Walk, Look, and Learn Hike #561: Birding at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve
- Sunday, May 13, 2012
- Time: 8:30 a.m.
- Carpool meeting place: EMS Parking Lot at 722 S Meadow St. (click for map).
- Contact: Tom Reimers Email: treimers@twcny.rr.com Telephone: 607-272-8679
Tom Reimers will lead a leisurely hike on this Mother’s Day through the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve to identify birds and bird songs and calls. The preserve consists of about 450 acres of forests, meadows, brushland, streams, ponds, and other wetlands. The diverse habitats found in the preserve are home to an equally diverse variety of flora and fauna (including deer ticks!).
There are several marked trails at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve, and the public is welcome to visit. Trails on the property lead to the old fields, forests, Lake Coleman, and the huge beaver pond. The preserve is adjacent to Danby State Forest and is the property you see directly below Thatcher’s Pinnacles on the Abbott Loop trail. Besides hiking, skiing, birding, and nature walks, the preserve also provides a place for quiet contemplation.
Last year on this hike, participants heard and/or saw 21 species of birds. Besides avian friends, the group also saw three black rat snakes in the rafters of the concrete-block shed on the preserve. Some of the bird species were ovenbird, common yellowthroat, common raven, yellow warbler, blue-winged warbler, scarlet tanager, prairie warbler, Baltimore oriole, eastern towhee, belted kingfisher, wood thrush, black and white warbler, great blue heron, chestnut-sided warbler, and field sparrow.
You can preview the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve and other lands protected by the Finger Lakes Land Trust at www.fllt.org. Contact Tom Reimers if you have any questions at treimers@twcny.rr.com or 607/272-8679. Don’t forget to bring your binoculars! Meeting Time is 8:30 a.m. at Eastern Mountain Sports in Ithaca or 9:00 a.m. at the preserve parking area.
“I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.”
—Emily Dickinson
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