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

GABC Home | Events | Keynote | Getting Here | Lodging | Schedule | Register | 2015 GABC Bird List

Boreal Birds of the Adirondacks: Spruce Grouse. 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This site is no longer being updated with current information on birding activities at the VIC.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. Each field trip is limited to 20 participants. Please register early.
• Where to Meet: TBA
• What to Bring: Gear for a short day trip: sturdy boots, hat, binoculars, sunscreen, snack, water, rain gear (but no rain pants, please), insect repellent

Participants will explore one of the largest peat land complexes in New York State. Spring Pond Bog is the second-largest open expanse of peat land in New York. The Spring Pond Bog Preserve, owned by the Nature Conservancy, provides a unique habitat for plants and animals found nowhere else in the state. 

The half-mile trail leads through a hardwood forest, along an esker with views of the spruce swamp, to a point with magnificent views of Spring Pond Bog.  There is also a boardwalk trail through a smaller "teaching bog" off the main trail. Built by volunteers during the summer of 1998, it allows visitors to take an up close look at the bog without disturbing the plants. This natural area is open to the public (with written permission) for recreational, educational and scientific use.

The wetlands and surrounding forest provide habitat for 130 species of birds, including boreal birds not commonly seen elsewhere in the Adirondack Park. The bog contains a variety of typical northern bog plant species such as Pitcher Plant, Leatherleaf, Bog Laurel and Labrador Tea, as well as several rare species. 

On this field trip, participants should see or hear most of the more common lowland boreal birds (Gray Jay, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee and Black-backed Woodpecker). If we get lucky, we may also see some of the less common species such as the Tennessee Warbler or the Rusty Blackbird. The latter is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-95 percent over the past forty years.

Another (although more remote) possibility is the Spruce Grouse. The boreal habitats surrounding the bog are home to the last, best stronghold for Spruce Grouse in the state. The best chance to see them is when they are dusting in and along the dirt roads. For instance, the Spruce Grouse reported by an eBirder in late May 2015 was dusting himself in the road before the rain.

References

• John M.C. Peterson and Gary N. Lee. Adirondack Birding. 60 Great Places to Find Birds (Saranac Lake: Long Pond Press, 2008), pp. 114-116.
• eBird Hotspot. Spring Pond Bog Bird Checklists. Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• The Nature Conservancy, "Spring Pond Bog Preserve," Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• Alan Belford, "Birding at Spring Pond Bog," 15 June 2012. Downloaded 19 February 2016.
• Alan Belford, "Birding in Spring Pond Bog," 12 June 2013. Downloaded 19 February 2016