On Sunday morning, August 18, Derek started home, David set off on the first ride of Cycle Adirondacks‘ Ultimate Cycling Vacation, and I headed out to see if I could find any birds. I went to Crown Point State Historic Site, about 12 miles north of Ticonderoga. I enjoyed walking around this lovely spot on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Champlain. The birds like this spot, too, especially the gulls.
Ring-billed Gulls
I drove over the Lake Champlain bridge and walked around Chimney Point on the Vermont side. I enjoyed watching an Osprey’s hovering flight over the lake before it plunged down to catch a fish. Osprey are the largest birds that are able to hover.
A poor photo of an amazing Osprey hovering over Lake Champlain
I found a few other birds along the shore and this chipmunk that did his best chirping impression of a bird.
A chipmunk who’s chirping almost fooled me
David rode 66.7 miles with 4130’ of climbing on the local Ticonderoga ride. The trip was going so fast that I can’t remember what we did that afternoon. Could we both have been a bit tired by then?
On Monday David rode to Wilmington and I drove to Bloomingdale Bog before turning towards Wilmington. I was becoming obsessed with the bog and I hoped to find Black-backed Woodpeckers on my own. I found only Canada Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, and other species that we had seen there previously, but I enjoyed my morning.
David’s ride to Wilmington was 61.4 miles, but we had both recovered a bit so in the afternoon we drove up Veterans’ Memorial Highway to the top of Whiteface Mountain, New York’s fifth-highest peak at 4,867 feet. The mountain’s east slope hosted the alpine skiing competitions of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Whiteface Mountain is also the easiest place to see the rare Bicknell’s Thrush anywhere in it’s small range in the northeast, but by August the birds are nearly impossible to find. I hope to return in June one year for a better chance to see this lovely thrush.
By Richard Crossley – Richard Crossley, CC BY-SA 3.0
The drive up the mountain was beautiful and provided fantastic views of the surrounding area in the afternoon light. At the top, we had sandwiches and beer and David hiked to the top of the mountain. It was cold and windy; I was a wimp and waited in the gift shop.
David enjoys the view from a a stop on Whiteface Mountain
Another scenic view from the road up Whiteface Mountain
On Tuesday morning I returned to Bloomingdale Bog for one last time and David rode the long loop out of Wilmington. That afternoon we visited High Falls Gorge. After viewing the gorge and waterfalls, I somewhat foolishly suggested that we walk the “nature trail” which turned out to be a one-mile “moderate” hike over large rocks and tree roots that was somewhat steep. We were tired that night!
The beautiful waterfall at High Falls Gorge
The walkways at High Falls Gorge were beautifully done to be safe and provide wonderful views
Day four of the Ultimate Cycling Vacation, August 21, brought the ride from Wilmington to Westport, on the shore of Lake Champlain. We loved Wilmington and hated to leave, but we also looked forward to the next phase of our adventure. My birding focus shifted to looking for Little Gull at Noblewood Park again, half an hour north of Westport. Derek and I had tried a week earlier without success, but there were three eBird reports from August 20 and I was hopeful that I would find the gull.
Cycle ADK’s base camp for Westport was the Essex County fairgrounds, where some of the “art” for the fair was still on display
I arrived at the park just after 9:00 AM and don’t recall seeing another birder although there is an eBird report from 7:30 AM that morning (without the target gull). It was cold and windy and miserable and I did not find a Little Gull. Reports use the phrases “searched the flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls for two hours” and “obvious” in the same report, which I found quite funny. So, theoretically I could have seen a Little Gull and just not recognized it, but I don’t think that happened. After talking with local experts and pouring over photos during the next few days, the gull started to feel familiar, but still elusive.
Looking for a Little Gull in flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls with a few Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Caspian Terns, and Common Terns
David’s day brought “interesting” events, too. He blew his rear tire fifteen miles into the ride. Fortunately, he was going slow at the time and was not injured. Cycle Adirondacks gave him a ride to the next rest stop nine miles away and a new tire. He lost an hour and a half, but was then back on the road for the ride to Westport in pouring rain for the next forty miles.
David’s rides took him past numerous waterfalls
The next morning I arrived at Noblewood Park at 8:00 AM and found three birders already there. Stacy had arrived at 7:00 AM and had seen a Little Gull before I got there. She was not only an expert birder, but very friendly and she tried really hard to help me find the gull. Unfortunately, the gull did not cooperate. Stacy had also seen two Baird’s Sandpipers the previous day and she gave me explicit directions for where to find them. Although not a life bird, this species was another of my targets for the trip because I had only seen them a few times and never well.
I drove about an hour south to Port Henry and immediately found the sandpipers exactly where Stacy said they would be. The next half hour was a welcome relief – gorgeous weather, no pressure, and cooperative birds. Here is the little video that I shot from about 12-15 feet from one of the Baird’s Sanpipers.
David’s loop ride took him to Essex, just three miles south of Noblewood Park where I had gone birding, and a ferry ride across Lake Champlain. After riding 35 miles through Vermont countryside, he rode back into New York over the lovely Lake Champlain bridge where I had birded a few days earlier. It was the longest ride of the event at 75 miles, 6:58 hours (including the half hour ferry ride) and 4,708 feet of climbing.
David’s ride through Vermont took him past miles of beautiful countryside
Friday was David’s last day of the Ultimate Cycling Vacation as the group rode from Westport back to the starting point in Ticonderoga. I had one last chance to try for Little Gull at Noblewood Park and I was the first to arrive at 8:00 AM. Other birders started arriving half an hour later and Matt from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology got there at 9:24 AM. None of us were able to find a Little Gull despite five sets of eyes rigorously searching. I left at 10:26 AM, assuming that if we had not found the bird by then, it would not be seen that day, especially since earlier reports were mostly from early morning. And, I wanted to be back in Ticonderoga when David finished his ride.
Cedar Waxwings were common at Noblewood Park and nearly everywhere else during the trip
I met David and sat down to eat a hamburger. Five minutes later, a message popped up on my phone. It was Stacy, “Matt says you left the park and he has an adult Little Gull now.” I involuntary uttered “Oh, s***!” causing people nearby to turn and stare at me. But, David immediately knew that meant the bird had been found. He just said “Let’s go.” Fortunately, we were able to think clearly and make plans. There would be no time to check into the hotel. So, we managed to get the bike and the bike bag into my overstuffed car in record time and I started driving north. We made just one quick stop at Gunnison’s Bakery. While David was changing out of his sweaty, wet cycling clothes, I bought a small strawberry-rhubarb pie, optimistically intending it to be the “lifer pie” we would use to celebrate the Little Gull that I was sure to see. Back in the car, I learned that I could drive the speed limit after all. Earlier I had said there was no way to safely drive 55 MPH on the twisting, hilly county road.
Matt had not been able to stay, but he had texted a very detailed description of the bird and where he had seen it. We started scoping, but could not find it. After four hours of searching with just one short break, we never did find Matt’s Little Gull. As we ate “loser pie” that evening, I realized that I still have a great story; only the ending is different from the one I would have liked. And, now I feel like a real birder; I finally have a nemesis bird.
Pickerel or Leopard Frog? David saw where it hopped as we walked through the weeds on the way back to the car at Noblewood Park.
To read more about David’s cycling adventure, see his blog post Cycle Adirondacks “Ultimate Cycling Vacation” 2019.
Birding for Life 