I visited NYC and primarily Staten Island for 16 days in May of 2016.

My friend Isaac Grant and his family graciously allowed me to stay with them during the entire visit.

Isaac was working but went out of his way on most days to take me out birding. Isaac and a few friends stay in touch with recent sightings which was nice to see and very helpful. Without his help I would have missed a lot.

Coming from BKK, Thailand, Staten Island almost had a small town feel. It was easy to get around and plenty of parks and open areas, particularly near the beaches.

The many Delis were nicely stocked with delicious American IPAs and food was easy to find.

My main objective was to see as many possible lifers as I could but without 'killing myself'. I also wanted to photograph birds that were new. I did not to go after birds I have seen elsewhere and so many of the more common birds are not in this album.

The weather was unusually grey and cold for the month of May and made light challenging.

All images with Canon 7D and 100-400 MarkII handheld.

I had a lovely time and walked away with well over 80 lifers, many which are shown here.

73 species in this gallery