NYSOA - Past Field Trips
Last Updated June 2003

Adirondack Wknd - 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

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

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