Adirondack
Birding:
Beginner Birder Workshop
1 July 2011
Adirondack
Birding: Great Blue Heron on Heron MarshThe first day of July turned out to be Maternity Day at the Paul Smith's College VIC, with a wide variety of birds observed nesting or feeding their young. The walk was let by Adirondack Birding Center Director Brian McAllister as part of the Beginner Birder Workshops at the VIC. We met at the Paul Smith's College VIC parking lot at 8 AM and began by listening to and observing the many birds who haunt the parking lot and the grounds around the VIC building, including a Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, and Red-Eyed Vireo. By the VIC building we watched a female Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding her three chicks.
Then we headed out to the Heron Marsh Trail, where we saw a Ring-necked Duck with seven ducklings, a American Black Duck with three ducklings, two juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds being fed by their mother, and a White-throated Sparrow busily feeding her young. On the marsh, we observed three juvenile American Bitterns, still sporting white down on their heads. On the far side of Heron Marsh, we observed a pair of Winter Wren tending their nest in a downed fir tree. The birds gave an abbreviated version of their signature song as they flew in and out of the nesting site.
Adirondack
Birding: Ring-necked Ducks on Heron Marsh at the Paul Smiths VIC
We heard and/or saw 24 species of birds:
We also identified a large number of plants and wildflowers, including:
- Sheep Laurel
- Spreading Dogbane
- Shinleaf
- Dewdrop (False Violet)
- Pipsissewa (in bud)
- Pickerel Weed
- Marsh Cinquefoil
- Blue Flag Iris
- Yellow Pond Lily
- Goldthread (not blooming)
- Wintergreen