NYC Plover Project and RISE Host a Winter Beach Bird Walk
By Mel Julien, NYC Plover Project Community Engagement Director
On Saturday, December 9, NYC Plover Project and RISE (Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity) partnered to host a winter bird walk along Edgemere’s shoreline. This was the third bird walk that the two organizations held in 2023.
Clear blue skies and a brisk ocean breeze accompanied nearly forty attendees throughout the walk. Countless birds were spotted along the shoreline: Sanderlings, Red-throated Loons, Buffleheads, Great Black-Backed Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, Common Eiders, a Red-necked Grebe, Ring-billed Gulls, House Finches, and raptors (a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Northern Harrier).
These bird walks will always be free, open to all ages and to birders and nonbirders alike. The intention of these bird walks is to build community and engage nature enthusiasts of all levels around the Rockaways’ teeming ecosystems.
This programming is part of a series of events that NYC Plover Project and RISE will host throughout the Rockaways in the months ahead in 2024. The next bird walk is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, 2024, from 10 a.m. to noon, with a meetup location at RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Arverne. You can follow NYC Plover Project and RISE via their websites, nycploverproject.org and riserockaway.org, newsletters, and social media for more information on this upcoming event and other community programming.
Photos by Theresa Racine.
