Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Birding the Adirondacks - Day II

This morning we set out early on our second day in the Adirondacks in upstate NY. We decided to take a chance and try for the Northern Shrike that we learned was seen on the 14th, right near where we got the Northern Hawk Owl on the 15th. Luck was on our side. We got another look at the Northern Hawk Owl as I was able to pick it up along the road we where we had it the day before. A few minutes later, I picked up a Northern Shrike west of where we had seen the Hawk Owl and got everyone on the bird for good scope view. We were all thrilled as we had picked up both birds quickly.

From there we went on to Paul Smith's VIC hoping for Boreal Chickadee and Gray Jay, but dipped on both. However, we were able to pad our trip and day list with a couple of species. Leaving Paul Smith's, we ended up on Bigelow road where after about 3/4's of a mile in on the trail we found another target bird. Boreal Chickadee and it was Sam who spotted one among a flock of Black-capped Chickadees. It was some spotting given the light and angle. We were besides ourselves. A few minutes later, we had a new trip bird as I picked out a Pine Siskin that had arrived in a flock of Goldfinches; we and ended up with two Siskins for the day. Later in the afternoon, on the other side of Bigelow, we picked up a Black-backed Woodpecker. By then the light was fading and we called it a day.

A review of my day list from today show:
  1. American Crow
  2. American Goldfinch
  3. Black-backed Woodpecker
  4. Black-capped Chickadee
  5. Blue Jay
  6. Boreal Chickadee
  7. Cedar Waxwing
  8. Common Raven
  9. Downy Woodpecker
  10. European Starling
  11. Golden-crowned Kinglet
  12. Hairy Woodpecker
  13. Mourning Doves
  14. Northern Cardinal
  15. Northern Shrike
  16. Northern-Hawk Owl
  17. Pine Siskin
  18. Red-breasted Nuthatch
  19. Red-tail Hawk
  20. Rock Pigeon
  21. White-breasted Nuthatch
  22. White-throated Sparrow


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