Guided Tour of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

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Meeting place: Visitors' Center, which is off Cross Bay Boulevard.

Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge is one of the premier birding spots around New York City. It combines salt water and fresh water habitats, light forest, marshland and shoreline that attracts a wide variety of birds at all times.

Join us for a leisurely stroll around the West Pond, with excursions into the woodlands and across the way to Big John's Pond as time permits. This will be the height of the Fall migration season so we should get quite a variety of birds passing through including shorebirds, warblers, passerines, raptors, terns, waders and waterfowl among others. The reserve can be buggy, so bring insect repellent if that bothers you and if it's been raining sections can be mucky and muddy. Though there are restroom facilities at the Visitors' Center there are no other services, so do bring water and food for a picnic. Bring binoculars if you have them.

Directions to Jamaica Bay

By Car: Take the Van Wyck Expressway to the Belt Parkway. Get on the parkway going West. Get off at Cross Bay Boulevard going South. You will pass immediately through Howard Beach, then over a bridge. The Refuge begins immediately on the other side of the bridge but the entrance is quite a way down. There is a traffic light on the other side of the bridge. The entrance to the refuge is the first traffic light, where you should turn right. The Visitors' Center will be immediately in front of you.

By Subway: Take the A train to Broad Channel station to Rockaways. Walk west to Crossbay Boulevard, then turn right (north) and walk about half a mile to the Visitors' Center. It will be necessary to take the Far Rockaway train (not the Lefferts Boulevard bound one!)
Transit info: MTA Home Page
Note: service changes for the MTA are not published until Friday.
You can call the Refuge: (718-318-4340) for directions.

By Bus: Take the Q53 bus at 61st Street and Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights.

Cost: Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Please reserve by emailing: nybirdwalks@yahoo.com
Thank you!

Website: New York Birds - Connecting Nature and People