Lush green trees line the pathway that leads into Black Creek Marsh from Meadowdale Road in Guilderland. The vegetation there is dense and so, too, are the calls of various species of birds.
Governor George Pataki announced that Black Creek, along with 15 other sites, will now hold the title of "bird conservation area."

The announcement came at the Sept. 25 opening of the Montezuma Audubon Center in Savannah, N.Y.

The Black Creek Marsh straddles the towns of New Scotland and Guilderland. The marsh itself encompasses over 1,000 acres. The designation applies to the 450 acres of the marsh owned by the state.

The program designates state-owned lands, and focuses on populations of birds and their habitats, said David Adams, with the non-game and habitat unit of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

The New York State Bird Conservation Area (BCA) Program was signed into law by Pataki in 1997. The program is modeled after the National Audubon Society’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) program.

The IBA program is an international initiative that focuses on identifying areas that are most important for birds, and conserving them. New York started its program in 1996.
The programs are very similar, but IBAs are often larger and more complex, Adams said. The BCA program was passed "as a means of fostering avian resources throughout the state," Adams told The Enterprise.

The marsh is one of the premier birding sites in the Capital Region, said Karl Parker, a senior wildlife biologist with the DEC, who oversees the Black Creek Marsh.

A number of water-associated birds can be found there such as: geese, ducks, and great blue herons. American bitterns and Virginia rails are common marsh birds that can be seen there.

Designation for a BCA is based on nine criteria. The site must meet one or more of the criteria to become eligible for consideration. Sites must be at least one of the following: a waterfowl concentration site; a pelagic seabird site; a shorebird concentration site; a wading bird concentration site; a migratory concentration site; a diverse species concentration site; an individual species concentration site; a species at risk site; or a bird research site.

BCA designation does not affect any existing recreational activities, such as hunting. The marsh is used by hunters in the fall and trappers in the late fall. They hunt and trap animals such as deer, rabbit, squirrel, duck, grouse, and waterfowl. The site is also used for hiking, fishing, snowshoeing, and bird-watching.

The marsh spreads east to west over the railroad tracks, which act as a backbone to the marsh, Parker told The Enterprise.

The purpose for the BCA designation of the Black Creek Marsh, Parker said, is primarily for the conservation of wildlife habitat. Secondarily, it is for public use and enjoyment.
"We have plans to continue to make it accessible to the public," Parker said. The various entrance locations to the marsh are relatively small, to help keep traffic minimal. "We don’t want 20 cars showing up at one spot," he said.
"While we don’t have nice big centers at all of our BCAs, we do usually have access, boardwalks, trails, viewing platforms, and kiosks," Adams said. The kiosks generally have maps, and show pictures and descriptions of birds and their habitats. A kiosk is located at the Meadowdale Road entrance to the Black Creek Marsh.

In addition to the Black Creek Marsh site, Albany County has two other BCAs. The Helderberg site includes the Partridge Run Wildlife Management Area and state forest, the Knox Wildlife Management Area, and Cole Hill State Forest. The John Boyd Thacher and Thompson’s Lake site includes areas of the two nearly adjacent state parks.