Volunteer at Bedford Audubon’s New Habitat Garden!
Join us for our Garden Volunteer Hours. You’ll work alongside professional native gardener Missy Fabel and fellow volunteers to get our garden ready for first blooms and to maintain it through the season. We also need garden tour guides. We can train you!
 
No registration required. Sessions held every Tuesday, 9-11 AM.

Chris Allieri is Executive Director and Founder of the NYC Plover Project, a non-profit organization that he founded in March 2021 to fiercely protect endangered Piping Plovers that nest each year along some of the busiest beaches of New York City. In just three years, the organization has connected with thousands of beachgoers and residents in person and hundreds of thousands more people on social media. Upon founding the organization, what became immediately clear was that most New Yorkers didn’t know about Piping Plovers or the challenges they face, and that their very existence was at risk of extinction. Most didn’t know that fewer than 8,000 remain in the world and just less than 100 come to Queens, NYC each year.

The ultimate underdog, the Piping Plover is a federally-threatened and New York State-endangered species. The threats facing this tiny yet mighty, intrepid shorebird – and other beach-nesting shorebirds like American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Least Terns and Common Terns - are numerous, ranging from human disturbance to predation of many kinds (much of which comes from increased predators at the beach due to trash left by beachgoers), to intense storms, rising seas, and coastal erosion caused by climate change. The organization soon realized that while working to protect Piping Plovers, they were helping other wildlife and helping steward natural areas in our city as well.

The mission of the NYC Plover Project (www.nycploverproject.org) is to bring together New Yorkers, from the Rockaway Peninsula and beyond, to protect the endangered Piping Plovers. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Rockaway works with a number of partners, including the National Park Service and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, along with a dedicated volunteer corps of nearly 250+ volunteers to help protect nesting Piping Plovers. Conservation activities include in-person engagement an deducation of beachgoers, and helping our partners with nest monitoring, increased signage near nesting habitat, and data collection of nesting outcomes. This year, the organization has kicked off expansive community engagement and public school education initiatives.

The organization was awarded Volunteer Group of the Year for the entire National Park Service in 2022, the Keesee Award from the National Audubon Society in 2023 and the Linnaean Society of New York Natural History Service Award in March of this year. The organization is a member of the Endangered Species Coalition, a nationwide network of 400+ organizations dedicated to our nation’s disappearing wildlife and last remaining wild places.

Chris will detail the experience of the organization, expound upon the challenges that the Piping Plovers face and outline ways that members can speak up for Plovers and beach-nesting birds in our borough and city.

Come learn about the plight of these fantastic shorebirds and the concerned New Yorkers dedicated to their protection. 

Wednesday, May 8, 7:00pm. Cost: Free. No registration required. Join us for refreshments from 6:45pm in the Garden Room.

Take a break from your morning routine and enjoy the benefits of being outdoors by joining us for an hour in the peace of the Native Garden.  Local Master Reiki Practitioner Catherine Downs will lead us in a seated, guided reiki inspired meditation, and follow with an immersive slow walk focusing onusing the senses to connect to the natural world around us.

Sturdy shoes are recommended, plus layers of clothing depending on the weather and maybe a hat. Participants should also bring something to sit on – a blanket, cushion or beach/camp chair.
Tuesday, May 7, 10:00-11:00am. Cost:Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Registration is required by emailing Susan: info@bedfordaudubon.org

Volunteer at Bedford Audubon’s New Habitat Garden!
Join us for our Garden Volunteer Hours. You’ll work alongside professional native gardener Missy Fabel and fellow volunteers to get our garden ready for first blooms and to maintain it through the season. We also need garden tour guides. We can train you!
 
No registration required. Sessions held every Tuesday, 9-11 AM.

Thereis a good chance we might catch a glimpse of the dam’s nesting ravens on Naturalist Tait Johansson’s Third Thursday’s Bird Walk which begins at the Cross River Dam. The Indigo Buntings and Blue-winged Warblers that breed here should also be back, and we will likely get a great view of a Cliff Swallow colony, together with Rough-winged Swallows, and maybe later-arriving migrants like Canada Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler. This is a great introductory walk for those new to birding, as well as a return to old favorites for those withmore experience.

Thursday, May 16, 7:30-9:30am. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Registration is required by emailing Susan: info@bedfordaudubon.org

Volunteer at Bedford Audubon’s New Habitat Garden!
Join us for our Garden Volunteer Hours. You’ll work alongside professional native gardener Missy Fabel and fellow volunteers to get our garden ready for first blooms and to maintain it through the season. We also need garden tour guides. We can train you!
 
No registration required. Sessions held every Tuesday, 9-11 AM.

Volunteer at Bedford Audubon’s New Habitat Garden!
Join us for our Garden Volunteer Hours. You’ll work alongside professional native gardener Missy Fabel and fellow volunteers to get our garden ready for first blooms and to maintain it through the season. We also need garden tour guides. We can train you!
 
No registration required. Sessions held every Tuesday, 9-11 AM.