Forest

On Wednesday May 20th I went birding at the Lake Alice Wildlife Management Area located between Altona and Chazy New York. The weather was beautiful when I arrived at 7:30 with clear skies and bright sun. The temperature started off at 52 degrees Fahrenheit but by the afternoon had climbed up into the upper 60's. The Lake Alice wildlife area is situated round Lake Alice a small lake bordered by marshes to the south and a deciduous forest to the east. Immediately north of the lake a small patchwork of fields are maintained but beyond those fields a mixed deciduous forest is the dominant habitat type. To the west of the lake is a mixture of properties, fields and small forest stands. Through the deciduous forest to the Northeast of the lake a cross country ski trail cut through the forest offering a useful trail to follow.

In and around lake Alice I saw some a high number of Yellow Warblers who were both very vocal and active. I was surprised by the abundance of Yellow Warblers. While I have come across them before I saw a much greater number of them today than on previous outings. Also in and around the lake were Red-winged Blackbirds, a Belted Kingfisher, Canada Geese, Baltimore Oriole and what I believe was an Eastern Kingbird. The mixture of habitat around the lake appeared to be influenced by the mowing of several small fields which provided a decent amount of open cover north of the lake. The marshlands to the south of the lake were still very boggy and lacked a developed trail which somewhat precluded me from exploring in that direction.

Moving into the deciduous forest I had a fair bit of difficulty. I'm still working on the vocalizations so I struggled a bit as the visibility was significantly reduced in the forested habitat. I think that I heard an American Redstart and an Ovenbird but I was not confident enough to list them. In terms of the Scarlet Tanager it could have been present and I simply did not hear or see one. I was in a fairly large block of forested habitat however I was located on the edge of the block and due to the boggy nature of the forest was somewhat limited to staying close to the trail. So there is a possibility that there may have been Scarlet Tanagers present deeper in the forest. In terms of what I did see I was very happy with the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the Red-eyed Vireo, the Least Flycatcher and the Wood Thrush. I'm pretty confident that I observed a Least Flycatcher though it was a new species for me so I wasn't 100 percent sure. However, the abundance of flying insects in particular the mosquitoes offered a wide array of food sources.

Posted on May 20, 2020 09:12 PM by tsshafer tsshafer

Observations

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

What

Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

What

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Veery (Catharus fuscescens)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Veery (Catharus fuscescens)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

What

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)

Observer

tsshafer

Date

May 20, 2020

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