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