Randall’s Island

Date: Sunday, October 13, 2024

Leader: Alan Drogin
Transportation: Carpool Trip – Drivers willing to provide rides are encouraged to attend. The Registrar will work with participants without a vehicle to organize rides and share the suggested carpool fee for the driver. This usually works out, but we can not guarantee a ride without enough volunteer drivers.
Meeting Point: After your registration is confirmed, the Registrar will share directions, the exact meeting place, and time with attendees.
Schedule: The trip will end in the early afternoon.
Relative Difficulty: About three miles of walking on flat terrain.

Trip Description: Randall’s Island is unique as it provides one of the only salt marshes in the borough of Manhattan. Historically, this location was not known as a popular birding destination for New York City birders. However, the island became a birding hotspot after Alan Drogin discovered Nelson’s Sparrows in the northeast section near the backstop of field 42 in the Bronx Kill salt marsh in 2012. Since then, mid-October has been the time to bird Randall’s for sparrows—Savannah, Swamp, Song, Chipping, Field, and an occasional Vesper, but especially the elusive Ammodramus sparrows of the marshes—Nelson’s, Saltmarsh, Seaside. We also get late-migrating warblers and, sometimes, interesting gulls.

Important Note: This year’s trip will be limited in scope. Due to construction on the underground HVDC cable, part of the Champlain-Hudson Power Express project, the entire northeast shore of the Bronx Kill is inaccessible. Also, there has been an increase of housed and unhoused immigrants on the island. In particular, pedestrians accessing the park from the 103rd street bridge will likely encounter a tent city. We recommend that everyone bird in groups, stay alert to their surroundings at all times, and only sign up for the trip if they feel comfortable.

Please read The Linnaean Society of New York COVID-19 Field Trip Guidelines before registering.

Registration: Registration opens at 9 am on Monday, September 30. After that time, click here to register. Registration closes at 6 pm on Wednesday, October 9. Members (and those who have applied for membership) will be prioritized over non-members.

Please read the About Our Trips page, if you’re going on a field trip for the first time. It details our field trip policies, recommends what to bring on a trip, and offers other useful information, pro tips, and tricks.

If after visiting the About Our Trips page, you still have questions, feel free to contact the Registrar via email.