Rye, NY – 12/31/13

This post is a few days late, but I did not have time to get it together before now. For my final outing of 2013, I made it out to Rye, New York. I knew that Rye was considered a good birding location, but I had never been there before. I turned to John Haas, who provided me with the lay of the land. He let me know there are three good spots to bird in Rye – Read Wildlife Sanctuary, Rye Town Park, and the Marshlands Conservancy.  All three places are really easy to get to, close to one another, and most importantly, very birdy. I had a total of 40 species for the day, and I made out particularly well with water birds, identifying 15 species, including my favorite of the day, two Long-tailed Ducks, which were seen at a great distance from Rye Town Park. Water birds I was hoping for which I missed out on were: Brant, Common Loon, and Great Cormorant.

I think what I enjoyed most about the day was the variety of birding that was available. At both the Read Wildlife Sanctuary and the Marshlands Conservancy, I birded the woods and trails while also looking out for water birds. At Read, you can bird both the Long Island Sound and Playland Lake from the road into the sanctuary. At the Marshlands Conservancy, there is a great trail that borders along Milton Harbor. I did well with passerines at both locations; a Fox Sparrow at Read and a total of 6 Carolina Wrens for the day were highlights.

I found it interesting that I did not have any raptors while I was there. I was hoping for Purple Sandpipers, but the only shorebirds I had for the day was this group of Dunlin, which seemed to appear out of thin air:

I highly recommend taking a trip to Rye for some birding; I had a super day of birding. If you are interested in more details on how to get around in the area, leave a message and I will get the information to you. Finally, I decided to try something a little different with my species list for the day: