Root/Ames, NY

      My birding friend Joe and  I took a day trip up north to the area of Root and Ames, NY in Montgomery County where the NY rarity the Mississippi kite has been a local resident for the past three years.  Reports of a Henslow's sparrow and a number of Upland sandpipers thrown into the mix made the temptation of traveling 3 hours north too good to pass up.  We were not disappointed in the least.  Maybe it was the fact that we were making the trip on lucky 7/11, but we scored quickly on all three targets.  The Henslow's was located as promised by Peter Schoenberger's posting on the NY list-serve.....immediately across from mailbox 221 on MacPhail Rd in Ames (Montgomery County).

Henslow's sparrow

       The bird was singing and was perched at first low down in a Queen Anne's Lace, but later few up into the top of a stand of wild parsnip at close range.  There he presented us with great looks at a bird which happened to be a "lifer" for both of us.

 From here, we moved down to West Ames Road, following a tip from fellow birding club member Greg Prelich.  At the end of the road are a series of horse paddocks and fields.  In one of the larger fields, we first noted what were looking for....an Upland sandpiper.  We were thrilled to then see another, and another, and....before we were done counting, we had 17 of the birds in clear sight!

Upland sandpiper

     Two down and one to go.  We still needed the Mississippi kite to round out the trifecta.  Sharon and I had seen the bird two years ago when it first appeared in Root.  I knew the general area and we headed over to the junction of Donato and Mapletown Roads.  As we turned onto Donato, we saw what we throught was the kite perched on a utility pole, but it quickly flew as we approached.  We parked the vehicle and begin to search in the skies above the field across from the car as we ate our lunch.  Within minutes, an adult male Mississippi kite flew into view.

Adult male Mississippi kite

     It was only a matter of time before a second kite, what we believe to be a first-summer juvenile, flew onto the scene and afforded us more good looks and photo ops.  We had three targets in mind when we left this morning on a three hour car ride to the farm fields of central New York State.  We nailed all three in quick succession....quite a day's birding for a hot 90 degree summer day.  How can this summer's birding get any better than this?

Ferd's Bog

     Nestled in the heart of the Adirondacks, just outside of Racquette Lake in the hamlet of Inlet, lies one of the pure gems of the mountains......Ferd's Bog.  Birders from all over the northeast make the bog their primary focus as they search the Dacks for boreal species.  We still need the Black-backed and Three-toed woodpeckers as well as the Boreal chickadee.  Today, I make the 2 hour journey from our friends' home in South Colton to visit the bog for the first time.....another check on the "bucket list".....in the hopes of getting some other checks on the "other" list.  It's a four mile drive along dirt roads into the trail head, but them only .3 miles down a rough washed-out trail to the "boardwalk" out onto the bog.  As I enter the trail, I meet up with a couple of birders from down home in Orange County.  They inform me that they have had the Boreal chickadee as well as the Black-backed woodpecker down at the bog.

      I quickly bid them adieu and scramble excitedly down the trail.  En route, I hear a Nashville warbler singing high in the canopy, but the woodpecker is still further along, so I'll try to photograph this fine songster after dealing with the Black-back.  Down on the boardwalk, I encounter another lone birder, and I hear the words that all birders chasing a lifer dread...."Gee, she was here all morning, but she left about 5 minutes ago and I haven't heard or seen her since".   Well, patience is a virtue and it pays off as the bird finally returns to a bare snag adjacent to the boardwalk.

Black-backed woodpecker

      I quickly snap off a few shots, but the bird is in no hurry to leave and I can photograph her at my leisure.  She continues to drum loudly on the dead tree and eventually we think we know why.  A male (her mate?) flies in overhead and past us, landing in a stand of conifers on the far side of the bog.  We're hoping that her tapping will bring the male back to the same tree to give us an opportunity to photograph him, but as luck would have it, it is she who flies off for the rendezvous.  The female does in fact return later, but the male was not seen again.  But, I have a new life-bird and even if the lighting is a bit overcast, the view is fairly close and clear.

Black-capped chickadee

     A chickadee flies into the tree right next to the location of the woodpecker, but I can easily see that this the "wrong" chickadee, a Black-capped.  I neither hear nor see the Boreal I was hoping for.  Lincoln's and Swamp sparrows are in abundance as are White-throats.  I grab a few shots of the Swamp sparrow and move back into the forest to see if the Nashville is still present.  He is and although he stays up high in the trees, the open forest at the edge of the bog affords me a clear view of the warbler.  Another "Year bird" for that list.
  

Nashville warbler

       The skies begin to clear and the warmth of the sun is most appreciated.  Unfortunately, I have a long drive back to our lodgings up closer to the Canadian border and must begin my trek back up to the parking area.  As I approach the lot,  a call of "Quick-three beers" resonates through the forest....a first-of-the-year Olive-sided flycatcher.  Even if there were no new birds for any list, this trip would have been more than worth-while.  The Adirondacks are a magical place and Ferd's Bog is truly the epitome of why we come to the mountains.

Ferd's Bog

Bloomingdale Bog in the Adirondacks

Bloomingdale Bog

     My last posting dealt with the birds of Massawepie Mire.  At that time I mentioned that we still had a couple of days to search for the elusive boreal species....specifically the Boreal chickadee, the Black-backed woodpecker and the Gray jay.  Although the Three-toed woodpecker is also technically on my "wish-list" as we head into the Dacks, I'm realistic enough to know that this bird is the toughest to find and I don't have high expectations regarding this species.  None-the-less, we head out to Bloomingdale Bog on a day that is overcast and with showers in the forecast.  In route, we encounter several heavy downpours and we are wondering if we will even have a chance to get out of the RAV4 when we arrive at our destination.  As luck would have it, however, the storms have abated (at least for the moment) and we head down the old railroad bed in search of our quarry.  Our first encounter is with chickadees!  We listen, we watch and eventually we come up short with nothing more than the common Black-capped chickadee.  We know that the Boreal species of this bird often associates with the BC, but we don't see any such behavior today.  We move on.  Further down the trail, we have marsh wetlands on both sides......perfect habitat for the Lincoln's sparrow.  It is only a short time before we have two Lincoln's flitting back and forth along the trail.  We have great looks, but the birds refuse to come out from within their cover of thick conifers.  With the limited lighting due to the cloudy skies, a photo is all but impossible.

Gray jay

      As I continued to stalk the Lincoln's, refusing to just give up on the image, one of our companions motions to me to come along down the trail.  He has something I might be interested in.  And so it is! A life-bird...the Gray jay. Not just one, but four of them, and these birds are not shy.  They fly back and forth, feeding in the pines and coming in close to see if we have any better fare.  Apparently, folks around here feed these birds and they have become quite tame.  No excuses for not getting a few decent shots here!  With the threat of rain, I have only carried the "Point and Shoot" camera which I can easily keep under cover, but the birds are close enough so that I really don't need the "big guns".  The rains do in fact return return and we continue down the trail hoping for one quick look at the Black-backed, but the rains intensify and we head back with at least one life bird checked off on the list.  Tuesday, I'll head down to Ferd's Bog in one last attempt to capture an image or two of the "missing" boreals.

Gray jay