Birding in the Rockaways

Story and Photos

By Theresa M Racine

On Sunday, September 28, a group of bird enthusiasts went out to Beach 60th and walked on the shoreline and throughout the Arverne East Nature Preserve on Beach 40th Street. It was all part of the Fall Migration Bird Walk presented by RISE and NYC Plover Project.

This bird walk was guided by Benjamin Forbs of NYC Plover Project. As part of Climate Week NYC, the walk was focused on the fall migration and saying goodbye of the many birds leaving the Rockaways for the year. But it brought even more than birds.

The walk started off on the shoreline with a pod of dolphins jumping in the water, followed by 45 guests spotting more than 30 bird species over the course of two hours.  On the shore, we saw Royal terns, common terns, sanderlings, semipalmated plovers and so many different gulls, including a rare one with yellow legs. We also got a show from an osprey as it did acrobatics in the sky while diving for fish. There were also countless monarch butterflies. And to top it off, there was a breaching humpback whale in the water, which also tipped over a boat while feeding.

In the Arverne East Nature Preserve, we saw tree swallows and barn swallows, Savannah sparrows, red-headed woodpecker, Northern mockingbird, a peregrine falcon, and lots of common yellow throats. NYC Plover Project has about four walks per year, and some specialty walks. Follow their website https://nycploverproject.org/ to learn more and how you can be a part of supporting this organization and the piping plovers and other endangered species. Let’s keep our ecosystem healthy!