Home > Recreation > Birding

Birding Sites in the Finger Lakes

TOMPKINS COUNTY

Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve

Coordinates: 42.308°N 76.525°W

Map

Habitat: Located in a broad valley, the Biodiversity Preserve consitiutes 504 aces of wetland, meadow, brush, wooded streams, woods, and ponds.

Season: Spring is the best time to bird here though the diverse habitat means that birds can be found here year 'round. Warblers are particularly abundant in spring. Worm-eating warblers can be found (but not easily seen) in the cool dense woods and prairie warblers breed in the trees of the hedgerows that line the meadows. About 100 species are thought to nest in and around the preserve. In the autumn, large flocks of blue jays migrate south though the valley followed by sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks.

Access: The main access is from a parking lot on the east side of State Route 34/96 about 1 mi./1.6 km. south of the hamlet of West Danby in the Town of Danby. Look for the unpainted wooden Biodiversity Preserve sign. An alternative way to access the preserve is to park where the railroad tracks cross Station Rd. in the hamlet of West Danby and walk along the tracks. This brings you more to the rear of the preserve where most of the woods is. The creek that you see along the tracks here is the beginnings of Cayuga (Lake) Inlet.

Notes: Cross-country skiing is permitted in the winter.

Nearby birding sites: Cornell Lab of Ornithology