Delta Park IBA

Delta Park IBA

Important Bird Area Colchester, Vermont 05446

Official Website
Delta Park map
Delta Park (Audubon IBA) webpage

Tips for Birding

Birdwatching in Vermont, p. 49

Birding Delta Park from the Green Mountain Audubon Society.

Access to the shorebird habitat at Delta Park is from the small parking area View Map near the north end of the boardwalk section of the recreation path; which is also accessible by car off of Windemere Way in Colchester, just west of the larger parking area for the Colchester Point Fishing Access. You walk through a small gate and onto the beach area. The trail leads away to the left (south and southwest), through an area of reeds or rushes (this is the Nelson’s Sparrow hotspot), and onto a muddy shoreline backed on the east by marsh vegetation and willows (good in migration for warblers and sparrows). The good shorebird habitat is about 0.25 miles from the gate; an area of exposed sand and mud islands. The trail can be mostly dry until you approach the islands where you will have to wade through mud and water up to 10-12″ deep in places if you want to get closer or onto the islands (good rain or mud boots are highly recommended). This is a cool place to bird and is usually well worth the effort.

The Delta Park Important Bird Area includes two parks managed by the Winooski Valley Park District: Delta Park and Derway Island Nature Preserve.

Birds of Interest

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Forster’s Tern, Wood Duck, Tundra Swan, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Stilt Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Lapland Longspur, sparrows, scaup

About this Location

Delta Park is a unique natural area owned by the Winooski Valley Park District, located along the shore of Lake Champlain at the mouth of the Winooski River. The 55-acre park contains a diverse mix of ecosystems, including floodplain forest, marshy wetlands, and over 0.5 miles of natural sandy beaches, which are uncommon along Vermont’s Lake Champlain shoreline. The Park’s sandy beaches provide an ideal turtle nesting habitat, an increasingly rare occurrence along the highly developed Lake Champlain shoreline. The extensive marshes and shoreline of Delta Park make it valuable as a bird habitat, too. It is an excellent birding location and is designated as one of 17 site-based IBAs (Important Bird Areas) in the state by Audubon Vermont. The trail through this park is a half-mile, elevated bike and footpath with views of wetlands, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondacks in New York. The bike bridge over the mouth of the Winooski River links this Park with Mayes Landing in Burlington and is part of the Island Line Bike Trail.

There is a small parking lot and a picnic area off of Windemere Way in Colchester. We ask those looking to bike the Island Line Bike Trail to use the parking located at Airport Park, on Airport Road as parking at Delta Park is limited.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

Content from Official Website and Scott Morrical

Last updated September 13, 2023