Northern Saw-whet Owl

The New York North Country is a great place to be in early October and we hoped this would be the year that we get to go owling with Larry Master. The fall colors come alive and the temperature begins to cool off which feels really nice to a couple of Floridians. The birding can be quite good so we headed south along Lake Champlain to Whallons Bay and found Common Merganser. On Clark road there was a group of American Goldfinch feeding on the thistle and one of the resident Ring-necked Pheasant’s walked through the field close to the road.

Next stop was Hoisington Brook in Westport where we saw lots of Bonaparte and Ring-billed Gulls with a Common Loon and 50 Canada Geese. Birds just off the lake included White-crowned and Song Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadee. Continuing south to Crown Point the ducks ruled the day with the Eurasian Widgeon being the jewel in the crown. Not to be overlooked were American Widgeon, Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked ducks among others. Crossing the Champlain bridge into Vermont we drove to Dead Creek WMA where after quite a bit of searching we found over 50 of our favorite October birds feeding in one of the far fields, the Snow Goose. On the way back to Willsboro we stopped to buy some fresh lake perch to fry up for dinner, at Norm’s Bait and Tackle.

Tuesday morning we birded one of our favorite local hotspots, Noblewood Park and on the walk from the parking lot to the sand spit saw Nuthatches, Chickadees, Blue Jays and heard a Ruffed Grouse calling.  Down in the lake were 12 Horned Grebe, 4 Common Goldeneye, a Black Scoter and a White-winged Scoter.

The highlight of this trip was being invited for one of Larry Master’s Northern Saw-whet Owl banding sessions. Birding at the Intervale Lowlands Preserve is always a special treat. The 135 acre property just outside of Lake Placid has trails along the river, trails through beautiful wooded lots, several lean-tos and even a small pond, not to mention various feeders near the guest house / research center. All of this is amazing bird and wildlife habitat. On the road into the preserve, just as darkness began to set in, we saw in the headlights an American Woodcock. This has to be a very good sign for the night ahead.

 

We gathered for a briefing with about 20 other birders and one expert, Nina Schoch, who has a permit to handle and band the Owls. By this time, it was very dark and getting quite cold as we headed out to the trail where Larry has set up the mist nets and recorder playing the owl calls. On our first pass by the nets we came up empty, but no one was discouraged as we headed back to the house to give the owls some more time. Sure enough on the second run there were two birds and after they were carefully removed from the netting by the experts we headed back for the banding. A few of us lagged behind and before we cleared the row of nets we heard a strange bark from the nearby trees and local guide and accomplished birder Alan Belford informed us that we just heard the call of the Long-eared Owl. Back at the house our banding expert carefully examined the owls recording the size and weight and was also able to determine the age of the birds.  The release of the birds was quite impressive and memorable as they circle around and quickly find a place to roost in the trees nearby.

Saturday morning we picked up our friend Laura Smith, the first birder we met in the North Country. Laura introduced us to many of the species that were new to us and we looked forward to a day of birding in the Newcomb area, a place we visited earlier this summer. This time we started at the southern entrance to the Roosevelt Truck Trail and right away found Black-capped Chickadees and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Further in were two Brown Creepers and both Red and White-breasted Nuthatches. The birds of the day though were three Boreal Chickadees that we ran into on the way out. These are NY/US life birds for us that we have searched hard for many times throughout the Adirondacks. After a nice lunch at the Newcomb House Bar & Grill, we took a drive down Tahawus Road. The road runs north along the Hudson River and we saw a few Ring-necked Ducks and followed a flock of birds that we hoped to be Rusty Blackbirds, but couldn’t quite get a good enough look to ID for sure. The drive ended at the historic site of the Adirondack Iron Works and the McIntyre blast furnace. Not really any birds to see here, but a good stop nonetheless.

Our last birding excursion of the vacation took us back to Hoisington Brook Outlet in search of the Greater White-fronted Goose that had reportedly been seen. Several other birders were already there including well known local bird guides John and Pat Thaxton. John is an author and writer who often contributes articles to several Adirondack publications. Birding life was easy that day and our friends quickly pointed out, in the scope, the target goose with the orange bill standing in the middle of a group  of over 500 Canada Geese.

 

Next up: ‘The’ Florida Endemic

Trip : Total Species:  52  Year Birds:  8  Life Birds: 3

2015 : Year Birds: 467   Life Birds: 74

Here’s the list: 2015 Bird List