Spring migration comes alive in Bush Terminal’s woodlands

Since late April, a small group of birders has been gathering at Bush Terminal Park every Wednesday at 8 a.m. for a spring migration bird walk led by Sunset Post birding columnist Nick Dawson.

The destination is a small patch of trees, shrubs and waterfront habitat known as the woodlands at Bush Terminal Park. It is not a large wilderness. Much of the habitat sits behind fencing, visible from the paths that run alongside it. But during spring migration, the area offers exceptional opportunities for sightings.

On April 29, I had the chance to tag along on Nick’s first outing of the season.

He had reason to be optimistic that morning. Overnight winds from the south had helped carry migrating birds north, increasing the chances that some would stop along the Brooklyn waterfront.

“Birds go south for the winter,” Nick said. “When there’s winds from the south, bringing birds back north, then they bring the birds back to us here.”

Bush Terminal Park sits along the Atlantic Flyway, a major migration route. During spring, Nick said, many birds stop in places like Bush Terminal to rest and feed before continuing north, while others settle in to breed.

“Birds will stop here for a period of time and kind of bulk up and eat and get happy and sing their hearts out,” Nick said.

That day, the group’s highlights included spotted sandpipers, a couple of belted kingfishers, swamp and Savannah sparrows, yellow warblers and black-and-white warblers, and blue-headed and warbling vireos. The group also spotted gulls, catbirds, cowbirds and other familiar park birds.

Jules, one of the birders on the walk, called it a successful morning, especially because warblers and vireos were arriving with the season’s migration.

The kingfishers gave the morning a loose mission. Irma, another birder on the walk, was trying to get a good photograph, and the search continued along the Pier 4 walkway. She eventually got the shot.

A belted kingfisher photographed during Nick Dawson’s Wednesday morning spring migration bird walk at Bush Terminal Park. Photo by Irma J. Cardenas

“This was the first time I saw a belted kingfisher in person,” Irma J. Cardenas said in an email. “Birding in a group that ranges from beginner birders to advanced ones gives us an opportunity to learn a lot about one another and about the birds in the city we call home. Our community is strengthened through our love for nature, and I’m glad we can share these experiences together. Special thanks to Nick Dawson for organizing this walk!”

Nick shared his binoculars with me, but when I had trouble locating a bird, Irma gave me some advice: First lock your eyes on the bird, then lift the binoculars to your face. Look, then lift.

Birding also means learning to hear. A yellow warbler’s song is often remembered as “sweet, sweet, sweet, I’m so sweet.” A warbling vireo has a stranger mnemonic: “If I see you, I will seize you, and I’ll squeeze you till you squirt.”

The blue-headed vireo, meanwhile, is known for its white “spectacles,” the pale markings around its eyes.

For Nick, birding can be solitary or social. He said he likes that it can be done alone, with one friend or with a small group. But he prefers walks that stay manageable.

“I like five to 10 people,” Nick said. “When it gets to be more than that, it’s obviously great to have good attendance, but getting everybody on the bird” can become harder.

Nick organizes the walks through a Sunset Park birding WhatsApp group, which he said has grown to more than 50 people. Some members join walks. Others follow along quietly, seeing what birds have turned up nearby.

Jules said the smaller local group is a useful alternative to larger citywide birding channels, where reports of rare birds can sometimes draw crowds.

“If there’s like a really rare bird in this park, that’s how I would find out about it before I’d find out about it on the huge Discord server,” Jules said. “If Nick’s like, ‘I’m going to hit this park today, does anyone want to come?’ it’s like a little community-building space as well.”

The walks will continue through June, as spring migration gives way to the park’s summer breeding season.

Nick’s Wednesday spring migration bird walks meet at 8 a.m. at Bush Terminal Park. For more information, join Nick's WhatsApp group by clicking here.