Trip to the Finger Lakes

Common Yellowthroat, Burdett, NY, Jul 18, 2021

Blue winged Warbler, Burdett, NY, Jul 18, 2021

We just returned home from a short trip out to the Finger Lakes region of New York. We drove out there on Sunday morning and returned home on Wednesday afternoon. It was not a birding trip but I did get out a little each morning with the main focus being on finding warblers I have not yet had in New York. I had a total of eight new target species I had a chance of finding and found seven of them (only missed Hooded Warbler but none had been seen lately in any of the areas I visited so not too surprised on that miss). We arrived at our lodging in Burdett along the southern end of Seneca Lake in the middle of the afternoon after a long, rainy trip out. By late in the afternoon the sun was actually starting to poke through and with the exception of a quick shower it stayed relatively dry. I walked around a bit near the house we rented and turned up a few species and my list there turned out to be a milestone list in eBird for me with my 35,000th complete list (it was pointed out to me by a friend that the total ranks me as 15th in the world for submitted lists…who would have thought?).  I was happy to have the list include a few warbler species.

Song Sparrow, Potomac Road, Finger Lakes NF, Hector, NY, Jul 19, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Potomac Road, Finger Lakes NF, Hector, NY, Jul 19, 2021

Ovenbird, Potomac Road, Finger Lakes NF, Hector, NY, Jul 19, 2021

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Potomac Road, Finger Lakes NF, Hector, NY, Jul 19, 2021

Red eyed Vireo, Potomac Road, Finger Lakes NF, Hector, NY, Jul 19, 2021

On Monday morning I headed out early to the nearby Finger Lakes National Forest with my original plan to walk the Backbone Trail but when I arrived the area was way too muddy with the footwear I had so I ditched that plan and headed a bit further north to try my luck along the Interloken Trail.  Unfortunately this trail also turned out to be too muddy to continue down for very long but I did manage to track down a few Ovenbirds. With the trails all muddy due to all the recent rains I decided to head to the gravel covered Potomac Road which turned out to be much easier to traverse. I walked for almost a mile along the road and added a few more target species for the trip. I was actually surprised at the amount of song from a number of species. Despite not having great trail conditions due to mud I still managed to track down three of my target warbler species for the trip in the morning in the Finger Lakes National Forest including Ovenbird, Pine Warbler and Northern Waterthrush.  I also added two other new species in addition to the warblers to my New York list with Veery and Red breasted Nuthatch.   After my productive stop in the national forest, we headed out for a several hour boat tour on Cayuga Lake visiting a few more wineries but turning up no new birds for the trip.  The day turned out to be the sunniest day of the trip with no rain at all for the entire day.

Northern Waterthrush, Armitage Rd, Galen, NY, Jul 20, 2021

Cerulean Warbler, Armitage Rd, Galen, NY, Jul 20, 2021

Great Blue Heron, Armitage Rd, Galen, NY, Jul 20, 2021

Incoming thunderstorm, Burdett, NY, Jul 20, 2021

The morning of the 20th began with an early departure before dawn to make the drive up to the area of Montezuma NWR with my main target being Prothonotary Warbler and hopefully Cerulean Warbler.  Thanks to some assistance from Tim and Sean regarding the location to try, I arrived at a known spot for the above mentioned species around 5:40 and almost immediately had at least two Cerulean Warblers singing. I then spent the next couple hours walking back and forth between the two bridges along Armitage Road. I heard a partial song from a Prothonotary Warbler a few times but I was unable to chase it down (recent rains had flooded the entire area off the road so I had to be happy with heard only). I eventually turned up at least four Cerulean Warblers along the road.  I originally planned to make a stop within Montezuma NWR in the hopes of seeing a Roseate Spoonbill that showed up about a week before I arrived in the area but I ran out of time....just spent too much time trying to get looks at the Prothonotary Warbler.  I headed back south around eight to get back to our lodging around nine and continue the remainder of the day visiting wineries plus making a few mile walk at Keuka Lake Outlet Trail late morning. The day was very hazy due to smoke from wildfires in the west and the day ended with a few strong storms rolling through. 

White tailed Deer with fawn, Texas Hollow State Forest, Odessa, NY, Jul 21, 2021

Red Efts, Texas Hollow State Forest, Odessa, NY, Jul 21, 2021

The final day of our trip dawn overcast and almost a little cool with occasional drizzle.  Even with less than ideal conditions I headed southeast to the nearby Texas Hollow State Forest and walked mainly along the road as the trails were a bit too overgrown and wet. It was fairly active with multiple new species for the trip including a number of birds still singing. There were small family groups of several species with young being fed by adults as well as lone juveniles in small mixed flocks. I added a few more state birds there including Winter Wren, Blackburnian Warbler and Black throated Blue Warbler.  There were a number of non bird sightings including multiple White tailed Deer and quite a few Red Efts.  After my walk I headed back to pack up for the return home.  Although weather continued to feature off and on light showers we decided to go north for a brief walk along the Seneca Trail at Montezuma NWR nonetheless. We arrived there and the rain had stopped and we walked about a mile before starting the five hour drive home. If I had more time I would have made the drive around the wildlife drive but just could not make it work this time. 

Overall for the trip I had 101 species with a dozen of those new for me in New York bringing my state total there to 156.  As mentioned above my main focus was warblers on the trip and more detailed information on them can be found at the following: warblers in the Finger Lakes