Birding the Adirondacks

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Yet it’s the hope of something delicious that keeps us rummaging through the box even when our tongues have been nettled by orange or raspberry creams.

A box of chocolates. That’s what it’s like to bird the buggy peatlands of the Adirondacks in the heart of the breeding season.

Every step through the boreal forest–that wet, green, primeval terrain–is anchored with the sights and sounds of a sweet assortment of birds. Even if we have to swat away a few mosquitoes, black flies, or common sparrows on our way to the good stuff, birding here is a feast for the senses. And surprises occur around every bend.

Massawepie Mire, Adirondacks, New York

Last weekend, my friends Mike Powers and Chip Clouse and I traveled to the Adirondacks on a little birding tour. Our weekend itinerary took us to Ferd’s Bog and Shallow Lake near Old Forge, where we hoped for, but did not see, Black-backed Woodpecker, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Spruce Grouse.

Then we traveled to Lake Placid and checked into the High Peaks Resort for a meal and a good night’s sleep in one of the coziest beds I’ve ever had the pleasure to know (my review here).

In the morning, we set off in the hard rain to join a Great Adirondacks Birding Festival field trip to Whiteface Mountain in search of Bicknell’s Thrush. Happily, our group weathered the cold, fog, and steady downpour and saw the thrush within the first 90 minutes. Our trip leader, John Thaxton (who co-led with his wife, Pat) wrote about our intrepid early morning excursion here. I’m pretty sure I’m the woman who gasped and plastered her bins to her eyeglasses in this article!

My buddy Chip needed Mourning Warbler for his life list. Somewhat fortuitously, we got in touch with an avid local birder named Larry Master and he invited us to his 10-acre nature preserve, where no less than five pairs breed. But plans changed after that soggy morning, so we met him and his friend Sean O’Brien, another avid birder, out for lunch at the Shamrock near Bloomingdale Bog (another fantastic place to bird). Lo and behold, who was at the lunch table, but Lang Elliot, the maestro of nature sounds (MusicofNature.org) himself. We caught up on his spring tour and enjoyed a beer, before heading out again in the rain. We made a quick visit of Paul Smiths Visitor Information Center, but could have spent another few hours there wandering the Boreal Life trail.

Sean and Larry were kind enough to offer a personal tour of Massawepie Mire that afternoon so we had to skeddaddle. We could put up with some rain if it kept us out birding, especially if Chip could get his Mourning Warbler. We spotted the MOWA in short order, then hiked a few miles into the mire for more boreal birds.  It was a nice walk with good birds, but not extremely productive owing to the time of day.

So we headed back to Tupper Lake where we stayed at the comfy Park Motel & Cabins (my review here). After a bit of R & R we headed over to the Park Restaurant next door for a bite to eat. The guys enjoyed their chicken marsala but my chicken de la rosa was a bit on the gummy side (owing to the heaping mound of fettucini topped with a mixture of alfredo and tomato sauce). However, after accidentally buying a magnum, rather than a bottle of wine, the meal washed down well and we were very glad for the proximity of our motel rooms.

Next morning, we survived a third-for-the-weekend brush with McDonalds and headed back to the Mire for a spectacular, early morning jaunt where we observed 41 species, including great views of Mourning Warbler and two boreal flycatchers: Yellow-bellied and Olive-sided, among many other species.

However, the biggest surprise (the biggest, most chocolaty morsel), was not an encounter with a Spruce Grouse, but with black bear! (More on that over at my Audubon Guides blog - I’ll post a direct link as soon as it is up.)

Black bear tracks

In the end, we’d leave the park with three lifers for Chip (Mourning Warbler, Bicknell’s Thrush, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher) but without a clean sweep of boreal birds (no Black-backed Woodpecker, Am. Three-toed Woodpecker, Spruce Grouse, Gray Jay OR Boreal Chickadee!). Nevertheless, we left happy as can be for having spent three days deep in the heart of the oldest, wildest peatlands of the Adirondacks.

And thankful for its sweet surprises.

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If you go:

Don’t even think of birding the Adirondacks without: Birding The Adirondacks: 60 Great Places to Find Birds by John M.C. Peterson and Gary N. Lee (photos by Jeff Nadler). It tells you exactly where to go for your target species, and can save you a lot of time, trouble, and missed birds. Contact me if you need suggestions for a private guide – I know at least three birders who can help you.

Need lodging? Options include the family friendly Park Motel and Cabins (review) in Tupper Lake and the High Peaks Resort (review) in Lake Placid. You can also rent a cabin at the rustic White Pine Camp near Paul Smiths, one of the historic great camps from the golden age of the Adirondacks. More travel information can be found at visitadirondacks.com. Tell them I sent you.