For Immediate Release: April 24, 2006
Contact:
Andy J. Flynn | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 327-3000
PAUL SMITHS, NY – Now that migrating birds are flocking to the Adirondack Mountains, it is time for birders to hit the trails, binoculars in hand, and check species off their life lists. For the month leading up to the Great Adirondack Birding Celebration on June 2-4, the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) in Paul Smiths will offer a variety of programs to get birders in tip-top shape for the peak birding season.
It all starts on Saturday, May 6, when spruce grouse experts Glenn Johnson and Angelena Ross give a "Spruce Grouse Lecture" from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Afterward, the speakers will lead a field trip to Spring Pond Bog in search of the spruce grouse. Preregistration is not required for the lecture but is required for the field trip. The High Peaks Audubon Society is sponsoring this free program.
The American woodcock performs a strange yet beautiful courtship ritual in fields around the Adirondacks every spring. Birders are invited to join a VIC naturalist for the annual "Flight of the Timberdoodle" program from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12. This free program will start at the Paul Smiths VIC, and then people will caravan to the courtship site. Preregistration is required.
There will be two trail walks celebrating U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's bird list at the Paul Smiths VIC in May. The Teddy Roosevelt Bird Walks will be held from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on May 20 and 27. Visitors should bring binoculars so they can explore the bird habitats of the Paul Smiths VIC and see how their bird checklist stacks up to Roosevelt’s. Preregistration is required for this free program.
In preparation to the upcoming Great Adirondack Birding Celebration, the VIC will show the video "Birds, Birds, Birds" at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 21. This video is an indoor bird-watching field trip designed to help everyone improve their bird identification skills. "Birds, Birds, Birds" will be shown in the theater, and popcorn will be available. Preregistration is not required, and donations of $2/adult and $1/child are suggested. Binoculars are optional.
Bird expert and former VIC naturalist Brian McAllister, of Borealis Nature Tours, will make a triumphant return to the Paul Smiths VIC on Sunday, May 28 to lead a "Wood Warbler Workshop" from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. McAllister will help birders identify woodland warblers by both sight and sound. Preregistration is required for this free program.
"If you haven't been on a birding trip with Brian, now's your chance," said VIC Senior Public Information Specialist Andy Flynn. "I don't call him the 'Bird Man of the Adirondacks' for nothing. He's an amazing birder and can distinguish many warbler species just by their bird songs."
And finally, the Paul Smiths VIC will host the Fourth Annual Great Adirondack Birding Celebration on June 2-4, featuring bird-watching trips, lectures, workshops, food, vendors, exhibits and the popular Teddy Roosevelt Birding Challenge. Some of the boreal species that birders will seek include the black-backed woodpecker, three-toed woodpecker, boreal chickadee, spruce grouse, Bicknell's thrush and a variety of migrating warblers.
To register for programs at the Paul Smiths VIC, call (518) 327-3000.
The New York State Adirondack Park Agency operates two VICs, in Paul Smiths and Newcomb, which are open year-round from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas and Thanksgiving. They offer a wide array of educational programs, miles of interpretive trails and visitor information services. Admission is free.
The Paul Smiths VIC is located 12 miles north of Saranac Lake on Route 30. For more information about the VICs, log on to the centers' Web site at www.adkvic.org.