Jesus Lends a Hand...

Marsh area at the Silver Point Yacht Club in March 2010

Some of my readers and friends who I keep in touch with on another level besides the comment section of the blog know about a little project that I was trying to get off the ground about a year ago.  The project was the cleanup and restoration of a marsh area located near the Rocky Point Yacht Club or Silver Yacht Club, in Breezy Point Queens NY.  My interest in this area peaked in the summer of 2009, when I documented and photographed some birds that were lurking around the area. I wondered then, if cleaning up the area and making it more bird friendly would bring in more species.  In addition, the area was down right filthy and left me wondering what the heck had previous volunteer missions accomplished in past cleanups.  It was apparent that cleanups focused more on the beach front rather than the marsh area.  I began having discussions with veteran National Park Service VIP Tony Luscombe, whom I had met through the Piping Plover program at Breezy Point in Queens and we began exchanging ideas and e-mails on what could be done.  Around the same time, Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society had begun toying with the idea of creating a group to bring pressure on NPS with regards to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and its upkeep.  I challenged Don to get involved with this project in order to establish the legitimacy of his new group as well as the American Littoral Society as Coastal Guardians.  Don warmed up to the idea, but expressed concern on managing a sizable group and how to get debris out of the marsh area.   In the meantime, Tony had garnered the interest of volunteers who spearheaded by volunteer Shervin Hess began a process of cleaning the marsh whenever time permitted.  

Volunteers from the Church of God cleaning up the marsh.

On the week of Marsh 20th, I received word from Don that he was going to have available, a massive volunteer core, courtesy of the Church of God to help in cleaning up the marsh and asked for my assistance in leading the effort.  I was ecstatic and offered to assist in whatever capacity I could.  I remembered the group from a previous cleanup project at Plum Beach in Brooklyn and the impression they left with me was of a passionate group of people who gave it their all when they came out on that particular project.  March 20th came and the wave of volunteers showed up, over 300 hundred of them. So many, that Don diverted about 100 of them to Plum Beach to do some cleaning up in that area as well.  It was astonishing to witness the passion and energy that these church goers brought with them in cleaning up the marsh. 

The word of the day was "unity"!

With cries of "Spartans what is your profession"?  HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!  and giving praise to Jesus, the teams of volunteers worked together in removing massive beams, raking up garbage, and piling up mounds of wood, all in a matter of hours.  The word of the day was "Unity", it was AWESOME!!  Participating with these volunteers, I felt their wave of energy that seemed to engulf the area and I could not help but wish I had more birders/naturalists out in the field with us that day.  I was very pleased to see that this project had finally received the much needed help it required.  Too often, projects like this get caught up in bureaucracy and hubris with groups and individuals more concerned with accolades and the rule book rather than the greater good.  Tony Luscombe, deserves a lot of credit for continuing to work behind the scenes in getting initiatives like this to take root and I hope that the folks at the National Park Service, find a way to recognize his efforts.  What is next for this area?  Well, NPS Gateway National Recreation Area needs to formulate a plan to prevent  debris from being washed into the marsh or else all this work would have been in vain if a nasty nor'easter hits the area.  There is plenty to be done here and in many other areas that need attention.  In fact I have another project that I am setting my sights on, so keep checking back to learn more and if you could spare the time, then come out and join us when we cleanup around the Jamaica Bay area.  Just drop me an e-mail and I will add you to the mailing list.  Let me once again thank the volunteers from the Church of God who came out and put in a solid couple of hours in cleaning up the area and I hope to see you all on future projects.  Additional photos from the event can be seen here.

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Wordless Wednesday...

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Van Courtlandt Bird Walk Report 3-26-2011...

American Coot

Last Saturday was one of our slowest days since we began the Van Courtlandt bird walk.  After meeting the group we worked the parade grounds, picking up a few Killdeers (Charadrius vociferus) loafing around in the field with American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) lurking nearby.  For a few new attendees, these were life birds and like I always do with someone's life bird, I made sure they took some time out to get good looks.  We then headed around the lake for our walk.  Land birds and waterfowl were scarce and try as I might to search and listen for any early migrants, it did not pan out.  We did pickup Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) and a pair of Green-winged Teals (Anas crecca) on the lake.  That, coupled with the now familiar sight of the lone American Coot (Fulica americana) were the highlights of our walk.  I did take the group up Vault Hill where we poked around many of the small meadows in the hope for land birds.  We did manage to pick up some birds here and there, but all in all it was very quiet.  It is on days like these that I like to take the time to enjoy our more common species.  We took the time out to enjoy the American Robins (Turdus migratorius) whose numbers were definitely on the rise with well over 60+ in one area of our hike.  Despite the lack of birds, our group remained upbeat enjoying the hike and it was good to see their spirits high.  It is still early, but I am hoping that we see things picking up within the next week or so.  This week the Urban Park Rangers will be leading the walk, but I will be back the following week.  Here is a list of the species seen.

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca
Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus
Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
American Robin - Turdus migratorius
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis
Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula
Boat-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus major
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus

Tags: American Coot, Van Courtlandt Park Bird Walk

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Photos From My 1st Pelagic in New York...

Last year, I had outstanding looks at many birds during my first Pelagic out of New York.  Tomorrow, I venture out again this time a little later in the year, so I am not sure what I will see, but I if I get looks at birds like the following images, I will be pretty stoked!

Northern Gannet

Black-legged Kittiwake

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Wordless Wednesday...

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Today's Photo - Ring-billed Gull...

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Van Courtlandt Bird Walk Report 3-19-2011...

Common Redpoll at Van Courtlandt Park Bronx NY

We continue to pickup some nice birds on our Van Courtlandt Bird Walk. Last Saturday, our group met for our bird walk, at our usual spot, the Nature Center across from the parade grounds at Van Courtlandt Park. I had gotten to the park very early to do a little scouting and my early vigil near the fields picked up 2 goodies, which I managed to get most of our group on, once they arrived. A first time for the walk, Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) and an American Pipit (Anthus rubescens). Both birds, did not stick around for long and those of us who got on the birds felt very lucky that we were able to get good looks.

Instead of the VC lake trail, I changed up the routine to take us into the North Woods in search of possible early migrants. While we did have much luck in the woods, we enjoyed the walk. On our way back to the nature center, I steered the group towards the meadows near Vault Hill to look for Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis). Reports of migrating Bluebirds being reported had my hopes up and the move paid off thanks to Ranger Deli. Deli, who was out and about birding in the Meadows near Vault Hill had spotted an Eastern Bluebird just before we arrived to the location. Deli, re-found the bird and we all got good looks of the Bluebird, which was another new bird for our walk. A complete list of the species seen, is provided below.

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura
Monk Parakeet - Myiopsitta monachus
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis
American Robin - Turdus migratorius
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
American Pipit - Anthus rubescens
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis
Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
Rusty Blackbird - Euphagus carolinus
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater
Common Redpoll - Acanthis flammea
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus

Tags: Common Redpoll, American Pipit, Van Courtlandt Park Bird Walk

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