Birdathon 2022 Results

By Anthony Macchiarola, PHAS Board Member

This year’s Hudson Valley Birdathon had nine teams compete on May 14th over a 24 hour period to count as many bird species as possible. The participating teams, which consisted of four Board Member Teams and five self-made teams, had two options; participate at the county level (within a single Hudson Valley county) or compete at the regional level (anywhere within the seven lower Hudson Valley counties including Putnam, Dutchess, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan).

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My team, “The Saw-what’s?” competed across the entire lower Hudson Valley region. Having such a large coverage area can certainly cause some logistical headaches, but also creates an opportunity to see many birds that would be impossible within a single county! Choosing a location to start the day is so important as there are many birds that can be seen or heard easily enough in the early morning, but may be nearly impossible later in the day. After spending a few hours owling in the dark, we chose to start our day at a marsh in Dutchess County. We picked this location to begin not only because it would allow us to get some important marsh birds at first light, but also because it is close to one of the better warbler and woodland bird locations in Dutchess. At the marsh we were able to pick up a few important birds such as Marsh Wren, American Bittern, and Sora, which can become tough as the day wears on and then moved onto our woodland location. Here we were able to add a number of species including Blackburnian warblers, Bay-breasted warbler, Winter Wren, and both cuckoo species to our tally.

After emerging from the woods we chose to run around to a number of short stop locations to pick up specialty species like Purple Martin, Bank Swallows, Cerulean Warbler, and Red-breasted Nuthatch. These smaller stops do take time, especially when considering the drives in between, but are often the only reliable way to add certain localized birds to the list. We planned a route that would end up close to our next big stop in northern Dutchess to find a few more important local species, including White-eyed Vireo and Worm-eating warbler, then made our way south. Before we left the county we stopped at a grassland environment to see Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink.

We decided to head straight down to Westchester after our Dutchess locations because the southernmost county in the region offers a unique opportunity to add coastal species to the list. We spent time at Marshlands Conservancy and a few smaller locations adding a wide variety of birds to end the day including American Oystercatchers, Common and Forster’s Terns, Willet, Brant, and Monk Parakeets.

Although a lot of planning goes into the timing and logistics of the day, there are always a few surprises (both good and bad!) that force you to change plans. For example, our team thought getting a Solitary Sandpiper would be easy for us while in Dutchess County. Our pre-planned, reliable spots all came up empty and we had to spend extra time searching a few more locations throughout the day…and we still never found a Solitary Sandpiper! However, we were able to save some time because of a lucky break with a Cliff Swallow. We thought we were going to have to make a special stop in Putnam or Westchester at one of the cliff swallow colonies on the reservoirs, but when we stopped at a small farm pond with a few Barn Swallows we noticed a single Cliff Swallow mixed in!

While our approach to the day involved a lot of travel, a lot of running around, and overall fast pace, other groups took a different approach. Some chose to stay in their home county, and others chose to just enjoy a few local patches. The beauty of the Birdathon is you can make it whatever you want it to be and have a great time doing it! One of my own personal favorite aspects of the Birdathon is the excitement over seeing a bird that normally wouldn’t generate those same feelings of excitement, like the lone Cliff Swallow on the farm pond. Throughout our full day of birding we had many species with only a single sighting. Those birds, which were mostly what you would consider regular, common species, end up being some of the most exciting birds of the day!

There were, however, some birds seen by groups that are considered truly great birds to see on any day! The highlight of the day would undoubtedly be an Arctic Tern on the Hudson River by one of the Dutchess County teams. Normally this would be a nearly impossible sighting in the Hudson Valley, but there were still straggling birds left over from the unprecedented inland push of Arctic Terns on May 13th. Another group had incredible views of a Least Bittern in Rockland County, and yet another team was able to track down a Golden-winged Warbler in Orange County. Ultimately the nine participating groups were able to see and hear a total of 168 species in the Hudson Valley!

The Results:

Board Member Teams:

The Bogtrotters: 142

The Saw-what’s?: 139

Garrison Gumshoes: 104

Local Birders: 53

Self-made Teams:

State Parks Crew: 33

Hawkward Conversations: 102

Julien’s Team: 88

Debbie’s Team: 68

Carena’s Team: 87