Rain Date: Sunday, June 30 Join a field team to census butterflies in Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, or one of dozens of other local sites as a participant in the annual Eastern Catskills North American Butterfly Association (NABA) “Fourth of July” Butterfly Count on Saturday, June 29, 2024. The Eastern Catskills count circle includes a …

The Catskill Center’s Thorn Preserve can be bustling with butterflies during this timely visit while the Common Milkweed is in bloom. Please register with Steve Chorvas (schorvas@gmail.com ) who will lead this walk and provides comprehensive knowledge of butterfly life and the plants they are dependent upon. Attendance may be limited.

Spend Friday, July 12th to Monday, July 15th with other Atlas enthusiasts for three nights of camping, camaraderie and atlasing. We will set up camp at the Woodland Valley Campground (https://dec.ny.gov/places/woodland-valley-campground-and-day-use-area) in Phoenicia and atlas in small groups in nearby priority blocks. Our focus will be on nearby incomplete Central-East (CE) blocks and confirming high elevation specialists …

Located in Stone Ridge, the arboretum and botanical gardens celebrate and sustain the native, unusual, and historic plant life of our region. It’s also one of trip leader Logan Berrios’ favorite local places to visit. There is a $5 entrance fee and carpooling from Kingston Park & Ride and registration are mandatory in order to …

SUNDAY, JULY 21, 8:00 A.M.  Bartholomew’s Cobble is a preserve in western Massachusetts. The diverse range of habitats includes floodplains, rock outcrops, mature forest and grasslands. The preserve is noted for its variety of ferns and wildflowers. We can expect a good variety of birds and perhaps other wildlife. We will meet locally and travel …

SATURDAY, JULY 27, 8:00 P.M.  A fun and unusual outing for our field trip schedule and what better way to celebrate National Moth Week. Enjoy Mathew’s extensive knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject and see if you retained any identification skills from last year! Bring along a folding chair and snack and a head lamp …

August may be hot and humid but “fall” migration is underway and the Esopus Meadows can often harbor large concentrations of waders like Great Egrets and if, water chestnut harvesting provides landing pads, shorebirds (not always easy to locate in county) too. After a tough evening of scanning the river for peeps and waders we …

This Scenic Hudson property can often provide a nice variety of butterflies with a good selection of host plants and flowers to nectar upon. Please contact Steve Chorvas (schorvas@gmail.com) to register and receive instructions for where to meet.

Join Lynn Bowdery and George Moxham to explore the beautiful diversity of ferns that grace the rocks, slopes and wetlands of this special place. Bring your fern guide and a magnifier if you have one, and binoculars are useful, too. While ferns are our focus, there’s no reason we can’t notice and discuss other things …

Please contact Steve Chorvas (schorvas@gmail.com or 246-5900) to register and learn meet up details. The property owner has graciously allowed birders (and b-fliers) to explore this open agricultural habitat for fall shorebirds, grassland sparrows, and good late season butterflies.