RFI New York targets (1 Viewer)

I'm hoping to finally visit the eastern USA in August. Just a 3 week trip, with little planned yet, but will be hiring a car and travelling with partner and 5 year old.

As we'll be arriving in New York, I'd like some advice on best sites in August for some of the birds I hope to see, notably Piping Plover, American Woodcock, Seaside Sparrow, and Saltmarsh Sparrow. Any advice welcome, and the nearer to the airport the better.

thanks in advance,

Larry

1) New York is the name of a both a city and a state. I assume you mean the city.

2) There are three international airports that serve New York City (one of which is in New Jersey). It's important to specify which one, since getting from one to the other can be a nightmare. (If you have a connecting / return flight, make sure they all use the same airport!).

3) Plovers are easy, though earlier in the year would be better. Just look for the closed-off sections of most any beach, e.g. Rockaway, which is very near to JFK aiport: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/wildlifenyc/animals/piping-plovers.page


4) Do you know about eBird? Search by species, location, date...
Here's woodcock, August, past ten years:
https://ebird.org/map/amewoo?neg=tr...rue&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=on&bmo=8&emo=8&yr=last10

As I expected, woodcock is going to be a big challenge (single visitors, many years ago)... but eBird should be very helpful for the sparrows.

PS if you are staying in New York City I would advise you *not* to rent a car. Subways and taxis will get you around downtown, and for getting to coastal birding sites you should use a ride-hailing app: Uber or Lyft.

Thanks Nartreb, great to be armed with a Piping plover site already :t:.

We haven't even worked out which airport we'll land at yet, but certainly aim to cover some distance with a hire car over the 3 weeks, maybe as far south as North Carolina, and certainly at least up to Niagara, and/or maybe northeastwards if we have time.

I'm finding it a bit logistically bewildering, and will certainly spend some some time trying to work out where to go with ebird, but in the US it's almost like there is too much information and too many sites!

I've got about 30 target birds I figured I might be 'in range' in August, but they range from ones I figure ought to be easy (like Common Grackle, Blue Jay and Tufted Titmouse), to birds I figured I'd need detailed site information for (like the ones I mentioned earlier, and things like Bicknell's Thrush and Red-cockaded Woodpecker.)

It's exciting, but a bit of a head-scratcher!

I can try to help... Bicknell's is gonna be a tough one as there is a lot of overlap with Gray-cheeked and field IDing is difficult unless they are singing and even then sometimes a ?. We have had a few in our hands at the banding station that we have had to leave at GC/BT as all the measurements overlapped. Seaside and Saltmarsh should be relatively easy(fairly common at the right spots), Woodcocks are around but not particularly easy at that time of year. Sandy Hook in NJ is a great place for Piping Plovers and many other species in general.

Send me a PM with a list of targets and I'll see what I can do for you. That is quite ambitious too, planning to cover from Niagara to NC...I know many places around NJ/NYC area and some along the way down to NC.

Birdbrain22 said:

I can try to help... Bicknell's is gonna be a tough one as there is a lot of overlap with Gray-cheeked and field IDing is difficult unless they are singing and even then sometimes a ?. We have had a few in our hands at the banding station that we have had to leave at GC/BT as all the measurements overlapped. Seaside and Saltmarsh should be relatively easy(fairly common at the right spots), Woodcocks are around but not particularly easy at that time of year. Sandy Hook in NJ is a great place for Piping Plovers and many other species in general.

Send me a PM with a list of targets and I'll see what I can do for you. That is quite ambitious too, planning to cover from Niagara to NC...I know many places around NJ/NYC area and some along the way down to NC.

Click to expand...

Thanks Birdbrain, that's a very kind offer. I'll PM you my wish list, and any ideas of sites for any of them would be much appreciated. I've been trying to navigate ebird to give me some sites,but I'm not really having much success as yet. I couldn't find any useful trip reports on cloudbirders either.

Well, the States are kind of big. It's a bit like saying "flying to London, but might drive to Edinburgh for some eiders, and where can I see Spanish Sparrow? Near the airport, please."

Bicknell's Thrush actually has a small summer breeding zone in the Catskill "mountains", only around 2 and a half hours from New York City. To find it elsewhere in August you'll need to go almost to the Canadian border (but Niagara is actually the wrong direction, you need to be considerably farther East and somewhat further North). In any event it's a tough bird to spot. They like to lurk in the dim under-story of spruce/fir woods (which means hilltops, until you get *way* north) and they can only be ID'd by song.

nartreb said:

Well, the States are kind of big. It's a bit like saying "flying to London, but might drive to Edinburgh for some eiders, and where can I see Spanish Sparrow? Near the airport, please."

Bicknell's Thrush actually has a small summer breeding zone in the Catskill "mountains", only around 2 and a half hours from New York City. To find it elsewhere in August you'll need to go almost to the Canadian border (but Niagara is actually the wrong direction, you need to be considerably farther East and somewhat further North). In any event it's a tough bird to spot. They like to lurk in the dim under-story of spruce/fir woods (which means hilltops, until you get *way* north) and they can only be ID'd by song.

Click to expand...

Indeed Nartreb, that's exactly why I need specific site gen to plan my trip. I just thought I'd start by asking about a couple of things around NY, but you've made me realise I need to create a different thread, with my hit list, to optimise my chances of getting the gen I need to begin working out a route :t:

It's really useful knowing that there's a Bicknell's Thrush site so close (I didn't know that), but I guess I'll actually need a specific spot in the Catskill mountains to stand any realistic chance, or I'd be wasting my time. Then also knowing how far I'd have to go extra, to where they're easier, and whether or not going that far norteast would also give me a chance of other targets (eg Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrows), would also factor into whether I'd decide to head in that direction... Or would it be better to spend more time looking for, say, 5 different easier targets if I spent that time heading further west instead???? There's an awful lot to think about!.....

So I'll ask about it in this thread: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3824279#post3824279

Armed with Piper Plover, 'I have a Piping Plover and I'm not afraid to use it'.........:-O