I have gone to to Riis nearly every weekend this summer, and this has made me feel almost incomprehensibly happy. I love everything about the gay beach. I love seeing pals and crushes and people I’ve only ever seen on Feeld. I even love having unexpectedly emotional reunions with ex-lovers. The best thing about Riis is that everyone gay is going to be there.

But this is not always true of the creatures of Riis, who are less reliably and perhaps understandably avoidant of the most crowded section of Riis. There are always gulls, most notably the laughing gulls that will dive-bomb an abandoned tray of fries the first chance they get. I watched such an ambush happen a few weeks ago to an unsuspecting child, whose fries were swiftly confiscated. But to me, the most exciting creatures at Riis are the marine ones. This summer I saw half a horsesehoe crab carapace, the occasional clear and firm pancake of a moon jellyfish, the usual potpourri of sand fleas, mole crabs, and regular crabs, and of course the broken shells of many a bivalve.

My favorite of Riis’s creatures, the salps, are less reliable visitors. I’ve only seen them three times in New York and twice at Riis, the first time nearly a decade ago on a warm September beach day. Salps are extraordinary creatures. They have a complex life cycle that alternates between a colonial sexual stage and a solitary individual stage, meaning that a salp can be both a community and an individual. As a solitary individual, the salp grows its future chain of clones inside its body until the chain bursts free. This is what a colony of salps looks like in the water. Marvelous!

Salps are much less recognizable, however, when they wash up on shore. Then they look more like small lychee jellies, little clear blobs that can befuddle the unaware. Beached clonal salps are no bigger then edamame beans, but they sparkle in the sun, and enough of them can shine like crystalline dunes in the sand. Anyway, the last few weekends there have been salps at Riis, which has been an absolute delight! I love watching people interact with them, poking them or squishing them or showing them to each other. This year, inspired by my brilliant friend Emma, I finally got to eat my first salp (they’re edible but largely tasteless, like Jell-O made of seawater.) Hooray!

I took no photos of the salps because I was living in the moment. But they are still there, glistening and salty in my mind. If you would like to read more about salps at Riis, they are the subject of one of the essays in my first book, which you can read here for free. What else is there to say? I love Riis, I love salps, I love summer!

But fall is an exciting time too, I suppose, and September promises the start of fall migration and all its magnificent little birds. Other highlights include Moomin-themed nature walks at the NYBG, femme fishing, bug-themed events at Green-Wood Cemetery and Marine Park, and the family friendly Raptorama at the end of the month. Take care, and tell me if you saw the salps too!

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September

🍄 Fungi Hike in Staten Island: Sept 4 @ 10am. September is National Mushroom Month, and the Greenbelt is a fantastic place to take a leisurely-paced hike in search of mushrooms and other fungi. From amanita and boletes to slime molds and turkey tail, we could potentially spot a wide variety of fungi. We will also see spore prints of mushrooms from the day prior. Registration required.

🐦 Intro to Birding in Central Park with NYC Bird Alliance: Sept 5 @ 8:30am. Are you curious about birding but don’t have much (or any) experience? Join NYC Bird Alliance in Central Park, a birding hotspot, where you’ll learn the basics and spot everything from lively warblers to finches, woodpeckers, ducks, and more! Registration required, capped at 15.

🐦 Accessible Birding in Fort Tryon Park with Alex Wang: Sept 5 @ 11am. Fort Tryon Park offers stunning views of the Palisades and Hudson River and features well-paved walkways designed to accommodate a wide range of mobility needs for birders with mobility aids. Led by birding guide and educator Alexandra Wang (Avian Alex), M.S. Ed., this inclusive outing offers specialized resources. Registration encouraged.

🌳 Nature Exploration: Urban Wildlife: Sept 5 @ 11am. Learn about the diverse wildlife found in New York City’s parks and the best ways for people and animals to coexist, including the many benefits of having so many animals in our city!

🐸 Discovery Hike: Ecosystem Engineers: Sept 5 @ 1pm. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a hike through Riverside Park as we discuss the different ecosystems and biodiversity found within NYC. We will explore the impact of our ‘ecosystem engineers’ and the importance of supporting a wide variety of flora and fauna.

🐦 Intro to Birding in Prospect Park with NYC Bird Alliance: Sept 6 @ 8:30am. Are you curious about birding but don’t have much (or any) experience? Join NYC Bird Alliance in Prospect Park, Brooklyn's backyard!  This is the perfect time to learn the basics, at the start of fall migration. Binoculars available upon request. Registration required, capped at 15.

🐦 Urban Birds and Fall Migration: Sept 6 @ 1pm. Join the Urban Park Rangers for an introduction to urban birds at the beginning of their fall migration! We’ll explore the recently renovated Grant Park and see how even small areas of improved habitat can provide food and shelter for wildlife in the city.

🐦 NYCHA in Nature: Cooper Park Houses: Sept 9 @ 11am. NYCHA residents and nearby community members are invited to join NYC Bird Alliance for beginner-friendly birding to look and listen for birds! We'll slowly stroll through the Cooper Park complex, focusing on easy ways to notice birds around us. Registration encouraged.

🌳 Monthly Nature Exploration Hike Series: Sept 9 @ 1pm. Join the Urban Park Rangers for a monthly hike exploring Inwood Hill Park. The hike will begin at the Inwood Hill Nature Center. This month’s hike will focus on late-summer plant exploration

🐦 NYCHA in Nature: Coney Island: Sept 10 @ 10am. Join NYC Bird Alliance for a morning of beginner-friendly birding to look and listen for birds! We'll meet infront of the center to begin and see what birds we notice around us before heading to Kaiser Park. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Morning Birding at Prospect Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 11 @ 9am. Join NYC Bird Alliance to get to know the fall migrants of “Brooklyn's Backyard,” beautiful Prospect Park. The meadows, forests, and waterways of Prospect Park attract a variety of birds! Registration is free but required. Space is limited to 30 participants.

🐦 Intro to Birding in Marine Park: Sept 12 @ 9am. Explore the beauty of Brooklyn’s largest green space, Marine Park! Consisting of grassland and salt marshes, this park is habitat for a variety of migratory songbirds and waterbirds. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Rockaway Community Bird Outing with Russell Jacobs: Sept 12 @ 10am. Join NYC Bird Alliance to explore the Rockaways, a vital habitat for shorebirds year-round, with our final FREE community bird outing.  In the summer, these beaches provide crucial nesting grounds for shorebirds while in the fall becoming important foraging habitat for shorebirds making their way south. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Intro to Birding in Crotona Park: Sept 12 @ 10am. Join NYC Bird Alliance this spring to explore beautiful Crotona Park. Its meadows, flowering trees, and sizable pool provide excellent habitats for a variety of birds, including woodpeckers, warblers, and wading birds. Registration encouraged.

🎣 Catch-and-Release Fishing: Sept 12 @ 10am. Have you ever gone fishing in NYC? Join Brooklyn Bridge Park staff to learn about the ecology of the East River as you participate in a free catch-and-release fishing lesson at the Pier 5 fishing stations (at the end of the pier). Registration required.

🎣 Fishing Series: Femme Fishing: Sept 12 @ 11am. Join the Randall’s Island Park Alliance for an afternoon of fishing for women, femme, and gender-nonconforming folx! Register with the Recreational Marine Fishing Registry prior to the event.

🦋 Creating and Connecting Habitat for Monarch Butterflies: Sept 12 @ 11am. During this workshop, learn about the monarch’s life cycle, its impressive multi-generational 3,000 mile migration, and how to help them thrive in NYC green spaces. Attendees will be able to take home native milkweed or butterfly nectar plants for their gardens.

🐛 Bugging Out! at Green-Wood Cemetery: Sept 12 @ 11am. Join us for an eye-opening afternoon of insect watching! Akin to birdwatching, this program invites you to observe the tiny invertebrates that birds eat and that pollinate our flowers. Tickets $25 for non-members.

🐦 New York Botanical Garden Birding Tour: Sept 12 @ 11am. Join NYC Bird Alliance at New York Botanical Garden. Get to see some of NYBG’s diverse landscape and learn why this unique green space is such a vital haven for a great variety of species year-round. The tour will meet at the Reflecting Pool in the Native Plant Garden.

🐦 Birding and Park Clean-Up at Franz Sigel Park, Bronx: Sept 13 @ 9am. Join Queer Birders and Leo Wexler-Mann for a bird walk at 9am, park cleanup at 10am.

🌾 Volunteer Landscaping and Cleanup at Ridgewood Reservoir: Sept 13 @ 10am. Join NYC H2O and the NYC Parks Department as we remove invasive plants and plant native plants at Ridgewood Reservoir!

🐦 Birding in East Harlem with EsplanadeFriends: Sept 13 @ 10am. Join NYC Bird Alliance and EsplanadeFriends to discover the East Harlem Esplanade and its adjacent green spaces. Expect to see many water birds right off the coast.

🍄 Moomin Fest at NYBG: Sept 13 @ 1-5pm. It’s a celebration of the Moomins and the legacy of the creator Tove Jansson! Join birder and artist Sam Philbert on a nature journaling walk. Join naturalist Gabriel Willow for Moomin-inspired nature walks that explore New York’s best natural treasures, where every leaf, bird, and flower has a story to tell!

🐝 Stingers at Marine Park: Sept 13 @ 1:30pm. Why do we see, and swat, so many stinging insects in the fall? What vital roles do bees and wasps, and other stinging insects, play in the environment? How can we protect our native insect populations and ourselves? Learn why and how with Alison Coffey, Entomologist 1 from the Long Island Aquarium.

🐦 Evening Birding in Central Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 14 @ 5pm. Witness the beauty of migration in Central Park with Gabriel Willow as birds travel along the Atlantic Flyway. We’ll search for warblers, thrushes, and other migratory species while learning how to identify them and exploring their ecology and behavior. Registration required, capped at 30.

🐦 NYCHA in Nature: King Towers Houses: Sept 16 @ 10am. Join NYC Bird Alliance for a morning of beginner-friendly birding to look and listen for birds! We'll slowly stroll from campus to the Central Park's Harlem Meer, focusing on easy ways to notice birds around us. No experience necessary! Binoculars provided. Please note this outing is weather permitting. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Morning Birding at Prospect Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 18 @ 9am. Join NYC Bird Alliance to get to know the fall migrants of “Brooklyn's Backyard,” beautiful Prospect Park. The meadows, forests, and waterways of Prospect Park attract a variety of birds! Registration is free but required. Space is limited to 30 participants.

🐦 Summer on the Hudson: Sept 18 @ 5:30pm. Join NYC Bird Alliance and Riverside Park Conservancy for this year's Summer on the Hudson series. Who knows what birds we'll discover while taking in views of the Hudson River? All levels of birders welcomed!

🐦 Summer on the Hudson: Birding Walk: Sept 18 @ 5:30pm. Explore Riverside Park on a family-friendly bird walk in partnership. Bring binoculars if you have them! 

🐦 Birding in Clove Lakes Park, Staten Island: Sept 19 @ 8am. Numerous warblers, vireos, tanagers, and other migratory songbirds can be seen at Clove Lakes Park. Led by Staten Island resident and longtime birder, Anthony Ciancimino. Registration required, capped at 30.

🐦 Birding along the QueensWay: Sept 19 @ 9:30am. Join NYC Bird Alliance and The Trust for Public Land as we explore the QueensWay through birding! The QueensWay is an intiative to transform the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch that cuts through Forest Park into a new green space. Registration encouraged.

🐦 NYCHA in Nature: Bushwick Houses: Sept 19 @ 10am. NYCHA residents and nearby community members are invited to join NYC Bird Alliance for a morning of beginner-friendly birding to look and listen for birds! We'll slowly stroll through the Bushwick complex, focusing on easy ways to notice birds around us. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Fall Migration at Highland Park: Sept 19 @ 11am. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a birding adventure around Highland Park to look for fall migrants that include warblers, raptors and more!

🐦 New York Botanical Garden Birding Tour: Sept 19 @ 11am. Join NYC Bird Alliance at New York Botanical Garden. Get to see some of NYBG’s diverse landscape and learn why this unique green space is such a vital haven for a great variety of species year-round. The tour will meet at the Reflecting Pool in the Native Plant Garden.

🦀 Creek Peak: Intro to Seining at Marine Park: Sept 19 @ 1pm. Join this hands-on seining adventure in Gerritsen Creek as we wade into the water to discover the fascinating fish, crabs, and other creatures that call our salt marsh home.

🍄 Fantastic Fungi Mushroom ID Hike: Sept 19 @ 1pm. We will lead a guided mushroom walk through Inwood Hill Park and help locate mushroom species and discuss their unique qualities! Come learn about our funky fungi kingdom and the mycelial connections that are integral to our ecosystems.

🐦 Birding in Marine Park: Sept 20 @ 9am. It's Climate Week! Come explore the beauty of Brooklyn’s largest green space, Marine Park! Consisting of grassland and salt marshes, this park is habitat for a variety of migratory songbirds and waterbirds. Registration encouraged.

🦅 Fall Birding in Van Cortlandt Park: Sept 20 @ 9am. Join NYC Bird Alliance on a bird tour in one of the Bronx's largest green spaces. Participants will look for various species of resident and migrant birds and discuss a wide range of avian topics. Registration Required, limited to 20.

🦋 Monarch Watch at Marine Park: Sept 20 @ 10am. Help band butterflies to track the slow decline of the critical monarch species (all the more reason to plant pollinator gardens wherever possible!). Community science data collected on this day adds to a national study.

🪼 What Lives in the East River?: Sept 20 @ 10am. Discover the amazing biodiversity of the East River as you get hands-on and up close with our marine life touch tank. Participants 14 years of age or older can learn how to use a seine net to humanely catch and release organisms in the river. Registration required.

🐦 Evening Birding in Central Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 21 @ 5pm. Witness the beauty of migration in Central Park with Gabriel Willow as birds travel along the Atlantic Flyway. We’ll search for warblers, thrushes, and other migratory species while learning how to identify them and exploring their ecology and behavior. Registration Required, limited to 30.

🐦 NYCHA in Nature: Cooper Park Houses: Sept 23 @ 11am. NYCHA residents and nearby community members are invited to join NYC Bird Alliance for beginner-friendly birding to look and listen for birds! We'll slowly stroll through the Cooper Park complex, focusing on easy ways to notice birds around us. Registration encouraged.

🐦 Morning Birding at Prospect Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 25 @ 9am. Join NYC Bird Alliance to get to know the fall migrants of “Brooklyn's Backyard,” beautiful Prospect Park. The meadows, forests, and waterways of Prospect Park attract a variety of birds! Registration required, capped at 30.

🐦 Fall Birding in Alley Pond Park: Sept 26 @ 9am. Alley Pond Park is an ecological treasure. Containing both fresh and saltwater wetlands, forests, tidal flats, meadows, and glacier-formed landscape, this park supports a vast array of birds. Registration encouraged.

🦀 Salt Marsh Saturday at Little Hell Gate: Sept 26 @ 9am. From 9 AM – 12 PM, the marsh pathway gates on the boardwalk will be open and members of RIPA’s Natural Areas Team will be on site to answer questions, share interesting facts and show off some of the unique species of plants and animals that call this amazing and dynamic ecosystem home!

🐦 Bilingual Birding at Sunset Park: Mandarin-English: Sept 26 @ 9:30am. Join bird guide Xinyi Zhang for a Mandarin-English bilingual bird outing in beautiful Sunset Park. This green space is known to provide breathtaking views of Manhattan, especially at sunset and a wide variety of birds have been sighted here. Registration encouraged.

🦅 Fall Migration at Pelham Bay Park: Sept 26 @ 10am. Our Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best viewing spots in New York City to see fall migratory birds. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a birding adventure around Pelham Bay Park to look for fall migrants that include warblers, raptors and more!

🐦 Accessible Birding at Carl Schurz Park with Alex Wang: Sept 26 @ 11am. Found in the Upper East Side, Carl Schurz Park is a picturesque green space. Led by birding guide and educator Alexandra Wang (Avian Alex), M.S. Ed., this inclusive outing offers specialized resources. Registration encouraged.

🦅 9th Annual Raptorama! at Jamaica Bay: Sept 27 @ 10am. It's that time of the year again, join us at Raptorama! Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center to learn all about the birds of prey of Jamaica Bay. See some amazing raptors up close during two live demonstrations led by the Wildlife Center of Long Island.

🌾 Volunteer Landscaping and Cleanup at Ridgewood Reservoir: Sept 27 @ 10am. Join NYC H2O and the NYC Parks Department as we remove invasive plants and plant native plants at Ridgewood Reservoir!

🌻 Autumn Wildflower ID Walk: Sept 27 @ 1pm. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a walk through Bushwick Inlet Park in search of autumn wildflowers. Watch pollinators preparing for winter and learn about how asters and other fall flowers are beneficial and beautiful parts of our local ecosystem.

🐦 Fall Migration at Riverside Park: Sept 27 @ 1pm. Join the Urban Park Rangers on a birding adventure around Riverside Park to look for fall migrants that include warblers, raptors and more!

🐦 Evening Birding in Central Park with Gabriel Willow: Sept 28 @ 5pm. Witness the beauty of migration in Central Park with Gabriel Willow as birds travel along the Atlantic Flyway. We’ll search for warblers, thrushes, and other migratory species while learning how to identify them and exploring their ecology and behavior. Registration required, capped at 30.

Ongoing:

🛳️ Urban Naturalist Tour: Abandoned Islands of the East River at Sunset: Join Classic Harbor Line Join aboard a cozy, elegant, 1920s-style Manhattan yacht -- as we travel past abandoned islands rich with history and modern day wildlife! Throughout the journey, our knowledgeable naturalist-guide (Gabriel Willow or Russell Jacobs) will share insights into the conservation efforts aimed at preserving these precious ecosystems. Bring binoculars! (This is an affiliate link!)

🐦 Governors Island Bird Tour: Saturdays @ 2:15pm. Did you know that nearly 240 bird species have been spotted on Governors Island? Whether you’re an expert birder or a beginner, these tours will help you discover what makes this island an excellent place for birding. Registration not required but HIGHLY encouraged.

🐦 Tuesday Evening Fall Migration Walk in Prospect Park: Join urban naturalist Gabriel Willow on fall migration walks in Prospect Park on Tuesdays from Sept 15 to Oct 20 at 5pm. $30 per walk, capped at 15.

🐦 Tuesday Evening Fall Migration Walk in Central Park: Join urban naturalist Gabriel Willow on fall migration walks in Prospect Park on Wednesdays from Sept 16 to Oct 21 at 5pm. $30 per walk, capped at 15.

🐦 Fall Birding Tuesdays in Bryant Park: Tuesdays, Sept 1-Oct 6 @ 8am. Discover the surprising diversity of birds that call Bryant Park home during migratory season with guided tours by environmental educator and urban naturalist Gabriel Willow.

🌠 Stargazing on the High Line: Tuesdays from 8:15pm to 10pm. Immerse yourself in the wonders of the night sky every Tuesday on the High Line! The friendly team from the Amateur Astronomers Association—with whom we’ve been partnering since the park’s opening—will be there with high-powered telescopes, ready to reveal the secrets of the cosmos.

🦪 Shoreline Cleanup with the Billion Oyster Project: On Thursdays at 2pm, loin us in collecting debris from New York City's shorelines to prevent it from re-entering the waterways when the tide returns. This is important in achieving our goal of protecting the biodiversity that lives near our reef sites.

🌹 New York Restoration Project: Everyone deserves access to high-quality public green space. If you’re interested in forest stewardship, volunteer with the NYRP in the parks of northern Manhattan clearing invasive plants, mulching, and clearing litter. Volunteer dates listed in the link above. Registration required.