Not wanting to get in the way of the folks working on the disaster recovery efforts at
Breezy Point in Queens, I stayed away as long as I could. Today, I finally visited the area to do some
Spring Shorebird reconnaissance. I was not surprised at the loss of habitat.
Breezy Point, is "duneless". No more dunes to keep out excessive high tides or storms.
If the area is hit with anything the likes of Hurricane Sandy, I am afraid the damage will be worse!
One positive (if there is one) out of all of this, is the vast expanse of beach front that
Piping Plovers,
Terns and
Oystercatchers have at their disposal for nesting sites.
Piping Plover monitors are going to have a tough time tracking and monitoring PIPL this season.
Here are some additional photos taken today from a total of 39 species.
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| Eastern Phoebe |
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| Piping Plover |
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| Sanderlings and Dunlin at Breezy Point |
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| American Oystercatcher |
Tags:
Eastern Phoebe,
Piping Plover,
Breezy Point,
Queens
5 comments:
I found your blog through a Google search, as I try to ID some birds! Your photos are so nice - and I'm learning a lot as I read through!
Would you be willing to take a look at my "mystery" duck? The photos aren't very clear, but it was the best I could do at the time. It's the coppery/brown headed duck with the white near the bill in this post: http://www.armyoffourdigest.blogspot.com/2013/04/serene-scenery-monday-back-to-kso.html
The blog is written "as my dogs", so please pardon the format. :) I wonder, after looking through your blog, if I miss IDed the Ring-Necked Duck and perhaps I'm looking at Lesser Scaups?
I'd love to know what you think. Thank you in advance!
KZK
Andrew, I agree it is so sad the loss of dunes and habitat at Breezy. Like you I stayed away until last week. Glad you saw piping plovers, we only saw Oystercatchers about 8 pairs and a few sanderlings the day we were there. We walked on the Bay-side down by Rocky Point Marsh - sand dunes are gone from there as well and there are now two channels into the marsh.
Cindy - loss of the dunes affects the wildlife as well as the protection that it offered homes. The US as a whole need to really conduct a feasibility study on how to manage water front development especially as we see these bizarre weather patterns develop from a number of changes in the climate.
I think storms on the East Coast are only going to get bigger and tougher to handle.
KZK - I was glad to be able to assist.
Andrew, I would like to ask whether we can still access Fort Tilden & Breezy Point? Fort Tilden beach is closed for swimming. But can we just walk along the beach? And last year I walked from there to Breezy Point. Can I do it again this year?
From Timothy Ng
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