Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for Saturday, August 19, 2017 to Sunday, August 20, 2017:

Bedford Audubon Society
Sunday, August 20, 2017, 10am – 1pm
Discover Dragons and Damsels with Naturalist Tait Johansson
Did you know that dragonflies are among the fastest flying insects in the world? Tait will lead an intensive workshop on the natural history and identification of our local dragonflies and damselflies. Bring binoculars, ideally close-focusing ones.
Cost: $65 for members, $75 for non-members; we’ll credit $30 to your membership if you join Bedford Audubon on the day of the workshop! Includes book and net.
Limited to 10 participants. Please register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or 914.302.9713 by August 16.

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Saturday, August 19, 2017, 10:00am to 11:30am
Mighty Monarchs
Children and their families are invited to join a Park Ranger at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Ref-uge to learn about the mighty Monarch! This interactive program will teach kids about the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly as well as the story of their incredible migration.
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

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Green-Wood Cemetery
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Summer Birding Sundays
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.

You must register prior to the morning of the tour. Click here.

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 for our inclement weather policy.

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Linnaean Society of New York
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Jamaica Bay 24rd Annual Tom Davis Memorial Shorebird Walk
Leader: Sean Sime — seansime@seansime.com or 917-324-2735
Registration opens: August 8
Public transportation

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New York Botanical Garden
Saturdays, July 1–August 26, 11am to 12pm
Birds, Butterflies, and Dragonflies Tour
Summer is the season to observe gorgeous butterflies, mischievous dragonflies and the birds of the cool forests. The colorful, fragrant gardens and the vibrant lakes at NYBG attract beautiful avian creatures. Come observe summer’s greatest show of shows watching butterflies, dragonflies and birds at their best.

Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Included in All-Garden Pass
Get Tickets

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, August 19, 2017, 9:00am – 1:30pm
Shorebird Walk at Jamaica Bay
Guide:Gabriel Willow
Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. We'll search the mudflats and ponds for breeding herons and egrets, Forster's and Common Terns, Clapper Rail, and American Oystercatcher, as well as migratory plovers and sandpipers that will already be headed south.
Limited to 15. $40 (28)
Click here to register

Sunday, August 20, 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 get to know the summer bird residents of 'Brooklyn's Back Yard', beautiful Prospect Park. Although birding in the summertime in NYC can be a bit slow, Prospect Park has a wide variety of habitats that attracts a number of breeding bird species. We will explore the park's meadows, forests, and waterways in search of nesting waterfowl, green herons, barn swallows, yellow warblers, baltimore orioles, 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
Sunday, August 20, 2017
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 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.

Join us to explore this incredible natural resource in the heart of NYC. Please make a reservation.
We will meet in the parking lot at Vermont Place.

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods (Staten Island)
Sunday, August 20, 2017, 11:00am – 1:00pm
Blue Trail to Cropsey Overlook @ High Rock Park
Join Hillel on a walk to the Cropsey Overlook through the woods of the central Greenbelt. Pass ponds and kettle holes and marvel at how ice formed this landscape long ago. Meet at the High Rock Park parking lot at the top of Nevada Avenue.
E-mail Hillel Lofaso at hillel5757@gmail.com or call 718-477-0545 for more information.

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South Shore Audubon Society
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve
From the Meadowbrook Parkway, use the Merrick Road M9 east exit. Enter the Department of Sanitation entrance immediately on right (if you’re driving west on Merrick Road, make a U-turn after Central Boulevard and before the Meadowbrook Parkway). Look for signs to Levy Park and Preserve parking lot.
Directions via Google Maps

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Introduction to Bird Watching at Audubon Center at the Boathouse (in Prospect Park), Brooklyn
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Join Prospect Park Alliance for a bird-watching walk and learn about Prospect Park's magnificent array of birds and how to identify them!
Free!