Date: 12/7/24 2:29 pm From: Joan Collins <joancollins...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Red & White-winged Crossbills in Long Lake, Hamilton Co.
Long Lake, Hamilton Co., NY
Late summer - early fall:
Red Crossbills nested in late summer in Long Lake, NY. We observed a female gathering nesting material (bark strips) on July 21 at the inlet of Little Tupper Lake on Sabattis Road. A male was with her. They flew off into the White Pines with the material. Many regularly gritted in the road during the late summer and early fall at the intersection area along Sabattis Circle Road. I found a family group with 4 fledglings on Oct. 2 just north of the John Dillon Park entrance along Route 30 (where you could also regularly find Red Crossbills during this time at a favorite drinking area). I did not encounter White-winged Crossbills during late summer.
There was a large movement of Purple Finches over the Adirondacks from late September through October. They could be heard anywhere you stopped!
I started to encounter Pine Siskins on Oct. 22. The numbers grew before we traveled to the Oro Valley in AZ on Halloween for 5 weeks.
I first found White-winged Crossbills on Oct. 28 in several locations along Sabattis Road including Sabattis Bog. There was some singing also.
Late fall:
We returned to Long Lake late on Dec. 3. I am finding lots of Red and White-winged Crossbills in Long Lake along Route 30 and along Sabattis Road - I love crossbill winters! Today, I found White-winged Crossbills in 6 different locations (typical nesting areas for them when they irrupt) - 4 locations along Sabattis Road and 2 along Route 30. Red Crossbills are in the same locations. There have been large flocks of Red Crossbills in the first 3-mile section of Sabattis Road (s) where they often grit. Today, a flock of approximately 30 flew along the road. I have been observing White-winged Crossbill flocks feeding in Tamarack trees (I got a video of this behavior today at Sabattis Bog). We have a bumper cone crop on Red Spruces, but so far, I've only observed WWCRs feeding in Tamaracks.
Not to leave them out - I also found a flock of 18 Amer. Goldfinches gritting on the section of Sabattis Road that leads to Sabattis Station!
I plan to check other Long Lake roads and visit several more central Adirondack areas over the next week and I will report finch activity.
For the first time in many years (more than 10), the Blue Jays all seem to have left the area this fall (as they used to do before the world warmed enough to allow them to spend winters here). This is good news for the Canada Jays (I saw 10 today at 3 different stops) - without Blue Jays following them non-stop and taking their food caches. The Canada Jays had a bad nesting year in 2024 (of the 5 pairs I feed, only 1 had young (just 2)) and I'm hoping this year will be better with the lack of Blue Jays. I am also not encountering Amer. Crows at the locations where I feed Canada Jays (they too are staying through winters now in our area). So it feels like an "old fashioned" winter with just Canada Jays and Common Ravens.
One of my summer birding highlights to report: On July 22, we observed Yellow-bellied Flycatchers feeding fledglings on Whiteface Mountain - wonderful, and I hope I see that again someday!
Joan Collins
Long Lake, NY
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