Water fowl flock to open water for Christmas Bird Count

Winter is on hold in this neck of the woods but we did get a couple of cold nights that put a skim of ice on many of the lakes.

It was –6 degrees here yesterday morning, which tightened things up and slowed the run off of water from the rains the day before.

Enough ice was made in some places that I could walk on it when I checked my traps. They are promising warmer temperatures during the week with a possible mixture of rain and snow.

We may have a white Christmas if we get the snow they are forecasting for Christmas Eve. But who knows with this up and down weather pattern.

Several great birds were out and about during the Saturday, December 17 Audubon Christmas Bird Count but not many were at area feeders.

Most of the lakes had open water which provided the opportunity to see many ducks and Geese which we normally never see at this time of the year.

There were 32 Canada Geese counted on Old Forge Pond. If they stayed around they would probably get frozen in like the Common Loon that was seen Sunday morning on First Lake.

It was probably the one I saw there on Saturday. I also saw one on Third Lake the same day.

Hooded Mergansers topped the duck list with 52 seen Saturday, 18 Mallards, 10 Common Goldeneyes, 2 Black Ducks, 2 Common Mergansers, and 1 Lesser Scaup. The Scaup was a first for the count.

The Geese were another story. They started streaming over about nine in the morning and I saw them every time I went out for a walk in the woods.

First it was just Canada Geese. I counted 718 and heard even more that I couldn’t see as I walked in the woods. At around 9:30 a.m. I was on the Third Lake Trail and heard some Snow Geese coming off in the distance.

Several V’s went over and I got a total count of 515. Some of these, along with the Canadas, were flying way up high with the jets.

You could pick out the white Snows against the blue sky, but the Canadas often got by me and I never did see them. Both these bird species were a first for the Old Forge Count.

Total species for count day was 26 which included Common Loon – 2, Canada Geese – 718, Snow Gees – 415, Hooded Merganser – 52, Common Merganser – 2, Mallard duck – 18, Black Duck – 2, Common Goldeneye – 10, Lesser Scaup – 1, Raven – 2, Common Crow – 6, European Starling – 9, Ruffed Grouse – 5, Pileated Woodpecker – 2, Hairy woodpecker – 6, Downy Woodpecker – 6, Black-backed Woodpecker – 1, Black-capped Chickadee – 92, White-breasted Nuthatch – 9, Red-breasted Nuthatch – 6, Brown Tree Creeper – 1, Blue Jay – 2, Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2, Slate-colored Junco – 7, American Goldfinch – 25 and Pine Siskin – 150.

Two species seen during count week but not on count day were Bald Eagle and Mourning Dove.

There are not many birds at the feeders yet but my friend Ellie George said she had three flying squirrels at her feeder the other night.

She got a good picture of them with their eyes all aglow.

All the wild food out in the woods kept the Bears out late and also fed the other land critters, such as fox, coyote, fisher and pine marten.

When there is a good mass crop of beechnuts and cherries these critters take advantage of them.

This makes it hard for trappers to lure them to a trap site with their own offerings and scents.

There are still some long-time trappers who come to the Adirondacks and cover a lot of territory trying for fisher and pine marten.

One who traps up north of here set out his normal couple hundreds sets.

He was here for a week when the season first opened and never caught a thing. So he pulled his traps and went home.

Near the end of the season I was able to lure a single fisher and two pine marten to some of my sets.

Normally I can catch my limit of pine marten in four or five days, but not his year. My secret bait is sardines and strawberry jelly, which in the past had worked well.

I caught several beavers that were plugging culverts, eating shoreline trees and flooding some backyards in the area.

I caught two of the largest beavers I’ve ever skinned, each weighing in at 52 pounds each.

I once got a 60 pound beaver in Helldiver Pond. Water trapping is open through the winter for beaver and otter so I’ll keep in shape trapping for these animals.

End of year giving, but that’s another story. See ya.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!