KEY INFORMATION

• LOCATION: Within Central Park in Manhattan, meeting at 103rd and Central Park West at the pedestrian park entrance
• DATE & TIME: Saturday, May 16, 2026, 8:45am – 12:00pm. Walk begins at 9:00am sharp.
• LED BY: Peter Davenport (bio below)
• CTLE AVAILABLE: 3hrs
• THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR: Any teacher – you don’t have to be a bird watcher. Peter will guide you through how to look, use binoculars, and identify and record species seen.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Calling all teachers who love birds! We invite you to join us for a morning walk in Manhattan’s Central Park, an urban oasis for birds as well as people. Each spring, Central Park becomes a global birding hot spot! Thousands of colorful songbirds migrating from the tropics stop in the park each day in September and October to refuel on insects before continuing north toward their breeding grounds.

Take a leisurely walk with us through the north end of the park. While there is never a guarantee of what we will see, expect to see flycatchers, warblers, thrushes, raptors and more, and we will search for rarities amongst them. Learn about behaviors and how to use guides, apps, and your eyes and ears to identify the birds we’ll see. Rain or shine the birds will be in the park, but if it’s raining too much we will postpone. Bring walking footwear, binoculars, a camera with a good telephoto lens if you have one, and water (/coffee). After an introduction, including classroom-friendly materials, we will start walking and watching. Don’t be late! We will set out 9:00am sharp.

NOTE: This is a fully outdoor event. We will pass bathrooms along the way, but please dress appropriately, wear sunscreen and a hat, and bring water and a snack as needed. Please do NOT bring your dog, as that may scare birds away. Central Park has accessible bathrooms and paths, but those paths may be uneven at times.

WORKSHOP LEADERS

Peter Davenport is a board member and President of the 150-year old science-based birding group, the Linnaean Society of New York, and he has taught middle school science in the Bronx for over a decade. Formerly, he developed and led outdoor programs at Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., and for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Pinkham Notch, N.H.

ABOUT STEMteachersNYC

Since 2011, STEMteachersNYC has delivered professional development workshops for teachers, by teachers, about teaching. We are an approved CTLE and NYCPS MTAC vendor. All workshops over 2hrs offer CTLE. Below is some important information, but please see our official Registration FAQ on our website for full details and policies.

Pricing: workshop/event pricing reflects a desire to offer affordable professional learning experiences. Some workshops are subsidized and offered at a discount or for free. Some workshops include extra materials costs. Often, there is both a “Full Price” ticket for people who can pay full price and for schools/organizations paying for their staff to attend, and a “Teacher Price” ticket for teachers/educators paying out of pocket. If price is a barrier to your participation, please keep reading for several options.

CUNY & other partner campus pre-service students: If you are training to be a teacher, we want to welcome you to attend our workshops for free! Please email registration@stemteachersnyc.org for details and to see if you qualify.

Want to pay by invoice or purchase order? We encourage you to ask your school or organization if this is a possibility. Please see the Registration FAQ for the process, which includes a template letter with messaging geared towards administrators.

Are there discounts available? Often, yes! In the summers, we offer Early Bird and Teacher discounts alongside a Full Price ticket meant for those whose school or organization is funding their ticket. In the summer, we also have full scholarships, and a Fellowship available. All year, we announce specials and discounts on our social media (@STEMteachersNYC on Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Facebook), and in our Weekly Newsletter – sign up here. Additionally, we partner with several organizations and CUNY to offer free tickets to teachers and pre-service teachers involved, and if at any time price is a barrier to you purchasing a ticket, please contact us at registration@STEMteachersNYC.org

Refunds, cancellations, and other registration/ticketing policies or changes: Please see the full Registration FAQ for details and policies.

Please note: We take screenshots, photographs and record video of our workshops in order to publicize a positive image of science teaching, and of STEMteachersNYC – a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization – and to support future teacher leaders. If you register, you are agreeing to be photographed and to have your voice and image video-recorded. You are also agreeing to relinquish all your rights to the photographs and video recordings.

If you do not wish to be photographed or video-recorded – you must inform us before the workshop starts. For in-person workshops, we may take one photograph of your face so that we can erase your image if we happen to catch it by chance during the workshop, and we will do our best to avoid you.

Have more questions? Please see the full Registration FAQ for further details and policies, or contact us directly:

• Registration or ticketing questions – registration@STEMteachersNYC.org
• Questions about invoice/PO issues – bookkeeper@STEMteachersNYC.org
• Any other questions – info@STEMteachersNYC.org