Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for Saturday, April 1, 2017 to Sunday, April 2, 2017:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, April 1, 2017, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Bird Watching
Join Prospect Park Alliance for a birdwatching walk and learn about Prospect Park’s magnificent array of birds and how to identify them!

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Saturday April 1, 2017
Prospect Park Anniversary Weekend Walk
Leader: Dennis Hrehowsik and Stanley Greenberg
Focus: Join the Brooklyn Bird Club to welcome the earliest migrants of the year and meet some of the Park’s winter waterfowl. Please note this tour leaves promptly at 8 am, and participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars. Rain or shine.
Meet: 8:00 Parkside Avenue Entrance

Sunday, April 2, 2017
Marine Park Salt Marsh and Floyd Bennett Field
Leader: Rob Jett a.k.a. "The City Birder"
Focus: Raptors, wetland species, open space species, late ducks, early shorebirds, sparrows
Car fee: $10.00
Registrar: Janet Schumacher janets33@optonline.net or 718-594-7480
Registration Period: March 25th - March 30th

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Saturday, April 1, 2017, 10:00am to 1:00pm
Early Spring Bird Walk
Meet at the Jamaica Bay refuge center for a slide program and hike around the trails to look for egrets, herons, Laughing Gulls, Osprey, American Oystercatcher and other early spring migrants returning to NYC. Leader: Don Riepe. For reservation and info call (718) 474-0896; E-mail: don@littoralsociety.org
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

Every Sunday Weekly from 03/12/2017 to 05/28/2017
Birding for Beginners
Join us for an introductory nature walk where you will learn the essentials of birdwatching.
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

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Linnaean Society of New York
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Staten Island Greenbelt
Leader: Howard Fischer
Registrar: Anne Lazarus — amlazarus47@gmail.com or 212-673-9059
Registration opens: Monday, March 20
Ride: $20

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturdays -- 9/3/2016 - 6/24/2017: 11:00 a.m.
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, April 1, 2017, 10am – 1pm
Early Spring Bird Walk
Guide: Don Riepe with American Littoral Society and Gateway NRA
Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge for a slide program and walk to look for eastern phoebes, American oystercatchers, osprey, and other early migrants. For more information and to register, contact Don Riepe at 718-474-0896 or donriepe@gmail.com. No limit. Free

Saturday, April 1, 2017, 5:00pm – 9:30pm
The Sky-Dance of the Woodcock
Guide: Gabriel Willow
The American Woodcock is a remarkable bird: It is in the sandpiper family but lives in woodlands, often far from beaches. The male performs an incredible crepuscular aerial display and song early in the spring, soon after the snow melts in the northern U.S. There are a few places around New York City where they perform this display. Let’s go look for it (and bats and owls and other critters, too) at Floyd Bennett Field. Bring binoculars, comfortable shoes, a headlamp or flashlight, and a snack for a post-woodcock picnic. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $90 (63)
Click here to register

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North Shore Audubon Society
Saturday, April 1, 2017, 9:30am – 12:00pm
Walk: Muttontown Preserve
Leader: Ralph 516-785-3375
See "Walk locations" for directions.
Wear water-resistant footwear, bring binoculars and drinking water.

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NYC H2O
Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 11am
Ridgewood Reservoir Community Tours

The Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a 50+ acre natural oasis that straddles the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Built in 1859 to supply the once independent City of Brooklyn with high quality water, it became obsolete with the addition of new reservoirs in the Catskills in the 1950’s and was decommissioned in the 1980’s. Since then, nature took its course in a perfect case study of ecological succession. A lush and dense forest has grown in its two outside basins while a freshwater pond with waterfowl sits in the middle basin.

Click here for more info.

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods (Staten Island)
Sunday, April 2, 2017, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Crooke’s Point @ Great Kills Park
Maritime spits such as Crooke’s Point are dynamic typographical features which are formed and sculpted by water and wind action. Join naturalist Paul T. Lederer in a talk and walk where he will discuss the geology and human history of the site as well as the plants and animals that call this place home. Participants will meet at the Beach Center Parking Lot in Great Kills Park near the dirt road leading out to Crooke’s Point. To get to the Beach Center Parking Lot, follow Buffalo Street to just before it turns into the dirt permit road.

For more information or directions contact Paul Lederer at (718) 987-1576.

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South Shore Audubon Society
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve

All walks start at 9:00 A.M.
There is no walk if it rains or snows or temperature is below 25°F.
For more information or in case of questionable weather conditions, please phone Joe at 516 467-9498
For directions to our bird-watching locations, click here

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Discovery Walks for Families: Beginning Birders at Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (in Central Park), Manhattan
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Bring your family for a guided walk and discover why Central Park is a sanctuary for plants, animals, and humans alike. Learn about the architecture, landscapes, and ecosystems of the…
Free!