common Merganser - ~30 (all females) on Long Lake Pileated Woodpecker - 3 Gray Jay - 6 at Sabattis Bog Blue Jay - many Purple Finch Red Crossbill - at least 3 (a pair observed at Sabattis Bog, and calling heard at the inlet of Little Tupper Lake) White-winged Crossbill - 9 at Sabattis Bog! (Common, I assume) Redpoll - 1 that circled me calling before flying off Pine Siskin Amer. Goldfinch 12/14/15 Sabattis Circle Road in Long Lake Black-backed Woodpecker - 1 at Sabattis Bog Gray Jay - 6 (4 at Sabattis Bog and 2 along Route 30 just outside the Long Lake village) Bohemian Waxwing - heard by the inlet of Little Tupper Lake Purple Finch Red Crossbill - 4 (pair at the Sabattis Bog, and pair at the inlet of Little Tupper Lake) I photographed the pair at the inlet - the male's upper mandible points to the right and the female's to the left. They were taking turns gritting in the road - when the male was perched in the tree above the gritting female, he sang non-stop. I got some bad recordings on my iPhone, but Matt Young (Cornell Lab) was still able to determine the type - Type 10 - from the recordings. I also took a video of the male and a video of the female as they gritted - I posted them to my Facebook page along with photos of this pair. White-winged Crossbill - fly-over flock at Sabattis Bog Pine Siskin Amer. Goldfinch 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/[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/ --
