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Central Park, New York, August 2008 (1 Viewer)

ChinaBirds

ChinaBirds

Nick Sismey
Hi,
I will be staying at the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Upper East Side 410 East 92nd Street New York, NY 10128 between 5th and 8th August 2008 with my 18 year old son (who doesn't share my interest in birds I am afraid). We will be leaving for Watkins Glen on the evening of the 8th.

Naturally I would love to do some birding while in New York and as far as I can see my best bet would be an early morning trip to Central Park. Are there any birders around who would be available to show off some of the Central Park birding spots in August, or have any tips please?

Am already swatting up on the Sibley Field Guide

Cheers
Nick
 
Hi Nick,

I met with Jos in NY this fall. To be honest you are really too early to be getting too much migrant warbler action apart from say really early migrants (Louisiana Waterthrush etc). I would suggest your time would be much more productively spent at Jamaica Bay where you will get shorebirds and herons, egrets etc and if you are lucky a few migrant Warblers, hirundines etc thrown into the mix. If you want to see Warblers you are better off making your way out of the city. I can certainly give you the heads up on interesting spots to find breeding birds etc.

Luke
 
streatham said:
Hi Nick,

I met with Jos in NY this fall. To be honest you are really too early to be getting too much migrant warbler action apart from say really early migrants (Louisiana Waterthrush etc). I would suggest your time would be much more productively spent at Jamaica Bay where you will get shorebirds and herons, egrets etc and if you are lucky a few migrant Warblers, hirundines etc thrown into the mix. If you want to see Warblers you are better off making your way out of the city. I can certainly give you the heads up on interesting spots to find breeding birds etc.

Luke
Click to expand...

Thanks very much Luke, have to be careful as it is my son's vacation and I will get shot if I do too much birding, am really restricted to the early hours of the day, the reason I picked the hotel I did, so I have easy access the park. Once I am there will be able to decide whether I can fit in Jamaica Bay, is the subway 24/7?

Am hoping I pick up other birds on the road to Watkins Glen and Toronto as well, have ordered two books to go with Sibley, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition (National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America) and Birds of New York State. Hopefully they will give me a good idea of what I would expect to see.

Cheers
Nick
 
Last edited:
Nick,

Yes, the subways are technically, 24/7 but service to the station nearest Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge is spotty, most of the day.
Although, if you start your trip at about 6:30 AM, it might be 80 minutes on the train, from Lexington and East 86th St and fifteen minutes on foot. Take the downtown 4 or 5 train, on the lower level, to Fulton Street, then the ROCKAWAY bound A train to Broad Channel; walk west to Cross Bay Boulevard, cross Cross Bay Boulevard, and walk north to entrance. There is a reception center, which has a loo, but few other facilities.


Enjoy your trip,
Arthur Pinewood
 
Seeing as you are restricted for time, I do believe there will be enough variety of birds you probably haven't seen before, for you in CP. That's if this is your first trip to the area.
 
Pinewood said:
Nick,

Yes, the subways are technically, 24/7 but service to the station nearest Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge is spotty, most of the day.
Although, if you start your trip at about 6:30 AM, it might be 80 minutes on the train, from Lexington and East 86th St and fifteen minutes on foot. Take the downtown 4 or 5 train, on the lower level, to Fulton Street, then the ROCKAWAY bound A train to Broad Channel; walk west to Cross Bay Boulevard, cross Cross Bay Boulevard, and walk north to entrance. There is a reception center, which has a loo, but few other facilities.


Enjoy your trip,
Arthur Pinewood
Click to expand...

Thanks very much Arthur, looks like it will take too long to get there, will have to settle on Central Park. Thanks also for the PM

Cheers
Nick
 
KCFoggin said:
Seeing as you are restricted for time, I do believe there will be enough variety of birds you probably haven't seen before, for you in CP. That's if this is your first trip to the area.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much KC, want to spend as much time birding, rather than travelling with the short time I have.

Cheers
Nick
 
Honestly Central Park will be terrible in very early August unless you want to see crows, house sparrows and pigeons and the handful of species that breed in the park (all very common species that you'll have seen from the car elsewhere on your trip). You'll probably not see any real local birders in the park at that time because they know it's devoid of birds. Jamaica Bay on the other hand will be teeming with great birds Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, YC Night-heron, Glossy Ibis, Forster's Terns, Sandpipers in the thousands. To be honest if you are really into birds you'd be insane not to take the trip out to Jamaica Bay at that time of year. Get up early and you can easily do a good chunk of it in half a day.

Luke
 
streatham said:
Honestly Central Park will be terrible in very early August unless you want to see crows, house sparrows and pigeons and the handful of species that breed in the park (all very common species that you'll have seen from the car elsewhere on your trip). You'll probably not see any real local birders in the park at that time because they know it's devoid of birds. Jamaica Bay on the other hand will be teeming with great birds Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, YC Night-heron, Glossy Ibis, Forster's Terns, Sandpipers in the thousands. To be honest if you are really into birds you'd be insane not to take the trip out to Jamaica Bay at that time of year. Get up early and you can easily do a good chunk of it in half a day.

Luke
Click to expand...

Hi Luke,
You are starting to convince me, I will have a rental car, will that reduce the time it takes to get there?

Cheers
Nick
 
Hi Nick,

The issue is that although the drive (depending on where you are staying in NYC) isn't that bad distance wise you are always hitting traffic for the airport so the earlier you can leave the better and if you can do it on a weekend not a weekday so as to avoid rush hour traffic that will also help.

Luke
 
If you have any time for birding in central or western NY, let me know. I'm based in Ithaca (right next door to Watkins Glen) and grew up near Niagara Falls. Early august is a tough time of year but I can help you out depending on what you want to see and how much time you have.

Cheers,
Nick Sly
 
streatham said:
Hi Nick,

The issue is that although the drive (depending on where you are staying in NYC) isn't that bad distance wise you are always hitting traffic for the airport so the earlier you can leave the better and if you can do it on a weekend not a weekday so as to avoid rush hour traffic that will also help.

Luke
Click to expand...

OK thanks Luke, I would look at doing it around dawn, that time of year I guess that is around 5am? Hopefully that would beat the traffic! We are staying a couple of blocks from Central Park. It would have to be a week day as we are driving to Watkins Glen Saturday morning.

Really appreciate all of your advice
Cheers
Nick
 
ntbirdman said:
If you have any time for birding in central or western NY, let me know. I'm based in Ithaca (right next door to Watkins Glen) and grew up near Niagara Falls. Early august is a tough time of year but I can help you out depending on what you want to see and how much time you have.

Cheers,
Nick Sly
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot Nick, not sure how much time I will have when at Watkins Glen, we aim to leave New York City on Friday evening and then do the rest of the drive to Watkins Glen on the Saturday, haven't a clue how long that will take. If we got there reasonably early would love to meet up and do some local birding in the evening. Sunday we will be at the track as my son, Jamie, is a big Montoya fan.

As it is the NASCAR weekend that weekend, would you be able to recommend any motels that we could stay, appreciate accommodation will be a bit restricted, we have not booked anywhere yet!

Hope to be able to meet up with you in August

Cheers
Nick
 
It's about 275 miles from NYC to Watkins Glen. Take Rt 87 North out of NYC to Rt 17 Central Valley, then West on Route 17 through Binghampton to Elmira then North on Rt. 14, 25 miles to Watkins Glen.

See if you can get Michelin's Regional Map #581: "New England, Hudson Valley." It will give you a good overview of the South-eastern New York State area. If you can get a TRIPLE A (AAA) tour guide of New York State it will be very helpful. www.aaa.com.

Cordially,
Bob

BTW, don't miss the tour of Watkins Glen State Park. The Glen is a Geological Wonder and the tour takes less than 2 hours!
 
Last edited:
ceasar said:
It's about 275 miles from NYC to Watkins Glen. Take Rt 87 North out of NYC to Rt 17 Central Valley, then West on Route 17 through Binghampton to Elmira then North on Rt. 14, 25 miles to Watkins Glen.

See if you can get Michelin's Regional Map #581: "New England, Hudson Valley." It will give you a good overview of the South-eastern New York State area. If you can get a TRIPLE A (AAA) tour guide of New York State it will be very helpful. www.aaa.com.

Cordially,
Bob

BTW, don't miss the tour of Watkins Glen State Park. The Glen is a Geological Wonder and the tour takes less than 2 hours!
Click to expand...

Thanks Bob,
Will check it when I get home, am on my mum's computer at the moment, on dial up, so the speed is rather slow. Will check it out. Appreciate the info about Watkins Glen as well, boy BirdForum has so many wonderful and helpful members, it never ceases to amaze me how helpful folk are.

Cheers
Nick
 
Hi Nick,
Welcome to New York. Central Park is always interesting and at 410 E 92nd you are a stone's throw from Gracie Mansion( the official mayors residence ) and its Park, as well as just a five minute walk from CP. The last 5 years sightings around NYC, including Jamaica Bay, Prospect and Central Park are recorded here: http://www.nycbirdreport.com/index.html
This should allow you to set your expectations for August. Given city traffic and parking, I think a car is just an encumbrance. Subways and cabs are much faster and more flexible. That said, don't expect to steal away for a quick trip to Prospect Park, much less Jamaica Bay. Transit times are half hour plus for the one, 2-3 times that for the other. You might instead take your son up to the Cloisters, by Ft Tryon Park, at the north end of Manhattan(take the #4bus on Madison Ave to the end, about 1 hr), a beautiful collection of medieval tapestries, carvings and paintings in a spectacular setting overlooking the Hudson Palisades. This of course assumes that he is willing. Inwood Park, which abuts the Ft Tryon site about a mile further north, is Manhattans last vestige of near virgin woodland and is as good for birding as any site on the island. With great luck, you might see a Bald Eagle or an Osprey, as these raptors fish the Hudson around there. More likely, you will see woodpeckers, kingbirds, chickadees and perhaps an owl.
 
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