Want to go birding in the park? Let guide Joan Collins show you the way
Know Before You Go:
Learn the birds around your home first.
A feeder is a great way to attract them. Most species are habitat specific, so branch out by visiting marshes, bogs, forests (boreal, deciduous and mixed), grasslands, shrublands, high elevations and more.
The early birder gets the bird!
Be out watching by first light. Birds are most active at dawn and the early hours of the morning.
Optics, including binoculars, scopes and cameras, can be costly, but they are investments you will likely have for a long time. I still have the binoculars I bought 25 years ago.
Join a local birding organization.
Most clubs host field trips, sponsor citizen-science projects and host speakers. Attend the field trips—it’s a wonderful way to learn more about birds and meet people who can offer tips about identification and behaviors.
Purchase a field guide such as The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. There are many apps for smart phones, but I recommend putting the phone away and learning by spending time outside, listening to bird songs and observing behaviors. You can add apps for reference later. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds website is packed with helpful information.
Star Sightings:
Spruce grouse is an endangered and rare-to-see species in the Adirondacks. Madawaska Flow and Massawepie Bog are two locations to watch for this tame grouse in boreal forests and bog edges containing tamarack trees.
Black-backed woodpeckers specialize in eating the wood-boring beetle larvae in dead trees of both high- and low-elevation wet boreal forests.
Canada jays are curious, intelligent and highly engaging, often landing in a hand for food. Continually caching food all year, they are able to remember thousands of hidden stores. Look for them in boreal forests and bogs.
Boreal chickadees are quickly disappearing from low-elevation areas of the Adirondack Park. Listen for their nasal vocalizations in boreal habitat at higher elevations, where they are still doing well.
Bicknell’s thrush, the only endemic species in the northeastern United States, has an ethereal flute-like song. Look for this endangered thrush in high-elevation balsam fir forests. The easiest way to reach its habitat is to drive up Whiteface Mountain.
Mourning warbler, named for its dark hood, is nearly always on visitors’ wish lists. Look for this beautiful bird in thickets with tall trees nearby for singing perches, such as areas growing back after logging or power-line cuts.
Feathered Facts:
The American woodcock’s amusing bobbing, rocking motion has an important purpose. Watch closely to see the birds’ toes push on the ground to get earthworms moving. Their long bills then probe the soil to capture the worms.
Black-backed woodpeckers use a clever technique to get their nestlings to fledge from the nest cavity. Withholding food for an hour or two, an adult eventually arrives with a mouthful for the hungry babies, but perches below the hole. The nestling falls from the hole as it leans for the food, learning to fly “on the fly.”
Blackpoll warblers, weighing only half an ounce, have the longest over-water flight of any songbird. At the end of the summer, they head to the East Coast, doubling their weight along the way. Then they fly nonstop for three to four days over the Atlantic Ocean to South America.
Common loons have an adaptation for consuming large fish: the sharp rearward-pointing denticles on the roof of their mouths and tongues that interlock with the scales of fish. After wrestling a fish so it can be swallowed headfirst, they throw back their head over and over to send the fish down their throat.
Birding Spots:
Massawepie Mire is the largest bog in New York and a lovely place to hike. The main trail (formerly a railbed), runs for miles through bogs, forests (boreal, mixed and deciduous) and marshes. Boreal birds such as palm warbler and Lincoln’s sparrow are abundant. It’s a designated Important Bird Area (IBA).
Keese Mills Road to Blue Mountain Road and the Madawaska trail offer a variety of birds in a remote, quiet area. Habitats include shrubby areas (with mourning warblers), marshes, beaver-
created wetlands, ponds and forests (boreal, mixed and deciduous).
William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, along Sabattis Road, has 18 nesting warbler species. It’s a designated IBA.
Minerva Railbed and the Roosevelt Truck Trail along Route 28N offer a great combination outing. Hike the railbed south into open wetlands (brook, pond and marsh) with seven flycatcher species. The wide Roosevelt Truck Trail, a short drive (0.3 mile) up the hill from the railbed, is 2.5 miles of mostly mature boreal and mixed forest.
Joan Collins leads birding outings each summer and fall. This year’s trips explore the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, Roosevelt Truck Trail and the Upper Dam Trail to Hitchens Pond. Learn more at www.mylonglake.com.
Above: Boreal chickadee
