Upcoming Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups from Thursday, New Years Day through the weekend to Sunday, January 4, 2014:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, January 3, 12 PM – 1 PM
Introduction to Birdwatching
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Join the Prospect Park Alliance to learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home. Led by the Brooklyn Bird Club.

Sunday, January 4, 10 am – 11 am
Early Morning Birdwalk
Ring in the New Year with the Prospect Park Alliance at an early morning bird walk. Explore the Park's nature trails and discover the beautiful plumage and fascinating behavior of the Park's wintering ducks. Led by the Brooklyn Bird Club. Please note that this tour leaves promptly at 10 am.

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A Birdy New Year's Day Celebration in Prospect Park
Leader: Peter Dorosh
Meet at Bartel Pritchard Square park entrance at 9 am.

Saturday, January 3, 2015
A Coney Island Winter Trek
Leader: Mike Yuan, email mjyuan@gmail.com
Focus: coastal species, waterbirds, gulls
No registration: Meet 8 am at Dunkin Donuts outside Stillwell Ave subway terminus station

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Littoral Society
Thursday, January 01, 2015, 11:00am
Annual New Year's Day Beach Walk at Fort Tilden

Start the year off with a brisk hike along Fort Tilden beach. Meet American Littoral Society Chapter naturalists Don Riepe and Mickey Maxwell Cohen at Fort Tilden for a brisk hike along the beach and dunes. As per our 30-year tradition, at 12 noon, we will attempt to signal across the harbor to our colleagues at American Littoral Society headquarters in Sandy Hook, NJ. Free coffee, cake and champagne afterwards at the Rockaway Artists Alliance.

This program is in partnership with Gateway National Recreation Area and NYC Audubon is free and open to the public.

DIRECTIONS TO FORT TILDEN: Subway & bus: Take the #2 or #5 train to Flatbush Ave. / Brooklyn College and then the Q-35 bus past Floyd Bennett Field and just over the Gil Hodges memorial Bridge. Ask driver to let you off at Ft. Tilden.

Location : Building 1, Ft.Tilden, Rockaway Peninsula, NY
Contact : To RSVP: Call (718) 474-0896, or e-mail donriepe@gmail.com

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, January 3, 2014
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods (Staten Island)
Thursday, January 1, 2015, 12 noon to 2 p.m.
25th Annual New Year’s Day Beach Walk at Gateway NWR
Join NRPA and PPOW for a healthy start to a fantastic New Year. Participants will gather in the parking lot at Hylan Boulevard and carpool to the last lot before Crooke’s Point. From there, the group will enjoy observing wintering birds and dormant grasses while discussing ideas and concerns for the year ahead. After a half-mile walk to the Point, the group will share treats and tales in celebration of the New Year. The walk then continues to the harbor before returning to the cars.
For more information, call Jim Scarcella at 718-873-4291 or Cliff Hagen at 718-313-8591.

Sunday, January 4, 2015, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Willowbrook Park, Gateway to the Greenbelt
This easy 3.5-mile loop walk takes us to the key features of this popular park: a lake, carousel, ballfields, archery range and a rich deep lowland woodlands and streams. Rain postpones the event to the same time on Sunday, January 11.
For more information, e-mail Hillel Lofaso at hillel5757@gmail.com or call 718-477-0545