Hillside Woods at Hastings-on-Hudson

Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025

Leader: Julien Amsellem
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 unless there are enough enough volunteer drivers.
Meeting Point: After your registration is confirmed, the Registrar will share directions, the exact meeting place, and time with attendees.
Schedule: 7:00 am–12:00 noon.
Relative Difficulty: The terrain is mostly flat, with a few small slopes, making for easy walking.

Trip Description: Hillside Woods is a 10-acre hardwood forest located in Hastings-on-Hudson, a small village in southern Westchester County. Conveniently located close to the Hudson River, an important migratory flyway, and elevated above most of its surroundings, Hillside Woods is a great park for birding, especially during migration. It is dominated by mature forest, primarily oaks, beeches, and tulip trees, but it also has three kinds of water features that often draw birds. Around the small ponds, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and Wood Duck should be expected, while along the streams and marshy areas, both species of waterthrush are possible.

Although this walk will not take place at the peak of spring migration, many warblers and other migrants should have arrived already, with Black-throated Green Warbler, Wood Thrush, and Great Crested Flycatcher among the expected species. Raptors, one of Hillside’s appealing features during migration, should be plentiful in the right conditions, with Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Merlin, Bald Eagle, and Osprey all being commonly found. A good late-April day here can net well over 50 species, so we can’t wait to see you!

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

Registration: Registration opens at 9 am on Monday, April 14. After that time, click here to register. Registration closes at 6 pm on Wednesday, April 23. 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.