Birding Festivals in the Adirondacks:
2016 Great Adirondack Birding Celebration
Osgood Pond Field Trip

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Boreal Birds of the Adirondacks: American-Three-toed Woodpecker. 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This site is no longer being updated with current information on birding activities at the VIC.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, 5 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. Bring your own canoe or rent a tandem canoe for $15 per person. Each field trip is limited to 12 participants. Please register early.
• Where to Meet: TBA
• What to Bring: Gear for a short day trip on the water: hat, binoculars, sunscreen, snack, water, rain gear, insect repellent

This canoe trip takes you through extensive boreal habitat and offers the opportunity to view a wide variety of birds. The paddle takes you through forests of Tamarack, Black Spruce, and Balsam Fir, with boggy edges that attract boreal birds.

Birds we expect to see on this trip include woodpeckers, such as the Black-backed Woodpecker (fairly common here), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpecker. The Osgood is one of the best places in the Adirondacks to find the American Three-toed Woodpecker, although sightings of this bird (here and elsewhere in the Adirondacks) are quite rare.

Other boreal species seen here include Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadees, Alder Flycatchers, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. We also expect species such as Bald Eagle, Broad-winged Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, Brown Creeper, and Winter Wren.

We should also pick up a wide variety of warblers. Warblers that have frequently been seen here at this time of year include: Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Palm Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Nashville Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Birds who make their home on or near northern waters and bogs are also commonly seen here, including: Ring-necked Duck, American Black Duck, Common Loon, Mallard, Solitary Sandpiper, Belted Kingfisher, and Great Blue Heron.

References

• John M.C. Peterson and Gary N. Lee. Adirondack Birding. 60 Great Places to Find Birds (Saranac Lake: Long Pond Press, 2008), pp. 126-128.
• eBird Hotspot. Osgood Pond Bird Checklists. Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• Phil Brown, "A favorite paddle," Adirondack Explorer, 6 July 2009. Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• Alan Belford, "Paddling the Osgood River," 18 August 2012. Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• Osgood River. Downloaded 19 February 2016.