JBNHS ULSTER COUNTY BIG SIT 2026

JBNHS’ 11 th annual Big Sit is also our BIG fundraiser for the year (that’s why we do ours in May) but serves too as a friendly competition between established sits. The challenge is twofold; first how many species can you identify by sight and sound from a 17’ diameter circle and more importantly how many friends and family can you get to pledge to your effort. In the past money has been raised to help worthy endeavors like numerous enhancements at SGNWR, support the wonderful New York State Young Birders Club, help the important NYS Breeding Bird Atlas, installation of Where to Bird in Ulster County panels now located at four locations about the county, create Naturalist’s Backpacks for area libraries to lend out, and aid Annie Mardiney’s important educational and rehabilitation work at Wild Mountain Birds.

–Bird Homestead Sit
New participants last year and far and away the youngest team in this friendly competition, Nature Club familiesenjoyed good backyard neotrops in their inaugural sit and hope to have another productive day supporting the winter time feeding stations at Shawangunk Grasslands NWR and Wild Mountain Birds.

–Bowdery Homestead Sit
Lynn and Allan and extended family will bird their yard with hopes of a good feeder bird to pad our cumulative list and raise the most money we can to distribute in June to important environmental and conservation concerns in the region.

–Esopus Meadows Sit
Team Lovebirds (Scarlett and Ben) will again be birding along the Hudson River at Esopus Meadows Preserve. Their efforts will supply useful educational supplies for the City of Kingston’s Junior Naturalists Summer Camp conducted at the Forsyth Nature Center.

-Galeville (SGNWR) Sit
Spend some time on the observation deck at Galeville (SGNWR) looking and listening for those ever important (and harder to find) grassland species. Team Shawangunk Redemption could have another Sandhill Crane up their sleeves. Pledges raised in recent years have been used to install a bench on the new observation platform, a new refuge sign, a new updated “Where to Bird in Ulster County” panel on the Galeville Gazebo and supplies for the pollinator garden. This year the Shawangunk Redemption will bird to support the Friends of SGNWR and JBNHS trustee Annie Mardiney and her important work in bird rehabilitation and education with Wild Mountain Birds. Please contact Debbie Carney (deb.carney@gmail.com) or Evelyn Leigh (evelynleigh11@gmail.com) to plan and schedule your shift.

-Gardiner Landfill Sit
Another new location for this FUNdraising challenge, a capped landfill that’s close to the Wallkill River and mature hardwoods could reveal a great mix of birds. Team Flying Cigar Aficionados will bird for the creation and installation of a Chimney Swift tower in Gardiner Park. Please contact Chrissy Guarino (chrissy.guarino@gmail.com ) if you’d like to join in the effort.

-Great Vly Sit
Team Bobcat will again be birding Fradon Marsh from a pressure treated tower and greatly helping our cumulative JBNHS Big Sit total with all those wonderful marsh birds and maybe a surprise like another Black Tern. Past efforts raised monies for the assembly and installation of over 30 Wood Duck boxes in the Vly and helping Zade Pacetti attend ABA’s Camp Chirachua. This year Team Bobcat will bird in support of the JBNHS scholarship fund.

-Hayes Homestead Sit
Dave and Tracey (Morgan Hill Misfits) will bird their yard and do so for as good a cause as you could find, Wild Mountain Birds and JBNHS trustee Annie Mardiney’s awesome work.

-High Banks Sit
The newest Ulster County Big Sit location will be birded by Team Buffy Primary Crescents. This is a great spot to observe woodland species and is known to receive early morning neotropical migrants in the spring. Coupled with panoramic views of the Hudson River Valley this team could raise loads of money for future special programming and events for JBNHS. Contact Olivia Bernard ( oliviakbernard@gmail.com ) if you’d like to join this sit.

-Kingston Point Sit
Team CoCo Puffs will bird from Harrison Point looking out over Kingston Point Lagoon, the mouth of the Rondout, and down river while tallying new spring arrivals. After a one year “hiccup” the CoCo Puffs got back to their winning ways last year with the most species identified and hope this year to be the fundraising champs for their worthy cause of the NYS Young Birders Club.

-Normann Homestead Sit
The Normann Conquerors charged through their first U.C. Big Sit last May racking up a very fine species list and raising enough money to create TWO naturalist backpacks for the Phoenicia and Morton Memorial/Pine Hill Libraries. This year they’ll bird to help with natural enhancements like a native pollinator meadow and signage at an Esopus Creek-side public property in Boiceville.

-Nyquist-Harcourt Sit
The Oxbow Oddballs will appropriately bird for our friends at the WVLT and the wonderful work they do. This is a birdy location and the more eyes and ears the better so please contact Sara DeAngelis (saradeangelis@me.com) or Deb Welstch (dweltsch13@gmail.com) to help or to pledge support.

-Thorn Preserve Sit
Please contact Dixon Onderdonk (dixononderdonk@gmail.com ) if you’d like to help. The Thorn Thrashers will bird to support JBNHS’ newest initiatives (like the assembly of Naturalist Backpacks for past recipient the Olive Free Library or the preserve’s kestrel box).

Donations can be based on a pledge per species (specific sit or cumulative) or flat donation. 

To Donate by Check:
Please make checks payable to JBNHS and note desired sit you’d like to support. Send in donations to
JBNHS
c/o Treasurer Mary T. Moxham CPA PLLC
PO Box 4223
Kingston NY, 12402

To Donate Online:
– Use the Donate button below.
– Select Big Sit Fundraising from the Use this donation for dropdown.
– When prompted to Write a note add the name of the location you want your donation to be directed to. This will be on the same page that you enter your payment information.