Treehugger Tuesday

From the website Gizmag:

Ocean Cleanup Project's trash-catching prototype takes to the angry Dutch seas
Nick Lavars / June 27, 2016



Its been a few years since Boyan Slat first revealed his bold concept to clean up the world's oceans, and now we're set to see how his trash-catching barriers fare in the real world. The Dutch entrepreneur's Ocean Cleanup Project has successfully deployed its debut prototype off the coast of the Netherlands, which will serve as a first test-case ahead of a much larger installation planned to tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2020.

Slat's garbage-collecting barriers have been described as artificial coastlines. They are basically long floating arms that rely on the ocean's natural currents to gather up plastic waste. Since he first introduced the concept, the Ocean Cleanup Project has raised US$2.1 million in crowdfunding and completed a feasibility study on its main target, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which some experts believe to be twice the size of Texas.

But before tackling this monumental vortex of ocean trash, the team needs to investigate how the barriers stand up under extreme conditions. Measuring 100 m (330 ft) long, the North Sea prototype is fitted with sensors that monitor its motion in the ocean, along with the physical loads that it is subjected to as waves rise and fall around it.

According to the Ocean Cleanup Project, a minor storm in this part of the world results in more violent sea conditions than an exceptionally heavy storm in the Pacific Ocean, which it says only occurs once every hundreds of years.

While it may inadvertently collect some trash in the North Sea, that's not really the immediate objective. The data that the team gathers through its monitoring of the prototype will help the engineers prepare to build a full-scale system that can withstand the conditions of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And Slat says that the prototype surviving the test is no guarantee.

"This is a historic day on the path toward clean oceans," he says. "A successful outcome of this test should put us on track to deploy the first operational pilot system in late 2017. I estimate there is a 30 percent chance the system will break, but either way it will be a good test."

The operational system Slat refers to is a larger project spanning 2 km (1.2 mi) off the coast of Tsushima Island between Japan and South Korea. Here plastic waste is of particular concern to local governments with around 1 cubic meter (35 cu ft) of pollution for each of the more than 40,000 residents washing up on the island each year.

Other installations are planned in the years following, before a 100 km (62 mi) floating system is rolled out at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California. Slat says that the system could make it possible to cut the time required to clean up the world's oceans from millennia to mere years.

Source: The Ocean Cleanup Project ...Read more

Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for the weekend of Saturday, July 2, 2016 to Monday, July 4, 2016:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Sunday, July 3, 2016, 8am – 9am
Early Morning Bird Walk: Taking Wing
This is the time of year when young birds outnumber adult birds. Join the Prospect Park Alliance in search of fledglings as they test their wings!

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 06/04/2016 to 09/03/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Birding for Beginners
Join us for an introduction to this fun hobby. Learn the basics of birding. Bring binoculars and a field guide or borrow them from wildlife refuge!
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/28/2016 9:30AM to 11:30AM
Camp Gateway Walk-up and Paddle
Try kayaking! Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservation required. Bring a snack, water and sunscreen.
Bus: Q35
Location: Floyd Bennett Field – Brooklyn, Seaplane Ramp
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: 718-338-3799

Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/27/2016 1:00PM to 3:30PM
Canarsie Walk-up and Paddle
Kayak tryouts for those who have never done it before. Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservations required.
Location: Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: (718)338-3799

Every Sunday Weekly from 06/05/2016 to 09/04/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Fort Tilden Bunkers Walking Tour
Join a Park Ranger for an exploration of Fort Tilden's gun batteries, and find out about the fort's role in the defense of New York Harbor.
1 mile.
Location: Fort Tilden-Building 1
Fee Information: Free

Saturday, July 2, 2016, 6:00PM to 8:00PM
Horseshoe Crab Tagging and Population Count
Meet at the Beach Center then travel to Crooke's Point to search for and tag horseshoe crabs. Visitors must show up no later than 6 p.m. in order to receive a special program parking permit for Crooke's Point. Wear appropriate shoes. Reservations are required, please call 718-354-4655 to make a reservation and for more information.
Location: Great Kills Park Lot G Beach Center

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Friday, July 1 - Monday, July 4
Boreal Birding in the Adirondacks
Guide: Gabriel Willow
NYC Audubon is for the first time offering a trip to the Adirondack region, NY state's wildest country. The Adirondack Park's 6 million acres constitutes 1/3 of the land area in NY State - the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined! Within its boundaries are vast forests (ranging from deciduous to boreal) and rolling farmlands, towns and villages, mountains and valleys, and lakes, ponds and rivers. This diversity of habitat leads to an incredible diversity of plant and bird species, including several boreal specialties of the mountain spruce and fir forests that cannot be found in NYC such as gray jays and boreal chickadees. Join NYC Audubon guide Gabriel Willow and local Adirondack resident, guide, and President of the NYS Ornithological Association, Joan Collins on a four-day tour of this wild region. We will stay in the town of Saranac Lake at Amanda's Village Motel, a charming motel overlooking the Lake, spend our days exploring the mountains and valleys in the region, and dine at restaurants in Saranac Lake and nearby Lake Placid, NY. Transport by passenger van included. $770 ($220 single supplement)
Click here for a complete itinerary
Click here to register

Saturdays, May 7-July 30, 8-9:30am
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

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Sullivan County Audubon Society
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Our 23rd annual Sullivan County Butterfly Count. We cover the same 15-mile diameter circle as our Christmas Count. Participants can join a team, be a garden watcher if it is in the circle, or just allow your butterfly habitat to be counted. Every set of eyes is valuable as a spotter. To join call leader Renee Davis at 482-5044 before 7 pm. Rain date: Wed. July 6.

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Bird Walks at Van Cortlandt Nature Center (in Van Cortlandt Park), Bronx
8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Bird Walks focus on wildlife happenings in the park and are led by NYC Audubon experts.
Free!

Plover Day! at Beach 86th Street and Shorefront Parkway (in Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk), Queens
11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Enjoy family-friendly games, crafts, and educational activities that raise awareness of this amazing shorebird.
Free!

Monday, July 4, 2016
Hallett Nature Sanctuary at Hallett Nature Sanctuary (in Central Park), Manhattan
2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
During these limited hours, visitors can explore the normally-closed Hallett Sanctuary at their own pace along the rustic trail.
Free! ...Read more

Friday's Foto

This week's installment is a slideshow of recent blooms from around Brooklyn. They include both native and non-native species: American Smoke Tree, Arrowwood Viburnum, Butterflyweed, Common (Asian) Daylily, Common Milkweed, Common Yucca, Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus, Eastern Purple Coneflower, Goutweed, Indian Blanket, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Pickerelweed and Purple-flowering Raspberry.

Treehugger Tuesday

From Mother Nature Network:

National Aquarium to open first oceanside dolphin sanctuary
Aquarium says it will retire all dolphins by the end of 2020.
Michael d'Estries
June 14, 2016, 11:22 a.m.


National Aquarium oceanside dolphin sanctuary A rendering of the proposed National Aquarium oceanside dolphin sanctuary. (Photo: National Aquarium/Studio Gang)

After five years of weighing options on how to best provide for its pod of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, the National Aquarium of Baltimore announced this morning that it will build a first-of-its-kind ocean sanctuary for the marine mammals.

National Aquarium CEO John Racanelli said in a statement that the decision is a natural progression of understanding how best to care for captive marine life.

"Although this decision is about our group of dolphins, it is every bit as much about our humanity; for the way a society treats the animals with whom it shares this planet speaks volumes about us," he said.

Officials are currently exploring sites in Florida and the Caribbean for the sanctuary, adding that they hope to receive donations to make the project a reality by the end of 2020.

"There's no model anywhere, that we're aware of, for this," Racanelli told the Associated Press. "We're pioneering here, and we know it's neither the easiest nor the cheapest option."

Initial criteria for the sanctuary include a tropical or sub-tropical environment, natural stimuli (such as native plants and fish), and customized care options for each dolphin. The aquarium also wants the site to "serve as a center for applied science that advances knowledge and conservation."

Animal advocacy groups rushed to praise the news. "The National Aquarium's welcome move recognizes that the needs of intelligent, sensitive, far-ranging dolphins simply can't be met in captivity," wrote PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "This spells the beginning of the end for dolphin captivity and the start of an age in which SeaWorld, the Miami Seaquarium, and other marine parks reject excuses not to retire long-suffering captive dolphins including orcas to sanctuaries."

The National Aquarium's decision comes on the heels of last month's announcement of "The Whale Sanctuary Project," a new nonprofit aimed at creating the world's first seaside sanctuary for whales and dolphins. The estimated $20 million sanctuary will be located in a cold water site in North America and cater to orcas, belugas and dolphins retired from entertainment facilities, as well as injured or ill animals rescued from the ocean.

Like the National Aquarium, the Whale Sanctuary Project hopes to have its site up and running within three to five years. ...Read more

Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for the weekend of Saturday, June 25, 2016 to Sunday, June 26, 2016:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, June 25, 2016, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Bird Watching
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home. Led by Brooklyn Bird Club.

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Hiking Harriman State Park Kakiat Trail
Leader: Peter Dorosh
Focus: Breeding birds, Butterflies, wildflowers wildlife
Bus fare: TBD
Registrar: Peter Dorosh, Prosbird@aol.com or text only cell 347-622-3559
Registration Period: June 18th –June 23rd
Note: Not for the physically challenged or inexperienced as some strenuous ascent and descent is involved up small mountains.
This is a public transportation trip leaving by bus from NYC Port Authority Terminal.
Trail Profile: http://nynjtc.org/hike/dater-mountain-nature-park-and-harriman-state-park

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 06/04/2016 to 09/03/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Birding for Beginners
Join us for an introduction to this fun hobby. Learn the basics of birding. Bring binoculars and a field guide or borrow them from wildlife refuge!
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/28/2016 9:30AM to 11:30AM
Camp Gateway Walk-up and Paddle
Try kayaking! Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservation required. Bring a snack, water and sunscreen.
Bus: Q35
Location: Floyd Bennett Field – Brooklyn, Seaplane Ramp
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: 718-338-3799

Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/27/2016 1:00PM to 3:30PM
Canarsie Walk-up and Paddle
Kayak tryouts for those who have never done it before. Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservations required.
Location: Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: (718)338-3799

Every Sunday Weekly from 06/05/2016 to 09/04/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Fort Tilden Bunkers Walking Tour
Join a Park Ranger for an exploration of Fort Tilden's gun batteries, and find out about the fort's role in the defense of New York Harbor.
1 mile.
Location: Fort Tilden-Building 1
Fee Information: Free

Sunday, June 26, 2016, 10:00AM to 12:00PM
Hike the Trails of the North Forty Natural Area
Join American Littoral Society naturalist Mickey Maxwell Cohen to discover the enigmas of the winter woods. Participants will carpool from the Ryan Visitor Center to the North Forty trailhead. A magnifying glass will be helpful.
This is an American Littoral Society/ Gateway NRA partnership program.
Approx. 2 miles.
Location: Floyd Bennett Field
Fee Information: Free

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Littoral Society
Sunday, June 26, 2016 05:00pm - 08:00pm
Jamaica Bay Sunset Ecology Cruise

Join us for one of the American Littoral Society Northeast Chapter's most popular events -- a three hour, narrated ecology cruise with noted local naturalists, Don Riepe and Mickey Cohen. Enjoy wine, cheese and fruit aboard the Golden Sunshine with our Jamaica Bay experts and learn about the history and ecology of the bay, a 25,000 acre expanse of salt marshes, intertidal flats and upland forests that is home to 330 species of birds, 107 species of finfish and over 70 species of butterflies. See nesting peregrine falcons, osprey, egrets, heron, ibis and many other species and explore the backwaters of the bay while enjoying the beautiful New York City skyline.

Cost: $55.00 per person, $25 for children under 16. Advance payment is required.
Location : Pier 8 - Emmons Ave and Bedford Ave, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY
Contact : email donriepe@gmail.com or call (718) 474-0896
The boat departs from Pier 8 in Sheepshead Bay at the intersection of Emmons Avenue and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Please arrive a half hour early to find parking and board the ship.

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, June 25, 2016, 8am-5pm
Breeding Birds of the Hudson Highlands
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Join Gabriel Willow on a day-long trip to some of the most exciting & beautiful birding locations in the Hudson Valley - Doodletown Rd., Constitution Marsh, and Indian Brook Farm (in Fahnestock State Park). We'll look for uncommon breeding warbler specialties at Doodletown, such as cerulean, hooded, blue-winged, golden-winged, and worm-eating warblers; We will then head to the Constitution Marsh Audubon Sanctuary to explore a brackish marsh along the Hudson River. They have a beautiful boardwalk and are home to breeding wood duck, bald eagle, least bittern, marsh wren, and more. After a picnic lunch by the banks of Indian Brook, we will drive to Indian Brook Farm, which has extensive grasslands and highbush blueberry stands. These habitats have breeding Field and savannah sparrows, bobolinks, and indigo buntings. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $129 (90)
Click here to register

Saturdays, May 7-July 30, 8-9:30am
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

Saturday, June 25, 2016, 10am-1pm
Birds, Butterflies, and Terrapins
Guide: Don Riepe
With the American Littoral Society
Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge for a slide program and hike around the ponds and gardens to look for nesting birds and other wildlife. For info and reservations call (718) 474-0896 or e-mail: donriepe@gmail.com. Free.

Sunday, June 26, 2016, 10am–1pm
The Parakeets of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
Guide: Gabriel Willow
With Green-Wood Cemetery
Meet at the cemetery entrance at 5th Avenue and 25th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn. Green-Wood Cemetery is rich in both history and wildlife. It is also the highest point in Brooklyn, affording marvelous views. We will explore its environs in search of spring migrants and its most unique avian residents: the huge flocks of brilliant green monk parakeets that nest there. Native to South America, these charming immigrants are surprisingly hardy and flourish even in our harsh winters. Limited to 15. $46 (32)
Click here to register

Sunday, June 26, 2016, 11am – 4pm
Freshkills Park Discovery Day
Join NYC Audubon in a celebration of the birds of Freshkills Park! From wetlands to woodlands to rich, rolling grasslands, the diverse habitats of Freshkills Park host a wide variety of migratory and resident songbirds, waterbirds, and birds of prey. Come along on a free guided bird walk with an NYC Audubon naturalist to experience the benefits that the restoration of Freshkills Park is having on local wildlife. Walks start at the NYC Audubon table at noon, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm.

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Sullivan County Audubon Society
Saturday, June 25, 2016, 9am - 3 pm
Bio Blitz at the Ten Mile River Scout Camp
See this link

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Bird Walks at Van Cortlandt Nature Center (in Van Cortlandt Park), Bronx
8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Bird Walks focus on wildlife happenings in the park and are led by NYC Audubon experts.
Free!

Introduction to Bird Watching at Audubon Center at the Boathouse (in Prospect Park), Brooklyn
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home.
Free!

Sunday, June 26, 2016
Discovery Day at Freshkills Park at Freshkills Park Event Entrance, Staten Island
11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
This is a one-day opportunity to discover the unique experience and views the park has to offer.
Free! ...Read more

Friday's Foto

The cry of Laughing Gulls along Brooklyn's coast is the dominant "music" of the summer soundscape. This medium-sized gull is an abundant breeder on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. By late-autumn nearly all will depart the northeastern U.S. wintering from the Carolinas south to Brazil and Peru. Their varied diet consists of small fish, crustaceans, insects, earthworms, snails and refuse. In late spring, horseshoe crab eggs make up a large part of their diet. They are also known to eat the eggs and sometimes young of other birds (they are also not above stealing french fries from children). Due to their extremely large range and increasing populations the IUCN Red List lists their conservation status as Least Concern.

Their scientific name, Leucophaeus atricilla, means whitish-grey, ash-coloured; black-necked.

Treehugger Tuesday

From The Guardian:

Bustards Strut their Stuff after Return to the Plain

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire The breeding season has started late and male great bustards are still performing their elaborate courtship displays

Claire Stares
@ClaireStares
Friday 10 June 2016 00.30 EDT


An adult male great bustard on Salisbury Plain. The bird was reintroduced in 2004, after becoming extinct in the UK in 1832. Photograph: Nick Upton/Alamy

We follow a pitted farm track over the brow of the hill and into the valley, then climb off-road to the hide. The 38,0000 hectare chalk plateau is a haven for wildlife with its patchwork of close-cropped grass, golden oilseed rape and small strips of soil ploughed bare to create stone curlew nesting plots.

In 1998 the Great Bustard Group began exploring the possibility of reintroducing this vulnerable species, which became extinct in the UK in 1832. Annual releases of imported bustards began in 2004 and the first eggs were laid by reintroduced birds in 2007, but the population is not yet self-sustaining. Although breeding has taken place every year, survival rates are low and not all surviving juveniles are recruited to the adult population. Lekking usually peaks in April, but this year the breeding season started later than usual and I’ve been told that there is still a chance of seeing the males perform their elaborate display.
Salisbury travel tips: great bustard birdwatching on the plain
Read more

I spot a drove of three males bobbing their heads as they are dive-bombed by a lapwing protecting her nest. Standing around a metre tall and weighing up to 16kg, they are impressive birds. A couple of markedly smaller females mill around on the periphery, one dust-bathing, another pecking at seeds and insects in the long grass. As she approaches the group, Pink 2, the six-year-old dominant male flicks open his rufous barred tail like an unfolding fan. His neck balloons as he inflates his gular pouch, the blue-grey plumage parting to reveal a deep V of black skin, and his whiskers curve upwards like a handlebar moustache.

He sweeps his wings sharply down to his sides and inverts them, exposing a frill of white feathers like the ruffle-tiered sleeves of a flamenco shirt. Tail cocked, chin raised, eyes bright, he begins to shimmy from side to side, picking up pace and every so often punctuating the dance with a foot stomp. Seemingly unimpressed by his advances, the female wanders off down the bank. Despite being given the brush-off, Pink 2 turns to face his rival males, raising his wings with a defiant flourish. ...Read more

Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for the weekend of Saturday, June 18, 2016 to Sunday, June 19, 2016:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, June 18, 2016, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Bird Watching
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home. Led by Brooklyn Bird Club.

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Birds, Insects and Odonata of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Leader: Steve Nanz
Focus: Breeding birds; insects of wetlands and marshes
Car fee: $10.00
Registrar: Heidi Steiner, email heidi.steiner@verizon.net or call before 8 pm 718-369-2116
Registration Period: June 11th –June 16th

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Freshkills Park (Staten Island)
Saturday, June 18, 2016, 12:00pm
“A Fresh Look” Photography Tour
This photography tour is a special opportunity to photograph what was once the world’s largest landfill as it is transforming into a 2,200-acre park and cultural destination. Images taken on this tour and between May 15 and June 26 can be submitted to “A Fresh Look,” a photography contest with the Staten Island Advance. Winning photographs will be featured online and in a gallery exhibit at the Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge in the St. George Ferry Terminal in late 2016.

Photographers can also visit Freshkills Park during Discovery Day on Sunday June 26th to take images for the “Fresh Look” photography contest.

Read the contest rules, and submit images taken between May 15 and June 26 to photo@freshkillspark.org for consideration before the July 5 deadline. Entries will be judged by a panel in four separate categories (creativity, composition, content and artistic merit) to establish winners in each of the three divisions: professional, amateur, and student.
Sign Up at EventBrite

Saturday, June 18, 2016, 3:00pm
“A Fresh Look” Photography Tour
Sign Up at EventBrite

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 06/04/2016 to 09/03/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Birding for Beginners
Join us for an introduction to this fun hobby. Learn the basics of birding. Bring binoculars and a field guide or borrow them from wildlife refuge!
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/28/2016 9:30AM to 11:30AM
Camp Gateway Walk-up and Paddle
Try kayaking! Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservation required. Bring a snack, water and sunscreen.
Bus: Q35
Location: Floyd Bennett Field – Brooklyn, Seaplane Ramp
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: 718-338-3799

Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/27/2016 1:00PM to 3:30PM
Canarsie Walk-up and Paddle
Kayak tryouts for those who have never done it before. Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservations required.
Location: Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: (718)338-3799

Every Sunday Weekly from 06/05/2016 to 09/04/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Fort Tilden Bunkers Walking Tour
Join a Park Ranger for an exploration of Fort Tilden's gun batteries, and find out about the fort's role in the defense of New York Harbor.
1 mile.
Location: Fort Tilden-Building 1
Fee Information: Free

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Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society
Saturday, June 18, 2016 - 2:00PM
Summer Solstice Hike for Families
Take a hike! Join us as we celebrate the summer solstice with this kid-friendly hike on the Greenbelt Trail at the Cold Spring Harbor Library. We will walk in the woods overlooking beautiful Cold Spring Harbor, while stopping to check out birds and other wildlife along the way.
This very hilly hike is suitable for kids aged 8 and up, accompanied by a guardian.
Pre-registration is a must. To register, please call 631-903-5556.

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Linnaean Society of New York
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Eastern Long Island Spring Specialties
Leader: Eric Salzman
Registrar: Regina Ryan — reginaryan@reginaryanbooks.com or 212-787-5589
Registration opens: Monday June 6
Ride: $40

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, June 18, 2016, 9am–Sunday, June 19, 6pm
Bashakill, Neversink, and Sterling Forest, NY
Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers LLC
Look for breeding American bitterns, cerulean, hooded, and golden-winged warblers, and more at these three great birding areas. An overnight stay will facilitate being in the right spot at the right time. Bring lunch for the first day, binoculars, and a spotting scope (if you have one). Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 10. $290 ($55 single supplement)
Click here to register

Saturday, June 18, 2016, 8:30-11am
The Summering Birds of Inwood Hill Park
Guide: Annie Barry
Meet at the entrance to Inwood Hill Park at the corner of Isham Street and Seaman Avenue. Join Annie Barry for a hike through a mature forest in search of Baltimore and orchard orioles, eastern towhees, wood thrushes, warbling vireos and other summer residents. We will then move to the shores of the Inwood Hill Park saltmarshes to search for herons and ducks. Some hilly walking required. Limited to 15. $36 (25)
Click here to register

Saturdays, May 7-July 30, 8-9:30am
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

Sunday, June 19, 2016, 8am-5pm
Breeding Birds of the Hudson Highlands - Father's Day Edition
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Celebrate Father's Day with an exciting outing to visit the proud new avian parents of the Hudson Valley! Join Gabriel Willow on a day-long trip to some of the most exciting & beautiful birding locations in southern New York - Doodletown Rd., Constitution Marsh, and Indian Brook Farm (in Fahnestock State Park). We'll look for uncommon breeding warbler specialties at Doodletown, such as cerulean, hooded, blue-winged, golden-winged, and worm-eating warblers; We will then head to the Constitution Marsh Audubon Sanctuary to explore a brackish marsh along the Hudson River. They have a beautiful boardwalk and are home to breeding wood duck, bald eagle, least bittern, marsh wren, and more. After a picnic lunch by the banks of Indian Brook, we will drive to Indian Brook Farm, which has extensive grasslands and highbush blueberry stands. These habitats have breeding Field and savannah sparrows, bobolinks, and indigo buntings. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $129 (90)
Click here to register

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods (Staten Island)
Saturday, June 18, 2016 @ 10:00am – 2:00pm
Forest Restoration Workshop – Egbertville Ravine
Cost: Free
Contact: Don Reckless - 718-768-9036, Chuck Perry - 718-667-1393
Meet at the entrance to the White Trail (on Meisner Road opposite the Bluebelt dam close to the intersection of Manor and Rockland). We will pull and bag Garlic-mustard along the trail and perhaps remove Multi-flora Rose. Protectors will provide gloves, bags and tools (& refreshments). For more information contact Don Recklies at 718-768-9036 or Chuck Perry at 718-667-1393.

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Bird Walks at Van Cortlandt Nature Center (in Van Cortlandt Park), Bronx
8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Bird Walks focus on wildlife happenings in the park and are led by NYC Audubon experts.
Free!

Inwood Hill Park Flora and Fauna Nature Walk with Author Leslie Day at 218th Street and Indian Road (in Inwood Hill Park), Manhattan
9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.
Join Leslie Day, author of "Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City", and discover the birds, mammals, and plant life of Manhattan’s northern-most park.
Free!

Introduction to Bird Watching at Audubon Center at the Boathouse (in Prospect Park), Brooklyn
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home.
Free!

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Young Birders Club
Sunday June 19, 2016
Doodletown (Rockland County)
Sponsoring NYSYBC Partner: Edgar A. Mearns Bird Club
Trip Leader: Gerhard Patsch

Doodletown is part of the Palisades Interstate Park. It is the site of a former hamlet just south of Bear Mountain and north of Dunderberg Mountain. The site was settled by at least 1762 and, at its peak (about 1945), was home to about 300.

Today this site is a fantastic birding hotspot with a great variety of warblers (including Cerulean and Hooded). Many other species are found here as well. To get an idea of what our trip might be like, check out Eamon Freiburger's report about our last trip there in June 2013.

The beginning of the outing will involve a steep walk along an old roadway. At the top of the hill is a reservoir. Everyone should carry water and a snack if they desire. Sneakers or light boots are suggested.

Watch your Inbox for directions and details on meeting time and location.

Permission form due by 6/10/16 ...Read more

Friday's Foto

Arguably one of the most spectacular of North America's moths, the Cecropia Moth is also our largest native species. A member of the giant silk moth family (Saturniidae), females can have a wingspan of up to 6" across. They can be found across most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. The caterpillars feed on a wide variety of host plants including box elder, sugar maple, wild cherries and plums, apples, alder and birch, dogwoods, and willows. Adult Cecropia Moths do not feed and survive for approximately 2 weeks. Their conservation status is secure.

The scientific name, hyalophora cecropia, means glass bearer; King of Athens (Cecrops).

Treehugger Tuesday

From Popular Science:

Bionic Leaf Is 10 Times Better At Photosynthesis Than Real Plants

Take that, trees
By Meaghan Lee Callaghan Posted Yesterday at 4:39pm

Plants take in carbon dioxide, water, and sunshine to create a sugary fuel. Now researchers have done the same, but even better.

A recent study in Science describes the system, named Bionic Leaf 2.0. In the “leaf,” solar energy splits up a water molecule, and bacteria turn hydrogen and carbon dioxide into liquid fuel, mainly isopropanol. The fuel could possibly be used to power a car's engine or motor in the future.

The researchers, led by Daniel Nocera and Pamela Silver from Harvard University, have made advancements on their original Bionic Leaf, released last year. The system had some problems, mainly with the metal catalyst that helped the reaction. In the first edition, the catalyst also set off a reaction that attacked the bacteria’s DNA.

The new system has a new catalyst made of cobalt and phosphorus. This solves the bacteria-attacking problem and also increases the efficiency of the reaction to 10 percent efficiency. Normal photosynthesis in plants is one percent efficient at converting solar energy to biomass.

Once cost and the availability of the resources needed for the reaction have been assessed, this technology has the potential to bring another type of solar energy to users. Nocera said in a press release that they are continuing their research, chiefly on bringing this technology to the developing world.

...Read more

Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for the weekend of Saturday, June 11, 2016 to Sunday, June 12, 2016:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, June 11, 2016, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Bird Watching
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home. Led by Brooklyn Bird Club.

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Friday, June 11 - Monday, June 13, 2016
Birding the Bashakill and the Shawangunks Valley
Leader: Mike Yuan
Focus: Breeding birds, water and marsh birds
Registrar: Mike Yuan, email mjyuan@gmail.com
Registration Period: April 15th – June 1st
Car Fee: $100
Stipend for Leader (per person): $20
Note: Trip capped at 8 participants. This trip ends Monday afternoon.

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Gateway National Recreation Area
Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 06/04/2016 to 09/03/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Birding for Beginners
Join us for an introduction to this fun hobby. Learn the basics of birding. Bring binoculars and a field guide or borrow them from wildlife refuge!
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Fee Information: Free

Every Sunday Weekly and Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/28/2016 9:30AM to 11:30AM
Camp Gateway Walk-up and Paddle
Try kayaking! Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservation required. Bring a snack, water and sunscreen.
Bus: Q35
Location: Floyd Bennett Field – Brooklyn, Seaplane Ramp
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: 718-338-3799

Every Saturday Weekly from 05/28/2016 to 08/27/2016 1:00PM to 3:30PM
Canarsie Walk-up and Paddle
Kayak tryouts for those who have never done it before. Open to the public, ages 6 and up with an adult. No reservations required.
Location: Canarsie Pier, Brooklyn
Fee Information: FREE
Contact Name: Ryan Visitor Center
Contact Phone Number: (718)338-3799

Every Sunday Weekly from 06/05/2016 to 09/04/2016 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Fort Tilden Bunkers Walking Tour
Join a Park Ranger for an exploration of Fort Tilden's gun batteries, and find out about the fort's role in the defense of New York Harbor.
1 mile.
Location: Fort Tilden-Building 1
Fee Information: Free

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Linnaean Society of New York
Saturday, June 11, 2016 (rain date Sunday, June 12)
Ward Pound Ridge for Butterflies
Leader: Rick Cech
Registrar: Lenore Swenson — lenoreswenson@gmail.com or 212-533-9567
Registration opens: Monday May 30
Ride: $30

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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Newtown Historical Society
Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 9AM - 12PM
All Faiths Cemetery
67-29 Metropolitan Avenue

Join naturalist Rob Jett and Christina Wilkinson of the Newtown Historical Society on a walk through All Faiths Cemetery. We will observe the natural environ- ment, including birds, butterflies, plants and trees and discuss the history of the cemetery, it's role in the development of Middle Village and visit the graves of noteworthy people who are buried there. Meet up in front of the cemetery office on the north side of Metro. Bring binoculars and water and wear comfortable shoes. Terrain is hilly.

This event is free and is part of the bicentennial celebration of Middle Village. Sponsored by Juniper Park Civic Association, Newtown Historical Society and All Faiths Cemetery. For more information call 718-366-3715.

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New York City Audubon Society
Saturday, June 11, 2016, 9am–Sunday, June 12, 2016, 6pm
Bashakill, Shawangunk, and Doodletown, NY
Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers LLC
Look for breeding eastern meadowlarks, American bitterns, cerulean warblers, and more at these three great birding areas. An overnight stay will facilitate being in the right spot at the right time. Bring lunch for the first day, binoculars, and a spotting scope (if you have one). Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 10. $290 ($55 single supplement)
Click here to register

Saturday, June 11, 2016, 7:30am-12:30pm
Explore the Meadowlands by Pontoon Boat, Secaucus, NJ
Guide: Tod Winston and NJ Meadowlands Docent
With NJ Meadowlands Commission
Explore the Meadowlands' Mill Creek Marsh, a 225-acre restored wetland off the Hackensack River. We'll take a relaxing pontoon boat ride in search of egrets, night-herons, belted kingfishers, and marsh wrens--along with nesting osprey and peregrine falcons. Bring lunch. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $101 (71)
Click here to register

Saturday, June 11,2016, 8-11:00am
Prospect Park Bird Walk
Guide: Gabriel Willow
Meet under the arch in Grand Army Plaza. Join Gabriel Willow for a leisurely walk to see later-spring migrants and breeding bird residents of 'Brooklyn's Backyard', beautiful Prospect Park. Prospect Park has a wide variety of habitats that attracts a large number of migrants and breeding bird species - significantly more than Central Park in fact. We will explore the park's meadows, forests, and waterways in search of waterfowl, warblers, tanagers, and some of the other species that call the park home. Limited to 15. $36 (25)
Click here to register

Saturdays, May 7-July 30, 8-9:30am
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

Sundays April 10, May 8, and June 12, 9:30-11:30am
Spring Birding at Wave Hill, The Bronx
Guide: Gabriel Willow
With Wave Hill
Meet at the Perkins Visitor Center. Naturalist Gabriel Willow contributes his extensive knowledge of bird species and their behaviors on these captivating walks. Wave Hill’s garden setting overlooking the Hudson River flyway provides the perfect habitat for resident and migrating birds. Walks run rain or shine. Ages 10 and up welcome with an adult. NYC Audubon members enjoy two-for-one admission. For more information, visit https://www.wavehill.org/events/spring-birding-10/

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Queens County Bird Club
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Explore the Alley Creek wetlands with the Natural Areas Conservancy
This is a chance to discuss their plans for the area north of Northern Blvd, as well as to provide birding assistance.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED – use this link
Where: Alley Pond Environmental Center, 22806 Northern Blvd, Little Neck, NY 11362

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South Shore Audubon Society
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve

All walks start at 9:00 A.M.
There is no walk if it rains or snows or temperature is below 25°F.
For more information or in case of questionable weather conditions, please phone Joe at 516 467-9498
For directions to our bird-watching locations, click here.

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Birdwatching at the Ridgewood Reservoir at Ridgewood Reservoir's Vermont Place Entrance (in Highland Park), Queens
8:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.
Start your day off with an early morning bird-watching walk led by the Brooklyn Bird Club.
Free!

Jane's Walk: Exploring the Wetlands at Alley Pond Park at Alley Pond Environmental Center, Queens
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Join the Natural Areas Conservancy as we tour the landscape and discuss our plans for restoration.
Free!

Introduction to Bird Watching at Audubon Center at the Boathouse (in Prospect Park), Brooklyn
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home.
Free!

Sunday, June 12, 2016
Summer Birding at Perkins Visitors Center (in Wave Hill), Bronx
9:30 a.m.–10:30 a.m.
Naturalist Gabriel Willow contributes his extensive knowledge of diverse bird species and their behavior on these captivating walks through the gardens and woodlands. ...Read more

Friday's Foto

The smallest tern in the Americas, the Least Tern is a mere 8"-9" in length with a wingspan of 19"-20" , approximately the size of the American Robin. Its small size, yellow bill and white forehead make it hard to mistake for any other tern. They feed by plunging into water from flight, occasionally hovering briefly before diving. Least Terns feed mainly on small fishes, shrimp, and sometimes other invertebrates.

Their breeding range along the Atlantic Coast is from Maine south to Florida and along the Gulf Coast south to Mexico. They also breed along the California coast and inland along the Colorado, Red, Rio Grande, Missouri and Mississippi river systems. They winter from the Gulf Coast and Central America south to Peru and Brazil.

In New York State their conservation status is "Threatened". Federally their status is "Endangered" for the interior U. S. only, not on the coast. Populations are endangered in many areas because of human impacts on nesting areas, especially from competition for use of beaches. In addition, because Least Terns nest on the ground, they are vulnerable to attacks by cats, dogs, and other predators, such as coyotes. They are included on The North American Bird Conservation Initiative's "State of North America's Birds 2016" as a watch list species with a concern score of 14. The Watch List includes 432 species with concern scores of 14 or higher, or with a concern score of 13 and a steeply declining population trend—these are the species most at risk of extinction without significant conservation actions to reverse declines and reduce threats.

Their scientific name, Sternula antillarum, means small tern (diminutive from genus Sterna) from the islands of the West Indies.

Treehugger Tuesday

From the Huffington Post:

‘Biodegradable’ Plastics Are A Big Fat Lie
A new U.N. report says the supposed greener technology is anything but.
05/23/2016 11:24 pm ET
Chris D’Angelo
Associate Editor, HuffPost Hawaii

A prediction that the world’s oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050 is likely to intensify the push for sustainable, environmentally friendly alternatives.

Biodegradable plastics have long been touted as a “greener” technology, but a new report from the United Nations says these plastics do little, if anything, to actually protect the planet and marine creatures.

“Plastics marked as ‘biodegradable’ do not degrade rapidly in the ocean,” says the report, published Monday.

The 179-page report on plastic marine debris is one of several documents released in time for the United Nations Environment Assembly, which kicked off Monday in Nairobi, Kenya.

Plastics, which can cause serious ecological harm, “are now ubiquitous in the ocean, found in every ocean and on every shoreline from the Arctic through the tropics to the Antarctic,” the report states.

Biodegradable plastics — which have been used for shopping bags, water bottles and food containers — are designed to be less durable and capable of degrading quickly in the environment. But the problem, according to the U.N., is that the conditions required for such plastics to break down exist almost exclusively in industrial composters, not in the ocean.

The description is “well-intentioned but wrong,” Jacqueline McGlade, chief scientist at the U.N. Environment Program, told The Guardian.

“A lot of plastics labelled biodegradable, like shopping bags, will only break down in temperatures of [122 degrees Fahrenheit] and that is not the ocean,” McGlade told the publication. “They are also not buoyant, so they’re going to sink, so they’re not going to be exposed to UV and break down.”

The U.N. estimates that global plastic production grew 4 percent from 2013 to 2014, exceeding 311 million metric tons. At least 8 million metric tons — the equivalent of one garbage truck every minute — leak into the ocean each year, according to the World Economic Forum.

The U.N. says improving waste collection and management is the “most urgent solution” to reducing plastic litter, but social attitudes are also critical.

“There is a moral argument that we should not allow the ocean to become further polluted with plastic waste, and that marine littering should be considered a ‘common concern of humankind,’” the report says.

In other words, don’t pat yourself on the back the next time you reach for those biodegradable plastic bags. We need to do a lot more than that. ...Read more

Upcoming Birding and Nature Trips

Below is a list of upcoming nature trips by local birding/conservation groups for the weekend of Saturday, June 4, 2016 to Sunday, June 5, 2016:

Audubon Center in Prospect Park
Saturday, June 4, 2016, 12pm – 1pm
Introduction to Bird Watching
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home. Led by Brooklyn Bird Club.

Sunday, June 5, 2016, 8am – 9am
Early Morning Bird Walk: Local Nesters

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Brooklyn Bird Club
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Breeding Birds of Fresh Kills Park, Staten Island
Leader: Seth Wollney
Focus: Discovery of breeders in a currently closed-to-the-public future park
Car fee: $20.00
Registrar: Karen O'Hearn, email Karenohearn@aol.com
Registration Period: May 28th - June 2nd
Site profile: http://freshkillspark.org/ ; http://www.nycgovparks.org/park-features/freshkills-park
Note: The leader may venture to other locations and look at other wildlife such as dragonflies, butterflies, etc.
Date may change to Sunday depending on NYC Parks' permission.

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Eastern Long Island Audubon Society
Saturday, June 4, 2016, 8:00am
South Fork Natural History Museum
Leader: Eric Salzman
Co-sponsored by ELIAS and SoFo
On this joint walk, expert birder, composer, and author Eric Salzman will explore the avian life of the meadow behind the South Fork Natural History Museum and the adjacent Greenbelt woodlands and wetlands. This walk will provide an opportunity to see and—especially—hear some of our locally breeding birds. The two-hour walk will be followed by a short introduction to the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society. For more information, reservations, and directions to SoFo, please call: (631) 537-9735.

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Hudson River Audubon Society
Saturday - Sunday, June 4 and 5, 2016
Bashakill
Drive up Saturday afternoon and stay overnight for Whip-poor-wills, American Bittern, Virginia Rail, and Alder Flycatchers.
http://hras.org/wtobird/bashakill.html

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New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11am to 12:30pm beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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New York City Audubon Society
Friday, June 3 - Sunday, June 5, 2016
Montauk Spring Weekend
Guides: Mike Bottini, Mickey Cohen, Don Riepe
With American Littoral Society
Join us for our 20th year at the luxurious Montauk Manor and enjoy indoor/outdoor heated pools, jacuzzi, and spacious suites. Registration price includes five meals, five guided field trips, two evening slide programs, an evening star watch and free pickup at the LIRR station in Montauk. For information and reservations, call Don Riepe at (718) 474-0896 or e-mail donriepe@gmail.com. $395 ($130 single supplement)

Saturday, June 4, 2016, 7am-1pm
Breeding Birds of Jamaica Bay
Guide: Tod Winston
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is home to nesting cedar waxwings, brown thrashers, white-eyed vireos, tree swallows, yellow warblers, American redstarts, osprey, willet, and seven species of wading birds. We'll walk the refuge trails and observe these species and many more on their breeding grounds. Bring lunch. Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $88 (62)
Click here to register

Saturdays, May 7-July 30, 8-9:30am
Van Cortlandt Bird Walks, The Bronx
Guides: NYC Audubon, Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy with the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy
Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Center. The history of birding and Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. Influential birders such as Roger Tory Peterson and Allan D. Cruickshank got their starts on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse grounds. These walks celebrate the tradition set forth by these great ornithologists. Participants will look for various species of residents and migrants and discuss a wide range of avian topics. For more information, please call 212-691-7483. No registration necessary. No limit. Free

Saturday, June 4, 2016, 9am-2pm
Spring Migration on Randall's Island
Guides: Gabriel Willow, Randall’s Island Park Alliance Staff
With Randall’s Island Park Alliance, Inc.
Meet on the northwest corner of 102nd Street and the FDR Drive. We’ll walk across the foot bridge to Randall’s Island, an under-explored location in the East River that hosts restored freshwater wetlands and salt marsh. We’ll look for spring migrants (both waterbirds and land birds) as we explore the results of recent restoration efforts. Limited to 20. $40 (28)
Click here to register

Saturdays April 9, May 7, June 4, and Sundays April 24 and May 22, 9-10am
Queens Botanical Garden Bird Walks
Guide: NYC Audubon
With the Queens Botanical Garden
Register for one or the series of five free nature walks in partnership with the New York City Audubon Society! The tours will introduce visitors to the feathered friends of the Garden like warblers, blue jays and robins as well as our favorite, the red-tailed hawk! Spot these creatures of flight, and learn about how QBG offers valuable resources for birds and other wildlife in the region. Binoculars available. Limited to 25. Appropriate for all ages. Free with Garden admission. To register, email info@queensbotanical.org or visit www.queensbotanical.org/calendar

Sunday, June 5, 2016, 10am–1pm
The Parakeets of Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
Guide: Gabriel Willow
With Green-Wood Cemetery
Meet at the cemetery entrance at 5th Avenue and 25th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn. Green-Wood Cemetery is rich in both history and wildlife. It is also the highest point in Brooklyn, affording marvelous views. We will explore its environs in search of spring migrants and its most unique avian residents: the huge flocks of brilliant green monk parakeets that nest there. Native to South America, these charming immigrants are surprisingly hardy and flourish even in our harsh winters. Limited to 15. $46 (32)
Click here to register

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Protectors of Pine Oak Woods
Saturday, June 4, 2016 @ 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Mount Loretto Unique Area: Fields, Bluffs and Bay
Cost: Free
Few locations on Staten Island can compete with the beauty of Mount Loretto. Participants will walk the trails throughout the property exploring the meadow, wetlands systems and shoreline with naturalist Ray Matarazzo. Meet in the Hylan Boulevard parking lot across from the CYO community center. For more information contact Ray Matarazzo at 718-317-7666.

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Queens County Bird Club
Saturday, June 4, 2016, 7:30am – 6:00pm
Ward Pound Ridge trip and BBQ
Leader: Eric Miller 917-279-7530
CONTACT LEADER to confirm meeting time/location
Current members will enjoy a club BBQ - MUST pre-register.
We explore this wonderful park for its many excellent species and features, and cap the day with a club BBQ!

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South Shore Audubon Society
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Alley Pond Park

All walks start at 9:00 A.M.
There is no walk if it rains or snows or temperature is below 25°F.
For more information or in case of questionable weather conditions, please phone Joe at 516 467-9498
For directions to our bird-watching locations, click here.

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Sullivan County Audubon Society
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Birding for Beginners with naturalist Scott Graber
Experience the variety of bird life that inhabits the Bashakill. Binoculars are required and wear sturdy walking shoes. We’ll meet at the Haven Road DEC parking lot (Rt. 209 side). Call Scott to register and/or for additional information at 914-799-1313
This is a field trip of the Bashakill Area Association

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Urban Park Rangers
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Bronx Kill Salt Marsh Tour at Randall's Island Connector, Manhattan
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Join a tour of the Bronx Kill Salt Marsh to view wildlife up-close, learn about the ecological importance of wetlands, and explore the waterfront adjacent to the Harlem and East Rivers.
Free!

Birding: Hawk Watch at Pelham Bay Park, Bronx
11:00 a.m.–12:30 a.m.
Our Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best wildlife viewing spots in the urban jungle. Registration is required.
Free!

Introduction to Bird Watching at Audubon Center at the Boathouse (in Prospect Park), Brooklyn
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Look! Up in the sky, it’s a bird! But what kind of bird is it? Take a tour and learn about the magnificent array of birds that call Prospect Park home.
Cate

Sunday, June 5, 2016
Birding: Hawk Watch at Unisphere (in Flushing Meadows Corona Park), Queens
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Our Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best wildlife viewing spots in the urban jungle.
Free!

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Wild Bird Fund
Saturday, June 4, 2016 @ 9:00am
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Join us with WBF member, artist and birder, Alan Messer for a late spring/early summer walk specializing in our nesting birds. We’ll find our usual resident nesting house sparrows and grackles, titmouse, and maybe chickadees. We’ll also look for late migrant warblers, vireos, and flycatchers, while looking for nesting orioles, kingbirds, catbirds, and hopefully a surprise or two.
Rain Date: Sunday June 5th
$10 members / $15 non-members Reservations required: events@wildbirdfund.org ...Read more

Friday's Foto

Much has been studied and written about the plight of the Red Knot, one of the longest distant migrants in the animal kingdom. Weighing on average a scant 5 ounces, every year many fly north from their wintering grounds in South America to breeding grounds in the arctic tundra - a round trip distance of close to 20,000 miles. One banded individual (B95) became known at "Moonbird" as its annual migrations between Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (where it was banded) and the Canadian Arctic have in total exceeded the distance to the Moon. I wrote about another bird from that area found in Brooklyn here.

Feeding on horseshoe crab eggs during critical migration stop offs, their numbers have been adversely affected by the overharvesting of the crabs in Delaware Bay. Habitat degradation and sea rise due to climate change have also reduced their populations. There are six recognized subspecies and in 2014 Calidris canutus rufus was listed as a federally "Threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

Their scientific name, Calidris canutus, has some odd roots. Calidris means "grey-coloured water-side bird mentioned by Aristotle", as they are overall gray in non-breeding plumage. Canutus, according to one source, refers to King Canute (995–1035) of England, Denmark and Norway, who loved to eat these plump, little birds. Hmmm...

Treehugger Tuesday

From Mother Nature News website:

Brooklyn's Prospect Park enlists goats for weed-removal duties
The poison-ivy scarfing ruminants are on loan from an upstate farm.
Matt Hickman
May 19, 2016, 1 p.m.

Irene and Sandy. Sandy and Irene. The mention of these rather two innocuous names — not to be confused with your great aunt in Minneapolis or your dental hygienist — still packs a painful wallop at Brooklyn’s most celebrated green space, Prospect Park.

After all, it was Hurricane Irene (August 2011) and Superstorm Sandy (October 2012) that wreaked considerable havoc on Central Park's 585-acre outer borough sibling. (Ten years Central Park’s junior at 150 years old, the two parks share designers in the form of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.)

In total, the storms damaged or destroyed more than 500 trees with Prospect Park's lower-traffic (read: long-neglected and historically cruisy) northeast section sustaining the brunt of the arboreal beating. Sylvan, secluded and centered around a vegetation-choked reflecting pool and a rose-less rose garden (a “dilapidated nook that looks like it would be right at home at Grey Gardens,” as the New York Times describes it), the fancifully named Vale of Cashmere was hit particularly hard by Sandy and Irene with 50 mature trees lost.

At first, it seemed that the damage inflicted on the Vale of Cashmere by the two storms (plus a freak tornado or two) would never be truly remedied, leaving this lonely pocket between Prospect Park Zoo and Grand Army Plaza in an accelerated state of decay — mysterious, overgrown, littered with felled trees. Despite their naturalistic appeal in a completely man-made park, the northeast woodlands were doomed to remain a place that the millions of annual visitors to Brooklyn’s handsome flagship park would continue to pass by while en route to somewhere else.

Last year, however, the park’s nonprofit parent organization, the Prospect Park Alliance, announced plans to spruce up the northeast corner including a $727,000 campaign to rehab the Vale of Cashmere’s storm-impacted woodlands. The initiative is somewhat similar to the Central Park Conservancy’s efforts to draw visitors to that park’s less-trafficked woodland areas like the just-reopened Hallett Nature Sanctuary.

Much like the Vale of Cashmere, the Hallett Nature Sanctuary has been besieged with invasive plants. But whereas the Central Park Conservancy relied largely on human and mechanical labor to clear the Hallett Nature Sanctuary of downed trees and weeds, the Prospect Park Alliance has called in the big guns to help revive the Vale of Cashmere.

Goats.

On loan from Green Goat Farm in the Hudson Valley, the team of eight ruminant landscapers will spend this summer happily devouring layers of poison ivy, English ivy, goutweed and other impossible-to-annihilate invasive species that have thrived in the wake of Irene and Sandy. You see, an area ridden with downed trees presents the perfect opportunity for invasive plants to do what they do best: sneak in, proliferate and completely take over, making it near impossible for native plants to regain their dominance.

The woeful weeds have met their match in the goats, which are famously prodigious and not-all-that-picky eaters.

Goat clearing invasive plants in Prospect Park. Wait. Back up.

How very apropos.

Shame there’s not a section of the park named Oberhasli Dell that also needs attention. However, the industrious octet enlisted for the job isn’t of the luxurious wool-producing Cashmere variety — the goats are a mix of Angora and Nubian breeds with one cute-as-a-button Pygmy named Max.

Interestingly, most of the goats are more or less advanced in age — retired farm animals living out their golden years as professional landscapers. "This is their snowbird retirement summer in the city," Grace McCreight, a spokeswoman with the Prospect Park Alliance, tells MNN. "They seem pretty psyched to be here."

In addition to taking advantage of the goats’ seemingly bottomless four-chambered stomachs (they can eat up to 25 percent of their body weight in vegetation per day), there’s also a matter of terrain: they can more easily access uneven, hard-to-reach areas of the gated-in section of Prospect Park that they’ve been assigned.

Goat clearing invsaive plants in Prospect Park “The area, a steep hillside, presents unique challenges and access issues for staff and machinery, but is easily accessible to goats, which provide a green and environmentally friendly approach to weed removal,” explains the alliance.

Prospect Park Alliance is footing the bill for the goats’ exceptional weed-clearing services — they command a $15,000 paycheck for the entire season — using the aforementioned $727,900 in funds, which were allocated to the Alliance through the National Park Service’s Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Grant Program for Historic Properties. In addition to goat-assisted woodland restoration, the grant money will be used for other woodland restoration projects in and around the northeast section of the park. McCreight describes the goat-scaping initiative as being part of the "first wave of restoration" at the Vale of Cashmere.

Once fall arrives and the goats have scarfed all the invasives that they can possible scarf and are ferried back upstate, restoration of the woodlands will continue with the planting of native trees and shrubs. Park officials believe that the goats' months-long munch fest followed by aggressive planting efforts will not only help beautify and lure new visitors to this previously ignored section of Prospect Park but also attract birds and other forms of wildlife. You can see them at work in the video below:



"Woodland restoration has always been an important focus for the Alliance,” notes Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue in a news release. "These goats will provide an environmentally friendly approach to our larger efforts, and help us make the park more resilient to future storms."

Only a couple of short days into their stint, Prospect Park’s caprine seasonal workers have been greeted with no shortage of fanfare complete with a warm welcome from amateur comedian and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

Oh dear.

And despite being being sequestered behind an 8-foot-tall security gate, the alternately napping and nomming animals are indeed visible to the public. "Kids absolutely love it," notes McCreight. "Goats are not only a great way to restore woodlands but also a great way to get the family out."

While there hasn't been much in the way of salacious water cooler gossip at Prospect Park Alliance HQ about the new hires thus far, McCreight does note that Diego, a Nubian, is loving all the attention. "She really seems to love being in front of the camera." As for Max, the pygmy, McCreight hints that her new colleague may have a wee bit of a Napoleon complex: "He doesn't seem to let his size bother him."

The Duchess County transplants will be subject to a slew of goat-themed special events hosted by the Prospect Park Alliance including a Fun on the Farm day (March 22) complete with goat’s milk ice cream and felt ball-making tutorials. The goats, which will remain in a protected area, won't be making too many public appearances over the coming weeks — they've got a lot of work to do. However, those desperately looking to bond with a friendly farm animal that isn't on the clock can do so next door at the Prospect Park Zoo's barnyard petting area. ...Read more