Great Adirondack Birding Celebration – THIS weekend!

REMINDER:

The Seventh Annual Great Adirondack Birding Celebration will be held June 5-7 at the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths. The weekend features birding trips, lectures, workshop and the popular Teddy Roosevelt Birding Challenge. The keynote address will be given by Bridget Stutchbury, York University professor of biology. For more information, visit http://www.adkvic.org/birdcelebration.html or call 518-327-3000.

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I just returned from a four-day birding trip to the Adirondack Park of New York State. The goal of my trip was to immerse myself in the park’s boreal habitats and become familiar with its bird life–such as the Spruce Grouse, American Three-toed Woodpecker, 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.

This was definitely one of my best North American birding adventures. Not only was the habitat wild, rich, and new, but I observed each bird on my target list except for the first two, which are ostensibly the among the toughest birds to spot here. I emerged from the park overwhelmed with its beauty and rewarded with great birding.

I will share details in the coming weeks, but now I want to remind birders that the Great Adirondack Birding Celebration is taking place THIS WEEKEND from June 5-7 (2009) at the ADK Visitor Information Center in Paul Smiths, NY. Registration is still open at $35 (518-327-3000). The festival promises to be an exciting introduction to boreal habitat and fantastic way to see the very special birds that evolved with it.

I toured the family-friendly, 3,000-acre ADK Visitor Information Center (VIC) and explored several birding sites on the festival’s agenda. These sites are fabulous, remote, beautiful, and teeming with birds and other wildlife (you never know when a moose will cross your path, though I wasn’t so lucky!)

I also met several of the folks behind the festival, including its original architect, Brian McAllister. Brian is a licensed NYS naturalist guide and a first-rate birder with over 30 years of experience. Just ask anyone in the area who to talk to about birds, and they’ll say “Brian McAllister.”  So I hired him to take me on a birding canoe trip down the Osgood River and he helped me spot tons of birds including Winter Wren, Canada Warbler, Broad-winged Hawk, Nashville and Parula Warblers, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. You can bird with Brian at the festival, or hire him for a private tour. Reach him at Borealis Nature Tours (518) 637-1773 or birder64 [at] yahoo.com.

I’ll get back to stories soon, but hope you’ll get to bird the Adirondacks sometime. It’s a very special place. Free free to ask questions via e-mail if you consider making a trip.

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If your ISO last-minute lodging, check out these options:

New York State ADK campgrounds: Check out the listing of Adirondack campgrounds or download the entire New York 2009 Camping Guide.

White Pine Camp: A rustic, remote Adirondack Great Camp built in 1907 on the secluded Osgood Lake in Paul Smiths–just a few miles from the ADK VIC. This Great Camp provides the classic Adirondack experience and is managed by gracious innkeepers, Dick and Mary George.  I loved the Japanese Tea Garden and old-fashioned boat house where I could take out their rowboat or Old Town canoes. Plenty of good birding can be had on or near the secluded camp: Bald Eagle, Common Loon, Ruffed Grouse, Palm Warbler, Black-throated Blue (and Green) Warblers, Northern Parula, Lincoln Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, and lots more. (518) 327-3030.

High Peaks Resort: A swank but casual hotel in the heart of Lake Placid with good food and outstanding views of the High Peaks and Mirror Lake. The lodge has a lively, fun atmosphere and features three tiers of rooms to suit your budget. For dinner Thursday night, I ordered the Olive Oil Poached Wild Salmon with clams, chorizo, roasted tomatoes in a chardonnay sauce. Oh my, my, it was delish, and after a full day in the field, it hit the spot. (800) 755-5598.

Additional lodging and tourism info can be found at VisitAdirondacks.com.