Birding Festivals in the Adirondacks:
2015 Great Adirondack Birding Celebration
Whiteface Mountain Field Trip

• Time: Saturday, 6 June, 7:00 AM and Sunday, 7 June, 7:00 AM
• Fee: Included in Great Adirondack Birding Celebration registration fee
• A la carte price: $50 per person (includes toll road fee). Register by 30 May. Fees paid at the time of registration. Pre-register as early as you can, as this walk fills up quickly.
• Where to Meet: The Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway toll house.
• What to Bring: Gear for a short day trip: hat, binoculars, sunscreen, snack, water, rain gear, insect repellent

Boreal Birds of the Adirondacks:
Magnolia Warbler on Whiteface Mountain.
Photo by Larry Master. www.masterimages.org.
Used by permission.

The upper reaches of Whiteface Mountain are home to a population of a rare songbird: the Bicknell's Thrush. The species breeds in high elevation conifer forests, primarily above 3000 feet. The Bicknell's Thrush is among the most rare and probably most threatened species in North America. Fewer than 100,000 exist in the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the status of this species to determine if it should be listed as federally endangered or threatened. Nearly a quarter of the nesting habitat of the Bicknell's Thrush is in the dense spruce forests near Adirondack mountaintops. Whiteface Mountain, with about a thousand acres of suitable Bicknell's Thrush breeding habitat, is one of the biggest and most important sites. The field trip to Whiteface Mountain, the easiest place to see the species anywhere in its small northeastern range, provides an opportunity to see and hear this bird.

The trip will begin with a flat, easy walk around Lake Stevens Tree Trail at the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway toll house. The Lake Stevens Tree Trail offers a self-guided, 10-minute walk around the pond. All 34 species of trees native to the northern Adirondacks (14 conifer and 20 hardwoods) can be found on this short nature trail. 

Then participants will carpool up the toll road, stopping at some of the nine pull-offs and searching for boreal birds. Whiteface Mountain is an eBird Birding Hotspot. In addition to the Bicknell's Thrush, other species seen here in past field trips include:

Getting There

From the Paul Smith's College VIC parking lot: Turn RIGHT onto Route 30. After 0.8 miles, turn LEFT onto Route 86. Continue to follow NY-86E through the villages of Saranac Lake and Lake Placid into Wilmington (approximately 34 miles). Turn LEFT onto NY 431/Veteran's Memorial Highway and follow the road to the Toll Gate/Toll House where participants will meet, park, and begin the field trip.

From Saranac Lake: Follow Route 86 through Lake Placid into Wilmington (approximately 23 miles). Turn LEFT onto NY 431/Veteran's Memorial Highway and follow the road to the Toll Gate/Toll House where participants will meet, park, and begin the field trip.