John Boyd Thacher/Thompsons Lake Bird Conservation Area
The John Boyd Thacher/Thompson's Lake BCA consists of portions of two nearly contiguous State Parks in Albany County. John Boyd Thacher sits atop the Helderberg escarpment, a 100 foot high calcareous cliff. Thacher is dominated by forested uplands. The Thompson's Lake area consists of additional upland forest, old fields and a bur oak-black ash swamp adjacent to the lake.
There are 171 species of birds that have been identified within the John Boyd Thacher/Thompson's Lake BCA, of which 102 are confirmed or probable breeders, including: sharp-shinned hawk (Special Concern), Cooper's hawk (Special Concern), northern goshawk (Special Concern) and golden-winged warbler (Special Concern). The forests support some of the area's highest densities of breeding songbirds such as hermit thrush, winter wren, magnolia, black-throated blue, black-throated green, blackburnian, Canada and worm-eating warblers and Louisiana and northern waterthrushes. This BCA supported the first recent regional nesting of common ravens and is now the nucleus for the population in the area.
More about John Boyd Thacher/Thompsons Lake Bird Conservation Area:
- John Boyd Thacher/Thompsons Lake BCA Site Map - New York State Bird Conservation Area Program - Site Map for John Boyd Thacher/Thompson's Lake BCA.
- John Boyd Thacher/Thompsons Lake BCA Management Guidance Summary - New York State Bird Conservation Area Program - Management Guidance Summary for John Boyd Thacher/Thompson's Lake BCA
