Broad Cove Preserve joins New York State's Birding Trail, a first for the North Fork

A waterfront preserve in Aquebogue that’s long been a haven for raptors, songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl now has a statewide birding distinction.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation added Broad Cove Preserve to the New York State Birding Trail, officials announced Thursday during a news conference at the 100-acre property.

“This network of 400 birding hot spots across the state highlights those that offer the best of the best for birdwatching enthusiasts,” Ryan McGarry, the assistant regional director for the DEC on Long Island, said. McGarry called Broad Cove a “true gem” in the region, and the first site on the North Fork to be added to the state’s birding list.

Two other North Fork parks, Hallock State Park and Orient Beach State Park, will be added to the state birding list later this spring, McGarry said.

DEC officials joined those from the Peconic Land Trust, birders and other environmental groups at the Aquebogue preserve Thursday to celebrate the new birding title. The group also unveiled new trails, interpretive signage and ongoing habitat restoration projects.

Land trust president John v.H. Halsey said Broad Cove is a “place of wonder” that had been a conservation priority for decades.

“It is now a place where local wildlife and nature can thrive,” he said

Developers were planning a large luxury resort at the site, a former duck farm, until the nonprofit Peconic Land Trust acquired the site for $11.5 million in 2021.

In December, the state DEC completed a $10.95 million easement for the site, which formalized its protection. The easement allowed the land trust to repay donor loans and invest in a fund used to purchase other properties threatened by development. The property is jointly managed by the land trust and DEC.

New paths

Two wide gravel paths now lead down to Peconic Bay and are designed to accommodate strollers and wheelchairs, land trust officials said. The trail is dotted with informational signs on animal species and habitats, as well as bluebird and tree swallow nesting boxes managed by the North Fork Audubon Society.

The North Fork is a key stop along the Atlantic Flyway, a route used by migrating birds to fly north in the spring and head to warmer climates in the fall.

“We are so grateful to be able to work together to provide an important home for birds and wildlife, as they are so quickly vanishing across the North Fork and elsewhere,” Peggy Lauber, president of the North Fork Audubon Society, said.

Lauber led a birding walk Thursday as a group watched ospreys dive for fish in a nearby creek and documented nearly a dozen other species including a great egret, house sparrows, Baltimore orioles, yellow warblers, least terns, purple martins and hummingbirds.

Relief felt

Orlesha Banks was among the hikers who joined Lauber with her daughter and niece. Her family has roots in the Bell Town neighborhood across the street from the preserve. The historically Black and Native American community was recognized by Riverhead Town as a heritage area in 2022.

Banks, 41, said she was relieved to see the property spared from development.

“It’s absolutely beautiful … to still walk the paths that some of our native families and ancestors walked, to be able to hear the birds. That symbolizes to me that my ancestors are still very much here, protecting the land,” she said in an interview. “And I’ve always been a nature girl at heart.”

Sites can be nominated for the state Birding Trail if they meet certain DEC criteria, including being open to the public and a “productive bridging site that will provide visitors a reasonable level of success,” according to the state guidelines.

Peconic Land Trust is also working to remove invasive phragmites and Japanese knotweed, which spreads relentlessly, and plant more than 5,000 native grasses, officials said.

The land trust has invested nearly $500,000 in upgrades at the site, according to Jessie McSwane, the director of stewardship. That funding includes $200,000 in federal infrastructure aid secured by the Peconic Estuary Partnership; a $100,000 invasive species removal grant from the DEC; and private donations.