Date: 5/5/26 4:49 pm From: Naomi Lloyd via groups.io <naomi_kestrel...> Subject: [hmbirds] Upcoming field trips: 5/9, 5/10, 5/13
Three field trips in the thick of migration season!
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Birds & Breakfast at Five Rivers EEC
When: 9 May 2026
6:00 AM
Location: Five Rivers EEC, Albany County
Coordinator: Sue Rokos <szrokos...> 518-535-0006
Our annual celebration of spring migrants will be held at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, located along Game Farm Road in Delmar. The center has an excellent trail system through a variety of habitats. You can expect to see and hear many resident and migrant species, including warblers, thrushes, vireos, and orioles, along with a few waterfowl and herons. A typical year results in about 70 species; a good year for migrants can top 90!
An early group will meet in the parking lot at 6:00 a.m. Additional groups will leave at 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. You may join one of these groups or go out on your own as we try to find as many species as possible. We’ll rally at the Visitors Center at 10:30 a.m. for coffee, bagels, fresh fruit and a list compilation. The breakfast is free, but donations are welcomed!
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Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve (VFNHP) Migrants
When: 10 May 2026
7:30 AM
Location: Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve, Saratoga County
Coordinators: Gregg Recer and Cathy Graichen <gregg.recer...> 518-330-4552 (GR)
This is one of the club’s most popular spring trips. We will explore this varied site for warblers and other songbirds as well as marsh species including herons and rails.
Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the VFNHP main entrance, at the intersection of Riverview and Van Vranken Rds. in Clifton Park.
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Buckingham Pond
When: 13 May 2026
7:00 AM
Location: Buckingham Pond, Albany County
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 Boulevard.
