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Some of the best New York wildlife sites! (1 Viewer)

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....
New York is known for the Appalachian Mountains, Catskill Mountains, Stissing Mountain, and Stormville Mountain. It is also the partial owner of Niagara Falls. Some of the best places (parks, forests, towns/cities, etc.) to bird here in NEW YORK are:

Niagara Falls
Tifft Nature Preserve
Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
Braddock Bay
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
Finger Lakes National Forest
Buttermilk Falls State Park
Derby Hill Bird Observatory
Perch River Wildlife Management Area
Robert Moses State Park (thanks DINGOBLU!)
Silver Lake Bog Preserve
Ferd's Bog, Eagle Bay
Utica Marsh Wildlife Interpretive Center
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center
Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area
Harriman State Park
Central Park, New York City
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Jones Beach State Park
Fire Island National Seashore
Long Island Refuge Complex
Morton National Wildlife Refuge
Montauk Point State Park
[all the above were listed in New York Birds Pocket Naturalist by Waterford Press]

If you live in, or plan to visit, Dutchess County (where I live), these sites are recommended:

Village of Stormville
Hudson Highlands State Park
Hudson River
James Baird State Park
Mills Norrie State Park
Tivoli Bay State Unique Area
Clermont State Park
Stissing Mountain State Park
Taconic State Park
Whaley Lake

Other Nearby sites:
Lake Taghkanic State Park
Clarence Fahnestock State Park
Bashakill Marsh State Wildlife Management Area
Thomspon Pond (part of Stissing Mountain Park)

NEW YORK MEMBERS, feel free to add more!
 
I have never noticed this section before. My eyes are open now.
Here are my four additions

Tomhannock Resevoir
Dyken Pond Education Center
John Boyd Thacher State Park---haven't birded here yet, but it has a great education center for everyone, which is perfect for the winter months with a child.
Five Rivers Educational Center


It seems that there is a theme with my places...
 
I would also suggest Hamlin Beach State Park (for Long-tailed Jaegers in the fall), Fair Haven Beach State Park (for Purple Sandpipers in fall and winter) and Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca for an all-around decent birding experience.
 
I'm from Pa., but I spend alot of time along the Delaware River from Port Jervis, NY to Hancock, NY. It's an excellent birding area.
Bob
 
I should have added to the above post that this is a good place to see Bald
Eagles and Ospreys. The Narrowsburg and Callicoon areas are excellent places to look out for them. There is a restaurant in Narrowsburg with an outdoor patio from which you might see an eagle while having lunch.
Bob
 
I'm still fairly new to birding, but I can toss in a mention of a couple of places near me. These are in the Mid-Hudson Valley area, west of the river.

Basha Kill (or Basher Kill) wetland in Sullivan County, south of Wurtsboro. Nesting Bald Eagles and Osprey, Coots, Great Blue Herons, various passerines. Great place for paddling in the warmer months, and there are walking paths on either side.

Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Ulster County, Town of Shawangunk, south of New Paltz and Gardiner. A former Army air field now owned by USF&W. Grassland and some wooded areas along the margins make for good habitat.

Matt
 
There are a lot of great suggestions in this thread, but no good way to quickly find out information about these places (other than copying each one into Google). I thought I would take the time to create these links for all the birding spots mentioned in the thread so far, and hopefully others will continue this in the future.

Niagara Falls (map, website)
Goat Island at Niagara Falls (map, website)
Tifft Nature Preserve (map, website)
Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (map, website)
Braddock Bay (map, website)
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (map, website)
Finger Lakes National Forest (map, website)
Buttermilk Falls State Park (map, website)
Derby Hill Bird Observatory (map, website)
Perch River Wildlife Management Area (map, website)
Robert Moses State Park (map, website)
Silver Lake Bog Preserve (map, website)
Ferd's Bog, Eagle Bay (map, website)
Utica Marsh Wildlife Interpretive Center (map, website)
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center (map, website)
Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area (map, website)
Harriman State Park (map, website)
Central Park, New York City (map, website)
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (map, website)
Jones Beach State Park (map, website)
Fire Island National Seashore (map, website)
Long Island Refuge Complex (map, website)
Morton National Wildlife Refuge (map, website)
Montauk Point State Park (map, website)
Village of Stormville (map)
Hudson Highlands State Park (map, website)
Hudson River (map)
James Baird State Park (map, website)
Mills Norrie State Park (map, website)
Tivoli Bay State Unique Area (map, website)
Clermont State Park (map, website)
Stissing Mountain State Park (map, website)
Taconic State Park (map, website)
Whaley Lake (map)
Lake Taghkanic State Park (map, website)
Clarence Fahnestock State Park (map, website)
Bashakill Marsh State Wildlife Management Area (map, website)
Thomspon Pond (part of Stissing Mountain Park) (map, website)
Tomhannock Resevoir (map)
Dyken Pond Education Center (map, website)
John Boyd Thacher State Park (map, website)
Hamlin Beach State Park (map, website)
Fair Haven Beach State Park (map, website)
Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca (map, website)
Marshlands Conservancy in Rye NY (map, website)
Narrowsburg (map)
Callicoon (map)
Letchworth State Park (map, website)
Alleghany State Park (map, website)
Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge (map, website)

Now that I have perfected my copy/paste skills, I hope that others find this helpful :)
 
Thanks, Jon. That is much more user friendly. Next month I will be traveling through NY following I90 and am interested in places to camp and see wildlife.
 
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So if you are feeling adventurous you could put some of the above into Opus

I have never visited most of these places, and so I don't really have any additional information to offer. I could read about them and put that info onto the site, but it seems like it will be more useful for others to do those write-ups once they have visited some of these areas. I hope that the links I added will allow birders to find these spots, visit them, and place themselves in situations where they can write up useful descriptions. Since I will undoubtedly visit some myself this summer, I will be sure to document my findings later on.
 
I have never visited most of these places, and so I don't really have any additional information to offer. I could read about them and put that info onto the site, but it seems like it will be more useful for others to do those write-ups once they have visited some of these areas. I hope that the links I added will allow birders to find these spots, visit them, and place themselves in situations where they can write up useful descriptions. Since I will undoubtedly visit some myself this summer, I will be sure to document my findings later on.



Thats a great piecec of work for starters Jonathan.

Credit to you for putting all that together :t:
 
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