Field Trips

A highlight for many NYSOA conference attendees are the field trips to area birding hotspots.  We look forward to sharing with you a wide variety of birding sites and habitats in the Ithaca area, from the shores of Cayuga Lake to forest and wetland preserves to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

When you register for the conference, you'll be given the opportunity to sign up for Friday afternoon tours of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm, 3:30pm). Apart from this, sign-ups for the remaining field trips will take place this summer. (We will email registrants field trip sign-up information.)

Note that transportation for field trips is not provided; carpooling is recommended.

NYSOA 2025 field trips will take place in three time slots: 

• Friday  2-4pm:

  • The focus of the afternoon will be at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Visitor Center, with 30-minute tours (sign-up during conference registration) and short bird walks in the surrounding Sapsucker Woods.

  • Field trips to other nearby sites will also be offered, including to Stewart Park and the Cornell Botanic Garden's Newman Arboretum.

• Saturday  7-11am:

  • Saturday trips will visit sites within a 20-minute drive from downtown Ithaca, including city parks, Cornell Natural Areas, Finger Lakes Land Trust Preserves, State Forests and State Parks.  Saturday trips are timed for participants to return to the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center at 11am for the opportunity to socialize, visit vendor displays, and take part in other Conference activities.

• Sunday  7-11:30am:

  • Sunday's trips will include going to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR), located an hour's drive north of Ithaca, as well as sites to the south (Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve or Goetchius Wetland Preserve) and east (Dryden Lake).  Participants can plan to drive home directly after the trip ends.

Ithaca Area Birding Sites

The Ithaca area is blessed with many publicly-accessible natural areas with a wide variety of habitats. Situated at the south end of Cayuga Lake, the longest of the glacially-carved finger lakes, the surrounding hills and gorges boast many spectacular waterfalls that attract tourists from around the world. Tompkins County's three State Parks, six State Forests, and two Wildlife Management Areas, are supplemented by Cornell Natural Areas and Finger Lakes Land Trust nature preserves.  A half hour away is the Finger Lakes National Forest with over 15,000 acres of mixed-use forests and fields, and an hour to the north is the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, which manages 10,000 acres of wetlands.

Below are descriptions of a selection of birding sites to whet your appetite. Field trips may visit other birding sites as well.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) and Sapsucker Woods

 (15 minutes northeast from downtown)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is nestled within the 220-acre Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, which features a variety of wetland, forest, and field habitats. Trails are flat and well-marked, with some boardwalks, benches, and shelters.

Friday afternoon will feature 30-minute tours highlighting the Lab's collections and artwork, offered at 2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm, 3:30pm. Sign up for these tours during conference registration. You will also have time to explore the many interactive exhibits and displays in the CLO visitor center, join a 50-minute guided walk, or explore the trails on your own.

A field trip here will also be offered on Saturday morning and, if there is demand, on Sunday.

Stewart Park and Cayuga Lake

(8 minutes north from downtown)

Located at the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Stewart Park is an Ithaca landmark and a popular community gathering place.  It is the highest ranked local birding hotspot and features wide views of the lake and shoreline, a paved waterfront trail, creek, and a small pond. The adjoining Renwick Woods is a floodplain forest established as a bird sanctuary in 1914 through efforts by the nascent Cayuga Bird Club against growing pressure for development. At the end of the park is the Louis Agassiz Fuertes Bird Sanctuary, established in memory of the club's first president and renowned bird artist who died tragically in a car accident in 1927.

The Cayuga Bird Club has put up two Purple Martin houses at Stewart Park, attracting martins to breed here since 2020. The park also hosts an active Osprey nest platform, with a second active nest just across the creek.

F.R. Newman Arboretum

 (10 minutes east from downtown)

This 100-acre parcel is the crown jewel of Cornell’s Botanic Gardens Complex.  With a large pond as its centerpiece, it harbors collections of nut trees, crabapples, oaks, maples, shrubs and urban trees, and provides a good variety of year-round and migratory songbirds.  A paved road makes a long loop, and there are miles of paved walking paths.

Myers Park and Salt Point

(20 minutes north from downtown)

Myers Point is one of the premier birding local spots because of its location on Cayuga Lake. The spit in the town park attracts a wide variety of shorebirds to drop in for a break during migration and waterfowl can be seen in all seasons. The Cayuga Bird Club has a Motus tower at this site, which has detected 30 birds (21 different species)  since its installation in 2019. (Find out more at Cayuga Bird Club's Motus page.)

Salt Point Natural Area, just across Salmon Creek from Myers Park, is a great place to watch nesting Ospreys, and includes level trails through a small woodlot and good viewing up the lake.

Lighthouse Point

(8 minutes north from downtown)

Lighthouse Point Woods is a Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Area at the south end of Cayuga Lake. A track leads through a thicket of privet, mature willows, and tall cottonwoods to a concrete jetty that juts into the lake, ending at a small lighthouse. There is a colony of Double-crested Cormorant nests in the tall trees along the lake shore, and an Osprey nest platform nearby. Bald Eagles are frequently seen perched atop the trees here.

Lighthouse Point Woods is the primary site of an ongoing Habitat Restoration Project by the Cayuga Bird Club. Since 2018, we have engaged more than 200 community members in removing thousands of non-native, invasive plants, replacing them with hundreds of native trees and shrubs.

Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve

(20 minutes south from downtown)

Owned by the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Lindsay-Parsons Preserve was established in 1995 as the world’s first temperate zone preserve for research in biodiversity and chemical ecology. Consisting of 545 acres, it is located near the headwaters of the Cayuga Inlet. The habitat is diverse and includes a lake, large beaver ponds, marsh, open fields, hardwood forest, hemlock groves, and steep, wooded hillsides. Because of the variety of habitats and the extensive trail system, this is one of the most rewarding birding sites in this area. The site includes a heron rookery, and the wetlands are home to river otters.

Note: Participants should be prepared to walk up and down hills.

Taughannock Falls

(19 minutes northwest from downtown)

Pronounced "ta-GANN-ick", Taughannock Falls State Park hosts the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, at 215 feet. The falls itself is a magnificent sight, and the trail to the falls exposes some wonderful geological formations. From 1909-1946, the gorge hosted nesting Peregrine Falcons made famous by a widely-publicized photograph by Arthur Allen in the 1930s. After extirpation by DDT, a reintroduction program in 1975 sadly failed. But in 2020 the Peregrines came back on their own to Taughannock Gorge, and they have nested there every year since.

Downstream from the falls, the creek forms a delta protruding into Cayuga Lake, which offers another viewing spot for birds on the lake. When the conditions are right in November, thousands of migrating Common Loons can be seen coursing down this flyway at dawn.

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR)

 (1 hour north of Ithaca)

Montezuma is the premier birding site in Central New York, with the MNWR encompassing 10,000-acres of managed wetlands, plus other parcels of NYSDEC and other natural lands making up the greater Montezuma Wetland Complex. The pools and marshes provide excellent habitat for waterfowl and for migratory shorebirds. Bald Eagles and Ospreys nest here in large numbers, and Sandhill Cranes have been increasing in number in recent years. Participants in the annual Montezuma Muckrace, held in September each year, have collectively found up to 180 species in a 24-hour period.

NYSOA 2025 Field Trips may also include going to these sites:

• Allan H. Treman State Marine Park (known by local birders as "Hog Hole")

• East Shore Park

• Dryden Lake

• Jenning's Pond and Danby State Forest

• Monkey Run

• Roy H. Park Preserve

• Hammond Hill State Forest

• Sims-Jennings Preserve at Cayuga Cliffs

• Goetchius Wetland Preserve

• Connecticut Hill State Wildlife Management Area