For those of you interested in the final results of my Birdathon bushwhack within the Pepperbox Wilderness on May 15, 2010 the final results are listed below. The name of the each bird species is followed by the location where the species was first detected.

• Common Loon Sunshine Pond campsite
• Turkey Vulture Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Canada Goose Sunshine Pond campsite
• Wood Duck Sunshine Pond northern portion
• American Black Duck Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Mallard Sunshine Pond northern portion
• Common Goldeneye Cropsey Pond
• Hooded Merganser Small pond NW of Sunshine Pond
• Ruffed Grouse Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Solitary Sandpiper Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Barred Owl Sunshine Pond campsite
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sunshine Pond campsite
• Hairy Woodpecker Small circular wetland NE of Sunshine Pond
• Blue-headed Vireo Sunshine Pond campsite
• Blue Jay Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Common Raven Sunshine Pond campsite
• Tree Swallow Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Black-capped Chickadee Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Red-breasted Nuthatch Sunshine Pond campsite
• Brown Creeper Sunshine Pond campsite
• Winter Wren Sunshine Pond campsite
• Golden-crowned Kinglet Sunshine Pond northern portion
• Eastern Bluebird West of Deer Pond
• Hermit Thrush Sunshine Pond campsite
• American Robin Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Nashville Warbler Sunshine Pond campsite
• Chestnut-sided Warbler Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Magnolia Warbler Sunshine Pond campsite
• Black-throated Blue Warbler Sunshine Pond campsite
• Yellow-rumped Warbler Sunshine Pond campsite
• Black-throated Green Warbler Sunshine Pond campsite
• Blackburnian Warbler Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Pine Warbler Sunshine Pond northern portion
• Black-and-white Warbler Forest between wetland and north Sunshine Pond
• Ovenbird Sunshine Pond campsite
• Common Yellowthroat Sunshine Pond campsite
• Canada Warbler Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Scarlet Tanager Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Song Sparrow Sunshine Pond campsite
• Lincoln’s Sparrow Sunshine Pond campsite
• Swamp Sparrow Sunshine Pond campsite
• White-throated Sparrow Sunshine Pond campsite
• Dark-eyed Junco Sunshine Pond campsite
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak Forest east of Sunshine Pond
• Red-winged Blackbird Sunshine Pond campsite
• Rusty Blackbird Wetland between Sunshine Pond and Raven Lake
• Common Grackle Sunshine Pond campsite
• Purple Finch Sunshine Pond campsite
• American Goldfinch Forest between wetland and north Sunshine Pond

This wasn’t a banner year for me with regards to the Birdathon. It was my second worst year out of the five years I have participated (the last year being 2002). The only worse year was in 2002 when a heavy, wet snow fell on the morning of the Birdathon while I was in the Five Ponds Wilderness. The following bar graph compares the five different years.

Birdathon Results 1998-2010

The areas I covered for the Birdathon differed somewhat year to year. The first year, I started on an old farm in southern Oneida County followed by visits to Rome Sand Plains and Sylvan Beach on Oneida Lake before traveling up to Raven Lake in the southern Five Ponds Wilderness of the Adirondacks. The next three years (1999, 2001 and 2002), I covered northern Herkimer County in the Five Pond Wilderness. For those years, I specifically covered the trails between Wolf Pond, Cage Lake, Sand Lake and the Five Ponds.

The jury is still out on whether I will return to bushwhacking in the Pepperbox Wilderness for the 2011 Birdathon. There is no hurry in making a decision since I have an entire year to think it over and decide whether the extra effort is worth it or not. I don’t feel the full birding potential of the Pepperbox was reached this year and that may sway me to return for a second try.

If I were to bushwhack through the Pepperbox again for the Birdathon, I’d definitely try a different route. I think I would come in and stay at Deer Pond the night before then travel along the Deer Pond outlet west toward Moshier Creek. I would follow that up with heading north around the Moshier Ponds and then back south along Moshier Creek until reaching the Cropsey Pond outlet. Finally, I would head southeast through the beaver meadows and ponds along the Cropsey outlet to the same campsite I used along the southern shore of Cropsey Pond as this year.

Well, that is it for my Birdathon reports until next year. Do bird reports like these add any value to my bushwhack reports or should I just stick to route finding, etc? Let me know in the comments.