[nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Habitat Loss
I discovered this week that my favorite birding spot in Hudson Yards, just north of 36th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was bulldozed. I guess it was inevitable that to most people this steep slope of overgrown weeds and trees between railroad tracks and an abandoned auto shop would be considered an eyesore, but it was favored by birds over the manicured high-tech “green spaces” of Bella Abzug Park and the Vessel Plaza. It’s that the swiftness of its demise is just a shock. A bulldozer sits in the vacant lot behind the chain-link fence festooned with new “active driveway” signs. The beautiful fan of ivy that covered the auto shop was cut at the roots and turning brown. All I could see was a pair of Gray Catbirds chasing each other through one of the last remaining trees, filled with its final season's bounty of black berries. On a better note - I spotted the first returning warbler, a Common Yellowthroat across the tracks in the bushes. On the south side of the street, in an abandoned parking lot where the grasses have been slowly taking over around a couple of stagnant pools, my first Northern Mockingbird for the area, a juvenile, doing its robotic shoulder shrug - bringing the count to 31 species. Alan Drogin -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Habitat Loss
I discovered this week that my favorite birding spot in Hudson Yards, just north of 36th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was bulldozed. I guess it was inevitable that to most people this steep slope of overgrown weeds and trees between railroad tracks and an abandoned auto shop would be considered an eyesore, but it was favored by birds over the manicured high-tech “green spaces” of Bella Abzug Park and the Vessel Plaza. It’s that the swiftness of its demise is just a shock. A bulldozer sits in the vacant lot behind the chain-link fence festooned with new “active driveway” signs. The beautiful fan of ivy that covered the auto shop was cut at the roots and turning brown. All I could see was a pair of Gray Catbirds chasing each other through one of the last remaining trees, filled with its final season's bounty of black berries. On a better note - I spotted the first returning warbler, a Common Yellowthroat across the tracks in the bushes. On the south side of the street, in an abandoned parking lot where the grasses have been slowly taking over around a couple of stagnant pools, my first Northern Mockingbird for the area, a juvenile, doing its robotic shoulder shrug - bringing the count to 31 species. Alan Drogin -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch
The 2019 "Frank Melville Park Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch" in Setauket kicked off last night with 20 Common Nighthawks seen. Thousands of grackles swarmed to the reed beds in the park to roost for the night and eight wood ducks were seen on the ponds. Many DC Cormorants were seen, virtually all flying from the northeast to the southwest, presumably moving from feeding grounds to roosting grounds at the Stony Brook Mill Pond. The watch will continue, weather permitting, every night until October 6th from 5:30 p.m. to dusk. John Turner -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch
The 2019 "Frank Melville Park Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch" in Setauket kicked off last night with 20 Common Nighthawks seen. Thousands of grackles swarmed to the reed beds in the park to roost for the night and eight wood ducks were seen on the ponds. Many DC Cormorants were seen, virtually all flying from the northeast to the southwest, presumably moving from feeding grounds to roosting grounds at the Stony Brook Mill Pond. The watch will continue, weather permitting, every night until October 6th from 5:30 p.m. to dusk. John Turner -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Nancy Grant, Binge Birding - BirdCallsRadio
Birders et al, Thought many of you would be interested in my next guest Nancy Grant, Binge Birding https://bit.ly/2akUsxp Happy Birding! Cheers, Mardi Dickinson -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Nancy Grant, Binge Birding - BirdCallsRadio
Birders et al, Thought many of you would be interested in my next guest Nancy Grant, Binge Birding https://bit.ly/2akUsxp Happy Birding! Cheers, Mardi Dickinson -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
