Point Au Roche State Park
On Friday May 22nd I went birding in the Point Au Roche New York state park. The park is located north of Plattsburgh and east of Chazy. The park is situated out on a small peninsula on Lake Champlain. The park is primarily composed of mixed deciduous forest, small wetlands and some developed areas including fields and a beach. The weather was fantastic. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the temperature rose from the lows 60s when I started at 7:20 am to the upper 70s by the time I finished. It was also a pretty good day in terms of birding as I was able to encounter several new species.
I started off the day by picking my way down into a wetland. I spotted and heard a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers. The way in which the wetland was situated made it difficult to get close to them but I was able to observe them from a distance. I then worked my way down onto Long Point. This is a small peninsula which juts off of the main peninsula. The perimeter of the point was made up of primarily Northern White Cedars. Working inwards it transitioned to a mixture of young deciduous trees and open shrub land. I didn't have much luck on the perimeter as the wind and waves crashing into the shore made it difficult to pinpoint any vocalizations. In the interior of the point however I came across several new species. I heard then saw a Brown Thrasher which was really cool. I also spotted a Black-throated Blue Warbler. I then worked my way back to the main peninsula.
I then drove over to the main campground area which included an open beach as well as several large cleared fields and parking lots. The forest habitat was predominately a young mixed deciduous forest though the area was a bit swampy. Again along the lake edge there were numerous Northern White Cedar. Right off the bat as I exited the parking lot I saw a group of Tree Swallows. Intermixed with the Tree Swallows were a couple of Barn Swallows which was a new species. I worked my way into the forest and came across another new species. I bushwhacked off of a trail into an open clearing and heard a Black-and-white Warbler. I was eventually able to spot him in the tree. I was able to get a recording but the angle of the sun and the foliage made a picture difficult. Returning to the beach and open area I was working my way down the small sandy beach when I spotted a group of Semipalmated Plovers. I was super excited to spot them as I have not had much luck with shorebirds this past week. All in all it was quite a rewarding way to wrap up the week of birding.
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