Target Rock is an 80-acre Refuge on the Lloyd Neck Peninsula of Long Island's north shore. The Refuge, made up of mature oak-hickory forest and a half-mile rocky beach, supports a variety of songbirds (particularly warblers in the spring, mammals, shorebirds, fish, reptiles and amphibians). During the colder months, diving ducks are common offshore while harbor seals use the beach and nearby rocks as resting sites. Spring bloom at Target Rock will remind you of its days as a formal garden with flowering rhododendrons, azaleas and mountain laurel.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service manages the Refuge to protect this special habitat for migratory songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl and other wildlife. From April 1 through August 31, a portion of the beach at Target Rock is closed to public use, in order to provide undisturbed nesting areas for bank swallows and a safe place for shorebirds like the piping plover to nest and feed.
If you visit the beach at Target Rock NWR, you will likely see a 14-foot rock jutting out of Huntington Bay. Legend has it that the British Navy used that rock for target practice during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
The Eberstadt family eventually took ownership of this land, transforming it into magnificent gardens. The hints of their work bloom every spring with flowering daffodils, azaleas and rhododendrons. The Refuge was established in 1967 via land donation from the Eberstadt family, under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.
