Today is a reflective day for all of us on this 40th Earth Day to take stock of our fragile planet and its inhabitants. Lets think of conservation things to do , however green we make it ( especially for the birds !).
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May 8th BIRDATHON: a call for donors and pledges.
http://brooklynbirdclub.org/trips.htm#76
Next month, Brooklyn Bird Club select members and interested birders will follow the annual spring migration peak tradition of supporting a conservation cause in counting bird species, celebrating a time honored event. This year, following 2009's highly successful BBC centennial , we will be supporting another local cause: "The Friends of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge" (FJBWR) " . FJBWR is newly founded by Jamaica Bay Baykeeper and American Littoral Society top official Don Riepe in order to address the shortcomings of the Gateway Park Administration towards Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge upkeep of habitats and environmental restoration needs. FJBWR is proposed as a public advocate made up of a coalition of mostly metropolitan based clubs --including the Brooklyn Bird Club (BBC)-- and environmental oriented organizations concerned with JBWR's well-being .
35 years ago, my personal beginning connection to the BBC started at JBWR. It was at the old visitor's center, on a small bulletin board, that I saw a small postcard ; it advertised a Brooklyn Bird Club field trip to High Tor in upstate Nyack, led by Ron Bourque. From there, it was a long journey to where I am now at BBC and Brooklyn birding. I am sure many of you as well feel sentimental connections to JBWR as a wonderful fulfilling haven for birders, an utopia of many great bird sightings.
Lets show unified support for the Friends of JBWR in presenting itself as a formidable force for Gateway Parks officials to listen to.
You can send me pledges at Prosbird@aol.com. ( more details upon contacting me) .Thanks for your support ,especially in the past Birdathons.
With pleasure, my team member Sandy Paci has written a form letter which I will publish here on the 2010 Birdathon cause.
In the meantime, here are links to the Friends JBWR (see "read all about it" )
http://www.alsnyc.org/
If you are a Facebook member : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109422832414916
And a here's a profile on Jamaica Bay Refuge
http://library.fws.gov/pubs5/web_link/text/jb_form.htm
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Sandy's letter :
Dear Potential Sponsor,
Saturday May 8th is International Migratory Bird Day, or, as birder's refer to it: The Birdathon, the largest birdwatching competition worldwide, in which teams of birders compete to tally as many species as possible while raising funds for important conservation causes.
Over the past several years, Brooklyn Bird Club teams have raised money for the Bird Conservation Alliance's Boreal Songbird Initiative, American Bird Conservancy's Cerulean Warbler Preserve in Colombia, the legal fund to save Long Island's Calverton grasslands, and restoration of bird habitat in Prospect Park. Last year, we tallied 125 species and raised over $3,800.00!
For Birdathon 2010, we will support the Friends of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. This is a new coalition of organizations and individuals organized by Jamaica Bay Guardian Don Riepe under the auspices of the American Littoral Society. Thus far there are over 40 members, including the Brooklyn Bird Club, South Shore Audubon, Huntington/Oyster Bay Audubon, Queens County Bird Club, and Jamaica Bay EcoWatchers. Friends of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge will be a strong and active presence in helping to shape future policy at the refuge, pushing for sound wildlife, habitat, and resource management, and providing a voice of opposition to the recreationalists.
Can you even imagine what birding in New York City would be like without Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge? I can't. I hope that you will join us in helping to protect and preserve the Refuge for future generations of wildlife and people by making a pledge today. Pledges can be based on the number of species seen during the event or a fixed amount. All contributions are tax deductible and should be made out to "The American Littoral Society" with "Friends of Jamaica Bay Refuge" on the memo line.
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More details will follow on this blog in the weeks before the Birdathon event . Prospect Park will be a start for my team's birding task, then its on to Jamaica Bay habitats for the rest of the day as a true focus of this year's theme.
--Peter
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WE received this note from Brooklyn College on a bioblitz event
of Floyd Bennett for June 11-12th
If you know anybody under the requested skills criteria, pass it on.Thanks.
--Kingsboider
read on:
Brooklyn College is organizing a bioblitz for Gateway National Recreation Area in June (11th-12th, 3:00 PM to 3:00 PM). We are in desperate need for scientists, resource managers and naturalists (amateur or professional) to serve as experts. This entails coming out to Floyd Bennett Field and leading a small team of volunteers into the field to identify as many species as they can in the alloted time. We're covering all taxa (fish, birds, insects, plants, marine inverterbrates, mammals, moths, butterflies, etc.). Can you please forward this request to any lists of contacts you have that may be appropriate?
An informational flyer is attached. Interested people can contact me at bbranco@brooklyn.cuny.edu, or email JBbioblitz@yahoo.com for more information.
Thanks and regards,
Brett F. Branco, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Geology
Associate Director, AREAC
Brooklyn College - CUNY
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210
BBranco@brooklyn.cuny.edu
718-951-5000, ext. 6441
http://userhome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bbranco
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New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation is intending to classify Ridgewood Reservoir ( on the Brooklyn /Queens border) as a wetland.
Kingsboider note: Ridgewood Reservoir is a threatened habitat under city park plans. If true RE NYSDEC wetland projection, it would be a triumph for birds and wildlife within that confined habitat with water sources. For more information on the history and issue at large, go to this blog website:
http://ridgewoodreservoir.blogspot.com/
From the Queens Ledger newspaper
http://queensledger.com/bookmark/7168562
State eyeing Ridgewood Reservoir for wetlands protection
by Daniel Bush, Queens Ledger
Apr 22, 2010
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is considering classifying the Ridgewood Reservoir a state-regulated freshwater wetlands, this paper has learned.
The designation would subject the city's planned redevelopment of the reservoir to a state review, and would set the stage for a possible confrontation over the site with the Bloomberg Administration.
The city is planning a $26 million project that would convert part of the three-basin reservoir into a recreation area, despite objections from residents who want the site protected as a natural preserve.
Thomas Panzone, a DEC spokesperson, confirmed the state is eyeing the 160-year-old reservoir, which was decommissioned in 1989 and has reverted back into unkempt parkland.
“DEC is reviewing whether or not the Ridgewood Reservoir should be classified as a state-regulated freshwater wetland,” Panzone said in an email. If that happens any planned changes to the site would be subject to review by the state, and could require a permit under the state's Freshwater Wetland regulations, he said.
The Parks Department was not immediately available for comment.
The full implications of a wetlands designation on the city's plans for the reservoir remain unclear. But someone with knowledge of the negotiations between the city and state said the DEC's interest has complicated the city's efforts to remake the reservoir.
It appears likely the city could proceed easily with its phase one plans - to upgrade lights and fencing around the reservoir and rebuild a pathway between the second and third basins - regardless of any state involvement.
But the thought of complex wetlands regulations has raised concerns inside the Parks Department over its phase two plans to replace part of the third basin with an active recreation area. The work could prove difficult if the site were protected.
The phase two plan is deeply unpopular with local preservationists and Community Board 5, which recommended improving the existing ball fields in adjacent Highland Park instead of building new ones inside the reservoir.
“We'd like to see it be a nature preserve,” said Gary Giordano, CB5's district manager. If the wetlands designation allows for passive recreation on the reservoir's pathways “that's a lot more palatable than any kind of recreation development inside the reservoir,” he said.
Assemblyman Mike Miller said a state-regulated wetlands would provide important protection for wildlife within the reservoir, home to over 100 bird species. “It would curtail some of the changes the parks department wants to make,” Miller said, “but it would protect the basins the community wants protected.”
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Prospect Park bird report 4/22
results of Tom Stephenson's Thursday Brooklyn Bird Club walk:
Hilight : 2 singing HOODED WARBLERS on Quaker Ridge behind the Upper Pool ( and before Center Drive/Nethermead Arches)
Hi Peter,
Good group again today...maybe 24-25 people.
Not many birds, though...very slow for most of the park.
Highlights were
2 singing male Hooded Warblers near the upper pool
Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallows
Pine Warbler
Blue-headed Vireo
Wood Duck, Belted Kingfisher, etc
Seems like migration is still on hold a bit.
Below is the full list.
Anyway, see you in the park.
Best regards,
Tom
Double-crested Cormorant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Ruddy Duck
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Hooded Warbler 2 males
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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From Peter;
BROWN THRASHER at Ricks Place horse trail puddle/ Gray Dogwood shrubs.
Eastern Towhee in the Ravine
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