Bicknell's ThrushThis past June I, along with good birding friends, attended the 13th Annual Adirondack Birding Festival held at Paul Smith’ s College in New York. Why attend a birding festival you may ask?
These festivals offer opportunities to bird in unfamiliar territories and to socialize with birders from far and wide. Workshops are generally part of the experience and provide the opportunity to learn something new about birds. All skill levels of birding will be present in the field trips but that is part of the fun, witnessing a birder finding a life bird.
Our first field trip on Friday was an all-day excursion starting in the Adirondacks and ending on the western shores of Lake Champlain. A nice variety of birds was seen. Saturday we had a half-day trip to Bloomingdale Bog in search of boreal species. The birding was a little slow, but a nice selection of warblers was present. We were nearing the end of the tour when a group of juvenile Gray Jays descended near us. They are quite unafraid of people and were eating bird snacks from the hand of our leader. It was very exciting to observe this species up close.
That evening the keynote speaker was none other than the Vermont Center for Ecostudies’ Chris Rimmer. Of course his subject was the Bicknell's Thrush! We learned a great deal about this rare bird's ecology. The species faces threats here on its breeding grounds as well as on its wintering sites. One aspect of breeding was very interesting: The research that has been done in Vermont shows that the females will mate with several males who will in turn feed whatever chicks are in the nests!
Gray JayChris’s information only whetted our appetite for our trip up Whiteface Mountain the following day. A van picked us up early and we rode up the newly-paved access road up the mountain. Our first stop had a couple of Bick's calling. Finally I had a brief look at one, but it quickly flew into the thick trees. Frustrating! A pair of Boreal Chickadees and a Blackpoll Warbler were more cooperative. We continued up where some of us took the elevator to the summit and walked back down to the lower lot. A lone Common Raven gave a couple of guttural comments as we passed by.
Our next stop on the way down found a photographer set up and he said Bick's were present. Shortly they returned and were nearly at our feet running on the ground. One then perched nearby and sang! To add to the thrill a Black-backed Woodpecker swooped in briefly and checked out a tree.
Our last stop was brief due to blackflies that swarmed when the wind died.
While the Adirondack Birding Festival is small compared to others it delivers some great birding and a good time with fellow birders. The easy access for those of us living nearby makes attending this something to consider for next summer.