Below is an email i received...the first one was scheduled too late for me to post..but this sunday is the actual thing:
Dear Nature Lovers,
WildMetro will conduct one last breeding bird census of Floyd Bennett Field this year this Sunday morning, July 10. Some of us may camp out Saturday night and start at dawn Sunday, if we recieve permission. Please email as soon as possible if you are interested in camping or if you are interested in car pooling (either giving or receiving a ride). We will meet others at 6 am at the S entrance to the field. An early start is important this time of year, especially in the heat. But if anyone wants to join us later, call David on his cell, 917 846 8300 to find out where we are.. It would probably not be worth while to come any later than 8am.
Call or Email wildmetro@gmail.com by Saturday evening to rsvp, or if you have questions, need directions, etc. Feel free to forward this email to others. This is an independent survey, not conducted by any government agency.
This Sunday we will be covering the North 40, the area west of Flatbush Ave, and parts of the woods north and east of the grasslands. Yes, we know it is a bit late in the season and bird song has declined, but we are seeing a lot of parents feeding fledglings and there are many second or third nesting attempts underway. Locations of all birds encountered will be entered on maps using the "spot mapping" technique. It is our expectation to transfer this info to a GIS mapping system. We will also note breeding status according to Atlas survey protocols.
Two weeks ago we had one party of five people and we did not split up. We covered most of the central portion of Floyd, including the central campground and the areas just south of the police helicopter facility. We went all the way to the eastern shore past the archery range, then south to the abandoned power plant. The census a couple of weeks ago had a number of interesting species, including woodcock (flushed from campround area), orchard oriole ("yellow male" feeding a fledgling), field sparrow, and two singing white-eyed vireos. There were good numbers of eastern towhees, a seriously declinging species. We saw one brown thrasher, also a decling bird of shrublands. The only grassland "obligate" species we encountered was savanna sparrow, we had about seven singing males. There were a number of interesting butterflies, including mating buckeyes.
Hope to see you Sunday,
David Burg
President, WildMetro
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Wild Metro
(212)-308-WILD (9453)
