I am glad Shai visited the East Pond and saw what I have been raising awareness about for the past few weeks. We CANNOT...we MUST not give up people, keep those e-mails and phone calls into NPS, we must convince them that they have to take appropriate action to try and salvage this shorebird season. I have no intention of giving up although a break for some northern birding sounds good!
I shudder to think those juvenile shorebirds not being able to imprint the East Pond into their migration route--we had that happen in 2011. See a blog post from 2011 to understand what happened then - http://birdingdude.blogspot.com/2011/08/tough-shorebirding-season-at-jamaica.html I also visited the East Pond this morning with the same hopes as Shai. Only, I went to the South End where the pond layout, is such that end is the first to start showing flats. I could see that the water level is lower but NO flats! There is some shoreline developing across from the Big John's Overlook where I saw one Lesser Yellow Legs, but that is it! I remain hopeful that weather and just maybe an NPS fix however short term would save the season. I even suggested to them this morning that they could remove the outflow flap all together and let the pond flow for awhile to get caught up in terms of the water level draw down. That requires some extra maintenance but it could be done. It would also give them a good idea on what the the problem is, whether blockage vs leakage etc. Mute Swans appear to be doing well though, I counted 127. On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 8:22 AM, Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> wrote: > Watching water evaporate is dull, especially when it is the turbid, > viscous, malodorous, and *voluminous *water of the East Pond. I stopped > by the north end this morning, hoping that the recent dry weather had > improved matters to some extent, perhaps enough to provide some habitat for > longer-legged species such as Lesser Yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpiper, but I > was disappointed. There is no shorebird habitat at all at the north end. I > startled one Least Sandpiper from the trail itself, under a full canopy of > trees, and watched a single Lesser Yellowlegs calling disconsolately as it > circled the deep water repeatedly before drifting off over the bay. > > Some photos of the dismal scene are here: > > > https://picasaweb.google.com/109808209543611018404/LongIslandMiscellany2015#6170965175995819810 > > I'm not sure what can be done at this point. I'd certainly understand it > if Andrew were to take a break from his advocacy, perhaps to tidy up some > gaps in his year list up in the north country. > > Shai Mitra > Bay Shore > ------------------------------ > *From:* bounce-119426911-11143...@list.cornell.edu [ > bounce-119426911-11143...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Andrew Baksh [ > birdingd...@gmail.com] > *Sent:* Saturday, July 04, 2015 2:31 PM > *To:* nysbirds-l > *Cc:* Nyc ebirds > *Subject:* [nysbirds-l] 7-4 Jamaica Bay Queens East Pond Water Level > Management > > Several people have recently contacted me about the water level > situation on the East Pond, so I thought a visit and update was in order. > > On this 4th of July, I visited the East Pond this morning to take a > water level read and to get a sense of where the pond level is at. As I > suspected, the recent rainfall has not helped compounded with drainage > which is slow, the water level remains IMO, too high for this date. > > Reports out of Canada already show shorebirds staging on the prairies > and Isaac Grant who is in Virginia reported to me today that surveyors out > there have all ready seen multiple Wilson's Phalaropes and Stilt > Sandpipers among the several shorebirds reported out there. > > With a West Pond basically out of commission, it is critical that the > East Pond, is ready for migrating shorebirds who need a place to refuel and > rest. At the *current* drainage I don't see this pond getting anywhere > near the levels we need to be within the next few weeks as we have ZERO > flat exposure on the South End which where we start seeing mudflats first. > > I suggest to start calling these numbers to let NPS officials know how > concerned you are about the East Pond water level. > > Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge: (718) 318-4340 (pretty much they will take > your information but I can't guarantee anything will come of it. it) > > Alternatively, you could contact Dave Taft: 718-338-3625 or Jennifer > Nersesian: 718-354-4665 > > Maybe one year we will get it right and this won't be necessary. For > me, it is very frustrating!! > > A Happy and Safe 4th of July to all, > > > > On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 5:25 PM, Andrew Baksh <birdingd...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Dear all, >> >> As we are nearing mid June, some of us are already thinking about the >> upcoming shorebird season. I have been working with NPS over the last few >> years in monitoring the East Pond water levels and I wanted to report that >> drainage on the pond has begun for 2015. Additionally, I have begun >> clearing the trails to the pond. >> >> The lowering of the pond takes some time so please don't go to the pond >> next week and post that the water level is high. I will continue to monitor >> the levels and report again on the status of the pond once ample shoreline >> is available. >> >> Cheers, >> >> >> -- >> 風 Swift as the wind >> 林 Quiet as the forest >> 火 Conquer like the fire >> 山 Steady as the mountain >> Sun Tzu <http://refspace.com/quotes/Sun_Tzu> *The Art of War* >> <http://refspace.com/quotes/The_Art_of_War> >> >> (\__/) >> (= '.'=) >> >> (") _ (") >> >> >> Andrew Baksh >> www.birdingdude.blogspot.com >> > > > > -- > 風 Swift as the wind > 林 Quiet as the forest > 火 Conquer like the fire > 山 Steady as the mountain > Sun Tzu <http://refspace.com/quotes/Sun_Tzu> *The Art of War* > <http://refspace.com/quotes/The_Art_of_War> > > (\__/) > (= '.'=) > > (") _ (") > > > Andrew Baksh > www.birdingdude.blogspot.com > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > > ------------------------------ > View the CSI, Faculty, and Student Awards Page > <http://csitoday.com/awards/> > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > -- 風 Swift as the wind 林 Quiet as the forest 火 Conquer like the fire 山 Steady as the mountain Sun Tzu <http://refspace.com/quotes/Sun_Tzu> *The Art of War* <http://refspace.com/quotes/The_Art_of_War> (\__/) (= '.'=) (") _ (") Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
