Tiny Sunset Cove Park on Broad Channel in Jamaica Bay Has Lots of Birds - June 2026

View of lower Manhattan from Sunset Cove

I was looking for horseshoe crabs in early June out at the end of the Broad Channel island. Unfortunately they were pretty much done making eggs and mating.  

But nearby I discovered the boardwalk and birdwatching platform along the shoreline at Sunset Cove.    

Sunset Cove boardwalk and platform

I learned that in 2019, following damage from Hurricane Sandy, NYC Parks restored this area of salt marsh at Sunset Cove Park to provide better public water access as well as future storm protection. Two years ago, a raised boardwalk was built through the wetland, which ends in the shaded platform, which is also used as an outdoor classroom.  

The first thing I noticed was a constructed platform for an osprey nest, with an osprey in it. I didn’t see any chicks though. 

The platform was equipped with viewing equipment for a closer look at the ospreys,  and the overall scene.

The parents were busy catching fish for themselves.

Nearby a group of terns were also fishing, which appeared to be Forster’s Terns, rather than the Common Terns I see more often around New York harbor.  

Double-crested Cormorants lounged on the posts along the shoreline drying their wings when they weren’t diving for fish. One looked at me and seemed like it was wearing a Halloween mask.

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  A Laughing Gull joined them but was not amused.

Much smaller Tree Swallows also perched on the posts and then flew out over the water. They  were chasing after insects rather than fish. 

   

An Oystercatcher was walking around on the sandy area of the wetlands and I wondered if there was a nest hidden in the grasses. 

Great Egrets flew over from to explore the wetland area. 

As well as a Snowy Egret showing off its bright yellow feet. 

A yellow-eyed grackle flew out over the bay and I was surprised to see it was a Boat-tailed Grackle. Its tail was longer and had a different sideways shape compared to the Common Grackles I see in the Manhattan parks. Later it returned to forage in the wetlands.

  

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron was looking for crustaceans along the edge of the water.

On the other side of the boardwalk, a Black-crowned Night Heron was doing the same. 

At some point it must have gotten too close to a Red-winged Blackbird’s nest, because they came out and harassed it. 

The blackbird nest could have been hidden down low among the reeds and grasses. 

The most unusual bird I saw in the wetlands area was a Clapper Rail. These birds usually stay hidden, though they make a big racket with their calls. I had never seen one in the New York area before. 

It is not too hard to get to Broad Channel by the A train and then the bus along Cross-bay Boulevard, so I will check back later in the summer to see what other birds come by.