Dear Joe & all, Of course, a NYC park that has done some excellent work in planting & planning for the future of the green-space is Prospect Park-Brooklyn, which is in many ways a jewel of a place in this city and in the world.
There are programs to place native plants & do work that can benefit wildlife including resident, breeding & migratory bird life, in any number of city parks around here, and of course in many other areas, but - it is really a constant struggle as well to try & get the funding & the approval to do much that can be, and in some places is, done. I know, also, there are too many instances where the value of wild areas in the urban biome is undervalued, and not always understood by decision-makers. For those who have done good, we can be thankful... [Tom Fiore, Manhattan] & n.b. (please URGE a friend or colleague to sign the petition, and do so yourself if you have not.) .............. This also brings up the plea to get more people to sign a petition to help the site in NYC which has hosted more species and, perhaps, greater numbers of birds than any other in the city, in its years of existence as a refuge, and likely far into the past as a rich marine resource &, - well; Doug Futuyma writes as elegantly as can be: >>>> Dear fellow birders, Please forgive my writing, especially if we are not personally acquainted, but this is an attempt to push the Petition to Restore Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge past a significant threshold. I write as one member of the Birders' Coalition for Gateway that drafted the petition. As of this evening, only 26 more signatures are needed to cross the 5,000 threshold, which I think is a respectable (but still minimal) number to have accrued before sending it to the Secretary of the Interior and the top management of Gateway National Recreation Area. You have almost certainly signed the petition yourself, but you probably know someone who would be favorable but who hasn't signed it. If each of us could enlist at least one more signatory, we will pass this threshold. The Gateway management will be providing opportunity for public comment this summer. Some of them are apparently claiming that birders and other naturalists have not been visible or vocal on the issue of restoring the West Pond, the jewel of the Wildlife Refuge. This is utterly untrue, but sending off this petition will speak loudly for our concern and engagement. It is now a year and a half since the West Pond, where we once marvelled at the abundance and diversity of waterfowl, herons, shorebirds, terns, and many other species -- including the occasional mega-rarity -- was turned into a birdless wasteland. For the sake of both our community and especially of the birds and other wildlife, we must press responsble officals, starting at the top, to do what they could have done more than a year ago. PLEASE URGE A FRIEND TO SIGN THE PETITION!! The petition is easily accessed at http://tinyurl.com/West-Pond- Petition. Many thanks, Doug Futuyma Stony Brook, NY ______________ _________ <<<< On May 11, 2014, at 3:44 PM, <jgiunta...@aol.com> wrote: > Date: May 11, 2014 > > Taking a break from our regular birding spots my wife and I went to > the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center off of Ave. U in Brooklyn. > The birding was good as we saw some 30 species. The highlights were: > Clapper Rail, Solitary Sandpiper ,Killdeer, Oystercatcher, Greater > Yellowlegs, Eastern Kingbird, and Warbling Vireo. > For warblers we only saw two, the Yellow and Common Yellowthroat. > > The park is greatly improved since the last time I was there a few > years ago. There were benches along a well defined trail and > overlooks at some spots. A bridge over the mudflats made for good > walking and good viewing. I also believe that a lot of invasive non- > native plants were removed and replaced by native species.It seems > that some new plantings were recently put in. I wish that some other > parks in the NYC area would be like this. > > Best, > Joe Giunta -- 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/ --
