We try to take a winter vacation every year, and this time, our destination was upstate New York for a blend of snowmobiling and birding. We flew into Albany on a Thursday night and woke up to below-zero temperatures. On our way to our lodging, we made a stop at Desantis Meat Market and Deli in Barneveld. This high-quality butcher shop and deli treated us to some incredible Italian-style subs and cake donuts—a perfect start to the trip!
We checked into the White Lakes Lodges in Forestport and were surprised with an upgrade to the master suite, which featured two stories, a full kitchen, and a living room with a fireplace. A big thank you to Greg for that! We rented snowmobiles right on the property and enjoyed a thrilling tour of the Tug Hill plateau and the Booneville area. We highly recommend this region for a snowmobiling vacation; the trails are expertly maintained, and the businesses truly cater to the sport. It’s an excellent way to try it out before you buy your own sled.
Saturday morning, we headed out to bird near Lowville. Our target was a Snowy Owl that had been posted on eBird near the wind turbines. We checked every pole along the road, and suddenly, we saw something in the distance. Success! We had found our lifer, Snowy Owl.
Next, we went to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake for some winter birding and snowshoeing, which is definitely not as easy as some people make it look! We then visited the Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake, where we admired the stunning annual ice sculpture, which this year was a beautiful replica of the Hotel Saranac.
Back in Old Forge, we had dinner at Tony Harper’s Pizza & Clam Shack, a fun snowmobile hangout with good food and beer. The following day, we took a snowmobile trail through the woods to Old Forge. While eating lunch, we read a local paper with an article about a local bird bander, Gary Lee, and decided to look him up.
Sunday morning, we drove through heavy snow to get to Gary Lee’s place. Luckily, we were able to follow a snowplow for most of the way and saw more snowplows than cars on the road. Gary, a retired NYS forest ranger, is incredibly knowledgeable about wildlife and the Adirondacks. He is also an experienced birder with his own banding operation. Gary and his wife, Karen, welcomed us into their home, where we stayed warm and cozy while enjoying great views of their feeders through large picture windows. We saw a Hoary Redpoll (a life bird for us—for now, as it may be lumped with the Common Redpoll!), over 50 Common Redpolls, two species of woodpeckers, and a flock of Black-capped Chickadees. We’re so grateful to Gary for the experience!
We decided to take Route 28 through the treacherous conditions rather than the back roads. On our way, we stopped at Oscar’s Adirondack Smokehouse in Warrensburg to stock up on some of the best-smoked meats and cheeses anywhere. All good things must come to an end, and we caught an uneventful flight from Albany to Tampa. The weekend weather was quite the adventure, with highs of 26, lows of -1, winds between 10-20 mph, and a total snowfall of over 10 inches.
Next: Boat show and birds in Miami Beach
Trip : Total Species: 7 Year Birds: 7 Life Birds: 2
2015 : Year Birds: 102 Life Birds: 4
Here’s the list: 2015 Bird List
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