Image:  Len Blumin (flickr)

Common terns have recently colonized several decommissioned piers on Governors Island’s waterfront; last summer 181 nests and banded 100 chicks were counted .

Festival activities will include:

• Expert bird walks and talks by NYC Audubon’s Susan Elbin, Cornell University waterbird researcher Liz Craig, the Wild Bird Fund’s Rita McMahon, NPS Governors Island Park Volunteer Annie Barry, and Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City author Leslie Day
• Boat tours led by NYC Audubon naturalist Gabriel Willow (and crewed by New York Harbor School students) to view the colony from Buttermilk Channel ($5 per person donation requested)
• Hands-on activities for the whole family including create-your-own oyster-shell jewelry, drawing with artist Deborah Jones, kite-making with Children’s Museum of the Arts Island Outpost, and t-shirt silk-screening with Earth Matter
• The Lower East Side Ecology Center’s “Fishmobile”
• Refreshments on sale by vendors Little Eva’s and Fauzia’s Heavenly Delights
• Music by “Backyard Chicken Broadcast”‘s Bucky Buchaw

The Tern Festival is free ($5 per-person requested for boat tour). No registration necessary.

Getting to Governors Island: Click here to see Governors Island and East River Ferry schedules as well as directions to the ferry terminals in Manhattan and Brooklyn. (Note that there is no fare on 10am, 11am and 11:30am ferries from Manhattan on Saturdays and Sundays. There is also no fare on the 11am and 11:30am ferry from Brooklyn on Saturdays and Sundays. These ferries are free to all.)