Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for Saturday, June 17, 2017 to Sunday, June 18, 2017:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, June 10, 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, June 17, 2017
“The search for the Silvery Checkerspot!” Van Cortland Park, Bronx
Leader: Peter Dorosh 347-622-3559 (Texts only)
Focus: A fun search for an endemic local rare butterfly species, while looking for and hearing bird species as well as other butterflies along the Checkerspot trails.
Meet: 8:30 am at the street level below the number ONE train last stop: Van Cortland Park -242nd Street station. Intersection West 242nd and Broadway. https://goo.gl/maps/xaQsz8x9iFo
Silvery Checkerspot Fact file: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Chlosyne-nycteis

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Green-Wood Cemetery
Sunday, June 18, 2017
"Birding in Peace" - Summer Birding Sundays
Before our gates open to the general public, birding expert Rob Jett leads these peaceful Sunday morning walking tours to discover the many birds that call Green-Wood home. Locally nesting birds will be incubating eggs or actively raising their first broods.

June and July from 6-7:30am (except July 2nd), Sundays August 6th and 20th from 6:30-8am
In July we should see the offspring of our resident red-tailed hawk bravely preparing to leave the nest. Warbler songs will be replaced by chirring Cicadas and the tweets of fledgling birds. Butterflies and dragonflies are abundant. By late-July, expect the arrival of the first southbound migrants.

Grab a copy of our Bird Checklist before you begin. Comfortable footwear is recommended.
$10 for members of Green‑Wood and BHS/$15 for non-members.
Click Here to Sign Up
Click here for our inclement weather policy.

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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, June 17, 8am–Sunday, June 18, 6pm
Bashakill, Neversink, and Sterling Forest, NY
Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers LLC
Look for breeding American bitterns, cerulean, hooded, and golden-winged warblers, and more at these three great birding areas. An overnight stay will facilitate being in the right spot at the right time. Bring lunch for the first day, binoculars, and a spotting scope (if you have one). Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 10. $320 ($75 single supplement)
Click here to register

Saturday, June 17, 2017, 7:30am – 12:30pm
Explore the Meadowlands by Pontoon Boat, Secaucus, NJ
Guide: Tod Winston and NJ Meadowlands Docent with NJ Meadowlands Commission
Explore the Meadowlands on a relaxing pontoon boat ride in search of egrets, night-herons, belted kingfishers, and marsh wrens—along with nesting osprey and peregrine falcons. We'll travel along the Hackensack River to both manmade and restored wetland sites and learn about the area's environmental history. Bring lunch. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 11. $113 (79)
Click here to register

Saturday, June 17, 2017, 8am – 5pm
Breeding Birds of the Hudson Highlands
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Join Gabriel Willow on a day-long trip to some of the most exciting & beautiful birding locations in the Hudson Valley - Doodletown Rd., Constitution Marsh, and Indian Brook Farm (in Fahnestock State Park). We'll look for uncommon breeding warbler specialties at Doodletown, such as cerulean, hooded, blue-winged, golden-winged, and worm-eating warblers; We will then head to the Constitution Marsh Audubon Sanctuary to explore a brackish marsh along the Hudson River. They have a beautiful boardwalk and are home to breeding wood duck, bald eagle, least bittern, marsh wren, and more. After a picnic lunch by the banks of Indian Brook, we will drive to Indian Brook Farm, which has extensive grasslands and highbush blueberry stands. These habitats have breeding Field and savannah sparrows, bobolinks, and indigo buntings. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $129 (90)
Click here to register

Weekly on Saturdays, until Jul 29, 2017
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

Saturday, June 17, 2017, 8:30am – 11:00am
The Summering Birds of Inwood Hill Park
Guide: Annie Barry
Meet at the entrance to Inwood Hill Park at the corner of Isham Street and Seaman Avenue. Join Annie Barry for a hike through a mature forest in search of Baltimore and orchard orioles, eastern towhees, wood thrushes, warbling vireos and other summer residents. We will then move to the shores of the Inwood Hill Park saltmarshes to search for herons and ducks. Some hilly walking required. Limited to 15. $36 (25)
Click here to register

Sunday, June 18, 2017, 8am – 11am
Prospect Park Bird Walk
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Meet under the arch in Grand Army Plaza. Join Gabriel Willow for a leisurely walk to see later-spring migrants and breeding bird residents of 'Brooklyn's Backyard', beautiful Prospect Park. Prospect Park has a wide variety of habitats that attracts a large number of migrants and breeding bird species - significantly more than Central Park in fact. We will explore the park's meadows, forests, and waterways in search of waterfowl, warblers, tanagers, and some of the other species that call the park home. Limited to 15. $36 (25)
Click here to register

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NYC H2O
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 11am
Ridgewood Reservoir Community Tour

NYC H2O is offering free tours of the Ridgewood Reservoir to community members and the public.

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 has taken 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.

Join us to explore this incredible natural resource in the heart of NYC. Tickets are free but please RSVP.
Free Reservoir Tour Tickets

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Sullivan County Audubon Society
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Birds and Butterflies of Fir Brook
8:00am. Meet leaders Ruth McKeon and Renee Davis at the parking lot opposite the Citgo station in Parksville. (Exit 98 off Rte 17, then left at second stop sign. Parking lot is 1.3 miles on left.)
If weather is questionable please call Ruth at 434-4629 or Renee at 482-5044 before 7pm.

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Bird Walks at Van Cortlandt Nature Center (in Van Cortlandt Park), Bronx
8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Head to the park to join bird walks led by experts from the NYC Audubon! Bird walks focus on wildlife happenings in the park.
Free!