DOWNLOAD THE 2012 EVENTS GUIDE
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Most NYCWW events are free and open to the public. Space is limited for certain events, so advance registration is encouraged.
For a chance to see more plants up close and personal through October, check out Torrey Botanical Society’s field schedule.
SALAMANDERS OF THE URBAN FOREST
Time: Thursday, May 17, 2 – 4 pm
Location: Meet at 237th street and Van Cortland Park East
Guide: Ellen Pehek, Principal Research Ecologist, NYC Parks & Recreation
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Description: Look down when you walk in the forest, especially in the spring! Beautiful wildflowers can be seen that will disappear by summer to spend the hot months in dormancy. Small animals with a big impact on forest ecology are hidden beneath leaves, logs and rocks. We will take a short walk into the forest of Van Cortland Park to explore the plants and animals that live on the forest floor and learn about a study comparing native forest against forest dominated by exotic plants. We will see red-backed salamanders, soil invertebrates such as centipedes and beetles, and spring ephemeral wildflowers.
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SUNRISE LISTENING TOUR
Time: Saturday, May 12, 6 AM (yes, that's correct!)
Location: Meet at the Grand Army Plaza Entrance to Prospect Park
Guide: Matthew Wills, Naturalist and Blogger
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Description: Prospect Park is a vital rest and refueling point for thousands of songbirds migrating north during the spring. We will shut off our cellphones, walk silently, and open our ears to listen to the sounds of "the dawn chorus" in one part walking meditation, one part sensory re-education experience.
MUD, MARSH & MEADOW
Time: Sunday, May 20, 1 – 3 pm
Location: Meet at the parking lot of the Toys R Us, 2875 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.
Guide: Matthew Wills, Naturalist and Blogger
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Description: Four Sparrow Marsh in Mill Basin, Brooklyn is one of the last remaining salt marshes on the north shore of Jamaica Bay. The marsh provides critical filtration services for the bay and is habitat for numerous nesting and migratory bird species. Consisting of mudflat, salt marsh, upland meadow, and a sprinkling of deciduous trees, the Four Sparrow landscape hosts a mixture of native and invasive plant species. Wear waterproof boots, hat, bug spray and sun-screen and be prepared to bushwack.
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BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK
Time: Saturday, May 12, 5 – 6:30 pm
Location: Meet at southeast corner of Central Park West and 81st Street
Guide: Glenn Phillips, Executive Director, NYC Audubon
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Description: Witness the spectacle of spring migration as songbirds follow the Atlantic Flyway traveling north. Look for orioles, tanagers, warblers, vireos, and other migrants in the wilds of Central Park, and learn about the finer points of their identification and ecology. Bring binoculars.
WALKING TOUR OF MANNAHATTA’S WILDFLOWER FIELDS
Time: Sunday, May 13, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Location: Meet at the northern edge of Bowling Green Park on Broadway just north of Beaver Street
Guide: Eric Sanderson, Senior Conservation Ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society and author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City
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Description: Join ecologist and author Eric Sanderson for a tour of Mannahatta's nature including a walk along the tidal marshes of Broad Street, over the stream at Maiden Lane, up the Golden Hill (site of a pre-Revolutionary War tussle and a patch of Celadine), and then to the South Street Seaport Museum, where a reprise of the Mannahatta / Manhattan exhibition, originally shown at the Museum of the City of New York in 2009, is on display.
SPRING FUNGI WALK
Time: Tuesday, May 15, 12- 2:00 pm
Location: Meet at Seaman Avenue and Isham Street
Guide: Paul Sadowski, New York Mycological Society
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Description: Come and see the diversity of fungi that grow in the park. We will be finding Polypores, Crust fungi and Ascomycetes which thrive in the early spring weather. Given the evanescent nature of fungi, it is difficult to know what species will be fruiting during our visit. Inwood Hill Park may be hiding fungi species not yet discovered!
MANHATTAN’S OLD GROWTH FOREST
Time: Friday, May 18, 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Location: Meet near the Nature Center at 218 Street and Indian Road
Guide: Matthew Palmer, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University
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Description: The forests of Inwood Hill Park contain mature red oak and some of the largest tulip trees in the city. There is also a rich, moist valley between two rock ridges called The Clove. During the early spring, the valley is covered in wildflowers, which are able to thrive in the sun before the tree canopy leafs out. Some of these wildflowers include the city-rare downy yellow violet (Viola pubescens), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), but with this exceptionally warm winter and spring, it’s hard to predict what exactly we’ll see.
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PLANTS OLD AND NEW
Time: Thursday, May 17, 10 am – 12 pm
Location: Meet at the Wallenberg Square (southwest corner of Park Lane South and Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens)
Guide: Michael Feder, Torrey Botanical Society
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Description: Designed by Frederick Olmsted in the 1890s, Forest Park is the third largest park in Queens. Walk its knob and kettle terrain on the terminal moraine. We will get a last look at some fading spring ephemerals in the old growth area, visit some oddball plant populations, see a restoration site with new plantings that was formerly a stand of the invasive Norway maple and find good representation from the parsley (Apiaceae) family. If you'd like to do some bird watching before or after the walk, bring binoculars. Forest Park is an excellent place to view migrating warblers.
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