Birding Big Day with the Urban Park Rangers...

Green Heron

I always try to support local events in New York City, especially when it involves educating the public about wildlife in our local parks. I am a fan of and continue to support many of the programs offered by the Urban Park Rangers of NYC. All of the programs are free and they provide all New Yorkers the opportunity to discover New York City Outdoors. Many of the programs include fishing, canoeing, hiking, wildlife watching and the studying of natural resources. Last year, I participated in my first Big Day of birding with them and this year I came out and supported the event out of Brooklyn for an all day birding excursion.


The group was a mix of somewhat experienced to newbie birders guided by Urban Park Rangers, Tom Preston and Anthony Pastaro who were both excellent hosts. Overall, the day was a fun one and the group ended up seeing lots of birds. I believe the number that the rangers tallied was 101 species. Some of us, including myself kept separate day lists and I ended up with a total of 132 species, which was definitely boosted by my early morning birding of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. ( Note, that Jamaica Bay was not one of our stops because it is a federal and not a state park). There were many highlights of the day, with my favorites being Cape May Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Bay Breasted Warbler and my second Olive-sided Flycatcher in as many days. Here are some photos from the event.

Bobolink

Red-tailed Hawk with a meal that it took to its nest.

Tags: Birding, Urban Park Rangers New York City