Things to do / Travel Guide
The Catskills and the Hudson Valley is a particularly leafy region. There are fewer hardwood trees and more evergreens, and more sweetgum, sugar maple, red maple, spruce, and hemlock, which can all be found without too much difficulty. Forest floors are covered with all sorts of herbs, shrubs, mosses, and lichens, while wildflowers such as violets and black-eyed Susans abound wherever there's sunlight and good-quality soil.
The birds you'll eye in the region include the common pigeon, house sparrow, osprey, and grouse. If you're lucky, you'll spot a bald eagle in the Shawangunks and the Catskills. Many birds, including wild geese and ducks, travel through the region during migrating season (winter). In fact, Harriman State Park is the wintering grounds for up to one-third of the Rocky Mountain trumpeter swan population. Interestingly, these trumpeter swans hold the title for the world's heaviest flying bird.
The forests and hills are populated primarily by all kinds of scampering rodents, such as raccoons, woodchucks, and squirrels. There are also possums, skunks, porcupines, foxes, and weasels. You'll also likely encounter white-tailed deer in abundance, while beavers, wildcats, and black bears can also be seen, but are much rarer.
Nature Spots in Woodstock, Cooperstown, New Paltz, Catskills and Hudson Valley
Nature-Wildlife
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