The Spring breeding season is underway with males in breeding plumage, and many songbirds are highly visible courting from prominent perches or aggressively defending their territories.
It is an ideal time to observe bird life throughout the Adirondacks as multiple species are engaged in constructing their nests, raising their young and all kinds of curious and interesting behavior. Try to get out in the early morning when birds are most active.
When heading out into the forests, fields and especially bogs keep in mind the landscape can be extremely wet this time of year, so gear up accordingly.
Binoculars are a must if you want to get the highest yield for time spent. It can be frustrating not to be able to see the markings on birds for proper identification. The reach provided by the optics will also allow birds room to carry on their business candidly. The breeding season is precarious and stressful enough without the extra strain of human invasion.
And you will want to have a good field guide, because if you look for birds in earnest, you will discover species you had no idea existed on earth, much less in this amazing backyard called the Adirondacks. Nearly 240 different species of birds have been observed in Hamilton County alone!
It was on the tenth book in The Adirondack Kids® series of our books – The Final Daze of Summer – where in the non-fiction section at the back of the book we included a comprehensive checklist of the bird species found in the Adirondacks.
My favorite haunts for birding and taking photographs of birds in our neck of the Adirondack woods are Moss Lake for common loons and other water birds. There has also been an active Osprey nest on the large island there for years.
The three-mile hike through the woods around the lake also takes the birder through rich warbler territory. The trailhead for the lake is down the Moose River Road off Route 28 in Eagle Bay, NY.
It is Ferd’s Bog with trailhead along the Uncas Road off Route 28 also in Eagle Bay for boreal birds and the rare Black-backed Woodpecker. But I have observed species from Bluebirds to White-throated Sparrows in that immediate area.
The bonus at this location in Spring is also the wonderful wildflowers on display. A boardwalk was finally established at the bog making the approach safe for hikers with greatly reduced impact on the fragile environment.
Let me say quickly, these are the locations with which we have become most familiar over the years. But there are six-million acres in this incredible Park. So, get the family together and have fun planning and exploring and making discoveries of your very own!
Question: What outdoor activities are you planning for your family this year?
Behind-the-Scenes
This is our brand-new video about our Affiliate Page we just launched that features resources we use personally and believe in that can help enhance enjoyment and safety in the Adirondack’s great outdoors.
If you enjoyed this blog, please share it!
© 2018 Adirondack Kid Press, Ltd.
