Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for Saturday, January 21, 2017 to Sunday, January 22, 2017:

Brooklyn Bird Club
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Winter Wildcard
Leader: Steve Nanz
Focus: Trip itinerary based upon the week’s birding alert reports
Car fee: TBD
Registrar: Heidi Steiner email heidi.steiner@verizon.net or call before 8 pm 718- 369-2116
Registration Period: Jan 14th –Jan 19th

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Eastern Long Island Audubon Society
Saturday, January 14, 2017 – Meet at 9:00am (Please note the new date)
Lakes Around Patchogue
John McNeil with Rosemary Valente, Co-Leader
Meet at the parking area at corner Lake Drive and East Main Street in East Patchogue by the side of Swan Lake. We will check out Swan Lake and then visit several other favorite spots for a look at the bountiful water birds that flock to LI in the winter. Always hoping for a few surprises! Dress for the weather!

All levels of naturalists — including beginners — are most welcome on Eastern Long Island Audubon field trips.
Most trips are free to attend, however, sometimes the place we are visiting has a fee.
We try to make a note of it in the notice.

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Hudson River Audubon Society
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Pelham Bay Park
Joint trip with Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society
Meet at Pelham Bay Park at 8 AM; far left corner of the Orchard Beach parking lot.
Pelham Bay Park is known for its wintering owls, such as Northern Saw-whet, Great Horned, and Long-eared. We will also search the woods and water for winter birds. American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser should be in the bays. The woods here are good for Fox Sparrows and other half-hardies.
Directions: http://www.hras.org/wtobird/pelhambay.html

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Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society
Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 8:00AM
Pelham Bay Owl Prowl Joint Trip with Hudson River Audubon
More than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park, Pelham Bay Park is the City's largest park property. Visitors to the park enjoy miles of bridle paths and hiking trails, Orchard Beach, the Bartow-Pell Mansion, and a breathtaking 13-mile saltwater shoreline that hugs Long Island Sound. Today we will join up with our friends at Hudson River Audubon to look for resident and visiting wintering owls, as well as waterfowl and late migrants.
Registration: 516-695-0763 or email hobaudubon@gmail.com
Directions: Hutchinson River Parkway to the Pelham Bay Park/City Island/Orchard Beach exit. Continue east farther into the park past the traffic circle then veering left to the parking area on Hunters Island. Meet the group there.

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Linnaean Society of New York
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Croton Point Park
Leader: Paul Keim
Registrar: Anne Lazarus — amlazarus47@gmail.com or 212-673-9059
Registration opens: Monday, January 9
Public transportation

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Littoral Society
Friday, January 13 - Sunday, January 15, 2017
Discover Montauk: A Winter Coastal Wonderland
Winter is a quiet time but also peak birding and seal-watching time. Hike the bluffs, "Walking Dunes", beaches, Hither Woods, Napeague Dunes, and visit the seal haulout site. The trip cost of $395/person (single room $140 extra) includes 2 nights at the luxurious Manor House (double occupancy), 5 meals, 5 guided hikes, 2 evening programs and star watch plus free pickup at the LIRR station in Montauk.

The Manor House has an indoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna, exercise room, and a spacious lobby where we meet. Suites are large with kitchen, living room, bedroom; some are duplex and many have 2 baths, 2 separate entrances.

For more info & reservations call (718) 474-0896 or e-mail American Littoral Society Northeast Chapter Director Don Riepe at: don@littoralsociety.org.

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturdays -- 9/3/2016 - 6/24/2017: 11:00 a.m.
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, January 21, 2017, 8:30am – 10:30am
Eagle Watch and Bird Walk at Inwood Hill Park
Guide: Annie Barry
Meet at the western end of Dyckman Street in front of La Marina restaurant and join Annie Barry for a winter hike through the various landscapes and habitats of Inwood Hill Park. Located at the northern tip of Manhattan where the Harlem River meets the Hudson, Inwood Hill Park offers shoreline vistas, mature forest, and the last natural salt marsh in Manhattan. We will begin on the Hudson shore in search of the bald eagles that have been sighted there frequently in recent winters, then move into the forest to search for wintering and year-round birds, and finally to the salt marsh to look for wintering ducks. Some hilly walking required. Limited to 15 $36 (25)
Click here to register

Saturday, January 21, 2017, 9am – 4pm
The Freshwater Ponds of Long Island's South Shore
Guide: Tod Winston
Visit up to seven South Shore freshwater ponds that provide refuge to a surprising variety of wintering waterfowl—and great viewing opportunities to birders. Possible sightings include hooded mergansers, green-winged teal, ring-necked ducks, northern pintail, and redhead. We’ll also make a short stop or two by the bay to look for loons, grebes, and sea ducks. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $93 (65)
Click here to register

Sunday, January 22, 2017, 8am – 3pm
Birding Gems of Staten Island: Winter at Freshkills Park
Guides: Cliff Hagen with NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
Meet at the Manhattan terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. Winter at Freshkills Park is an exciting time for birding. The grass-covered slopes offer birds plenty of seed and shelter to huddled flocks of horned larks, snow buntings, and sparrow species, as rough-legged hawks soar overhead. Down below the mounds are a crisscross of tidal creeks filled with a variety of waterfowl. Grebes, geese, and coots swim alongside over a dozen species of ducks including teal, mergansers, and pintails. Transport by passenger van on S.I. included. Limited to 12. $57 (40)
Click here to register

Sunday, January 22, 2017, 9am – 4pm
Winter Eagles on the Hudson
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Meet at Grand Central Terminal and join NYC Audubon in seeking out one of the most incredible avian spectacles in New York: bald eagles wintering along the frozen Hudson River by the dozens or even hundreds. We will travel in comfort by Metro North to Croton Point Park, where we will look for eagles before hiking up to Croton Point Park to seek out wintering short-eared and snowy owls, snow buntings, horned larks, and other cold-weather specialties. The walk is about two miles over easy terrain. Limited to 20. Round-trip Metro North fare ($20.50) not included in trip price. $53 (37)
Click here to register

Sunday, January 22, 2017, 12pm – 2pm
Weekly on Sunday, until Mar 12, 2017
Winter Seals and Waterbirds of NY Harbor
Guide: NYC Audubon guide
Meet at South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 and come aboard NY Water Taxi’s eco-friendly vessel for a winter adventure in New York Harbor. Look for harbor seals on the rocky shores of Governor’s Island and the more remote Hoffman and Swinburne Islands. Learn about the surprisingly diverse winter birds of New York City, including ducks, geese, loons, and sandpipers, many of which migrate south from the Arctic. See the Statue of Liberty and pass under the Verrazano Bridge. Dress warmly. Limited to 90. To register, contact New York Water Taxi at 212-742-1969 or www.nywatertaxi.com. $35 for adults; $25 for children under 12; $105 for family pack for 2 adults and 2 children

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North Fork Audubon Society
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Birdwalk with Rick
8AM Meet in the Orient Point County Park lot opposite the Ferry entrance — not the State Park (map)
Winter Birding – Sea Ducks
Many species of duck that breed in the Arctic make their winter home here in Orient’s Plum Gut. Join Rick Kedenburg for a stroll out to the point to see some of them.
Dress warmly and for wind. Rain/snow cancels.
Info: 631-734-7144 or kedenbird@optonline.net

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods (Staten Island)
Sunday, January 22, 2017 @ 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Mt. Loretto North
We will search the winter forest for signs of wildlife while also examining the geologic history and effects of human influence of this diverse area on the south shore. Meet at the parking lot for North Mt. Loretto on Amboy Road in Richmond Valley.
For more information contact Clay Wollney at (718) 869-6327.

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Birding: Super Winter Bird Walk at Grand Army Plaza Arch (in Grand Army Plaza), Brooklyn
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Birding programs are appropriate for all skill levels and beginners are welcome.
Free!

Sunday, January 22, 2017
Birding: Winter Waterfowl at Forest Avenue and Silver Lake Park Road (in Silver Lake Park), Staten Island
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
This program will focus on the different species of waterfowl that reside in our parks during the colder winter months.
Free!