Hudson River Audubon Society Field Trip

    The Beach in Winter? YES. Jones Beach State Park hosts a variety of birds, many of which are only seen in the colder months and a few that are considered rare for the state. The Christmas Bird Count that covers this area had over 140 species in December. We won’t see that many, but we should see quite a variety. Northern Gannets might be seen off in the Atlantic Ocean as well as Black, Surf, and White-winged Scoters. The beach and sand dunes could be hiding a Snowy Owl along with Snow Buntings, Horned Lark, Dunlin and Sanderling. The parking lots can be a great place to see a rare gull such as Lesser Black-backed, Iceland or Glaucous Gull. The trees and grassy mediums should hold American Tree Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch and possibly a winter finch such as Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin or Purple Finch. The bays should hold Long-tailed Duck, both Common and Red-throated Loon, Horned Grebe and maybe even a Red-necked Grebe. The rock jetties at Point Lookout have been hosting a few Harlequin Ducks as well as Purple Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstone. The sand bars in the bay might have over wintering American Oystercatcher or Black-bellied Plover. The inlet may have a flock of Bonaparte’s Gull, where we will search through them in hopes for a rare find like a Black-headed Gull or Little Gull.

    Dress appropriately for the weather. The beach is usually much windier than here at home - so if it’s cold, buddle-up! But, we could luck out with a warm day and there’s nothing like enjoying some winter sun during a stroll on the beach.

    Bring lunch; we will stop at a deli for sandwiches for those brave souls who want to continue into the afternoon.

    We will car pool from Lenoir Nature Preserve in Yonkers at 7 AM or if you are taking your own car meet us at the coast guard station parking lot (bare left a half mile after passing around the closed parking tolls at the end of Meadowbrook Parkway, look for the West End 2 signs) Directions on back.

For more information or questions, call or E-mail our field trip leader, Michael Bochnik at
914-237-9331 or bochnikm@cs.com

Directions from Lenoir Nature preserve, Yonkers:
1. From Lenoir take Dudley Street back to North Broadway.
2. Turn right and travel south on North Broadway to 1st light.
3. At light, turn left onto Executive Boulevard and take it to the Saw Mill River Parkway.
4. Turn right onto Saw Mill River Parkway southbound and take it to the Cross County Parkway.
5. Take Cross County Pkwy. to Exit 9, Hutchinson River Pkwy.,south.
6. Take Hutchinson River Parkway south to Whitestone Bridge.
7. Once over bridge bare left onto Cross Island Parkway.
8. Take Cross Island Parkway to Exit 25A, Southern State Parkway East.  Exit is on the left lane!
9. Take Southern State to Exit 22S, Meadowbrook Pkwy./Jones Beach. 
10. Take Meadowbrook Parkway south. 
11. At the closed parking tolls stay to the left and go around them,
then get back into the right lane. 12. After about ½ mile bare right toward West End 2. Go past the Police
barracks on the right and continue to the next turn off. Make two rights
to the public parking area. 

Species we will search for:

Brant	Common Loon	Harlequin Duck
Iceland Gull	Northern Gannet	Bufflehead

Directions to Lenoir:
From Saw Mill River Parkway: Exit at Exit 9, Executive Boulevard. Take Executive Boulevard straight, up winding hill to North Broadway and turn right. Go 1/4 mile and turn left onto Dudley Street (a small street). Lenoir's Parking lot is on the left. Additional parking on North Broadway.

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