Conservation – Southern Adirondack Audubon Society

Conservation

Barred Owl nest box presented to Moreau Lake State Park constructed by Bob LeClair of South Glens Falls.

The nesting box was erected near the park’s songbird blind

SAAS partners with Moreau Lake State Park for Audubon in the Parks project SAAS member Sue Pierce worked with the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park to coordinate an “Audubon in the Parks” project.

Together Green Project is a
Huge Success!
Using guidelines from a nationwide program and funds from a Toyota TogetherGreen Grant, SAAS assembled and distributed 23 monofilament fishing line receptacles to popular fishing areas. Our hope is to encourage anglers to discard unusable fishing line in these containers, for the health and safety of our birds. Because it takes over 600 years for fishing line to decompose, we are also protecting the environment by disposing of it properly.

Purple Martin House
at Hudson Crossing Park

SAAS partnered with Hudson Crossing Park in Schuylerville in 2018 to obtain and mount a Purple Martin house. SAAS is indebted to Wild Birds Unlimited of Saratoga for their generous donation of the house and pole system. Thanks also to the New York State Canal Corporation for allowing the house to be placed on their property and for the man-power to construct the cement footings and help with the raising of the house.

SAAS & ASCR survey birds on former prison property Members of Southern Adirondack Audubon and Audubon Society of the Capital Region recently completed a preliminary bird survey on a portion of the former Mt. McGregor prison lands, now a part of Moreau Lake State Park. The first bird we saw? A Common Loon on Lake Bonita! Other sightings included five warbler species, three flycatchers, and three thrushes. We saw many beautiful wildflowers and fungi also. Learn more about these 750 acres now open to the public at the Friends of Moreau Lake State Park website: https://friendsofmoreaulake.org

Look for SAAS fishing line containers in Moreau Lake State Park, Lake George, Raquette Lake, and Brant Lake. In the Glens Falls area, you will find them at Hovey Pond, East Field, Crandall Park, and the Hudson River Park. Monitoring and emptying the containers will be done on a weekly basis. If you would like to “adopt” a container, please notify any SAAS board member for instructions. Dr. Nina Schoch, from the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation was informed about the containers. Her interest in and enthusiasm for the project was exciting. Working with the Boy Scouts, and receiving donations from hardware stores in the North Country, Dr. Schoch produced 100 containers to distribute in the Adirondack Park. She plans to produce a brochure about the project, and suggests that we partner with her center and Northern Adirondack Audubon to expand the program.

Learn more about the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation.

SAAS helps Eastern Bluebirds Conservation organizations have joined forces in erecting and monitoring bluebird nest boxes in suitable habitat. A huge thank you to volunteers Bob Bergman and Bob LeClair who built 15 nestboxes. We installed four of them at Hudson Crossing Park with the help of the Superintendent of Grounds, Daryl Dumas, to whom we also owe a huge thank you. If you are interested in becoming a bluebird monitor, please contact Pat Fitzgerald at fitzgeraldsaas@yahoo.com.

Osprey Platform Donated to Moreau Lake State Park
SAAS members Don Polunci and Mark Cronin constructed this Osprey platform. Former SAAS President, Pat Fitzgerald, a member of both Friends of Moreau Lake State Park and SAAS, helped with the process to donate the platform and have it erected in suitable habitat at the park. Thanks to Don, Mark, Pat and the crew at MLSP!