2013 in Review: A Big Year in Albany County

A Big Year in Albany County

“American Pipits!”

The words were clearly spoken, but not quite fully understood by the listeners. Sometimes, when in the course of undertaking the routine, an unexpected square peg just won't fit in one of the holes. We sat for a moment, looking at each other, befuddled, and the best we could come up with was a rather dull “Really?”

“There's a group of American Pipits out by Game Farm Road. I figured you guys would want to know,” said Eric, who, along with a hardy bunch of birders, had just finished the New Year's Day Bird Count at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, in Delmar. On his way out, he discovered the birds along the roadside, and he rushed back to tell others. I like that about birders, and it's not about bragging or self-importance, not often, anyway. It's the common experience, like sharing a bite of your surprisingly delicious menu choice at the restaurant.

That made 39 species observed for the day. The thirty-eight seen earlier was a new record for the Five Rivers Count. A lot of folks like to come out on New Year's morning to jump-start their birding year, to get the ball rolling on a day when all birds are “new”, have significance and are equally beautiful. Even European Starling...check. Still, we couldn't help but anticipate what avian wonders would favor us as the hours of daylight expanded, and our northern temperate zone awoke from its hibernal slumber. In a couple of months, the Neotropical travelers would feel the migratory restlessness that would propel them to our latitudes, and beyond.

JANUARY

The invasion of Common Redpolls that began in late 2012 continued into early 2013. Common Ravens were observed from the first day of the new year, and sightings in the valley areas were plentiful throughout the year, even as frequent flyovers in urban and suburban areas.

On January 7^th, a birder traveling along Towpath Road on the northern side of the Mohawk River in Halfmoon, at the Dunsbach Ferry site, was amazed to find two Sandhill Cranes standing near the shoreline. The word went out quickly and hordes of local, and not so local, birders rushed to view the pair. Although this species is very common elsewhere in the country, it has only recently made inroads into parts of New York from the Great Lakes, and sightings in New York State Region 8 are rare. These cranes developed an early morning routine of flying away from this overnight roost site, heading towards the “Twin Bridges” and then turning south. In the evenings just before darkness fell, they would return to the small open water oasis by the historic ferry site, then move to nearby cover until dawn. Speculation turned to where they went to feed during the day. Several birders, myself included, tried to track them after sunrise from the Albany County side of the river, but they eluded us after flying overhead. What a charismatic species, though, with their bills pointed skyward, doing some dance moves, and sparring with a Great Blue Heron, the previous “king of the hill” at the watering hole. A life bird for Colleen and me!

Later in January, a report was received of White-winged Crossbills, sighted in the Albany Pine Bush off Route 155. Less than two miles from home, the Pine Bush would receive a lot of my birding attention in 2013, but I didn't expect to be walking the trails (and bushwhacking) in late January. We met up with John and Tristan, who would become frequent birding companions for the rest of the year. After walking around for the better part of an hour, we watched a flock of small birds fly into the tops of nearby pitch pines, calling out harsh, rapid “chit-if, chit-if” notes. We counted fifteen White-winged Crossbills, the males a beautiful raspberry red, the females a more subdued yellow.

I added Brown Creeper and Golden-crowned Kinglet on the 30^th of the month, on a balmy, 56-degree “is this really January?” walk at Five Rivers. On to February!

Total species seen through January 2013: 54
 

FEBRUARY

February tends to be a slow birding month, as the short-distance migrants have not yet started their northward push, and vagrant rarities are few.

I began a morning regimen of a two-mile walk at The Crossings in Colonie, starting just after sunrise. The Crossings can be an interesting place to view birds, although diversity is never particularly high on a given day (my location life list: 77 species). It is an open, relatively flat, short-grass environment with a few wooded pockets. Otherwise, there are just scattered short trees and shrubs, and brushy tangles at the edges. Constantine Farm abuts the park on the eastern side, with some corn cultivated in summer, a herd of cows and rolling pastureland, and huge piles of compost, wood chips, sand, and soil. Large numbers of geese, crows, and gulls frequent the area. Some of the grassy areas are prone to flooding after a heavy rainfall, and shorebirds have found this to be an attractive stopover spot during migration. Northern Mockingbirds love the place. I've seen as many as a dozen on the property at one time.

The morning of the 7^th dawned clear and cold, promoting a brisk pace around The Crossings' perimeter path. As I veered eastward briefly at the north end of the park, near the Albany Shaker Rd. entrance, the sun's warmth was welcome, but the glare was piercing. I turned south to begin the leg that runs alongside the farm. Just past the lingering cornfield, which hadn't been fully harvested and cut, two large, ghostly gray birds glided in for a landing in the pasture. I was upon them just a moment later, but I could scarcely believe my eyes. It was two Sandhill Cranes. So this was one of the feeding grounds for the cranes! The word went out to the local birding groups including the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club, and many people got to see them up close and personal over the next few days. Several times we watched them fly out into the setting sun, and birders that were camped out at the evening roost site would see them fly in there about twenty minutes later. Very cool!

I saw my first migrant of the year on the twentieth of February, a Turkey Vulture near Ann Lee Pond in Colonie. Local Turkey Vultures retreat just to our south for the winter, and start to return north in mid-February. A Red-winged Blackbird was under my feeders the next day, a true sign of spring to come. On the last day of the month, I heard a Killdeer flying around Stanton Pond near Coeymans Hollow.

Total species seen through February 2013: 65

MARCH

March is waterfowl time. Ducks and geese will head north as quickly as the ice goes out on wetlands, ponds, and rivers. Lakes and reservoirs take longer to melt, so places like Stanton Pond and the Mohawk River should be surveyed as soon as there is open water. A nice stretch of warm weather in the second week of March, along with the higher sun angle, opened up local water bodies. Dabbling ducks like American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal appeared right on cue.

Colleen and I went out on the evening of the 13^th, and heard American Woodcocks making their “peent” call, and displaying, in two separate locations, including the grassy area adjacent to the parking lot at the Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center. On the 20^th, I ventured through a fresh snowfall at Colonie Mohawk River Park to view the Mohawk River. The park has a boat launch that offers a good vantage point, between the Northway to the west and Route 9 to the east. I saw a few ducks, geese, and gulls, but the unexpected highlight was a flyover by at least one calling Evening Grosbeak. I couldn't get a visual on the bird, but I am familiar with the call from observing them at the Adirondack VIC in Newcomb, New York.

After a prolonged cold spell in the third week March, things warmed above normal the last few days of the month, bringing in long overdue Tree Swallows and Eastern Phoebes at Five Rivers.

Total Species seen through March 2013: 84

APRIL

April averaged cooler and drier than normal, with alternating warm-ups and cool-downs. Most migrant species arrived on schedule. My first warbler of the year, a Palm Warbler, was seen at Five Rivers on the ninth of the month. Hermit Thrush and Eastern Towhee were back at the Albany Pine Bush Karner Barrens by the following day. Viewing from the bridge over Shaker Creek along the Mohawk-Hudson bike path in Latham, I found a Horned Grebe in the Mohawk River that same afternoon. The location would serve me well two more times later in the year.

An interesting local quest each spring is trying to detect the return of Louisiana Waterthrush along the Vlomankill at Five Rivers. This year we found a singing male on April 13^th, about normal, but 3 weeks later than the exceptionally early returnee observed on March 24, 2012. At Black Creek Marsh near Voorheesville, the Virginia Rails and Marsh Wrens had returned by the 15^th, joining the Swamp Sparrows in bringing the wetland sounds to life. Later that morning at Five Rivers, I was quite surprised to watch an American Bittern fly out of the shallow Fox Marsh. It almost certainly just arrived that morning, but it doesn't breed there, preferring an extensive wetland with tall vegetation. A tour of southern Albany County waters revealed a trio of the locally expected grebes, Pied-billed, Horned, and Red-necked, at Basic Creek Reservoir on the 17^th. A Common Loon was close to shore at the Alcove Reservoir, a reliable, but hard to access, site for the species.

Back at Five Rivers, a Yellow Warbler arrived on the 29^th, and two male Bobolinks were fluttering over the Wild Turkey Trail field, representing the vanguard of many more to come. Their bubbling cacophony of chatter is always a welcome sound as the calendar turns to May.

Total Species seen through April 2013: 120

MAY

Before embarking on the daily roller coaster ride that is May birding, I took stock of the first four months of 2013. I had quickly amassed bird sightings. A lot of birds. At 120 species, I was 17 ahead of 2012, and with all of May migration yet to happen, with a little luck I could best my previous year's total of 174 before the end of July, and the start of fall migration. It always seems a bit odd that the avian tide begins to turn around the first of July, when we humans are anticipating the hottest weather of the year. The birds aren't on that program, summer vacations and barbecues. For the first time, I wondered if it was possible to see 190 species in a year. Or more.

John and Tristan had been exploring Normanskill Farm, a City of Albany property along the Normanskill at Delaware Avenue. Early reports were good, but when Tristan found a Yellow-throated Warbler there, it was time for me to expand my May routine to include the location. It's not far from Five Rivers either, such that both spots could be visited in a morning. On May 2^nd, I made the first of many visits. The warbler eluded me, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of Orchard Orioles along the creek, across from the community gardens. On the 5^th, the four of us joined up just after sunrise to take a thorough crack at the place. John suggested birding the edge of the ravine just above the Whipple Bridge, along Normanskill Drive. As we trudged up the old “yellow brick road” (visible in spots underneath the worn pavement), Colleen spotted a “bird with a black hood!” It was a male Hooded Warbler, a bird not normally encountered north of southern Albany County. I found a second male Hooded Warbler singing along the Albany County Rail Trail in early June.

I ventured down to the Deer Mountain Nature Trail near Ravena on the 13^th, and was able to find a Worm-eating Warbler along the west trail section. This densely wooded hillside habitat is reliable for this species, but getting more than a glimpse of the bird can be challenging. Other highlights for the month were Cape May Warbler at Five Rivers, a Sora that I photographed well at Black Creek Marsh, Black-billed Cuckoo at Normanskill Farm, Canada Warbler at home in Colonie, and the bird that I worked the hardest to see all year, a male Bay-breasted Warbler in the top of a sixty-foot tree along Normanskill Drive. I owe a debt of gratitude to Tristan for that one, he brought me back to where he had seen the bird earlier, and together we craned our necks to the point of fatigue until finally getting a decent look at it. I paid an early morning visit to Black Creek Marsh on the 31^st, where two Least Bitterns vocalized repeatedly to the east of Hennessey Road. When the dust (and mud) had settled, I was well on my way to a Big Year in Albany County, a pursuit that I formalized at some point while adding 21 species of warblers in May, and a total of 57 new species for the month.

Total Species seen through May 2013: 177

JUNE-JULY

June is the time to investigate breeding birds in our area. All but the stragglers of the northbound migration have arrived, or passed through. I did add a species for the year, a surprising lone Snow Goose in a cornfield along River Road in Glenmont. For me, July means heading to the Adirondacks to view boreal species, and the start of southbound migration, mostly shorebirds, and post-breeding wanderers. The Crossings of Colonie was again productive for shorebirds, as was Cohoes Flats. I observed a Caspian Tern there on the 18^th of July.

Total Species seen through July 2013: 181

AUGUST

Looking at my card for Albany County, I tried to plot a way to get to 200 species. It seemed audacious at first, but if I was diligent about viewing Cohoes Flats for shorebirds and others, and picked up a few migrant songbirds, I could enter fall waterfowl season with a chance. August 1^st brought a good omen, and a totally unexpected species. Red-headed Woodpecker! Neil Gifford, Conservation Director of the Albany Pine Bush Commission, found one that morning in some recently restored open habitat. Talk about fast results. Birders flocked to the area once permission was secured to walk the property, and a second bird was found the following day. On the 8^th, I found a White-rumped Sandpiper at Cohoes Flats. The following week, as part of the local “Thursday Birding Group”, we observed a Black-bellied Plover from Cohoes Falls View Park. On August 21^st, during the Common Nighthawk Watch that we conduct for HMBC every August at the Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center, we had a pair of flyover Purple Martins. A Sanderling was well seen and photographed by many observers on a HMBC field trip at Cohoes Flats on August 25^th.

Total species seen through August 2013: 188

SEPTEMBER

The plan for September was to concentrate on Five Rivers for migrant songbirds, with occasional side trips to Ann Lee Pond, Normanskill Farm, and Black Creek Marsh. The hawk watches at Thacher Park might also produce a surprise, so they were in the mix, too. Albany Pine Bush-Karner Barrens East turned out to be the best place to watch fall migration unfold, but new species were very hard to come by. A month that began with such optimism yielded just five new birds, and I was beginning to worry that I was going to get right up to the goal, but fall painfully short. Highlights were Philadelphia Vireos at both Five Rivers and Albany Pine Bush, Connecticut Warblers at the same two locations, and a number of Tennessee Warblers at the Pine Bush. The Philadelphia Vireo at APB was an absolutely certain ID, as I had the bird in hand! Neil Gifford and his colleagues conduct bird banding each fall, and they were very generous with their time, to me and to other birders. It was fascinating to watch the banding process, but the best part was yet to come. After I had been properly instructed in how to handle and hold a bird to be released, the Philadelphia Vireo, only the second one that they had captured in seven years of banding, was transferred to me. I gently lowered him from the bander's grip into my open palm. He lingered, eyeing me for just a moment, then rocketed upwards into a nearby birch. Checklists and big years didn't matter that day.

Total species seen through September 2013: 193
 

OCTOBER

Seven more. Time was getting short, and so was the list of birds that I might expect to see from now on. I decided to pick an individual species, and go to the expected habitat and wait. Dunlin was the only late shorebird that I could reasonably expect to see, so I made frequent trips to Cohoes Flats. To my great surprise, on October 7^th I found an American Golden-Plover, on the rocks beneath my vantage point at the New Street overlook. I think I was more pleased by this sighting than any other all year. I was aimlessly watching the flats for what seemed like an hour, and suddenly this bird was standing on the same stretch of rocks I had scanned repeatedly with no success. Life bird! Persistence pays.

On the 16^th, I did finally see a Dunlin, and got a bonus, two Bonaparte's Gulls! Now I just needed to run the table on ducks, or get an unexpected visitor. I regretted not making a better effort to see a Brant flock during the year, and it seemed that Great Horned Owl would once again go undetected. Time to bag some waterfowl, with optics, of course.

Multiple trips to the reservoirs were proving to be fruitless, so I decided to go back to the M-H bike path bridge over Shaker Creek in Latham, where I had seen a Horned Grebe on the Mohawk River way back in April. On the 21^st, I hit the jackpot. When I arrived, there was a small group of waterfowl at the creek outlet, and small rafts farther upstream. A Brant was swimming towards the creek, and joined an American Coot and a single drake Ring-necked Duck in the shallow mud. Definitely the strangest combination of species I'd seen all year. The closest group of ducks consisted of six Surf Scoters, and a female Black Scoter! One species to go for two hundred, now the dread set in. Would I get stymied the rest of the year, left to founder at 199?

On October 29^th, I set up my scope at Basic Creek Reservoir, focused on a group of ducks south of the causeway, and recognized three splotchy black and white waterfowl swimming with some Common Mergansers. Long-tailed Duck was bird number 200 in Albany County for 2013. Still two months to go, now what?

Total species seen through October: 200
 

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

November produced a White-winged Scoter from the Shaker Creek bridge. That was it. Sidewalks roll up early around these parts, I guess. I finally heard a Great Horned Owl vocalize from my yard on Dec. 1^st. With the holidays fast approaching, I figured that I was done for the year. Never say never. The Snowy Owl invasion was well underway, and repeated trips to the Albany International Airport at the end of December produced Snowy Owls, Short-eared Owls, Horned Larks, and Lapland Longspurs. I also added Glaucous Gull at the Crescent Power Plant in Cohoes.

Total species observed through December 2013: 207

Things that I'll take away from this year, and hopefully learn from:

1. Persistence pays. The birds are there at some point. If you're not, they'll stay unseen.

2. Go to new locations and bird hard. Spend a couple of days in a row. Pick promising habitat. Rewards await.

3. Take on new challenges. Maybe it'll be gulls, sparrows, or warblers. Do the homework, study the field guides, be prepared to see a new species before you actually do.

3. If you are going to “chase” a reported rarity, don't dither. Go immediately.

5. Bird with the calendar in mind. Know when each species arrives in the area. If you don't it might be too late until next year.

6. Birding solo has its own rewards, but make time to bird with others, and take advantage of the shared wisdom and local knowledge available on planned field trips.

7. Don't let the weather slow you down, short of big storms. Bring the right gear, stay in the game.

I want to thank everyone that I birded with in 2013, I enjoyed your company, and your help. That's a big list of folks, but I have to single out John Kent, Tristan Lowery, Naomi Lloyd, Naomi King, Zach Schwartz-Weinstein, and of course, my lovely wife Colleen, for special recognition. I wouldn't have become a better birder without you, nor would it have been as much fun. Thanks!

Tom Williams

Colonie, NY