Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, from “Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds” (1898), Library of Congress. “The Rose-breasted Grosbeak destroys the fruit blossoms in the orchards….this, to my mind, however, it more than compensates for, by adding so much brightness and melody to the happiest of seasons.” —EA Mearns

Cornwall, New York

Black Rock Forest (website), located in the Hudson Highlands, is an active scientific field station managed by the Black Rock Forest Consortium. This nearly 4000-acre mature deciduous forest, which encompasses more than 1000 feet in elevation change and has several lakes and streams, is home to 100+ species of birds, including threatened and at-risk species such as the Cerulean Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Wood Thrush, Blue-Winged Warbler, and Prairie Warbler. Members of the Mearns Club recently collaborated on the preparation of an application to nominate the forest as an Audubon Important Bird Area.

You can listen to wonderful recordings of the sounds of some of the forest’s birds (and other creatures) here.

Baltimore Oriole. Photo by Alan Wells.

Blue–Gray Gnatcatcher. Photo by Alan Wells.

Brown Creeper. Photo by Alan Wells. “It alights at the base of a tree and begins to ascend in a spiral;…it advances till the trunk and principal branches have been explored, when, having reached the top, it spreads its wings and with a pretty, sweeping movement, attaches itself to the extreme base of another tree, when the same performance is repeated.” —EA Mearns

Scarlet Tanager. Photo by Bill Fiero.

Veery. Photo by Alan Wells.

Eastern Screech Owl. Photo by Maryangela Buskey.

White-breasted Nuthatch. Photo by Dave Baker. “The Nuthatch is an eminently useful and industrious bird. He devotes his entire existence to the occupation of scrambling about upon the tree-trunks, grubbing out insects from their hiding places under the bark,” EA Mearns

Acadian Flycatcher. Photo by Alan Wells.