Westchester County Parks is offering a free "Birding for Beginners" walk at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 to 11 a.m.

Naturalist Chris Mignone will lead the one-hour session, which is open to anyone curious about birdwatching.

Binoculars are the only gear needed. No registration fee or advance sign-up appears in the county's event listing, though prospective attendees can call (914) 835-4466 to confirm details.

Mignone has guided birding walks at Marshlands for more than a decade. A 2011 Patch profile described him joining Marshlands curator Scott Williamson and naturalist Andrea Thomen for a "Twilight Journey" event at the conservancy, where he explained the American Woodcock's courtship display. Westchester County Parks ran a similar beginners session on Sept. 19.

The walk is free.

It also falls during peak fall migration along Long Island Sound. Warblers, raptors, shorebirds and waterfowl pass through the conservancy by the thousands each autumn, pausing to refuel on their way south, according to a Sept. 11 MyRye.com feature on the preserve's birdlife.

Marshlands Conservancy, a 147-acre preserve off Boston Post Road, is the only extensive saltwater marsh in Westchester County.

The Audubon Society has designated it an Important Bird Area. Together with the adjacent Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary, the two sites span more than 300 acres of coastal habitat, including tidal marshes, mudflats, forests and open meadows. They support more than 200 bird species.

Kara Mason, a Pleasantville-based nature photographer and Saw Mill River Audubon board member, put it this way in the Sept. 11 MyRye.com feature: "Marshlands and Read are uniquely positioned on Long Island Sound's migratory flyway … providing crucial ecosystems to more than 200 species of birds."

The conservancy is open dawn to dusk at 220 Boston Post Road in Rye.