The newsletter of New York City Audubon S UMMERWinter 20152014 // VolumeVolume XXXVXXXVI NNo.o. 42

THE URBAN AUDUBON

CountingCounting BirdsBirds inin NewNew YorkYork CityCity

NorthNorth BrotherBrother IslandIsland

JamaicaJamaica BayBay ShorebirdShorebird FestivalFestival

Summer 2015 1

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 1 5/12/15 6:51 AM NYC AUDUBON MISSION & VISION Mission: NYC Audubon is a grassroots Bird’s-Eye View Kathryn Heintz community that works for the protection of wild birds and habitat in the five boroughs, improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. ©Christopher Palladino ito” and “Linda” have landed. After more Vision: NYC Audubon envisions a day when birds and people in the “V than 200 years, a pair five boroughs enjoy a healthy, livable of bald eagles has nested within the habitat. five boroughs. Staten Island birder THE URBAN AUDUBON Seth Wollney reported the nest to us Editors Lauren Klingsberg & this past April—and within hours Marcia T. Fowle of our releasing the story, the media Managing Editor Tod Winston Newsletter Committee Lucienne Bloch, had jumped on it. The return of Ned Boyajian, Suzanne Charlé, Diane this signature raptor to New York Darrow, Lee Frankel, Catherine Heller, City underscores the best of the Mary Jane Kaplan, Abby McBride, conservation movement, as many of Sarah McGullam, Jennifer Rauch, Don Riepe, Carol Peace Robins us grew up fearing there would be no bald eagles for our children to see. Printing & Mailing Kase Printing, Inc. Following sharp population Design Whitehouse & Company Art Director Christina Rubin declines in the 19th and 20th Publisher NYC Audubon centuries, bald eagles recovered enough following the 1972 ban on DDT to be removed from the list of threatened and THE URBAN AUDUBON is published four times per year (spring, summer, endangered species in 2007. But they are still at risk. In January, a bill was introduced to fall, and winter) by New York City Congress seeking to “update” the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the Bald and Audubon Society, Inc. Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 in order to support what is termed the “All-of-the- Above Energy Approach.” As introduced, the CLEAN Energy Producers Act of 2015 BOARD OF directors President Harrison D. Maas (H.R.493) substantively weakens the existing restraints and restrictions on accidental or Executive Vice President David Speiser incidental killing of bald and golden eagles and migratory birds. It is important that this Vice President Richard T. Andrias proposed legislation be defeated or at least amended to ensure the conservation and protection Treasurer John Shemilt Secretary Marsilia A. Boyle of eagles along with all of our nation’s birds. NYC Audubon and many of our partners in bird Immediate Past President Oakes Ames conservation are tracking this bill’s progress, and I encourage you to join us. Directors Robert Bate, Clifford Case, The media attention garnered by the eagles’ nesting location offers us a context for Judy Craig, Alexander Ewing, Andrew Farnsworth, Marcia T. Fowle, Catherine sharing our work on other species of conservation concern. Though not as iconic as our Schragis Heller, Lynne Hertzog, national symbol, no less important are the oystercatchers, red knots, common terns, snowy Sarah Jeffords, Jeffrey Kimball, Lauren egrets, and millions of migrating land birds that use New York City’s urban habitat. This Klingsberg, Lawrence Levine, Eugene issue of shares highlights of that ongoing work. Be inspired. Join us for Nardelli, Fredric Spar, Tom Stephenson The Urban Audubon a seasonal walk, birding trip, or community volunteer event this summer. I look forward to ADVISORY COUNCIL seeing you out in the field! Sarah Grimké Aucoin, Drianne Benner, Dr. Claude Bloch, Albert K. Butzel, Rebekah Creshkoff, Andrew Darrell, Joseph H. Ellis, Mary Jane Kaplan, CONSERVATION PROGRAM UPDATE AND ANNUAL MEETING Robert J. Kimtis, Kimberly Kriger, Janice By Susan Elbin, PhD, and Conservation Staff Laneve, Pamela Manice, Mary Tyler Wednesday, June 10, 6pm Moore, Peter Rhoades Mott, Dorothy The Arsenal, Central Park, Fifth Avenue at 64th Street, Third-Floor Gallery M. Peteet, Don Riepe, Lewis Rosenberg, James R. Sheffield NYC Audubon conducts scientific monitoring in all five boroughs to understand how birds are using our urban environment and how this environment affects them, via EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Project Safe Flight, our Jamaica Bay program, and our Harbor Herons project. Join us Kathryn Heintz as Susan Elbin and research staffers Darren Klein, Debra Kriensky, and Tod Winston provide updates on what this research has taught us in the past year. Our board election will precede the meeting. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. All lectures are free and open to the public. NYC Audubon’s lecture series has RECYCLED Supporting responsible use of forest resources been made possible by the support of Claude and Lucienne Bloch.

2 www.nycaudubon.org

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 2 5/12/15 6:51 AM In This Issue Summer 2015 © N YC Audubon NYC AUDUBON 71 West 23rd Street Suite 1523 New York, NY 10010 Tel: 212-691-7483 Fax: 646-606-3301 www.nycaudubon.org

Cover Photograph: Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron ©François Portmann

Small Banner Photographs: Susan Elbin, Steve Nanz, and Don Riepe *This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). 6 ©

F Features rançois Portmann 6 Counting Birds in New York City by Susan Elbin, PhD

7 Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

8 Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) by Tod Winston 7 9 North Brother Island

© by Suzanne Charlé N YC Audubon 14 Book Excerpt: Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City

16 Favorite Bird Websites by Jennifer Rauch

17 Big John’s Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge by Don Riepe 9 17 “It’s Your Tern” Festival

© 18 Birder’s Report from the Field: Vagrant Birds in the New York City Area D on

R by Dr. Claude Bloch iepe 20 The Fall Roost

Departments 4 Conservation Notes 13 National/International Trips 4 Volunteer! 18 News & Notes 17 8 Book Review 19 Acknowledgments 10 Events and Adventures

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 3 5/12/15 6:51 AM Conservation Notes

ummer is an exciting and busy time we hope to get more students engaged in our Project Safe Flight: Stopover Habitat for the conservation staff here at NYC efforts in the coming year. Results from this The Urban Oasis, our native plant garden SAudubon. With thanks to continued spring will be available on our website later in McGolrick Park, survived the harsh winter funding from the Leon Levy Foundation, this summer. Program and Advocacy Manager (for the most part), and plants have started Patagonia, and the Williams Companies, Darren Klein was instrumental in getting our to bloom. Long-time Field Technician Ann Inc., and continued support from our NYC newly launched D-Bird website (www.d-bird. Seligman is leading the effort this year as our Audubon members and volunteers, we will be org) up and running. The site has been an “Garden Guardian.” We did a second round of adding some new initiatives in line with our effective way for us to learn about collisions planting earlier in May to fill in what didn’t two main programs, Project Safe Flight and occurring outside our regular monitoring make it, as well as some maintenance to make Waterbirds of the New York Harbor. routes. Over 50 dead or injured birds had sure our plants thrive this spring and summer. already been reported to us this year by the Many of the plants may look like little twigs Project Safe Flight: Bird Collision time spring migration was starting to gear up. now, but with some “TLC,” these plants will Monitoring These data, in conjunction with our Project continue to establish themselves and grow. This spring, we continued monitoring at Safe Flight monitoring data, are helping us In 2014, we conducted several pre-planting some high-risk collision sites such as Bryant understand more about bird collisions in New biodiversity surveys, and found 11 species of Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and York City. Our glass-testing project with the birds in the park: American crow, blue jay, we started monitoring at some new ones, such American Bird Conservancy, the Wildlife common grackle, European starling, fish crow, as the Freedom Tower. We also expanded into Conservation Society, Fordham University, hermit thrush, house sparrow, mourning dove, Queens this spring, monitoring a collection of NJ Audubon, and Ennead Architects has also northern cardinal, rock pigeon, and white- three neighboring buildings in Long Island been up and running. Under the skilled hands throated sparrow. We also observed arthropods City that has reportedly been the site of many of Field Technician Anikó Totha, migratory such as butterflies, moths, millipedes, and a collisions in the past. Our monitoring at birds are teaching us about the properties of variety of bees. In the garden’s second year, we Columbia University is continuing as well, and glass: what birds can and cannot see. will continue these surveys in order to monitor

Volunteer!

ork in NYC Audubon’s Project Safe Flight TRIBUTE IN LIGHT The North Channel Bridge friendly office or in the field During spring and fall, migrant MONITORING area, used by species like the Wand make a difference for birds confront many hazards as Friday, September 11, American oystercatcher, is also the City’s wildlife. There are many they pass through New York City. begins at 8pm a stone’s throw away from the ways to help. If interested in any of Volunteers are needed to monitor With the Municipal Art Society Harbor Heron Islands, the newly the projects listed below, contact us at buildings weekly for bird collisions, Each year a tireless group of restored Elders Point Marsh, and [email protected] or rescue injured birds, and record volunteers monitors the Tribute in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. 212-691-7483 x304. any casualties. Orientations will Light to ensure that migrating birds Help us clear the beach and raise be held Monday, August 17 and do not become entrapped in the awareness of the importance OFFICE PROJECTS Thursday, August 20, 6-7pm. light beams. A training session will of coastal areas to birdlife. Help with mailings, filing, and be held Wednesday, September 2, Equipment, refreshments, and bus general office work. Computer skills Bird Transporters 6-7pm. transportation from Manhattan and birding knowledge are helpful We often receive calls from are provided (bus limited to 40). but not required. concerned individuals who have INTERNATIONAL COASTAL found injured birds but are unable CLEAN-UP THE URBAN AUDUBON to transport them to a rehabilitator. Saturday, September 19, Join the newsletter committee and We need caring volunteers to 10am-1pm contribute your writing skills to four transport these birds to licensed With American Littoral Society seasonal issues. Meetings are bi- wildlife rehabilitators in the area. and National Park Service monthly in the early evening. A training session will be held Join us at North Channel Bridge Tuesday, September 8, 6-7pm at the to take part in a multi-state effort Wild Bird Fund. to improve coastline habitat.

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 4 5/12/15 6:51 AM Debra Kriensky ©

N in conjunction with the New York State YC Audubon Department of Environmental Conservation, is in its seventh year. We are looking forward to seeing if horseshoe crabs return to Plumb Beach West, the restored end of the beach, in the strong numbers that we observed last year. American oystercatchers returned to our area in March, and we have been on the shores of the Rockaways and Breezy Point surveying nests and helping resource managers protect them from disturbance. Field Technician Emilio Tobón continues to band adult and young birds, giving us a deeper understanding of how these shorebirds are using our beaches year after year. We have been partnering with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences on this project for four years. Hein Sihn, an undergraduate student from Columbia University, has joined our team this year and will be working on an additional piece of this research: monitoring the interactions between nesting American oystercatchers and piping American Kestrel Box on the Javits Center Green Roof plovers, and measuring the advantages and disadvantages for each species of nesting in how the assemblage of animals changes as the Communications Manager/Research Assistant close proximity. garden matures. Tod Winston, recording colony size and Stay tuned for updates in the next issue of The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center species composition in our local rookeries, and The Urban Audubon. has funded us for the second year of biodiversity our foraging surveys, coordinated by Foraging monitoring on their green roof. We are Survey Project Coordinator Joe O’Sullivan, Remember NYC Audubon happy to be partnering with Dr. Alan Clark studying wader feeding behavior throughout ew York City is forever of Fordham University again on this project. the Harbor estuary. In addition to our regular changing, and with time Fordham doctoral student Dustin Partridge monitoring, one lucky great egret will be the need to protect our and Research Assistant Kaitlyn Parkins are wearing a backpack transmitter, courtesy of N urban wildlife and habitat becomes leading the team, setting up surveys for bats, a project in partnership with Lenoir-Rhyne more and more critical. A bequest is birds, and bugs. Undergraduate student University Center for Graduate Studies Co- a generous and straightforward way Robert Ciardullo will join us for a second Director Dr. John Brzorad, the U.S. Forest to safeguard birds and their habitat summer, sorting and identifying terrestrial Service, the Generation Schools Network, in the City’s five boroughs. It can and arboreal arthropods. We were surprised and NYU’s Wallerstein Collaborative. Our be expressed “I bequeath [a sum of last year to discover six nesting pairs of herring egret will be mapping its own movements money or a percentage of my estate] gulls on the green roof. Earlier this spring, two throughout the year via text messaging to New York City Audubon Society, American kestrel nest boxes were installed. to the movebank.org website. The project Inc. a not-for-profit organization Time will tell if American kestrels, which includes egrets from two other urban centers: with offices at 71 West 23rd Street, used the roof last year as a hunting ground, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Suite 1523, New York, NY 10010, will move in. Horseshoe crabs, the eggs of which serve for its general purposes.” To learn as an important food resource for migrating more, please give Director of Waterbirds of the New York Harbor shorebirds, continue spawning in impressive Development Kellye Rosenheim a We are in the middle of both our annual numbers on the beaches of Jamaica Bay. Our call at 646-502-9611. Harbor Herons Nesting Survey, led by annual horseshoe crab monitoring, done

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 5 5/12/15 6:51 AM Counting Birds in New York City Susan Elbin, PhD © N

here are many reasons to count, survey, and monitor YC Audubon bird populations. Principal goals of monitoring include documenting the presence or absence of a species, determining population trends over time, and evaluating habitat quality or restoration success. TThrough monitoring, we can begin to understand “connectivity” between nesting, migratory stopover, and wintering grounds: where our breeding birds go during the fall and winter, how many return, and how many of them return to the same place. Do individuals of species of greatest conservation need (SGCNs) return year after year? Do they come back every year to the same general area, the same islands, or even the exact same nest site? In other words, how high is their “nest site fidelity”? Furthermore, what are the trends in population size and species composition? Important elements of a successful monitoring project designed to answer these questions include the consistent use of standard protocols, repeated annual surveys, and data-driven interpretation of results. NYC Audubon’s longest-term monitoring project is our survey of SGCNs—long- legged wading birds (a.k.a. Harbor Herons—as well as co-occurring waterbirds nesting in colonies in the New York Harbor. This project began when wading birds first reappeared on islands in the Arthur Kill in the 1980s, and monitoring has followed the Harbor population on an annual basis since that time. By monitoring every year, our team has documented not only the presence and species composition of breeding colonies, but also how the colonies have shifted between islands, and how the size of the Harbor population has changed (reaching peak numbers in 1993, but maintaining a stable size since 1988). The size and location of our colonies reflect the resources available to the birds A Banded Snowy Egret on Hoffman Island while they are raising their young. Focused monitoring is needed to understand why the Harbor Heron colonies are not at peak 1993 levels. If young birds are breeding success as are nest sites. We partner with NJ Audubon successfully fledging and returning to breed, then the colonies should to monitor foraging activity (location, flock composition, foraging be growing in size. If birds are unsuccessful in nesting, they will not success) of colonial waterbirds and have found that more birds use the return and the colonies will decline. To assess nest success and nest site New Jersey wetlands than the New York City wetlands. fidelity (how likely it is for individuals to return and to successfully Events on the breeding grounds, however, may not be the main breed), we need to monitor more than the number of nesting pairs driver of waterbird population size. What are the conservation issues over time. For some species (e.g., the double-crested cormorant), we on the wintering ground or along the migration route? This is where have monitored nest success by following the fate of several nesting connectivity comes into play: Where do the waterbirds of the New pairs from nest building to chick fledging. We observed that the York Harbor spend their winters? Do they use regular migration City’s cormorants often lose eggs in the early stages of nesting, but routes? These questions bring a different focus to our monitoring: We lay replacement eggs to complete their usual clutch size of four eggs. need to be able to identify where “our” birds are going. Re-sightings The number of nesting pairs is growing, but remains lower than the of some of our banded cormorants have been reported to us, and we’ve peak number in 1993. Cormorants are now nesting on eight islands, learned that the birds winter south along the eastern seaboard, both compared to three islands in the mid 1980s. We have banded nearly coasts of Florida, and into Alabama. It seems our cormorants do not 1,500 young cormorants, some of which have returned to nest in have strong connectivity between wintering and breeding sites. But their natal colonies (high fidelity) after reaching sexual maturity at we do know that most of them remain coastal rather than using inland age three. New York Harbor hosts an important cormorant colony. water. (Although one bird was seen last year in Wisconsin!) Healthy and accessible foraging grounds are as critical to Monitoring of the Harbor’s great egrets shows us how young

6 www.nycaudubon.org

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 6 5/12/15 6:51 AM Counting Birds in New York City Susan Elbin, PhD

birds disperse from their natal colonies. We have been able to York Harbor (Liberty State Park, New Jersey) during the breeding document local and migratory movements, post-fledging. Fledgling season—an indication of breeding area fidelity. We have also had great egrets banded in June on Elders Marsh in Jamaica Bay have reports of a banded snowy egret returning to the shores of the East been seen in August in northwest New Jersey, the New Jersey River (near its natal colony on South Brother Island). Meadowlands, southeastern Pennsylvania, and as far as Quebec. In the coming year, NYC Audubon will be conducting nesting When there is low post-breeding site fidelity like this, conservation surveys of long-legged wading birds, monitoring songbird response efforts need to be large-scale, to protect all the possible areas the birds to habitat enhancement, monitoring reproductive productivity of may be using. We have banded only 206 egrets since our study began beach-nesting shorebirds, and documenting the presence of migratory in 2009, so monitoring needs to be more intensive in wintering and shorebirds. In other words, we will be counting birds: figuring out stopover areas if we are to see any of our banded birds. In 2014 we what birds are here in New York City and how well they are doing. received reports that an egret tagged in 2012 had returned to New

10th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Saturday, August 29, 7:30am-5pm uring the past 40 years, over 40 species of shorebirds (including rare and accidental vagrants) have been recorded at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East and West Ponds from mid-July through October, with the greatest diversity and abundance Dusually occurring in August. We invite you to attend our tenth annual celebration at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, August 29. Free bus transportation from Manhattan to Jamaica Bay is available for NYC Audubon members at the Student/Senior level and up. Meet at 71 West 23rd Street at 6:30am. To reserve a seat, contact the office at 212-691-7483 x306.

For more information, contact NYC Audubon at 212-691-7483 x306, the ©Steve American Littoral Society at 718-474-0896, or Don Riepe at [email protected]. N The Shorebird Festival is a NYC Audubon partnership program with the American Littoral anz Society and Gateway National Recreation Area. 7:30am Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center for registration and continental breakfast (coffee, donuts, juice, etc.)

8am Hike to the East Pond to view shorebirds during the high tide (Kevin Karlson, Lloyd Spitalnik, Tom Burke, et al.)

10:30am Welcome from the National Park Service (Gateway Superintendent Jennifer Nersesian)

10:40am Overview of Jamaica Bay conservation issues and wildlife (Don Riepe) 11:15am NYC Audubon shorebird research (Susan Elbin, Debra Kriensky) 11:45am Shorebird photography (Lloyd Spitalnik)

12:20pm Lunch (bring lunch or drive to a deli located in nearby Broad Channel)

1:15pm Hikes to East and West Ponds (all leaders) 3:30pm Birding by Impression (Kevin Karlson) 4:30–5pm Discussion and wrap-up Stilt Sandpiper

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 7 5/12/15 6:51 AM Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) Tod Winston © D

low, marshy island in Jamaica Bay, Elders Point East, erek B

has in recent years been home to a surprising diversity of akken

nesting waterbirds. This 49-acre island, recently restored * A (inset) by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hosts breeding double-crested M

cormorants, which nest in the island’s small grove of mulberry trees, ark Schwall as well as a thriving population of great egrets, snowy egrets, black-

crowned night-herons, and glossy ibis, all nesting just a few feet * from the ground, literally stacked atop one another, in an area of marsh elder (“high-tide bush”). Last year as the NYC Audubon Harbor Herons nesting survey team counted a cluster of snowy and great egret parents jealously guarding their eggs and young, two darker birds stood out—and as we focused in on them, we were thrilled to discover the telltale snowy white belly that quickly distinguishes the tricolored heron from its slightly smaller and more monotone cousin, the little blue heron. As its name suggests, the tricolored heron is known for its striking coloring: The adult’s slate-blue upperparts and bill are offset by its white belly, underwing coverts, and head plumes—and north as Maine, the south shore of Long Island seems to be its by its gold-buff throat and scapular plumes. Formerly known as current northern breeding limit. In New York City, over the past the Louisiana heron, this very slender, long-billed heron actually 20 years the tricolored heron has consistently nested in very small breeds along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America, numbers in Jamaica Bay; Canarsie Pol, which has in recent years throughout the Caribbean, and north to Baja California in the West. been abandoned by waders, was a long-time favorite, before nesting On the east coast, though the bird has been known to nest as far …continued on page 16

Book Review Mary Jane Kaplan

en Thousand Birds: Ornithology since book gives a realistic sense of the bumpy road Darwin belongs in the category of of scientific progress. In reverse situations, T history of science, but that doesn’t influential scientists have blocked for decades begin to describe it. The book’s beautiful design the acceptance of new ideas they doubted. This and physical heft make it suitable for the coffee was the case with Darwin’s theory of sexual table, as does its wealth of historical photos. But selection, to which the authors devote an entire its 400-some pages of text require the reader to chapter. When experimental techniques were pay attention: Although written in informal finally developed that showed the importance style, the book doesn’t water down the scientific of female selection, “the serious study of mate material for the non-expert. However, those choice for plumage coloration had begun, interested in how we came to know as much as 140 years after Darwin had suggested such Ten Thousand Birds: we do about birds—and how much is left to be experiments.” discovered—will find a wealth of information, Ten Thousand Birds is about the study Ornithology since Darwin and the mini-biographies of just about every of birds, not their conservation, but in the by Tim Birkhead, ornithologist you’ve ever heard of (and some afterword the authors address the issue with Jo Wimpenny, you haven’t) will fascinate many for whom the a compelling hypothesis of their own: At the and Bob Montgomerie science itself is not of great interest. current rate of extinction, historians writing a By including tales of popular hypotheses survey of ornithology a century from now will Princeton University Press, that turned out to be wrong—often standing have to choose a new name, since fewer than 2014 in the way of real advances for years—the 9,000 species will remain. 8 www.nycaudubon.org

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 8 5/12/15 6:51 AM North Brother Island Suzanne Charlé

veryone, it seems, is interested in a pier built there, while Fernando Cabrera of although Elbin has seen waders “hanging North Brother Island, a.k.a. New the Bronx imagines a “Disneyland” in the out, using it for loafing. It’s a nice island.” EYork’s “Forgotten Island.” Situated East River! The nesting survey team, led by NYC just north of the East River’s Hell Gate— NYC Audubon has been studying Audubon’s Tod Winston, is monitoring and once home to the quarantine hospital North Brother as part of the Harbor Herons for nesting pairs again this spring—and that housed Typhoid Mary—the island is Nesting Survey project since 1986. In 2003, also looking for predators. If no nests are an Audubon “Important Bird Area,” one of 238 wader pairs were recorded nesting on found, NYC Parks will be able to proceed 17 islands in New York Harbor that NYC the island. “That was the heyday,” says with the restoration in June. If nests are Audubon monitors for nesting long-legged NYC Audubon Director of Conservation observed, the restoration team will have to wading birds. The Forest, Horticulture, & and Science Susan Elbin, PhD. “Then, for wait until the last chicks fledge before they Natural Resources Group of the New York reasons we haven’t completely figured out, can start. “So much invasive seed blew in City Department of Parks & Recreation the colony shifted to nearby South Brother.” over the years,” says Jennifer Greenfeld, (NYC Parks) is working to improve and Numbers dropped precipitously over just a deputy chief of the Forest, Horticulture, & restore the island’s natural habitat. Two few years: In 2007 only 13 black-crowned Natural Resources Group. Tall non-native New York City Council members, however, night-heron pairs nested on North Brother; Norway maples, dense bittersweet, and want to open it to the public: NYC Parks gull nests were observed there up to 2009. porcelainberry vines gradually altered the Committee Chair Mark Levine wants to have Since then, no nests have been sighted, herons’ habitat. The NYC Parks team has removed invasive species, cleared paths,

© and covered treacherous manholes. (The N YC Parks ruined buildings of the quarantine hospital complex continue to decay.) Now they’re focusing on restoring the habitat with native plants: hackberry trees and thicket- forming shrubs like sumac, blueberry, and wild blackberries. As for public access, the City Council members’ plans have little chance, according to Greenfeld. “It’s already pretty well protected. If there were any moves to develop it, we would advocate that it be declared a “Forever Wild Preserve.” To discourage eager “urban explorers,” Elbin had the island’s GPS coordinates removed from the database of coordinates used for the popular online scavenger hunt game, “Geocaching,” which sends its players in search of items in little-known places. NYC Parks is thinking about planting the perimeter with thorny shrubs. “There’s already a lot of poison ivy,” says Kristen King, director of forest restoration for NYC Parks. “Birds love it.” (Those interested in seeing the island can pick up Christopher Payne’s handsome book, North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City. For a quick look, go to Payne’s Kristen King Takes Measurements in Preparation for Restoration website: www.chrispaynephoto.com/north- Work on North Brother Island brother-island.)

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 9 5/12/15 6:51 AM Events and Adventures © L • NYC Audubon Events aura • SPRING HIKE IN THE M GREENBELT, STATEN ISLAND • Partnership Events yers Sunday, June 7, 9:30am-3pm • JAMAICA BAY SUNSET CRUISE Guide: Gabriel Willow Saturday, May 30, 3-6pm With NYC Parks and the Greenbelt Guides: Don Riepe, Mickey Cohen Conservancy With American Littoral Society Meet at the Manhattan terminal of Meet at Pier 4 in Sheepshead Bay, the S.I. Ferry and begin your tour Brooklyn. Enjoy a narrated cruise on water. Explore the 3,000-acre aboard the “Golden Sunshine.” Staten Island Greenbelt and visit Visit the 13,000-acre Jamaica Bay High Rock Park, Walker Pond, and Wildlife Refuge to see nesting the Pouch Camp property: 143 acres peregrine falcons, osprey, egrets, of unspoiled woods and wetlands. shorebirds, and waterfowl. Includes Look for late-spring migrants and refreshments. Contact Don Riepe at nesting birds, and learn about the 718-474-0896 or donriepe@gmail. Greenbelt’s ecology. Trip involves com for more information and to 3.5 miles of hiking. Includes register. Limited to 140. $55 refreshments at the Greenbelt Nature Center and transportation • SPRING MIGRATION ON on S.I. Limited to 20. $43 (30) RANDALL’S ISLAND SUNSET ECOCRUISES TO THE Sunday, May 31, 9am-2pm Snowy Egrets • Guides: Gabriel Willow, Randall’s HARBOR HERON ISLANDS Island Park Alliance Staff Sundays, June 7–August 16 With Randall’s Island Park Alliance, • CAMERA CLUB Influential birders such as 7-9pm (Brother Islands; Hoffman Inc. Wednesday, June 3, 6:30-8:30pm Roger Tory Peterson and Allan and Swinburne Islands) Meet on the northwest corner of Instructors: David Speiser, Lloyd D. Cruickshank got their starts 6-9pm (Jamaica Bay) 102nd Street and the FDR Drive. Spitalnik on Van Cortlandt’s ecologically Guide: Gabriel Willow We’ll walk across the foot bridge Meet at the National Audubon diverse grounds. These walks With New York Water Taxi over the East River to Randall’s office, 225 Varick Street.W hether celebrate the tradition set forth Meet at South Street Seaport Island, an under-explored location you’re a beginner or more advanced by these great ornithologists. Pier 16 to visit the fascinating with newly restored freshwater photographer, our friendly Participants will look for various Brother islands, the large egret and wetlands and salt marsh. We’ll photography club is the place species of residents and migrants cormorant colonies on Hoffman look for spring migrants (both to discuss diverse photography- and discuss a wide range of avian and Swinburne islands, or the waterbirds and land birds) as related topics, hone your skills, and topics. For more information, great expanses of Jamaica Bay. we explore the results of recent learn about the great photography call 212-691-7483. No registration Whichever your destination, you’ll restoration efforts. Limited to 20. opportunities available in the New necessary. No limit. Free experience the wonders of New York $40 (28) York City area. Professional bird and Harbor at sunset and see some of nature photographers David Speiser • BIKING AND BIRDING: the 3,000 herons, egrets, and ibis and Lloyd Spitalnik will share their JAMAICA BAY nesting here. To choose a cruise MEMBERS-ONLY expertise and help you improve your Saturday, June 6, 9am-3pm and register, contact New York June Member Walk in Inwood work. Registration required. No Guide: Gabriel Willow Water Taxi at 212-742-1969 or www. Hill Park limit. $14.50 ($10) per meeting Meet at Grand Army Plaza. nywatertaxi.com/tours/audubon. Tuesday, June 2, 7:30-9am Bike your way through Brooklyn Limited to 90. Price varies by Meet Kellye Rosenheim at • VAN CORTLANDT BIRD WALKS, neighborhoods and along scenic destination Inwood Hill Park’s entrance THE BRONX greenways to Jamaica Bay to look at 218th Street to look for late- Saturdays, June 6–August 29, for migrant shorebirds, as well as • THE PARAKEETS OF GREEN- spring migrants and nesting 8-9:30am breeding egrets, oystercatchers, WOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLYN birds in Inwood’s mature Guides: NYC Audubon, Van and more. This is a 16-mile trip; Saturday, June 13, 10am-1pm urban forest. Call 212-691- Cortlandt Park Conservancy return by subway from Broad Guide: Gabriel Willow 7483 x306 to register. Free for With the Van Cortlandt Park Channel. Bring binoculars, water, With Green-Wood Cemetery Contributing NYC Audubon Conservancy lunch, and your bicycle. Limited to Meet at the cemetery entrance at 5th members at the Student/ Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature 15. $40 (28) Avenue and 25th Street, Park Slope, Senior level and up Center. The history of birding and Brooklyn. Green-Wood Cemetery is Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. rich in both history and wildlife. It is

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 10 5/12/15 6:51 AM also the highest point in Brooklyn, 2014. A longtime advocate for “Brooklyn’s back yard,” beautiful • SUMMER BIRDING AT WAVE affording marvelous views. We wildlife conservation in New Prospect Park. Although summer HILL, THE BRONX will explore its environs in search York City and wife of past NYC birding in the City can be a bit slow, Sundays, July 12, August 9, and of spring migrants and its most Audubon President Ron Bourque, Prospect Park has a wide variety September 13; 9:30-11:30am unexpected avian residents: the Jean was particularly instrumental of habitats that attract a number Guide: Gabriel Willow huge flocks of brilliant green monk in the protection of grasslands at of breeding bird species. We will With Wave Hill parakeets that nest there. Native Floyd Bennett Field. This walk in explore the park’s meadows, forests, Meet at the Perkins Visitor to South America, these charming her memory will focus on plants, and waterways in search of nesting Center. Naturalist Gabriel Willow immigrants are surprisingly hardy insects, birds and overall nature, waterfowl, green herons, barn contributes his extensive knowledge and flourish even in our harsh in the setting she nurtured and swallows, yellow warblers, Baltimore of bird species and their behaviors winters. Limited to 15. $46 (32) loved. Visit www.nycaudubon.org/ orioles, and more. Limited to 15. $33 on these captivating walks. Wave jeanbourque for registration details (23) per walk Hill’s garden setting overlooking • BREEDING BIRDS OF THE and directions. No limit. Free the Hudson River flyway provides HUDSON HIGHLANDS, NY • BIRDING GEMS OF STATEN the perfect habitat for resident Saturday, June 20, 8am-5pm ISLAND: FRESHKILLS PARK and migrating birds. Advance Guide: Gabriel Willow MEMBERS-ONLY Saturday, July 11, 10am-5pm registration is recommended, either Join Gabriel Willow in exploring Van Trip to A Memorial to Guide: Cliff Hagen online at www.wavehill.org, at the some of the most exciting and Jean Bourque: Nature of Floyd Meet at the Manhattan terminal Perkins Visitor Center, or by calling beautiful birding locations in Bennett Field of the S.I. Ferry for a special 718-549-3200 x251. (Walks run rain the Hudson Valley: Doodletown Saturday, June 20, 7:45am-1pm opportunity to visit Freshkills Park, or shine; in case of severe weather Road, Constitution Marsh, and Come with NYC Audubon currently in transition from what call the number above for updates.) Indian Brook Farm. We’ll look to celebrate the memory of was once the world’s largest landfill Ages 10 and up welcome with an for uncommon breeding warbler conservationist Jean Bourque. into an expansive park. Currently adult. NYC Audubon members enjoy specialties at Doodletown, such Limited to 12. To register, closed to the general public, the two-for-one admission. See www. as cerulean, hooded, blue-winged, call Kellye Rosenheim at park is home to rolling grasslands, wavehill.org for more information golden-winged, and worm- 212-691-7483 x306. Free for tidal marshes, woodlands, and a eating. We will then head to the Contributing NYC Audubon freshwater pond system, which • TWILIGHT BAT WALKS IN Constitution Marsh Audubon members at the Student/ host an array of breeding birds, CENTRAL PARK Sanctuary, home to breeding Senior level and up butterflies, mammals, frogs, and Tuesdays, July 14–August 11, 7:45- wood ducks, bald eagles, least turtles. Sparrows, osprey, yellow 9:15pm bitterns, and marsh wrens. After warblers, and blue grosbeaks nest Guide: Paul Keim a picnic lunch by the banks of • PROSPECT PARK BIRD WALK alongside wrens, orioles, and Meet at 103rd Street and Central Indian Brook, we will explore the Saturdays, July 11 and August 22; shorebirds. Wading birds feed Park West. Explore the mysteries extensive grasslands and highbush 8-10:30am on the mudflats while hawks and of Central Park at twilight as blueberry stands of Indian Brook Guide: Gabriel Willow vultures soar above. On calm, sunny we seek these fascinating and Farm in search of breeding field Meet under the arch in Grand days, one can expect to find nearly misunderstood flying mammals— and savannah sparrows, bobolinks, Army Plaza. Join Gabriel Willow two dozen species of butterflies and learn about their great and indigo buntings. Transport for a leisurely walk to get to know here. Transport by passenger van on importance to our environment. by passenger van included. Bring the summer bird residents of S.I. included. Limited to 12. $57 (40) We’ll see local bat species in flight lunch. Limited to 12. $129 (90) as they hunt and dive for insects, © D

avid Speiser and hear them with an echolocator. • A MEMORIAL TO JEAN Other nocturnal creatures like BOURQUE: NATURE OF FLOYD crickets and katydids may be seen BENNETT FIELD, BROOKLYN as well. Bring bug spray and a Saturday, June 20, 8:30am-Noon flashlight.L imited to 16. All children Presented by the Brooklyn must be accompanied by an adult; Bird Club recommended for ages 5 and up. Guides: Steve Nanz, Jerry Layton, $32 (22) for adults, $20 (14) for Peter Dorosh, Marielle Anzelone children under 12 With the Brooklyn Bird Club and continued on page 12 National Park Service Meet at the Floyd Bennett Field south entrance parking lot. Join us to remember our friend Jean Bourque, who passed away in Baltimore Oriole Summer 2015 11

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 11 5/12/15 6:51 AM Events and Adventures (continued) © F rançois Portmann • BIRDING GEMS OF STATEN migrants that stop over Central Park ISLAND: MOUNT LORETTO AND during fall migration. Limited to 15. CONFERENCE HOUSE PARK $158 (110) Saturday, August 8, 10am-6pm Guide: Cliff Hagen • FALL WARBLERS The south shore of Staten Island Thursday, September 10, 6:30- is a great place to search for 8:30pm (class); Sunday, September southbound birds and butterflies. 13, 8-11am (trip) The grasslands, freshwater wetlands, Instructor: Joe Giunta, Happy and coastal habitats of Mount Warblers LLC Loretto host a variety of birds, while Identifying “confusing fall warblers” its fields of colorful blooms attract can be tricky, even for the experts. a fantastic collection of butterflies. Come study some of the most Farther south, Conference House puzzling species that stop through Park, Staten Island’s “mini-Cape our area during fall migration with May,” is a jumping-off spot for expert Joe Giunta, and then enjoy a migrants—and its hackberry trees second session in the “classroom” host butterflies such as hackberry of Central Park. Limited to 12. $65 Wilson’s Phalarope emperors and American snouts. (45) Transport by passenger van included. Limited to 12. $103 (72) EVENING FALL MIGRATION CITY OF WATER DAY River about one hour north of • • WALKS IN CENTRAL PARK ECOCRUISE the City. This 500-acre park is a SHOREBIRD WALK IN JAMAICA Monday Series: September 14– Saturday, July 18, Time TBA wonderful mix of forest, wetlands, • BAY October 12; 5-6:30pm Guide: Gabriel Willow and grasslands that are home to Saturday, August 15, 9:30am-2pm Tuesday Series: September 15– With Metropolitan Waterfront hard-to-find breeding birds such Guide: Gabriel Willow October 13; 5-6:30pm Alliance as indigo buntings, grasshopper Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Wednesday Series: September 16– Meet at Pier 83, at West 42nd sparrows, bobolinks, and eastern Refuge. We’ll search the mudflats October 14; 5-6:30pm Street and 12th Avenue. As part of meadowlarks. Great horned owls, and ponds for breeding herons Guide: Gabriel Willow City of Water Day, a celebration of willow flycatchers, and orchard and egrets, Forster’s and common Meet at Central Park West and the waterways and harbors of New orioles breed in nearby woodlands. terns, clapper rails, and American 72nd Street. Witness the spectacle York City, NYC Audubon will once Bring lunch for a picnic in one of oystercatchers, as well as migratory of autumn migration as songbirds again offer a special ecocruise past the riverside pavilions. Limited to plovers and sandpipers that will follow the Atlantic Flyway to their Hoffman and Swinburne islands, 20. Round-trip Metro North fare already be headed south. Limited to tropical wintering grounds. Look exploring the natural history of the ($19.50) not included in trip price. 15. $40 (28) for tanagers, warblers, and other area. Visit www.nycaudubon.org to $53 (37) neotropical migrants in the wilds learn more about City of Water Day 10TH ANNUAL SHOREBIRD of Central Park. Choose from our and ecocruise details. Registration SHOREBIRD IDENTIFICATION • • FESTIVAL AT JAMAICA BAY Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday required. Limited to 150. Free WORKSHOP Saturday, August 29, 7:30am-5pm evening series. Limited to 15. $125 Thursday, July 30, 6:30-8:30pm With Gateway National Recreation (87) • "IT’S YOUR TERN" FESTIVAL (class) Area and American Littoral Society Sunday, July 19, Noon-4pm (Rain Sunday, August 2, 9am-12pm (trip) See page 7 for details HOOK MOUNTAIN HAWK date Sunday, July 26) Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers • WATCH, NY With Governors Island Alliance, LLC MORNING FALL MIGRATION Sunday, September 20, 9am-4pm National Park Service, New York Shorebirds are one of the most • WALKS IN CENTRAL PARK Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers Harbor School, Earth Matter challenging groups of birds Wednesdays, September 9–October LLC See page 17 for details. to identify, yet beautiful and 21, 7:30-10:30am Part of the Palisades Interstate fascinating once they can be Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers Park system, Hook Mountain has • CROTON POINT PARK, NY distinguished. Learn to identify LLC commanding views of nearby Saturday, July 25, 8:20am-3pm plovers and sandpipers (including Meet at Central Park West and mountains ridges and the Hudson Guide: Gabriel Willow "peeps") by learning behavior, field 72nd Street. Birders of all levels River—and is a prime location to Meet at Grand Central Station marks, and calls—then take a field can enjoy this fun and educational spot many species of migrating and travel in comfort aboard trip to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife series of seven walks, observing the raptors, including broad-winged and Metro-North to visit Croton Point Refuge to practice your new skills. diverse and ever-changing waves of red-shouldered hawks, bald eagles, Park, overlooking the Hudson Limited to 12. $65 (45) accipiters, and falcons. Note: this

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 12 5/12/15 6:51 AM National/International Trips

trip requires a 35-minute hike up MONTAUK SPRING CAPE MAY FALL MIGRATION, NJ Meadows, and more in search and down the mountainside. Bring WEEKEND, LONG ISLAND Saturday, September 26, 9am– of songbirds, raptors, wading lunch to enjoy atop the mountain Friday, June 5–Sunday, June 7 Sunday, September 27, 7pm birds, ducks, and terns. Transport as you watch the hawks fly Guides: Don Riepe, Mickey Guide: Joe Giunta by passenger van included. overhead. Transport by passenger Cohen, Mike Bottini Cape May, NJ, is one of the best Limited to 10. $335 ($50 single van included. Limited to 12. $99 With American Littoral Society birding venues in the United supplement) (69) Spend an extended weekend States, especially during fall at the luxurious Manor House. migration. Visit the Cape May hawk CHINCOTEAGUE REFUGE/ Hike the “Walking Dunes,” watch on two days, once late in ASSATEAGUE ISLAND: BIRDS • EARLY MEMBER Lighthouse Beach, Montauk the day and then again in the early AND PONIES REGISTRATION FOR Bluffs, and Shadmoor State morning to get a good variety of Thursday, November 19, 9am– UPCOMING EVENTS Park. Includes two nights’ hawks. Also visit birding hotspots Sunday, November 22, 6pm More fall and early winter lodging (double occupancy), such as Higbee Beach, Jake’s Guide: Don Riepe events will be posted at five meals, guided hikes, Landing, Cape May Meadows, and With American Littoral Society www.nycaudubon.org and evening programs, and a star Nummy’s Island. Transport by A great natural history weekend available for registration for watch. View the full itinerary passenger van included. Limited to on the Virginia coast. See wild Contributing NYC Audubon and purchase tickets at spring- 10. $335 ($50 single supplement) ponies, snow geese, bald eagles, members starting on Monday, montaukweekend.eventbrite. migrating hawks, waterfowl, and August 10. (Registration will com. Contact Don Riepe at 718- CAPE MAY FALL MIGRATION, NJ shorebirds. Includes three nights’ open to all on Monday, August 474-0896 or donriepe@gmail. Saturday, October 3, 9am– lodging at the luxurious Refuge 24.) com for more information and Sunday, October 4, 7pm Inn (heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna, to register. $395 ($120 single Guide: Gabriel Willow exercise room, and observation supplement) Cape May, NJ, is the East’s capital deck), breakfast, a Safari bus • TO REGISTER FOR ALL NYC of birding, and is particularly tour of the back dunes area, AUDUBON EVENTS and for CAPE ANN WHALE WATCH, bird-rich in the fall. On good fall guided hikes, evening programs, more information, visit www. MA migration days, the area’s forests and an "all you can eat" oyster nycaudubon.org or call Darren Thursday, August 13– and marshes are swarming with and seafood dinner. Contact Klein at 212-691-7483 x304 unless Sunday, August 16 warblers, vireos, and thrushes, Don Riepe at 718-474-0896 or otherwise specified. Guides: Don Riepe, Mickey and of course the hawk watch is [email protected] for more Cohen legendary. We’ll visit Cape May information and to register. $395 important information With American Littoral Society Point, Higbee Beach, Cape May ($180 single supplement) • Classes meet at 71 West 23rd A fun-filled, nature-focused Street, Suite 1523. © weekend in beautiful Cape Ann, E • Contributing Members llen Massachusetts. We hope to see M ichaels (Student/Senior level and up) pelagic species such as sooty receive a 30% discount on and greater shearwater, Wilson’s most local trips and classes storm petrel, and common (on discounted events, the eider—not to mention minke discounted price appears and humpback whales, basking in parentheses after the sharks, and family pods of nonmember price). See dolphins. Includes three nights’’ membership form on page 19. stay in historic Gloucester, • For all coach and van trips, the a whale watch boat trip, an meeting location is in front of evening Essex River cruise, easy 71 West 23rd Street in canoeing on Ipswich River, and Manhattan unless otherwise birding at Parker River Wildlife specified. Refuge, plus a lobster dinner. • We depart promptly at the Contact Don Riepe at 718-474- stated start time. 0896 or [email protected] • For all overnight trips, member- for more information and to Black Skimmers ship in nyc audubon at the register. Limited to 40. $395 Student/Senior level and up is ($180 single supplement) required. See membership form on page 19.

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 13 5/12/15 6:51 AM Book Excerpt

n her Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New IYork City, Leslie Day provides a visually arresting and engrossing introduction to our city’s most common birds. Each species profile includes notes on behavior and ecology not found in typical field guides, as well as very specific and well researched details about each bird’s New York City’s population. Sections covering local birding spots as well as birding and conservation organizations will serve to connect readers to the rich birdlife and habitats of the City’s five boroughs.

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 14 5/12/15 6:52 AM Book Excerpt

Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City by Leslie Day Illustrated by Trudy Smoke Photographs by Beth Bergman Foreword by Don Riepe Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 15 5/12/15 6:52 AM Favorite Bird Websites Jennifer Rauch

hen not out watching real birds in the field, many of at www.jknaturegallery.com/rth_nestcam.html. Many other web-cams us in the local birding (and bird-loving) community are available for viewing at www.ustream.tv/explore/animals. Whave favorite websites we turn to for the next best thing. Besides www.nycaudubon.org, sites such as www.nybirds. FOR THE KIDS org, www.littoralsociety.org, www.brooklynbirdclub.org, or www. A great resource for connecting kids aged 10-19 with field trips, statenislandmuseum.org offer local birding information and events. creative projects, and a community of peers who share their passion is To find detailed information, photos, and song samples of all North www.nysyoungbirders.org. At www.birdsleuth.org, parents, educators, American bird species, visit www.audubon.org and www.allaboutbirds. and homeschoolers can download science kits, activities and other org, or, for a fee, www.hbw.com. A good reference for all things birding resources for grades K-12. (We hope children from 8 to 12 will visit is www.aba.org. Many of you already know about www.ebird.org, an our NYC Audubon KIDS membership page at www.nycaudubon.org/ important online tool to gather information about bird populations kids-membership.) across the globe—as well as www.d-bird.org, a new component of our own Project Safe Flight. Another useful site during migration is PHOTOGRAPHY www.birdcast.info, which provides real-time migration forecasts. The Many talented artists have online galleries with beautiful images of number of websites available today is astounding—so we don’t attempt birds in Central Park, Jamaica Bay, Tompkins Park, and other New to provide a comprehensive list here—but we’ve gathered a flock of York City locations. Some standouts are www.lilibirds.com, www. other favorite online resources below to help you get closer to the birds lloydspitalnikphotos.com, www.stevenanz.com, www.fotoportmann. of New York City and beyond. com/birds, www.laurameyers.com, and www.ellenmichaelsphotos. com. (Please ask the photographer’s permission before making use BLOGS of any photos.) Many photos can also be found at www.flickr.com/ Author Marie Winn and other Central Park birders share their latest groups/nycaudubon. sightings on her blog, www.mariewinnnaturenews.blogspot.com, while You can of course visit www.nycaudubon.org to find out about www.citybirder.blogspot.com offers a lot of helpful news, maps, apps, trips top birding spots in every borough, learn about upcoming events, get and links, and www.birdingdude.blogspot.com specializes in shorebirds involved as a volunteer or armchair activist, renew your membership, and waterfowl. At www.urbanhawks.blogs.com the focus is on, naturally, shop for unique bird merchandise in our online store, and more. raptor-centric tales and photo essays, while www.10000birds.com focuses on birds both local and further afield.

EMAIL LISTS AND BIRD ALERTS Those of you who bird frequently in the City may be accustomed to the Tricolored Heron sight of birders checking their phones and racing off, binoculars held high. More than likely, they’ve read one of the popular emailed reports (continued from page 8) of local bird sightings. Popular email lists and alerts (google them to find out more) include ebirdsnyc, nysbirds-l, and eBird rare bird alert, activity shifted to the smaller Subway Island and Elders Point as well as www.birdingonthe.net and www.narba.org. East. Local birders report that the species has been harder to find of late at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, though it has continued AUDIO AND VIDEO to nest in the Bay—and the species is thought to be in decline Have you ever heard a Bird Note? Each of these brief, engaging in the United States due to its need for limited and threatened podcasts explores songs and stories of a single species; download them coastal nesting habitat. free at www.birdnote.org. You can listen to bird sounds from around If you happen upon the tricolored heron, keep a watch for its the world at www.xeno-canto.org, as well as upload recordings and join active, darting feeding style, as well as its spectacular breeding discussions. Or, when singing birds elude you in nature, enjoy close-up display during the spring and summer: A single bird elicited video with clear audio at Lang Elliott’s channel, www.youtube.com/ “oohs” and “aahs” from a birding crowd at the West Pond several user/themusicofnature (www.youtube.com is home to many other bird springs ago, when it raised its white head plumes in a surprising videos as well). Finally, the “nest-cam” focused on NYU’s pair of red- circular crown of feathers (see inset photo, page 8). It’s a sight tailed hawks become an Internet sensation several years ago. That cam we hope will continue to be enjoyed by New York City birders has been dismantled to avoid disturbing the birds, but our Queens red- long into the future, as we work to preserve the fragile coastal tail pair, “Mama and Papa,” are viewable on Jeff Kollbrunner’s website environment this species needs to survive.

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 16 5/12/15 6:52 AM

Big John’s Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Don Riepe © D

ne of the best birding spots at the waterfowl—especially species such as wood on R Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is the duck, black-crowned and yellow-crowned iepe Olesser known “Big John’s Pond,” night-herons, green-winged teal, and solitary located along the refuge’s East Pond trail. It all sandpiper, which prefer feeding or roosting began when Bob Cook, a biologist working at in or around the small, protected freshwater the refuge, devised a plan to introduce native pond bordered by birch trees. herptiles (reptiles and amphibians) to several A few years after the pond’s creation, parts of Gateway National Recreation Area a nest box for barn owls was placed at the from 1985 to 1988. To enhance the habitat northeast corner of the pond. The next spring needed for these animals, he wanted to create it was occupied, and has been almost every year a shallow, freshwater pond. Named after the since. Serious birders will wait patiently at the big man who operated the bulldozer, the half- blind for the resident barn owl to look out of acre Big John’s Pond took only an hour or two the nest box opening, to check it off as a life to build, simply by digging out a section of or year bird. Noted bird photographers Lloyd Phragmites, an invasive reed that had become a Spitalnik, Art Morris, Johann Schumacher, Black-Crowned Night-Heron and monoculture at the site. The pond then slowly David Speiser, François Portmann, and others Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron filled up with rainwater and groundwater. have taken award-winning photos from the As an interpreter and field biologist working blind at the pond’s edge, and many birders the refuge, and it is hoped that the National for Gateway, I designed a walkway and blind have enjoyed the close-up views of birds Park Service will create several more much- to allow visitors to view introduced painted afforded them at the site. In early spring, it’s needed freshwater ponds along the eastern and turtles, snapping turtles, spring peepers, gray a treat to hear the spring peepers chorusing, western upland areas. As much of this area is tree frogs, and other species of herptiles. The followed by the trilling of gray tree frogs dominated by Phragmites, it would be a simple pond also became a magnet for a variety of birds a little later in the season. Currently, the operation to dig out a few potholes. All you including herons, egrets, ibis, shorebirds, and pond is the only open freshwater habitat at need is a bulldozer!

“It’s Your Tern” Festival © L loyd Spitalnik Sunday, July 19, Noon-4pm (Rain Date Sunday, July 26) With Governors Island Alliance, National Park Service, New York Harbor School, Earth Matter NY

Come celebrate Governors Island’s treasures: Common terns and oysters! Common terns, listed as a threatened species in New York State, have recently colonized several decommissioned piers on Governors Island’s waterfront. The colony has expanded over the last few years, and benefited last year from the introduction of oyster-shells as a nesting material. Free activities at this year’s festival will include birdwalks and talks, displays, and hands-on activities for the whole family including creating oyster- shell jewelry. NYC Audubon naturalist Gabriel Willow will lead boat tours to provide a view of the tern colony from Buttermilk Channel. Common Tern with Chicks Learn more at www.nycaudubon.org/tern-festival. Free Summer 2015 17

63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 17 5/12/15 6:52 AM Birder’s Report from the News & Notes Field: Vagrant Birds in the Nesting Bald Eagles Return to New York City Area Dr. Claude Bloch New York City Following an unusual winter during which bald eagles were spotted in all five have been chasing vagrant birds in the New York City region for over 30 years. boroughs of the City and on Hudson River ice floes off ofI nwood Hill Park in Looking for birds that have strayed out of their normal range is both challenging Manhattan, a pair of eagles was confirmed and rewarding. Those of us who live near Central Park are spoiled by its varieties I as nesting in mid-April, just as this issue of both resident and migrating birds, but the possibility of finding a stray is always went to print. After building a “practice welcomed. When a vagrant shows up these days, it becomes known quickly, thanks to nest” at the site in 2014, the birds returned the Internet and, more recently, to texting. Sometimes I have been lucky to find my this spring to an undisclosed New York target bird easily, but just as often, the extra effort has not been rewarded. State Department of Environmental Two southwestern kingbird species have recently shown up in New York City: Conservation property on Staten Island’s Couch’s in Manhattan’s West Village and Cassin’s at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. South Shore. This is the first nesting Unusual nearby sightings in the last few years have included a European mew gull in attempt by bald eagles in New York City for Brooklyn, a southwestern Grace’s warbler on Long Island, and a Latin American fork- over 200 years, marking a milestone in the tailed flycatcher in Connecticut. Also seen were two species from the Far North, an ivory improving health of the New York Harbor gull in Massachusetts and a northern wheatear in Connecticut—as well as a European ecosystem, and in the continuing recovery wood sandpiper in Rhode Island and a southern Swainson’s warbler in Queens. Visitors of the bald eagle from near extinction. from the American West have included a rufous hummingbird on the Upper West Side Check www.nycaudubon.org for updates. of Manhattan, a western tanager in Central Park, and a calliope hummingbird in the Bronx. The eastern end of Long Island has recently been visited by a flurry of northern Lights Out New York Practices to and western goose species, including pink-footed, greater white-fronted, cackling, Be Adopted by City and State Ross’s, and barnacle geese. A whiskered tern from Europe that I saw in Cape May was The new OneNYC plan announced by the latest addition to my American Birding Association life list. And just as this issue Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office this past was going to press, a chuck-will’s-widow, which occasionally strays our way from more April includes good news for nocturnal southern breeding grounds, spent several days at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan. migrants, complementing NYC Audubon’s Lights Out New York program. The plan ©

D asserts that the City will work to pass avid Speiser a version of the Lights Out Bill (Intro. 578/2014), recently introduced by the City Council to require vacant offices and retail spaces to shut off their lights at night.

Governor Cuomo’s office also announced a new Lights Out New York initiative this April, which will bring migrant-friendly practices promoted by NYC Audubon’s Lights Out program to all state-owned properties across New York State. As a result of efforts by Audubon New York in Albany, state-owned and managed buildings will turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11pm to dawn during peak spring and fall migration. The Governor also launched www.iloveny. com/birding, which will provide visitors Cassin’s Kingbird Seen this Past Winter in Brooklyn’s with information on birding and how to Floyd Bennett Field participate in the new Lights Out initiative.

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 18 5/12/15 6:52 AM Acknowledgments

PARTNERSHIPS Conservation is not possible without working partnerships. NYC Audubon collaborates NYC Audubon proudly thanks the following with government agencies and other nonprofit and community organizations to reach foundations and corporations for their broader audiences and achieve common conservation goals. Recent partnerships have important support. included the following organizations: American Bird Conservancy Linneaen Society Ocean Conservancy Aviator Sports & Events New England Interstate American Birding Lutheran Church of the Pace University Centerplate Water Pollution Association Messiah Patagonia The Community Control Commission American Littoral Society Macaulay Honors College Port Authority of NY and Foundation of New New York State American Museum of Manomet Center for NJ Jersey Department of Natural History Conservation Sciences Prendergast Laurel The Dobson Foundation Environmental Audubon New York Massachusetts Audubon Architects The Durst Organization Conservation Bronx River Alliance Society Prospect Park Audubon Estate of Esther Morse Patagonia Brooklyn Bird Club McGolrick Park Farmers Center FXFOWLE SUNY College of Bryant Park Corporation Market Protectors of Pine Oak Jacob K. Javits Environmental Science Canadian Wildlife Service McGolrick Park Woods Convention Center and Forestry Central Park Conservancy Neighborhood Alliance Queens College, CUNY The Kimball Foundation Toyota Together Green Clay Pit Ponds State Park Metropolitan Waterfront Queens County Bird Club Leon Levy Foundation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Preserve Alliance Randall’s Island Park Lily Auchincloss Service Columbia University Million Trees NYC Alliance Foundation Weidlinger Associates, Columbia University Municipal Art Society Rockaway Waterfront Manomet Center for Inc. Environmental Biology National Audubon Alliance Conservation Sciences The Williams Companies, Society National Park Service Rocking the Boat National Audubon Inc. Con Edison Gateway National SCAPE Studio National Fish and Conserve Wildlife Recreation Area Science and Resilience Wildlife Foundation Constitution Marsh - National September 11 Institute at Jamaica Bay Audubon Center and Memorial and Museum South Shore Audubon Sanctuary Natural Areas Conservancy Society Cornell Cooperative New Jersey Audubon Staten Island Museum Join NYC Audubon Extension Society SUNY College of Members are essential to our education and conservation Cornell University New Jersey Meadowlands Environmental Science work. Help protect birds and habitats in the five boroughs by Drexel University Commission and Forestry joining our flock. As a Member of NYC Audubon you will receive The Urban Audubon newsletter and The eGret enewsletter; enjoy Earth Matter NY The New York Botanical The Raptor Trust discounts on field trips and classes; and make a difference Ennead Architects Garden The Trust for Governor’s in your city’s wildlife and natural areas. The Event Office New York City Department Island Mail this form with your payment to: Film Presence of Environmental Toyota TogetherGreen NYC Audubon Fordham University Protection U.S. Fish and Wildlife 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1523 Freshkills Park Alliance New York City Department Service New York, NY 10010 FXFOWLE of Parks & Recreation U.S. Geological Service [ ] Supporter $100 [ ] Family $50 Generation Schools Arts & Antiquities U.S. Green Building [ ] Friend $25 [ ] Student/Senior (65+) $15 Network Central Park Arsenal Council of New York [ ] New [ ] Renewal Governors Island Alliance Natural Resources Group U.S.D.A. APHIS/Wildlife Great South Bay Audubon Urban Parks Rangers Services Additionally, I would like to make a donation to NYC Audubon in the amount of: $ ______. Society New York City Economic University of Connecticut Greenbelt Conservancy Development University of Delaware Name:______Greenbelt Native Plant Corporation University of Maine Center New York Harbor School Van Cortlandt Park Address:______Green-Wood Cemetery New York State Department Conservancy ______Grounded Truth of Environmental Wagner College Harbor Estuary Program Conservation Wallerstein Collaborative Phone:______Hawk Mountain Sanctuary New York State Office of for Urban Environmental Email:______Hunter College Parks, Recreation and Education Huntington-Oyster Bay Historic Preservation The Waterbird Society [ ] Enclosed is my check payable to NYC Audubon Audubon Society New York State Wave Hill [ ] Charge my credit card: Jacob K. Javits Convention Ornithological Wild Bird Fund [ ] Visa [ ] MC [ ] Amex [ ] DSC Center Association The WildLab Jamaica Bay Birders’ New York University Wildlife Conservation Card #______Coalition New York University Society Exp. Date:______Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers Center for Urban Science Woodlawn Conservancy Membership in NYC Audubon does not include National Audubon membership or Audubon Jamaica Bay Institute and Progress (CUSP) YMCA of Greater New Magazine. Donations to NYC Audubon are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. NYC Kingsborough Community New York Water Taxi York Audubon is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. College NYC H2O

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63502_NYC_UA Summer .indd 19 5/12/15 6:52 AM KASE INDICIA’S JOB #______

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