Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club

 

Local Monthly Records

Cooper’s Hawk -©Steve Golladay

Many members submit their Dutchess County bird sightings each month. The reports are compiled and published in the club newsletter, Wings over Dutchess, available to members only.  Older historical records are published here on this website when available. To view records from 2018 and further back, view the links at the bottom of this page.

To Submit Your Own Bird Sightings

More About Our Records…

Our members provide valuable data on bird population trends in our area by submitting their bird sighting records to us. Members’ records are combined with club field trip lists, compiled monthly and reported in Wings over Dutchess and on our website. The monthly reports also include Dutchess sightings gleaned from sources such as the Hudson River Almanac, regional bird listservs, and eBird. At the end of each quarter, highlights are sent to the New York State Ornithological Association’s Kingbird regional editor and become part of the permanent state-level bird record.

Members who keep records are continuing a long and valuable tradition. Our club has an archive of monthly reports beginning in the 1960s. Prior to the formation of our bird club in 1958, a number of birders kept records of their observations which go back to the turn of the 20th century and before. Books on birds of Dutchess County have been published in 1933, 1965, 1979, and 2006. They give an important long-term view of changes in the bird life here. All were made possible by the countless observations of dedicated county birders, recorded and compiled. See our Publications list for online copies of these books, including an updated 2021 version of The Birds of Dutchess County, NY, with added photo gallery.

To View the Past Records