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Welcome to
Queens County Bird Club
since 1932
Whether you're a beginner or an expert, prefer short trips or birding all day, you will feel at home!
The Queens County Bird Club Inc. is a "Full Service" organization of naturalists:
Monthly Meetings - Noted speakers, vivid presentations
Field Trips - half-day, all-day, weekend
Conservation - projects, advocacy, support
NEXT MEETING is via Zoom - Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 at 7:30 pm.
Pre-registration required - use this link here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Presentation - "Hawks on the Wing; Identifying Raptors in Flight" by Josh Haas
Raptors in flight bring a sense of wonder and struggle to birders, especially when it comes to identifying them at a distance. Field marks are not enough when back-lit conditions and birds miles out lack any color. Flight ID has long been the best way to identify raptors at a distance, however books only take it so far. Join hawk watcher and photographer Josh Haas as he shares the principles of raptor ID featuring video clips from his movie “Hawks on the Wing”, including seeing similar raptors side-by-side on screen at the same time while Josh walks through how to identify each species.
Josh Haas first developed a love for hawks working with the birds of prey at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. A hawk watching trip to Lake Erie Metropark opened his eyes to raptors in migration. Perplexed by seeing specks at a distance with an overwhelming itch to know what they were, he started learning from veteran hawk watchers and was hooked. He would end up spending seven Fall seasons working with the Detroit River Hawk Watch as a relief counter. There he honed his skills and developed a love for teaching visitors unique ways of telling the shadowy specs apart. This, combined with his experience in bird photography and videography took his teaching to a new level. His goal of making raptors accessible to everyone spawned his movie “Hawks on the Wing” teaching viewers raptors in flight through the use of video and audio commentary (including multiple species on screen side-by-side). Josh’s passion started with raptors but he can be found birding and photographing in all seasons, often with his wife, daughter and son.
Suggested Readings: Hawks in Flight (Pete Dunne, David Sibley and Clay Sutton), Hawks at a Distance (Jerry Liguori)
Upcoming field trips - see Calendar link for details and registration info
Due to COVID-19, QCBC is holding field trips with limited registration and social distancing, as per CDC guidelines.
- Sunday, September 17 - Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery
- CANCELLED - Saturday, September 30 - Estuary Day at Oakland Lake
- Sunday, October 1 - Kissena Park
- Saturday, October 14 - "Big Sit" at Fort Tilden Observation Platform
Past meeting recordings: allow time to download.
- To view a recording of QCBC's Feb. 18, 2021 presentation of "Snowy Owls: the Ultimate Nomads" by Jean-Francois Therrien of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, use this link: here .
- To view a recording of QCBC's Mar. 18, 2021 presentation of "New Discoveries on Songbird Migration" by Prof. Bridget Stutchbury, use this link: here .
- To view a recording of QCBC's Apr. 2, 20211 presentation of "NYS Breeding Bird Atlas: Update after one year" by Brendan Fogarty, use this link: here .
- To view a recording of Abigail Martin's May 18, 2021 presentation on "Discover the Pantanal Jaguar", use this link here.
- To view a recording of Paul Sieswerda's Sept 22, 2021 presentation on Gotham Whales, use this link here .
- To view a recording of Nathan Pieplow's Oct 20, 2021 presentation on "The Language of Birds", use this link here .
- To view a recording of Michael Brothers' March 16, 2022 presentation on "Pelagic Birding", use this link here.
- To view a recording of Ron Magill's May 18, 2022 presentation on Panama's Harpy Eagle Project, use this link here.
- To view a recording of Bob Dieterich and Peter Lopez's Sept 19, 2022 presentation on "India Birds" use this link here.
- To view a recording of Dr. Tricia Miller and Michael Lanzone's Feb 15, 2023 presentation on "Golden Eagles" use this link here.
- To view a recording of Shai Mitra's June 21, 2023 presentation on "Birding Long Island's Outer Coast", use this link here.
