Birding the Adirondacks: Overview

Rarely have I been so lucky as to immerse myself in four full days of birding in an entirely new habitat, so close to home. 

I have been on extended birding tours in Honduras, Belize and other places, but what’s exceptional about the Adirondack Park is that it is a largely unspoiled 6-million acre wildlife area with dramatic landscapes and rich biodiversity, it holds an assemblage of birds that I’d never seen before, PLUS it’s only five hours away!

I should clarify: this was my fourth trip to the Adirondacks over the last 15 years. I was already in love with the place — the mountains, the coniferous forests, the crisp air and cold lakes — all of which foster the active, adventurous lifestyles of those who live there.

But I’d never seriously birded here nor traveled deep into its special habitats. 

Why do birders come to the Adirondacks? What special birds are found here? And how can I find them?

My questions were simple enough, but as anyone who’s planned an intense birding trip into uncharted territories can attest, it takes work to narrow down a feasible list of birds and birding sites, especially in areas as big as the Adirondacks (which is bigger than the state of Massachusetts).

First, I had to develop a working understanding of the habitats that occur in the Adirondacks, including baldface peaks with alpine summits and subalpine forests, lowland bogs and fens, marshy rivers and streams, clear lakes ringed by pines and spruce, a well as the Lake Champlain valley.

Then I learned a little about the birds that could be found in these habitats–birds such as Spruce Grouse, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Bicknell’s Thrush. What did they look like? Sound like? Where could they be found? Do they have any distinguishing behaviors?

Lucky for me, the first comprehensive guide to birding in the park had just been published: Adirondack Birding: 60 Great Places to Find Birds by John M. C. Peterson & Gary N. Lee (Long Pond Press).  As a park ‘outsider’ trying to discover the best birding the Adirondacks had to offer, I found the book indispensable. 

Because I was traveling alone into comparably remote, not well-traveled locations, the book served as my hired guide, providing me with an overview of the “birding landscape” in each region of the park and providing suggestions on best places to locate key species. The book also gave driving directions, maps, and descriptions of where to find specific birds once I was on site.

I ran a few logistical concerns by local birders and naturalists, such as those involving distance and reasonable transportation times (maps are deceiving in large areas), to reduce complications.

Eventually, I decided to concentrate my birding in the Northern and High Peaks regions, including Ferd’s Bog near Inlet, Madawaska Pond near Paul Smiths, and farther east towards Whiteface Mountain (north of Lake Placid).

In addition to birding those areas, I took a guided canoe trip down Osgood River and strolled though Bloomingdale Bog with naturalist and nature writer Edward Kanze. I stayed in wonderful places each night, including High Peaks Resort and White Pine Camp. I filled my belly at a few iconic eateries, including the Eat N’ Meet Grill in Saranac Lake, The Cottage on Mirror Lake, and Little Italy in Tupper Lake. And I toured the fantastic Adirondack Museum, The Wild Center at Tupper Lake, and The Adirondack Visitor Center at Paul Smiths.

More on these venues in future posts.

Though I dreamed of making a clean sweep of the boreal species, I was content to come home with a deeper understanding of the ancient boreal habitat peppered with observations of Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, (Yellow) Palm Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Bicknell’s Thrush, plus a host of neotropical migrants.

While Spruce Grouse and American Three-toed Woodpecker will have to wait, the rewards of uninterrupted birding in the outstanding Adirondack wilderness areas will reverberate a long time. 

Next up: Whiteout on Whiteface Mountain: Quest for Bicknell’s Thrush

photo credit: Bicknell’s Thrush courtesy of VisitAdirondacks.com