Two Days, Two Walks

Except for a break of sunshine now and then, Saturday was sort of gloomy, cold and gray.  Which suited me just fine, since I was feeling a little gloomy myself,  following the fiasco of Sue's and my photo presentation the night before.  We were barely half way into our show and just getting to a really good part, when an audience member in the front row passed out and needed emergency medical attention, which ended the evening abruptly. We're happy to report that the patient turned out to be okay, just a passing spell, she would see her own doctor, etc., but the work that the two of us (Sue especially) had spent many hours preparing went mostly unseen.  And yeah, I felt kind of glum about that.  So on Saturday I went looking for a landscape to match my mood, a Wuthering Heightsish kind of place to wander about while sulking, and I found it on the powerline access road that climbs the hills along Spier Falls Road at Moreau.  Here, a cold wind moved in waves through the tall dead grass, and a leaden river could just be spied through the bare leafless trees lining the road below.

Funny thing about being outdoors, though, is that it always lifts my mood, and my sulk soon turned to delight as I stopped to explore the fascinating boulders that line the road up there on the mountainside.

I'm not sure what kind of rocks make up these boulders, I'm guessing some must be quartzite, since they have a glassy translucent look.  Some are a pretty patchwork of rose and blue.

Others are a clearer white, like this one with some pretty green foliose lichens finding a foothold in the cracks.

There were also fruticose lichens sharing the same boulder, tiny trumpets of dusty green.

This bright green velvety moss seemed happy to be there, too, sending out an exuberant growth of vivid red spore stalks.  Such perky little patches of beauty reminded me not to waste my time in a funk when the world was so full of delights.

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Sunday dawned clear and cold, with a sharp wind that quickly whipped away any warmth that a bright sun struggled to provide.  Sue and I had planned to go out together today, but we decided a drive might be much more comfortable than a walk.  And what better place to go for a drive than the road that hugs the Hudson River at Fort Miller in Washington County?   We'd heard many reports of wonderful birds to be seen along this stretch, including a Golden Eagle.  We would drive for a bit, then park and wander the banks for a while, searching the water, the treeline, and the sky, until our nearly frozen cheeks could no longer bear the touch of our ice-cold binoculars, and our numb fingertips could hardly manipulate our cameras' buttons.

The river was a sight to see in itself, its radiant blue taking on the same color as the sapphire sky.  There were thousands of geese on the open water, setting up a loud cacophony each time we approached the shore.  Large groups of Snow Geese intermingled with enormous flocks of Canada Geese.  As we stood trying to photograph the geese, we were joined by other bird enthusiasts who had driven up from the Albany area just to espy those Snow Geese, considered something of a rarity in this part of the country, although they are frequent visitors to these parts of the Hudson River.

At times, the wind quieted down, allowing us to enjoy the mellow light of the afternoon along with the shimmering radiance of the river.  The geese, too, seemed to grow less frenzied, basking in the sunlight along the shore before floating serenely away.

Cold and Snowy -- Hurray!

Two clear cold, blue-sky, bright-sunny days in a row!  And with some nice fluffy snow in between.  Hurray!  As long as we have to have winter, we might as well have some real WINTER!  Happily for me, I was able to get out and enjoy it, both yesterday and today.  Yesterday, inspired by reports of eagles feeding along the Hudson at Ft. Edward, I headed over to Washington County to follow the river roads through Ft. Miller to Ft. Edward.  Well, I didn't see any eagles, but I sure saw lots of geese.  Wherever there was any open water, there were hordes and hordes of geese that never went south for the winter. 

But hey, what's that snowy-white fowl out there in the middle of that flock of geese?   Looks like a barnyard goose has come out to visit his Canadian cousins.  Or could that be a Snow Goose?  I can't see its tail feathers, which would be black on a Snow Goose.  Usually, Snow Geese gather in large flocks along this stretch of the Hudson.  Do they typically mingle with the Canadas?

Today was even sunnier than yesterday, and what a dazzling sight it was, to see Moreau Lake all sparkling white from shore to shore, following last night's snowfall.  Most exciting, the "Thin Ice" signs were down,  so the lake was completely walkable, all over its surface.  I don't know how to explain it, but I always feel a certain thrill, walking across that wide-open frozen lake under that huge blue sky.

I stopped to chat with some ice fishermen, including this cheerful fellow named Vince, who had caught two beautiful Rainbow Trout.  Nice big ones, too.  See them lying on the ice in front of Vince.   I swear, it takes a special breed of guy to sit out on a windy cold lake all day long and insist that he's having fun.  I love the cold, but I have to keep moving in it.  Man, he doesn't even have GLOVES on!

If I had to sit still on a frozen lake all day, I'd do what this fellow named Zach is doing, sitting nice and cozy inside a blind that keeps out the cold wind and keeps in the heat from a small propane heater between his feet.

But then, wouldn't that make it all the colder, having to climb out of that warm cocoon to tend to the fishing lines?   I guess he must feel it's worth it, especially when a nice 18-incher like this one is tugging on the other end of the line.

B-r-r-r-ding the Ft. Edward Grasslands

Ten below zero when I got up this morning, with a bit of wind stirring the dangling seeds of the Box Elder tree outside my kitchen window.  And I don't think it got much warmer than ten above all day.  I must be nuts, I thought to myself, as I agreed to meet Sue this afternoon for a birdwatching jaunt around the grasslands east of Ft. Edward in Washington County, an open rolling (and windy!) habitat designated one of New York's Important Birding Areas.  But the thrill of the hunt overcame the dread of the cold, especially since area birders had reported seeing a pair of Short-eared Owls (an endangered species in New York State)  hunting these fields in recent weeks.  So out came the big down coat and the fur-lined hat with flaps that cover my cheeks and chin, and off I drove to meet Sue.

We left my car on the side of a road and rode together in Sue's car, meandering through the hills and meadows of this vast open area looking for hawks until it grew late enough to start looking for owls.  We had hardly started our birding journey when Sue spotted a Rough-legged Hawk soaring over a hedgerow, and I later pointed out a Red-tailed Hawk perching in a tree.  A bit later we saw a hawk with white undersides and black wing-tips flying low over a field, a bird Sue later confirmed was indeed a Northern Harrier.  Important Birding Area, indeed!

As a lowering sun began to cast long shadows across the fields, we made our way to the specific site where the Short-eared Owls have been spotted.  Unlike most other species of owls, which hunt in the dark of night, the Short-eared often leave their roost and begin their evening's hunt before the sun disappears, giving us some small hope that we might actually see them today.

We were not the only ones to share that hope.  We were soon joined by other avid birders, including one couple who had driven to this spot all the way from Amsterdam, NY, several counties away.  But especially exciting to us was the arrival of noted bird photographer Gordon Ellmers,  who set up his scope and camera in the hopes of obtaining some shots of this rare and endangered bird.

Well, it certainly was our lucky day! The fellow from Amsterdam let out a shout -- "There's one!" -- and we all trained our binoculars in the direction he pointed.  Sure enough, a pair of owls came flapping along, close to the ground, and Gordon hurried to get his shots while the birds remained within range and the daylight lasted.  Here's a shot that Gordon generously shared with us and permitted me to publish.  I did not even attempt to photograph the owls with my little pocket camera with its limited zoom.  Plus, I did not want to put down my binoculars, lest I miss a moment of watching these elusive birds.

 Photo by Gordon Ellmers, used with permission.

My readers can visit our regional Audubon site to see more truly spectacular and instructive photos by Gordon Ellmers of these beautiful owls, as well as of two of the hawks Sue and I saw today, the Rough-legged and the Northern Harrier.  Also, be sure to visit Sue's blog Water-lily to read her account and see her wonderful photos of today's adventure.

Our faces numb and our fingers nearly frozen, Sue and I agreed it was time to head home to hot suppers, and so we went our separate ways, she to Queensbury and I to Saratoga.  I did take a little detour to the tiny river village of Ft. Miller, stopping to take in the beauty of sunset on the Hudson.  There were still areas of open water along this stretch, and flocks of geese came circling in from many directions, peppering the deep-blue sky with their darkened profiles.

Gordon Ellmers had told us that he had seen many hundreds of Snow Geese on the river at Ft. Miller today, but I could not tell what species of goose these were, dark shapes against the water and sky and filling the air with their haunting cries.   I hope this huge flock was able to find an area of open water to spend the night.