piermont pier
The site occupies two miles of shoreline south of the mile-long Erie Pier, and includes the mouth of Sparkill Creek and extensive tidal shallows. The Sparkill Creek drains 11.1 square miles of watershed. Sparkill Gap, the valley of Sparkill Creek, just west of the north end of the Piermont Marsh, is the only sea level break in the Palisades Ridge. The one mile long pier was built in 1841 as the eastern terminus of the Erie Railroad.
In 1982 NOAA's Office of Coastal Zone Management formally designated Piermont Marsh as part of a Federal Hudson River Estuarine Sanctuary to be administered by NYSDEC in cooperation with PIPC. The pier is owned by the village. Information about the town of Piermont and the Marsh can be found at The Piermont-NY Home Page.
Based on the "First Sunday" walks at Piermont Pier, here are some of the species most likely to be seen at the "Pier":
Spring: Mute Swan, Mallard, Black Duck, Canvasback, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, American Crow, European Starling, Song Sparrow.
Summer: Double-crested Cormorant, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow.
Fall: Double-crested Cormorant, Mallard, Least Sandpiper, Greater Black-backed Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow.
Winter: Double-crested Cormorant, Mallard, Black Duck, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, Killdeer, Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, American Crow, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow.
Less common occurrences include:
Red-throated Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, American Bittern, Brant, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Northern Harrier, American Coot, Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Willow Flycatcher, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Fish Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, House Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Savannah Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow.
Vagrants:
Piermont Pier is also a magnet for migrants, escapees, and other unusual species. Over the years, unusual occurrences include: Red Bishop, European Goldfinch, Monk Parakeet, Snowy Owl, Common Moorhen, King Rail, Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, Roseate Tern, Black Skimmer, American Avocet, White-fronted Goose, Franklin’s Gull, Loggerhead Shrike, Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Lark Sparrow and most recently, Ivory Gull.