Vernam Barbadoes natural area

The 21.3-acre Vernam Barbadoes natural area occupies the greater part of this peninsula, which extends into Jamaica Bay in the Rockaway section of Queens. The peninsula is flanked by two silt-filled inlets, the Vernam and Barbadoes Basins. For centuries Rockaway has been an ever-shifting barrier beach, simultaneously protecting the mainland and supporting New York’s coastal wildlife and the rich marshland of Jamaica Bay. In addition to hosting a wide variety of plants and animals, Jamaica Bay is an important stop in the migration cycles of thousands of species of birds.

The Vernam Barbadoes natural areas consist of a mosaic of plant communities including coastal dunes, salt marshes, and maritime shrubland and forests. There are a variety of marshland grasses and sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum) on the western shore of the peninsula, and beach heather (Hudsonia tomentosa), mature bayberry (Morella caroliniensis), and woodland species further upland. It also hosts various breeding songbirds, nesting kingfishers, and foraging black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax).