May Environmental Education: What to Do

Spring Migration: May Environmental Education Events with Bedford Audubon

Don’t miss the wonders of spring migration! Join us for a walk, field trip and/or lecture this May to see what our feathered friends are up to!

Tuesday, May 1, 7:30am-9:30am, First Tuesday Bird Walk: Dean’s Bridge, Somers. Meet at the eastern end of Dean’s Bridge Road in Somers. Cost: Free. Level of physical difficulty: Easy-moderate. Let us know if you’d like to borrow binoculars. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Thursday, May 3, 7:30am-1:30pm, Field Trip: Experience Central Park during Migration. More than 200 species of birds pass through this metropolitan oasis on their migratory routes each spring and fall—and leader Naturalist Tait Johansson and Bedford Audubon Member and Central Park birder Doug Kurz hope to show you many of them! We will stop at the Boathouse for lunch (or bring your own). Depart Bylane Farm at 6am or meet at 72nd Street & Central Park West at 7:30am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy-Moderate. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302-9713.

Saturday, May 5, 8am, Bird Walk: John Jay Homestead, Katonah. In partnership with Friends of John Jay Homestead. The woods, fields and shrublands of this State Historic Site should hold many migrant landbirds on this prime date for migration. Meet at the main parking lot. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy-moderate. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302-9713.

Sunday, May 6, 8am-1pm, Field Trip: Garret Mountain Park. This truly excellent “migrant trap” in Paterson, New Jersey, provides sweeping views of northern New Jersey and the NYC skyline, and Naturalist Tait Johansson will lead the group on trails around a beautiful pond for migrating songbirds, especially warblers. Bring lunch. Depart Bylane Farm at 6:45am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Moderate. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302-9713.

Tuesday, May 15, 7am-9am, Local Birding Hot Spot: West Branch Reservoir at Washington Street, Carmel. This stretch of about a mile of wooded dirt road along the southwest shore of West Branch Res. between Mahopac and Carmel has some very good habitat for migrant songbirds and waterbirds. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302-9713.

Thursday, May 17, 7:30am-9:30am. Third Thursday Bird Walk, Maple Avenue, Katonah. Last year’s Maple Ave. walk on May 16 produced 21 warbler species! We will hope for similar migration conditions this year. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302-9713.

Saturday, May 19, 7:15am-12noon, Field Trip: Doodletown. Doodletown Road is known as one of the best places in our area to find breeding Hooded and Cerulean Warblers as well as being a fine spot for many other songbirds, migrants and breeders alike. Join Tait in a search for these feathered gems! Enjoy the walk up the rugged trail past the ruins of a “lost civilization.” Depart Bylane Farm at 6:15am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Sunday, May 20, 8:30am-10:00am, Bird Walk: Bedford Audubon’s Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Katonah. In partnership with Lewisboro Land Trust. The shrublands, wet meadows and woods around Bylane Farm hold Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Orchard Oriole, and many other migrants and summer resident birds. Meet in parking lot. Coffee and donuts. Level of Difficulty: Easy-moderate. Let us know if you’d like to borrow binoculars. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Tuesday, May 22, 7am-9am, Migration Madness : Maple Avenue in Katonah with Naturalist Tait Johansson. Join us at this local hotspot in search of spring warblers and other newly arrived songbirds, and breeders like Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Indigo Bunting. Meet at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Reservoir Road (right at the dam). Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Thursday, May 24, 7am-9am,Migration Madness: Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Many shrubland and forest birds breed here, including Prairie and Hooded Warblers, and the Reservation is also a good spot for migrants moving through.Meet in parking lot for Trailside Nature Museum. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Moderate. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Wednesday, May 30, 6-7pm, Evening Nature Walk: Bylane Farm.  Join us for a walk around the ponds and fields here at Bylane at the Bedford Audubon Society. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914-302.9713.

Saturday, June 2, 7:30-11:00am, Field Trip: Mianus River Gorge. Join BAS Naturalist Tait Johansson and Preserve Manager Budd Veverka for an early-morning bird walk at this beautiful old-growth forest , which holds a suite of interesting breeding birds, including Acadian Flycatcher, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, and Worm-eating Warbler. Level of difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous. Depart Bylane at 7am, or at 7:30am meet us at the parking lot for the Gorge across the street from 167 Mianus River Road, Bedford, NY. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713.

Photo Credit: Scarlet-Tananger-by-Tait-Johansson.jpg