People are destroying the horseshoe crab population. The fishermen and the medical industry are taking them. The medical industry takes a portion of their blood and uses it in bio-med testing. They put them back after but no one knows how they do in their weakened state. It's out of hand. No one is stopping this.
On Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 3:10 PM, Peter Post <pwp...@nyc.rr.com> wrote: > Shai, et al.: > > There were many leaking tanks of fuel oil floating in and around > Broad Channel as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The East Pond may have > been contaminated and the invertebrate fauna that shorebirds feed on > affected. My impression is that are fewer insects occurring around > the mud on the East Pond than there were before Sandy. > > > Peter Post > New York City > pwp...@nyc.rr.com > > > On Jul 25, 2014, at 10:04 AM, Shaibal Mitra wrote: > > > Being less sure than Steve about what "my thing" is, or might > > someday be, I've maintained fairly detailed and consistent records > > of my counts of shorebirds on Long Island since about 1996. One > > never knows when one might want to be able to retrieve one's own > > data on shorebird numbers at Pikes Beach or Jamaica Bay in a > > particular date range! > > > > Even a cursory scan of past years' data confirms that overall > > shorebird abundance can vary greatly in late July. As others have > > noted already, local weather plays a big role, but there is also > > the fact that the composition of the local shorebird community > > always changes markedly in several ways between mid July and early > > August (see intro from note to NYSBirds from 5 Aug 2013, copied > > below). Given that each component of the community might vary > > independently from the others in terms of abundance and timing, it > > shouldn't be very surprising to observe a dip in overall abundance > > around this time. If the adults of the early arriving species were > > to push through more quickly than usual, the adults of the later > > arriving species to build up more slowly, or juveniles to make a > > late or poor showing, all of which could easily happen in a given > > season, one would expect a dip in aggregate abundance around this > > time. > > > > To my eye, this summer's southbound passage of adult SB Dowitchers > > on Long Island was ok, or at most slightly weak, with my own max > > counts around 300-400, vs. more typical 700-1000 per site per day. > > The basic situation seems similarly decent for adult Least > > Sandpipers. I've also had some good counts of Semi Sandpipers at > > sites as widely separated as Moriches Inlet in Suffolk County and > > Goethals Bridge Pond on Staten Island. Conversely, my records show > > that various other numerically abundant species, such as > > Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Semi Plover, and BB Plover, sometimes > > don't build up large numbers until later in the season. > > > > What can't be explained in this way are the poor numbers of early > > season species at Jamaica Bay to date. On Tuesday, I checked the > > southern half of the East Pond carefully on the evening high tide > > and found just 72 Semi Sandpipers--this on the very same day I had > > counted 300 at Goethals Bridge Pond on a random tide. Even more > > shockingly to me, I saw zero Lesser Yellowlegs (another early- > > arriving species) at Jam Bay (I'd seen 2 in the morning at GBP--an > > indifferent tally but at least more than zero). For those who don't > > often bird coastal NY, the East Pond at Jamaica Bay has been > > categorically the best place in the entire region for Lesser > > Yellowlegs, routinely producing totals around 300 during late July. > > This summer, the East Pond's max to date is just 13! I think it is > > worth asking how much the perception of a dearth of shorebirds this > > summer is due to this one site's poor performance. If this is the > > case, why is the East Pond no longer pulling in the birds we would > > expect to see there? Perhaps there has been a significant change in > > the pond's water, sediments, and invertebrate fauna? > > > > Shai Mitra > > Bay Shore > > > > 5 August 2013 > > The latter part of July is the time for one of the year’s most > > striking and abrupt shifts in bird occurrence in coastal New York. > > As the big initial pushes of the earliest shorebird species pass > > beyond us, juveniles of these species, and adults of many > > additional species, begin arriving. Meanwhile the young of our > > locally breeding gulls and terns fledge, greatly augmenting the > > overall abundance of visible birds along the coast. Curiously, the > > non-breeding loafers (e.g., first-summer Common and Arctic Terns) > > seem to disappear just as abruptly as the local juveniles fledge, > > and at precisely the same time. If ever there were a year for > > Arctic Terns to persist past mid July, I thought this would be it, > > but they appear to have bailed out in just the same manner as in > > previous years. A much more conspicuous disappearing act is that of > > our adult Eastern Willets, whose vociferous throngs vanish almost > > completely during this interval, to be partially replaced by > > smaller numbers of timid local juveniles, emerging from the grass, > > and Western Willets, arriving from afar (hmm, this phenomenon could > > offer an excellent test of eBird’s ability to quantify changes in > > frequency and abundance of common species). > > > > > > CSI Represents NY in Nationwide State Rankings. Learn more>>> > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > > Welcome and Basics > > Rules and Information > > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > > Archives: > > The Mail Archive > > Surfbirds > > BirdingOnThe.Net > > Please submit your observations to eBird! > > -- > > > > > > -- > > 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/ > > -- > > -- petercolenphotography.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/ --
