Birding Festivals in the Adirondacks:
2016 Great Adirondack Birding Celebration
Little Clear Pond Field Trip
Common Loon. Photo by Larry Master. www.masterimages.org
| This site is no longer being updated with current information on birding activities at the VIC. For current information on the events planned for the 2017 Great Adirondack Birding Celebration, visit: http://www.paulsmiths.edu/vic/gabc/schedule/. For information on birding in the Adirondacks, visit: Adirondack Wildlife: Birds of the Adirondacks. |
- Time: Saturday, 4 June, 7:00 AM and Sunday, 8 June, 7:00 AM
- Price: $40 per person. $36 for Friends of the VIC or Northern New York Audubon members. $20 for Friends of the VIC Warblers. Each field trip is limited to 12 participants. Please register early. Voyageur canoes for this trip are provided by MAC’s Canoe Livery.
- Where to Meet: TBA.
- What to Bring: Gear for a short day trip: hat, binoculars, sunscreen, snack, water, rain gear, insect repellent
The target bird for this field trip is the Common Loon -- the charismatic icon of the Adirondack Mountains. The destination -- Little Clear Pond -- is a 385-acre pond on the southeastern corner of the St. Regis Canoe Area west of Lake Clear. The St. Regis Canoe Area is a network of recreational waterways in New York State that attract canoeists and kayakers from across the country.
Little Clear Pond was chosen as a destination for the field trip because it is one of the most common places to see loons. Fishing is not allowed on the pond, because it is used by the New York State-run Adirondack Fish Hatchery to raise landlocked salmon for breeding and stocking purposes. As a result, there is plenty of food for the birds; and the pond has become a haven for the Common Loon and one of the most successful ponds for loon breeding.
References
- Biodiversity Research Institute. Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation. Downloaded 21 February 2016.
- Alan Belford, "Paddling Little Clear Pond" 20 August 2014. Downloaded 21 February 2016.
- Alan Belford, "'A Red Phalarope at Little Clear Pond," 12 June 2013. Downloaded 21 February 2016