Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Centers (Paul Smiths)
Those planning to hike but one trail should take the 1.3 mile Boreal Life Trail, featuring an extensive boardwalk through a northern bog. In addition to birds, this trail has an impressive display of native orchids during early July: Grass-Pink, Rose Pogonia, and hundreds of White Fringed Orchis. Best birding is in late May-early June, and the trail has an overlook tower on Barnum Pond. Scan marshy areas for Wood Duck, American Black Duck, and Great Blue Heron, and listen for pumping American Bittern. Olive-sided Flycatcher can be heard from the boardwalk and Black-backed Woodpecker nests nearby. Warblers include breeding (Yellow) Palm Warbler on the bog and Northern Parula in the nearby forest. A right at the trail junction leads down a side trail to a rather unstable dock that gives a view of the stream. Back on the main trail continue right, soon passing a Broad-winged Hawk nest on the left. Visitors may return to the center by turning left on Jenkins Mountain Road. Another option is the 0.8 mile Barnum Brook Trail, part of which skirts Heron Marsh where Common Goldeneye use a nest box annually. Yet another choice is the 0.7 mile Shingle Mill Falls Trail, with a floating bridge across the marsh and at least ten warbler species. The frogs heard in the marsh are not only Green Frog, but also the boreal Mink Frog. Back at the parking area, listen for Purple Finch in summer, or watch and listen to birds visiting the feeders from the indoor comfort of the VIC in winter. Open year-round.
Bloomingdale Bog/Bigelow Road
An extensive boreal bog accessed via a foot trail which follows an abandoned railroad right-of-way. Adjacent Bigelow Road (unmaintained dirt road) extends access to the north. Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Palm Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, Black-backed Woodpeckers and several species of flycatchers.
Blue Mtn. Road
Look for more boreal birds along the remote Blue/Azure Mountain Road. From the entrance gate of Paul Smith’s College, take Route 30 a few hundred feet north and turn left (west) onto Keese Mill Road, until the paved road ends. From here proceed 4.1 miles (on what is now named Blue Mountain Road) to a parking area near a gate on the left, where there may be an Indian Rocks Canoe Access sign. Walk back a few hundred feet on the Blue Mt. Rd. to a gate on the opposite side. Walk around the gate and hike this dirt road about 1.5 mile to a T-intersection with an abandoned RR grade, taking a left on the rail bed to Madawaska Pond, just ahead on the right. Returning to the parking area, drive to mile 4.4 on Blue Mt. Rd. to a pullout just past a left curve warning sign. At 5.8 miles stop at a parking area by Quebec Brook bridge. Drive to 6.2 miles past a no dumping sign and park in the small wooded area to walk to Benz Pond on the right. Blue Mountain Road ends at Route 458 just south of St. Regis Falls.
California Road – Debar Pond
Look for boreal species at the pond and as you drive through boreal forest on remote backroads. A short boardwalk trail that crosses a wetland and leads to the shore of this glacial pond which can be further explored by canoe. Look for migrating waterfowl on nearby Indian Lake and Mountain View Lake.
Cook Road – Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve
Just after entering the Reserve on Cook Road there is good brushy habitat for Golden-winged Warblers and other passerines like Eastern Towhee. A stop at the small bridge beyond should provide waterfowl and other wetland species like Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Duck, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Marsh Wren, or Swamp Sparrow, then check the drainage ditch just before Snye Road, where Northern Shoveler has nested. Watch for Wild Turkey and Northern Harrier in open country. At the bridge in downtown Hogansburg, scan the rocks along the St. Regis River for night-herons, and a Great Egret may fly by almost anywhere on Akwesasne.
Floodwood Road Area
This road provides five miles of good spring and summer birding, with little traffic, plenty of room to pull over to stop (which should be done often, to look & listen), and varied habitat. Start at the small pond hidden on the right, then check all water and bog areas. Common Loon will be found on Polliwog, Middle, and Floodwood Ponds. Bog pockets should have Olive-sided Flycatcher nesting in tall surrounding spruce. The two alder-choked streams should yield Canada Warbler, while Veery frequent densely vegetated wet areas. Hardwood and mixed forests have Blue-headed Vireo, as well as the ubiquitous Red-eyed Vireo, plus Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. Park at the Long Pond area and bird the short distance to the water. An impressive list of Adirondack birds can be observed by the time East Pine Pond is reached.
Indian Lake – Mountain View Lake
Unusual waterfowl stop here in spring and fall. Northern Pintail, Harlequin Duck, all three scoters, and Long-tailed Duck may be seen, as well as Red-throated and Common Loons, Horned and Red-necked Grebes, and even a rare Eared Grebe was observed once. During migration there is a chance of spotting a few shorebirds, such as Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, or Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers. Teboville Road to the north passes through open country of overgrown fields with Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, and– in years of tent caterpillar outbreaks– Black-billed Cuckoo.
Lows Lake/Hitchins Pond
Paddle through bogs and marshes on this extensive 11 mile waterway from Hitchins Pond to Lows Lake. Common Loons, Ducks, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Barred Owls, Thrushes and Warblers.
Madawaska Pond
Recently acquired by the State of New York, Madawaska has been a favored boreal birding area for a half-century or more. Explore the extensive boreal forests, marshes and bogs of Madawaska Pond and Quebec Brook by canoe or on foot. Common Loons, Hooded Mergansers, and Gray Jays nest at this location, in addition to many other species.
Malone Recreational Park
This scenic village park provides a panoramic view of a widewater pool formed near the confluence of Branch Brook with the Salmon River. A check for southbound shorebirds in late summer may turn up Semipalmated Plover, Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, or even a rare Stilt Sandpiper, as well as numbers of the more common peeps. Some of the largest numbers of waterfowl recorded in Franklin County gather here, especially in fall, when as many as 10 thousand Snow Geese and a thousand or more Canada Geese gather in separate rafts. The only county sightings of Ross’s Goose and the newly-recognized and now sought-after Cackling Goose, previously considered a smaller subspecies or race of the Canada, were made at this park. Scanning the waters with binoculars or scope may also turn up Redhead, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, or Bufflehead. Other waterbirds may vary from Pied-billed Grebe to Double-crested Cormorant.
Mary Riley Road – Westville
This road typifies the best of birding along the Border. Just after turning onto Mary Riley Road, check the drainage ditch across from the barn and scan the adjacent cornfields for waterfowl– a pair of Northern Pintail may be mixed in with flocks of American Black Duck and Mallard. Muddy edges here, or at a pond across the road from the second farm, often have migrant shorebirds from early July into fall, the mix of species and numbers changing daily: perhaps Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, or Least Sandpiper, plus nesting Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, and Wilson’s Snipe. The open fields along the northbound stretch often have Wild Turkey and Northern Harrier, and singing Savannah Sparrow is regular in summer. Check the powerline cut across the more forested westbound leg for Eastern Towhee. Mary Riley Road had singing male Clay-colored Sparrow in the 1980s and ’90s, but not during 2000-05, perhaps due to habitat changes; birders should still be on the alert for the low, insect-like bzzz-bzzz-bzzz of this western rarity in early summer. Excellent camping facilities on the banks of the Salmon River at nearby Pine Ridge Park in Westville Center.
Osgood Pond-Jones Pond
This is a rewarding flatwater canoe trip through a prime area for boreal birds, with a side trip by car and foot to a neighboring pond with marsh birds. Look for Bald Eagle, both American Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and (Yellow) Palm Warbler, while listening for Swainson’s Thrush. If time allows, drive to nearby Jones Pond. The marsh at the outlet end has Virginia Rail, Swamp Sparrow, and other wetland species. Scan the pond at vantage points along the road for nesting Ring-necked Duck, and pines at the far end may have Brown Creeper and Pine Warbler.
Saranac Lake High School Pond
Best during spring and fall migration, this site is a shallow depression that fills with pickerel weed as the season progresses. After ice-out, the pond attracts American Black Duck and other waterfowl. Park on the main road to walk the school drive in order to scan for puddle ducks and shorebirds like Solitary Sandpiper or Short-billed Dowitcher. Pectoral Sandpiper has also been found in fall. Walk up the grass along the inlet to see if Swamp Sparrow or any migrants have stopped at the alder thickets. Killdeer and sometimes American Pipit stop briefly as early migrants at the grassy area. The nearby forested area has Black-throated Green Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler, and Northern Parula is a possibility.
Tupper Lake Municipal Park & Marsh
Some remarkable birds have shown up at this village park on the shoreline of Tupper Lake, with more destined to occur, and the nearby cattail marsh to the south is one of the best wetlands in the Adirondacks. Birds of passage visiting the waters off the park may include Ruddy Duck, Red-throated Loon, Red-necked Grebe, or Double-crested Cormorant, while a check along the water’s edge might turn up Semipalmated Plover, peeps (including Western Sandpiper), or Dunlin. Scan the gulls for Little, Black-headed, or Bonaparte’s Gulls. Recreational human activities may disperse the birds during the day, but flocks of Horned Lark, American Pipit, and sparrows still frequent the extensive open area. After leaving the park, check along the causeway (but without stopping in Rte 30 traffic) for Bald Eagle, Ring-necked Duck, and Pied-billed Grebe. Walking along the highway or canoeing the marsh could turn up Common Moorhen or singing Marsh Wren. Sadly, Black Tern no longer nests here, but wandering Caspian and Common Terns have been seen, and even American White Pelican, Cattle Egret, and Sandhill Crane have turned up at Tupper Lake over the years.
Spring Pond Bog
Spring Pond Bog is a boreal forest and peat complex with a 500-acre open bog. Boreal species such as Spruce Grouse. Trail, handicapped accessible boardwalk. Contact Adirondack Nature Conservancy for an access pass, 518-576-2082.