NYSOA - Past Field Trips
Last Updated November 13, 2012

Adirondack Boreal Bird Workshop & Whiteface Mountain Field Trip - July 2012 NEW 11/13/12
Niagara River Gull ID Workshop & Field Trip - Jan 2012 NEW 11/13/12
Montezuma Shorebird ID Workshop & Field Trip - Sept 2011 NEW 11/13/12
Adirondack Warbler Workshop & Massawepee Mire Walk - May 2011
Pelagic ID Workshop & Field Trip - Long Island (pelagic trip cancelled due to weather) - Feb 2011 NEW 11/13/12
Adirondack Weekend - Whiteface Mtn. / Massawepee Mire, Jun 2000
Adirondacks (Spring Pond Bog), Jun 2002
Cape Ann / Plum Island, Feb 2003
Hudson Canyon, Dec 2002
Niagara Falls, Dec 2000
Niagara River, Nov 2002
Whiskey Hollow, May 2003

Kathy Schneider, NYSOA VP & field trip organizer, wrote this report on the Boreal Bird Workshop & Whiteface Mountain Field Trip held the weekend of July 7-8, 2012:

The New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) held a boreal bird workshop and field trip this weekend in the Adirondacks. Wendy and Steve Hall at the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge and Rehabilitation Center in Wilmington hosted the workshop, given by John and Pat Thaxton. The Thaxtons showed slides of a variety of boreal specialists, reviewed their field marks and vocalizations, and discussed their distribution and status. They also presented little known facts about their natural history. Special thanks to Wendy and Steve for the surprise hors d'oeuvres.

On Sunday, the Thaxton team led a field trip to Whiteface Mountain, Bigelow Road, Bloomingdale Road and Paul Smith's. The weather was spectacular, the bugs were few and the birding camaraderie was palpable. Seventeen birders from all over New York State and two from Massachusetts participated in this event and were rewarded with long looks at a very cooperative Bicknell's Thrush that sat on an exposed perch for several minutes near the hairpin turn on Whiteface. Other noteworthy species from this tour of Adirondack birding hotspots included: Osprey, Chimney Swift, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Jays with young at a feeder, Common Raven, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Dark-eyed Juncos with young. NYSOA would like to publicly thank the Thaxtons for sharing their time and expertise and for making this exciting trip possible.

Kathy Schneider
NYSOA VP and field trip organizer
Stuyvesant Falls

Willie D'Anna wrote this report on the Niagara River Gull ID Workshop & Field Trip held the weekend of January 7-8, 2012:

The New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) held gull workshop and field trip events this weekend.  The workshop, given by Jean Iron of Toronto in Niagara Falls, Ontario on Saturday, was free and open to anyone.  Jean discussed and showed slides of the different plumages of all of the gull species that have occurred on the Niagara River (19 species) and in Ontario (two additional species).  The talk was very well received by a large gathering of birders from all over New York and Ontario.

On Sunday, I led the field trip along the Niagara River, with much appreciated assistance from Jean Iron, Ron Pittaway, and Betsy Potter.  The trip was only open to members of NYSOA and included some 30 participants.  In order to help learn the ID points from Jean's talk the day before, assignments were given to find as many different ages of Herring Gull (all four were found), Great Black-backed Gull (three were found), and Bonaparte's Gull (both were found).  Of course, it was not all work and we found a lot of great birds on the day, a few of which were lifers for several attendees.  We started at the Adam Beck overlook at the power plants and, right off the bat, an adult THAYER'S GULL was found perched on the NY shoreline.  There were also several ICELAND GULLS here and more above the falls.  An adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL flew around in front of the power dam for us; a few more were seen above the falls.  The boat ramp in lower Queenston produced at least three adult LITTLE GULLS, which everyone got to see in their scopes (looking downriver).  While looking for the Little Gulls, someone spotted two BLACK VULTURES flapping and soaring over the trees on the NY side.

Above the falls, we found a second winter GLAUCOUS GULL on the large rock island below the control gates.  An adult GLAUCOUS GULL on the same island was only seen by the leader and one other.  An adult Iceland/Thayer's Gull on the breakwall exhibited a lot of black in the wingtips but was fairly clean-headed and small-billed – we let that one go unidentified.  We had heard a report of an adult male Barrow's Goldeneye near where the creek flows into the river across from Dufferin Islands but we only saw Common Goldeneyes there.  However, we did see a female HARLEQUIN DUCK halfway across.  There have been up to four Harlequin Ducks that like to sit on or near a small rock island that has two scrubby trees on it, located along the ridge that extends across the river.  This is a hundred yards or so upriver from the stranded barge.

Next, we made the long trek to the Buffalo waterfront, where there has been an impressive collection of Bonaparte's Gulls in a relatively small area.  We were off to a great start there in that we did not lose anyone along the way!  An adult BALD EAGLE greeted our group shortly after arriving with a nice flyover.  We checked over the small gulls in the marina through the fence from Hertel Avenue, then moved over to the north end of Squaw Island in order to get the sun behind us.  Two highlights here were great looks at a first winter LITTLE GULL and a first year BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, both birds initially picked out by Dave Gordon at a distance.  The incredible assemblage of small gulls here, many of them quite close, provides a very special experience, even for veteran river rats.  Whether it's watching the swirling mass of Bonaparte's Gulls as they practice evasive maneuvers or to see them diving for the super-abundant minnows, half a dozen or more hitting the water at once and looking like miniature Gannets, it was both beautiful and fascinating.  After this, the remnants of the group made one last stop at the tower at Erie Basin Marina, where the long-staying SNOWY OWL was finally seen at a great distance on rocks behind the coast guard station.

For the day we had 10 species of gulls and lots of individuals to study.  The number of gulls here is still very high, both large gulls and Bonaparte's Gulls.  Keep in mind that this varies.  Weekdays seem to be poorer for large gulls (although Mondays may be an exception), presumably due to the dumps drawing them away.  We were very fortunate with the weather, which could not have been better – I heard not a single complaint about being cold.

I would like to extend a big thank-you to NYSOA and Kathy Schneider, who did such a great job organizing the weekend.  Kayo Roy deserves special mention for helping with the lodging, as well as finding the venue for Jean Iron's gull workshop (the Niagara Falls Library).  Jean put together a wonderful program and was especially helpful on the field trip.  The participants were a great group coming from as far away as Long Island and Vermont, eager to learn about this challenging group of birds.

Good gulling!
Willie

Montezuma Shorebird Weekend - September 17-18, 2011

The New York State Ornithological Association offered a shorebird identification workshop and field trip the weekend of September 17-18, 2011.  Dr. Kevin McGowan, former NYSOA president and co-editor of The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, conducted the shorebird workshop and led the field trip to the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, one of the state’s most important inland shorebird stopover sites.  The workshop, free and open to the public, was attended by 50 people and 16 participated in the field trip, which was a NYSOA members-only event.

Many thanks to Kevin for volunteering his time, expertise, and wit to make the workshop and field trips enjoyable and highly successful!

Joan Collins posted this report on the Adirondack Warbler Workshop & Massawepie Mire Field Trip that she led on May 28, 2011:

Massawepie Mire, Southeastern St. Lawrence Co., overcast with occasional brief showers

Ten people took part in the NYS Ornithological Association’s field trip to Massawepie Mire on Saturday.  With all the recent rain deluges, the road in was washed out in places (but still traversable) and the dirt road we hiked into the mire was wetter than I have ever seen it.  It was so wet that Mallards were making use of the vernal pools!  Mosquitoes were intense in the warm, humid conditions.  The few times that the sun broke out, the mosquitoes died down and black flies came out!

One of the things that I most enjoy about birding is finding unexpected species – we found 2 on Saturday.  Just before we went out into the open bog, I heard a Brown Thrasher!  It was perched in the middle of the bog.  As we approached it, two Grays Jays flew off – it appeared they had been harassing the thrasher.  I continued to hear the Brown Thrasher’s loud vocalizations during our traverse of the huge bog.  On our hike out, just before the first bridge, I hung back from the group a bit to listen for Black-backed Woodpeckers (the last likely spot on our hike out) and instead, I heard a Field Sparrow sing in mature boreal habitat!  I caught up with everyone at the bridge and asked if anyone lives among Field Sparrows and when they had returned.  I was told quite some time ago, so this bird was not likely a migrant.  As it turns out, I received a phone call from Sean O’Brien yesterday to tell me he had visited Massawepie Mire on Monday with Ted Mack and they too found a singing Field Sparrow!  (They found the bird in the same vicinity.)  He also called Larry Master who told Sean that a Field Sparrow once spent an entire season at Bloomingdale Bog.  It will be interesting to see if this Field Sparrow spends the breeding season at Massawepie Mire.

We found 58 species, including 16 warbler species and 7 sparrow species.  Northern Waterthrushes can be found in an area with many Canada Warblers, but were not singing by the time our group reached that location.  Pine Warblers can sometimes be found on the hike, but can definitely be found along the Mountaineer Trail, which we did not hike.  I heard 5 singing Mourning Warblers, and there are even more found by continuing to drive straight at the 4 corners location for ~ 1.5 miles to a metal gate – an area that has been heavily logged.  We did not have time to drive this section.  That area also has many Indigo Buntings and a Veery.  Eastern Phoebes were missing from the bridge locations, and this is the first year we failed to find a Gray Catbird near our parking location.  Logging operations continue on the perimeter of the bog.

Here are some of the 58 species found:

Spruce Grouse – 1 male!  On our hike out, Mike Greco yelled that he saw a Spruce Grouse.  We looked up and the grouse flew up from the dirt road into a tree, then dropped back down onto the road and walked straight toward us!  It got within 15 feet (we didn’t need binocs) and then tried to go around us by going into the brushy habitat along the road.  We were all still as statues as the grouse approached us.  Instead of continuing past us, it paralleled us as we continue our hike out.  This was certainly a birding highlight of my year!
Bald Eagle – 2, soaring together
Broad-winged Hawk
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Gray Jay – 2
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird – several
Hermit Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Warblers: Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Palm, Black-and-white, Amer. Redstart, Ovenbird, Mourning, Common Yellowthroat, and Canada.
Sparrows: Chipping, Field, Song, Lincoln’s, Swamp, White-throated, and Dark-eyed Junco
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Purple Finch

The cone crop developing on the spruces is quite remarkable!

Eight in our group had a late lunch at the “Thirsty Moose Pub & Grub” a short distance from Massawepie.

Hope Batcheller, a Youth Member and the original initiator of NYSOA's New York State Young Birders Club (NYSYBC), wrote this summary of the NYSOA/NYSYBC Pelagic Bird ID Workshop & Field Trip held the weekend of February 12-13, 2011:

The pelagic bird identification workshop held on 12 February was probably the most useful identification workshop I've ever attended. Angus Wilson had many useful suggestions for identifying alcids and other seabirds, which were very relevant to the later pelagic. Although the pelagic was not held the following day, we had an excellent trip to Montauk and coastal Long Island. My personal highlights for that day were the flock of Purple Sandpipers and seeing several King Eiders, among other uncommon species. The pelagic in March was my first winter pelagic, and I loved the experience. Pelagic birding is so different from any other type, and is something young birders rarely get the opportunity to do. In addition to the bird life, it was a great opportunity to network with other more experienced birders, and I'd highly recommend this trip to other young birders.

Bill Lee filed this report on the Whiskey Hollow Field Trip - May 24-25, 2003:
On what looked to be another washed out weekend during the rainiest Spring in recent memory, Federation and Onondaga Audubon birders on the Whiskey Hollow field trip managed to find some really unusual birds in between the periods of heavy to moderate rainfall. On the originally scheduled Saturday trip,three Federation members from Binghamton and Buffalo joined leader Joe Brin at Whiskey Hollow, where only Hooded and Chestnut-sided warblers were heard through the rain. As a consolation prize to those who couldn't stay for the rescheduled trip on Sunday, which was forecast to offer the best (less rainy) weather of the weekend, Joe was able to provide news of and directions to a Chuck-will's-widow, which had recently appeared in nearby Schroeppel, Oswego County. Despite a pessimistic field guide comment about Chuck-will's-widow not singing in rain, all three Federation members were able to hear the bird, and returned home with a new State (and, perhaps, life?) bird. On Sunday, three Federation members from the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club joined Joe, Marge Rusk, and Bob Fisk and his daughter Kayla, whose property hosted the Chuck-will's-widow, to bird Whiskey Hollow. A nice list of warblers, including Blue-winged, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue and Green, Blackburnian, Cerulean, Mourning, and Redstart; Acadian Flycatcher, courting or displaying Black-billed Cuckoos, Scarlet Tanagers, and Yellow-throated Vireo were highlights. On the way to the Hollow, a singing Vesper Sparrow and Brown Thrasher were seen. A staked out Orchard Oriole was a no show as was Red-headed Woodpecker, seen earlier in the week . The Hudson-Mohawk group decided to stay til evening in hopes that the Chuck-will's-widow would reappear, and went in search of some regional specialties to add to the trip list. A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers were in the Cicero Swamp Wildlife Management Area exactly where Joe had told us to look for them, but a Prothonotary Warbler at Toad Harbor in the northwest corner of Oneida Lake was uncharacteristically silent and unseen until David Neveu, an area birder who had recently seen the bird there, spotted it on his way out and alerted us to its presence. On to the Fisks', where in walking their property with Bob and Kayla, we added Field Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the prize of the day, Chuck-will's-widow, to the trip (and our New York State) list! In all,we had a day list of ninety-one species ,but the quality far outweighed its quantity!

Bill Lee reports on the Cape Ann and Plum Island Field Trip - February 15-17, 2003:
Five intrepid (or foolhardy) birders set out from the Capital District and Hudson Valley for the Boston waterfront and North Shore despite ominous weather forecasts for single digit temperatures above and below Zero, stong winds and probable precipitation on Friday into Saturday with even more precipitation in the form of snow late on Sunday into Monday. We lucked out on the beginning of the trip, with sunny but very cold conditions, but not with our first targeted bird, a Gyrfalcon, which is spending its second winter on South Boston's waterfront. If not for the extreme cold and wind chill which limited our stay to about an hour and a half, we might have found our bird as it was seen both before and after our brief visit.

On Saturday, we birded Newburyport Harbor, the Parker River NWR and Plum Island and Salisbury Beach State Park. Highlights included Great Cormorant; Wilson's Snipe (sitting on a chunk of ice against a bulkhead in Newburyport Harbor looking miserable and, no doubt,wishing it had gone South for the Winter); Iceland Gull; an adult—and given its small size, male—Snowy Owl fairly close in the Plum Island salt marsh; a Clay-colored Sparrow; and at Salisbury, just feet from the road to the boat launch, a Long-eared Owl very visible in the late afternoon sun.

On Sunday, we set out for Cape Ann on an even colder morning with robust Northwest winds. Fortunately, except for our first stop on the northwest side of the Cape in an unsucessful quest for a drake King Eider, we were able to bird the leeward side of the Cape and usually windswept places like Halibut and Andrew's Points were calm and pleasant. Highlights of the day's birding were Hermit Thrush, numerous Harlequin Ducks, all three Scoters, Purple Sandpiper, two Black Guillemots, Red-throated Loon, and Red-necked Grebe. A visit to the Merrimac River at the Chain Bridge did not produce the Barrow's Goldeneye I often see there, but several vocal Bald Eagles which took flight from the trees above our heads,were a great end to the day.

Monday morning, snow started shortly after 8:00 a.m. and a "white knuckled" drive home over snow packed roads with numerous accidents and "spin-outs," despite much reduced speed limits on the Mass. Pike and Thruway, left me feeling as if I had really earned every "good" bird of the weekend.

Here is Bill Lee's report on the Hudson Canyon Pelagic Field Trip - December 7, 2002:
Approximately twenty Federation members from the Capital District, Dutchess County, Ithaca, Rochester, and Syracuse were aboard the Doris Mae IV as it left Barnegat, New Jersey for the Hudson Canyon some ninety miles offshore at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7th. The trip promised opportunities to see alcids, shearwaters, and other pelagic birds in both New Jersey and New York State waters. While not all the possibilities were realized, (no skuas, murres, or jaegers were seen) most got great looks at Dovekies (4), Atlantic Puffins (2), Razorbills (10), Red Phalaropes (>200), Greater Shearwaters (3), Northern Gannets (dozens), and Black-legged Kittiwakes (also dozens). Among other species seen were Common and Red-throated Loons; Bonaparte's, Glaucous, Iceland, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls; Northern Fulmar; Manx Shearwater (1); Red-breasted Mergansers; and Black and Surf Scoters.

Seen at Barnegat Light State Park, on Friday afternoon before the boat trip, were Great Cormorant, Harlequin Ducks, Purple Sandpipers, Sanderling, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstones, Long-tailed Ducks, and Savannah (Ipswich) Sparrow. All but the Great Cormorant were seen again on Sunday morning.

Here is Bill Lee's report on the Niagara River Field Trip - November 22-24, 2002:
Ten birders set out on Friday, November 22 for the Niagara River, with stops at Oswego Harbor and Fair Haven State Park on Lake Ontario. Among the birds seen were Common and Red-throated Loons; Common, Red-breasted, and Hooded Mergansers; Long-tailed Ducks, Brant, Red-necked Grebes, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye,and Bonaparte's Gulls. Joined by two more birders on Saturday a.m. (three more were unable to join the group because of lake effect snow), the group birded the Niagara River from just below the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie to Queenston.

Highlights of species seen include a drake Surf Scoter, 6 Horned Grebes, two Red-necked Grebes, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, Redhead, an adult winter California Gull on the New York side of the river, Little Gull at the Falls, an immature Black-legged Kittiwake below the American Falls, Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gull. Sunday a.m., the group birded the river from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario to Queenston. Among the species seen were two Bald Eagles, an adult and an immature, Snow Buntings, Harlequin Duck, and Long-tailed Duck. Moving to Goat

Click image to enlarge

FNYSBC's Adirondack Weekend, June 3-4, 2000