With bright blue skies, a light breeze and a briny smell to the air, the Marine Park Alliance (MPA) and Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) hosted a Waterbird Walk, with the help of the NYC Bird Alliance, at the Marine Park Salt Marsh to kick off City of Water Day.
“I think it’s important because not a lot of people realize how special the water is in New York City,” MPA Program and Communications Manager Elliot Ma said. “A lot of people think the water’s kind of like a dead place, polluted, and that is just not the case.”
Dozens of birders, photographers and naturalists gathered to see, hear and learn about the many bird species that call the salt marsh home or drop by during migration. The walk was led by nature educator Ryan Mandelbaum, who helped attendees identify animals and plants along the way.
“New York City is an incredibly ecologically biodiverse place,” Mandelbaum said. “What’s really beautiful about this area is that this is a really pristine piece of salt marsh habitat.”
Armed with binoculars, the group tackled the trail from the nature center to the lookout point, encountering great egrets, double-crested cormorants, laughing gulls, downy woodpeckers, crowned night herons, black skimmers and more.
“If you come down to south Brooklyn and the Rockaways, you can experience wildlife, biodiversity, natural areas that’s really unique and probably not available in this vast space anywhere else in New York City,” JBRPC Director of Development and Capital Projects Anastasia Yankopoulos said.
