Fall migrants- Sat., Sept.12th

Cloudy and cool, upper 60s. Ran into three foraging mixed flocks during the day; chickadees were the main component, but you could hear other 'chip' sounds mixed in. We just stood still and tried to focus on one bird at a time. At the height of the passage, it was difficult to know which bird to go to next, they move so quickly in random directions. All the warblers, the kinglet, and the vireo were in these mixed groups. Best birds were seen on the service road behind the research ponds, and on the boardwalk next to the Beaver Pond. Adult Bald Eagle, circling at medium height, seen from the Heron Pond.

Location: Five Rivers
Observation date: 9/12/09
Time of day: 9:00am- 2:00pm
Number of species: 41
Wood Duck 1
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Bald Eagle 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 16
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 40
Cedar Waxwing 20
Magnolia Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Field Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 5
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/ny)

Week in the Adirondacks- Part Five

Our destination on our last morning up north was the bog on Sabattis Circle Rd. We arrived at 8:30AM and began to slowly walk up and down the road, checking out each chip sound and bird movement; there was a lot of activity to try to identify. The bog is on the west/ northwest side of the road; the habitat is very boreal, with some deciduous trees mixed in right along the roadside (picture).

We tried to make a Boreal Chickadee out of a Black-capped; the song was right, but as easy as they were to see, there were no unmistakable field marks for verification. We'll leave the region without this bird, but I know they were there, several times; next year!

A Song Sparrow moved apace with us, and several White-throated Sparrows vocalized much of the morning. Hermit Thrush called, Cedar Waxwing flew over, and RB Nuthatch "yenked" here and there. Overall, though, it was pretty quiet, especially warbler-related. A disappointing end to.....

Bam. Just like that, a wave of birds started crossing the road from west to east. A bunch of Yellow-rumped warblers, an adult male and many juvies, swarmed through the trees. Common Yellowthroat were at the edge of the bog. A flame-throated Blackburnian male was heard, then seen (I had to chase him about a quarter-mile for a positive ID; finally got him to pop his head up just as I was turning back.)

Back at the bog (picture), we kept hearing a very high-pitched five note call; Cape May Warbler, no doubt about it, but I needed to see it. Voila! Up in the spruce trees, a beautiful Cape May, allowing a brief full glimpse. A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was singing out in the bog, and a Magnolia Warbler flitted about at eye level on the east side of the road. All this in half an hour. Now that's a good ending.

Boreal birds were harder to come by than we expected, but overall it was a great experience, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Just when you are experiencing the post-spring migration blues, an Adirondack trip is just the right cure.