Thousands of years ago, in what is known as a Wisconsonian glacial retreat, a large block of ice was cut off from the retreating glacier and settled in what became Ferd's bog. The ice eventually melted, creating an inland body of water. In the absence of oxygen to support decomposing bacteria or fungus, the water became more shallow as organic matter gradually accumulated which lead to the growth of sphagnum moss, its dense root creating a mat over the remaining layer of water. This mat supports many bog plants like
labrador tea, leatherleaf
bog rosemary , bog cranberry,
larch (tamarack) and the carnivorous
pitcher plant and
sundews. There is still a large open area of water in the middle of the mat.
This wetland was discovered in the 1970's by Ferdinand LaFrance, a
hunter and avid birder from Syracuse who had a camp on Uncas Road.
According to an old
article published by the Onondaga Audubon Society, friends of LaFrance who were brought to this place for its many boreal birds called it "the bog up near Ferd's camp" which later evolved to "Ferd's Bog". It now covers a 50-acre bog, stream and pond surrounded by 50 acres of boreal forest. According to the
DEC, the american
black-backed and
three-toed woodpeckers, wood warblers,
gray jays,
Lincoln's sparrows,
great blue herons and
eartern bluebirds are among the boreal birds that are seen in the bog.
We had our first glimpse of Ferd's Bog from the top of Black Bear Mountain. It was too late to see the bog after that hike so we had to do it on another day.
To reach Ferd's Bog from Kayuta Lake we headed down on Route28 towards the Adirondack Park and turned left on Uncas Road which is about 35miles from the Forestport bridge, in Eagle Bay, just before the border of Inlet. At around 3.2 miles, 1.6 miles of which are unpaved, there is a small parking lot on the left side with a DEC sign marking the trailhead.
The trail goes mostly downhill surrounded by a dense forest. At around 0.3 miles, we reached the plastic boardwalk that goes through the bog.
The birds were mostly gone even though it was still early in the fall but we saw some interesting bog plants. The sphagnum moss had what appears to be sprouting
pitcher plants (can't be absolutely sure since we've never seen them before). A bug is seen trapped inside the carnivorous pitcher.
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| Sphagnum Moss |
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| Pitcher Plant |
The bog rosemary was still abundant while the
larch trees, being deciduous conifers, are starting to change into their fall colors.
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| Tamarack (Eastern Larch Tree) |
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Just finding all these uncommon plants made the trip to Ferd's bog a truly worthwhile experience. Hopefully, we'll find the time to return in the spring or the summer to look for all the boreal birds that make this a birder's paradise.
