Central Park in the spring is one of the great warbler-watching sites in the East. Photo: Corey Finger
The largest city in the US is a very special place for the birder. Not only is the New York metropolitan area sprinkled with outstanding natural areas, but the city can claim—along with Cape May and with Essex County, Massachusetts—to be the birthplace of American birding. From Audubon to Roger Tory Peterson and beyond, New York has drawn birders and ornithologists to its museums, its libraries, and its impressive array of parks and refuges. Two of the most famous, Central Park and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, provide the background to our inaugural Big City Weekend, an exploration of the surprising wealth of birds to be found and enjoyed right in the heart of the most exciting city in the world.
Our Big City Weekends offer the WINGS experience to birders who for whatever reason might not be able to participate in a longer tour farther afield. While we anticipate that many participants will be local residents, the WINGS office is happy to provide recommendations for convenient lodging in the New York City area—just give us a call.
Day 1: We’ll meet at 7:00 am at a convenient subway stop on the edge of Central Park. We’ll spend the morning birding some of the justly famous localities in the Park, including The Ramble, with its many micro-habitats that provide food and shelter for tens of thousands of migrant warblers, thrushes, and other birds each spring. Almost all of the eastern warbler species occur here each spring, and on particularly good days, 25 to 30 can be seen in the park.
Breeding birds include Warbling Vireo, Wood Thrush, and Baltimore Oriole. Migrants to be expected include Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Black-throated Blue, and and Black-throated Green Warblers, and Scarlet Tanager. Among the many less common species possible at this time of year are Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Indigo Bunting.
We’ll start in Strawberry Field, then walk around the Rowboat Lake, over Bow Bridge, and into The Ramble proper, named for the abundance of crooked paths through the woods. We’ll watch birds around the Humming Tombstone, in the humorously named Mugger’s Woods, at Tanner Spring—the last remaining freshwater stream in Central Park—from Willow Rock, and at the Azalea Pond, among blazing bushes planted more than a century ago.
We were in expert hands. Starr Saphir set the tone early, and we soon coalesced into a functioning group, helping one another to get good looks. She should be a national treasure: profound awareness, technical command, moral questions, behavior, how to learn; she covered it all. And probably more. Like any good teacher, some of her lessons didn’t sink in right away.
Donna Roberts, May 2011
Throughout the day we’ll keep an eye out for Central Park’s most famous feathered resident, the Red-tailed Hawk known as “Pale Male.”
About 11:30, we’ll head for lunch at the Boathouse Coffee Shop next to The Ramble; participants can bring their own food or buy lunch at the coffee shop (highly recommended: the vegetarian chili). After lunch we’ll take an uptown bus to the wilder north end of Central Park, where we’ll look for more migrants around the Pool, the Loch (a stream), and the Meer (a pond). We’ll also visit the Great Hill and the Blockhouse Woods, named for a structure built during the War of 1812 for the storage of weapons in case the British reached Manhattan (they didn’t).
We’ll bird until we run out of things to look at—practically speaking, between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Participants who wish to do so can join the leader for dinner at 5:00 pm in a nearby restaurant. Dinner will be over in time for people to go to the theater, a concert, or whatever non-birding activities they have planned.
Day 2: We’ll meet this morning at 8:00 at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a two-hour subway ride from midtown Manhattan (for drivers, there is ample free parking at the refuge). Jamaica Bay’s 20 square miles of marsh and mudflats Jamaica Bay attract numerous shorebirds, including American Oystercatcher and Red Knot; herons and waterfowl abound, and migrating passerines can occur in impressive numbers in the gardens and on the small islands. Notable among the more than 70 spcies of breeding birds at this fantastic site are Tricolored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey, and Seaside and Saltmarsh Sparrows.
We’ll start out by birding around the West Pond; we’ll be on the path for about three hours, with plenty of opportunities to sit and rest. We’ll return to Refuge Headquarters, which has restrooms, excellent New York City drinking water, and a good bookshop; participants must bring their own lunches today, which we’ll eat on picnic tables in front of the headquarters building.
After lunch we’ll bird the North and South Gardens, excellent locations for migrant vireos, thrushes, and warblers; these areas are also managed for butterflies, with more than 70 species recorded. We’ll cross the street to look for more shorebirds at the East Pond and Big John’s Pond (named for the backhoe operator who dug the hole for this artificial pond). We’ll finish at around 4:00 pm.
Updated: 13 May 2010
Prices
- 2011 price : $100*
Notes
Maximum group size 12 with one leader, 20 with two leaders.
Our Big City Weekends do not include transportation or meals. Central Park and Jamaica Bay are both easily accessible by public transport; the WINGS office will provide participants with precise details and directions. Jamaica Bay also has ample free parking for drivers. On Saturday, participants can bring their own food or purchase lunch at the Boathouse Coffee Shop; those who wish can join the leader for dinner that evening. Participants must bring their own lunches on Sunday.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.