New York State
Ornithological Association

For the birders and birds of the Empire State

Calendar of EventsLast Updated 7/23/20


Field Trips

Boreal Owl, Amherst Island, Ont by Gary ZylkuskiNYSOA conducts field trips to great birding hotspots around New York State. Watch our home page for announcements. In most cases we offer a workshop on Saturday followed by a field trip on Sunday. Workshops are open to the public. The number of participants for each field trip is limited and individual/family members of NYSOA are given priority. Be sure to register early - most field trips fill up quickly!

 

Bicknell's Thrush, Whiteface Mountain - July 8, 2012
photo by Tommy Kirby, age 15   

 

Our field trips have included the following, each Sunday outing preceded by a Saturday workshop focusing on the trip's target species:

       

Winter Weekend - Adirondacks with Joan Collins and Matt Young - February 2018   NEW 7/28/19
Winter Weekend in Oswego
 with Paul Richardson and Dr. Michael Schummer - February 2017

Spring Weekend in the Adirondacks with Lewis Lolya and Larry Master - May 2015
Fall Birding Weekend with Seth Ausubel and Mary Normandia - September 2014
Bashakill Birding Weekend with Lance Verderame and John Haas - March 2014
Jefferson County Birding Weekend
 with Jeff Bolsinger - May 2013 
North Country Winter Bird Workshop & Field Trip with Joan Collins - January 2013 
Adirondack Boreal Bird Workshop & Whiteface Mountain Field Trip with John & Pat Thaxton - July 2012
Niagara River Gull ID Workshop & Field Trip
with Willie D'Anna - Jan 2012
Montezuma Shorebird ID Workshop & Field Trip
with Kevin McGowan - Sept 2011 
Adirondack Warbler Workshop & Massawepee Mire Walk
with Joan Collins - May 2011
Pelagic ID Workshop & Trip - LI with Angus Wilson - Feb & Mar 2011
Whiskey Hollow with Joe Brin - May 2003
Cape Ann / Plum Island
, Feb 2003
Hudson Canyon, Dec 2002
Niagara River with Bill Lee - Nov 2002
Adirondacks (Spring Pond Bog) with Brian McAllister and Sean O'Brien - Jun 2002
Niagara Falls with Bill Lee - Dec 2000
Adirondack Weekend - Whiteface Mtn. / Massawepee Mire, Jun 2000

 

 
Note:  Many member clubs/organizations around the state offer exciting field trips regularly. For information on additional trips in the areas that interest you, take a look at our Member Clubs/Organizations page, where you will find a map of New York State and a list of bird clubs/organizations in each region, along with contact information and links to individual club/organization websites.

 

NYSOA Annual Meeting

NYSOA's annual business meeting is held during a weekend conference that is open to the public and hosted by a NYSOA member club. This annual event brings together birders from across the state and beyond who come to develop new birding friendships, renew old ones, hear excellent speakers, and explore birding opportunities away from their home turf. The weekend offers attendees a variety of social, educational, and birding activities. The business meeting segment of the weekend is attended by delegates of member clubs/organizations and includes elections and new club/organization membership approvals, as well as committee reports and other matters.

 

Looking ahead    UPDATED 8/9/24

    

77th Annual Meeting (2024):  The 2024 NYSOA Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom from 5:00pm to 6:00pm on September 15, 2024. In addition to the business agenda, author and photographer Scott Harris, whose recent book Raptor Quest: Chasing America's Raptors, documents his journey to photograph all the raptors in North America, will make a presentation
For Zoom registration and reminders visit www.nybirds.org/2024

 

78th Annual Meeting (2025):  In 2025 we will once again have a full weekend in-person conference, hosted by Cayuga Bird Club at the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center September 19-21, 2025. The The keynote speaker will be Peter Kaestner, who broke the 10,000 birding life list barrier in February 2024.

 

Past Annual Meetings 
    

76th Annual Meeting (2023):  The conference was hosted in Westchester by Saw Mill River Audubon September 22-24, 2023 and set a new record for number of attendees. In spite of the rainy weather, 330 people enjoyed a broad range of activities, many even braving the "rain or shine" field trips!

    

75th Annual Meeting (2022) Our first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic began, it was hosted in Oswego by the Onondaga Audubon Society September 30 - October 2, 2022. Kudos and thanks to our hosts for pulling us out of COVID zoom mode -- it was great to see real faces again!
 

     Draft minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting  UPDATED 6/21/24
     (for review and approval by member clubs/organizations at the 2024 Annual Meeting on 9/15/24)
 

Chronology: List of all FNYSBC/NYSOA Annual Meetings since the beginning    UPDATED 9/25/23

 

Other Events

Taking Flight: Birding In The Catskills 2018 - Friday-Sunday, May 25-27, 2018
Location: The unique and luxurious Emerson Resort in Mount Tremper, New York.

  • Scott Whittle and Tom Stephenson, authors of The Warbler Guide, have made this a Warbler Weekend, from Scott’s Friday afternoon What the Hell’s A Warbler? workshop and photography field walk, through their Saturday night Keynote presentation, to their Sunday pre-breakfast Birdsong walk.
  • Tod Winston from National Audubon and the New York City Audubon Society presents Friday night’s Keynote.
  • On Saturday, the topic of conservation will be front and center with Tod's Planting For Birds workshop, and NYSOA’s Greg Lawrence will host a bird conservation workshop.
  • The ever-popular 4:30 am Bicknell’s Thrush hike with BITH guide Steve Chorvas will be offered again, this time up Hunter Mountain instead of Slide. And for the first time, we will also offer an 8 am trip on the Hunter Mountain SkyRide to see what birds we find at the highest elevations of the Catskills.
  • As always, the Cornell Lab of O will provide assistance with eBird and Merlin apps. There will be a Beginning Birder workshop, a presentation on Peregrine Falcons, Richard Guthrie will make an appearance, and and more!
For the full schedule and registration, check out the Catskill Center's website or call the Catskill Center at 845-586-2611.


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