Pine Grosbeak pair
Photo by John Haas
Click image to enlarge
This winter will long be remembered and is likely never to be repeated. From
November ‘07 to March ‘08 we experienced more northern
species and more individuals of those species than ever before.
We saw PINE GROSBEAK, COMMON REDPOLL, HOARY REDPOLL (a first for
the county), EVENING GROSBEAK, BOHEMIAN WAXWING and NORTHERN SHRIKE
in record numbers. Also present were Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur,
Pine Siskin, Purple Finch and even one record each of Red Crossbill
and White-winged Crossbill.
This was great excitement for all of us, but it also had far reaching effects. Well
over 400 birders visited the county throughout that period. I had opportunity
to speak with a great many of the birders who came to the county seeking the
thrill of some tough-to-get “lifers”. Not one person was disappointed
with their trip. Not everyone got every bird, but most of them had the majority
of them.
People came from many parts of New York as well as New Jersey, Connecticut
and Pennsylvania. Two extremes were couples who came from
Washington D.C. and West Virginia! I met with the couple from West
Virginia. They were so excited. They spent several days in the
county and could not believe the number of winter finches they saw. Pine
Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak and Common Redpoll were all “lifers”. Northern
Shrike, though not a “lifer”, was a rarely seen bonus. They
even got to see a Ruffed Grouse, which was a “lifer” for
her.
You might wonder what exactly the far reaching effects were. Well,
the fact is that all of these visitors ate in our restaurants, bought
gas at the corner station,
some spent the night in our motels and more. We will never know the amount
of money these people spent at our local businesses, but rest assured it
was an added boon to our sagging economy. What was also nice was the length
of time over which this all occurred. There wasn’t a weekend that
I wasn’t expecting a dozen or more birders, and it was often many
more than that. Rather than just a brief event, it lasted throughout the
winter. Hopefully everyone reading this had an opportunity to enjoy this event,
I know I certainly did!
 John
Haas
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