At first blush, Albany’s Buckingham Pond looks like an unremarkable urban duck pond, with a busy playground, picnic area, and usually a flock of Mallards of questionably wild credentials plying its calm waters or huddled on the closely-mown shoreline. But this small, unassuming city park provides some much-needed habitat variety in an otherwise residential neighborhood – and in spring, Buckingham Pond can be a surprisingly effective migrant trap, making it a productive and convenient stop for area birders. We’ll spend the early morning in search of warblers, flycatchers, vireos, and other migrant songbirds in the wooded edges of the park, while keeping an eye out for waterfowl, shorebirds, and waders on the pond.
Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Buckingham Lake Park parking lot on Berkshire Blvd.
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Beginner Birder Workshop - Migrants at Five Rivers EEC
When: 2 May 2025 8:30 AM
This trip is geared towards novice birders.
Coordinator: Scott Stoner <scottjstoner...>
Join us for a leisurely morning walk through some of the varied habitats of Five Rivers as we explore fields, ponds, woodlands, and marshes for migrant and resident birds. Be prepared for wet trails.
Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot at Five Rivers EEC in Delmar.
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Bog Meadow Brook Trail
When: 3 May 2025 8:00 AM
Coordinator: Ron Harrower <ronharrower14...>
Bog Meadow Brook Trail, an old rail trail just east of Saratoga Springs, runs along the northern edge of a swamp and consists of wetland habitat with two ponds with a wet mixed forest in between. This varied habitat provides a good migration stop for many warblers and other passerine species, while the ponds and wetlands will have waders and marsh birds, and shorebirds are likely if the edges are exposed.
Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the trailhead pull-off on Meadowbrook Road, about 0.3 mile west of Stafford Bridge Rd/Rt. 67.
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Anchor Diamond Park
When: 4 May 2025 7:00 AM
Coordinator: Dan Leonard <dannyboy67leonard...>
246-acre Anchor Diamond Park at Hawkwood is located at the corner of Route 50 and Middleline Road in the Town of Ballston. On this trip, we’ll bird some of the network of trails that crisscross streams and wooded wetlands in this beautiful gem of a park. So be prepared to encounter SOME mud. Past visits to this park in early May have yielded Red-shouldered Hawk, Winter Wren, Rusty Blackbird, woodland thrushes, Louisiana Waterthrush, and other spring warblers.
Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the parking lot off Middleline Rd, about 500 ft off Route 50.
