THE NEWSLETTER OF CITY AUDUBON SUMMER 2017 / VOLUME XXXVIII NO. 2

THE URBAN AUDUBON

NYC Audubon’s Summer Island Home 12th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival On Becoming an Activist NYC AUDUBON MISSION & VISION Mission: NYC Audubon is a grassroots community that works for the protection of BIRD’S-EYE VIEW Kathryn Heintz wild birds and habitat in the five boroughs, improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. s I write mid-spring with thoughts of summer, thousands upon thousands of Vision: NYC Audubon envisions a day when birds and people in the five boroughs enjoy enthusiastic and energized environmental supporters are turning out across the a healthy, livable habitat. Acountry for a second weekend in a row to support science, research-based in- quiry, climate study, and conservation. These ground-swelling public events show why THE URBAN AUDUBON Editors Lauren Klingsberg and recent attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency and our national parks and mon- Marcia T. Fowle uments will not succeed. We who love nature and respect the earth are in the majority. Managing Editor Andrew Maas We will not stand passively by. Newsletter Committee Ellen Azorin, Lucienne Bloch, Ned Boyajian, Suzanne When we went to press for our Spring issue, our appeal was to be vigilant, to stay Charlé, Diane Darrow, Meryl Greenblatt, informed, and to engage with our voices and support. We are doing all of this and more. Catherine Schragis Heller, Mary Jane Kaplan, Abby McBride, Hillarie O’Toole, We are marching and on the move. So what do we do next? What do we do to help birds? Don Riepe, Carol Peace Robins My answer is to keep up the pressure nationally and continue to act locally. Our own backyard, , chal- Printing & Mailing Kase Printing, Inc. Design Whitehouse & Company lenges birds with its heralded and majestic Art Director Christina Rubin structures—buildings, bus shelters, anything TAKE ACTION! Publisher NYC Audubon with deadly reflective or clear glass. The city RECEIVE NYC AUDUBON THE URBAN AUDUBON is published four that never sleeps endangers birds with the lure ACTION ALERT EMAILS times per year (spring, summer, fall, and of artificial lights. The desire to develop and re- winter) by New York City Audubon Society, Stay current on pressing Inc. claim land threatens birds’ precious remaining environmental issues that require natural habitats—even those previously pro- BOARD OF DIRECTORS tected. What we must do locally is make the immediate action. Enroll to receive President Jeffrey Kimball Executive Vice President David Speiser places under our control bird friendly. We must environmental action alerts from Vice President Catherine Schragis Heller make our homes, windows, windowsills, roofs, NYC Audubon by sending your Treasurer Fredric Spar Secretary Alexander Ewing balconies, and yards welcoming and safe. We can email to communications@ Immediate Past President Harrison D. Maas treat windows, turn lights out, and grow native nycaudubon.org. Directors Robert Bate; Karen Benfield; plants. Those of us commanding larger domin- Drianne Benner; Christian Cooper; Richard H. Fried, VMD; Sarah Jeffords; Lauren ions must influence workplaces and community Klingsberg; Deborah Laurel; Lawrence spaces, as well as municipal, state, and federal legislation. We can and must carry out Levine; Eugene Nardelli; Rachel Quiñones; John Shemilt; Alan Steel; Tom Stephenson; these things. From the simple to the complex, whatever our individual capacities, every Michael Tannen act of every size matters. Now we welcome summer. Join us at the Tern and Shorebird Festivals. Come out to ADVISORY COUNCIL Co-Chair Marcia T. Fowle; Co-Chair James R. our new seasonal visitor and education center at —and come out often. Sheffield; Oakes Ames; Richard T. Andrias; Get outside and get birding! Sarah Grimké Aucoin; Claude Bloch, MD; Marsilia A. Boyle; David Burg; Albert K. Butzel; Clifford Case; Rebekah Creshkoff; Andrew Darrell; Joseph H. Ellis; Andrew Farnsworth, PhD; Lynne Hertzog; Mary Jane Kaplan; Robert J. Kimtis; Kimberly Kriger; Janice Laneve; Pamela Manice; Peter HELP US ON GOVERNORS ISLAND Rhoades Mott; Dorothy Peteet, PhD; Don Riepe; Lewis Rosenberg THIS SUMMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Kathryn Heintz e are seeking friendly and bird-knowledgeable volunteers to help DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION AND out this summer during our inaugural residency on Governors SCIENCE Island. Volunteers are needed weekdays and weekends now Susan Elbin, PhD W through October 1 to greet and engage with visitors at our Nolan Park house as well as to lead bird walks. To apply, please email [email protected].

RECYCLED 2 www.nycaudubon.org Supporting responsible use of forest resources IN THIS ISSUE SUMMER 2017 ©NYC 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: Common Terns ©paul Blathwayt* Small Banner Photographs: Susan Elbin, Steve Nanz, and Don Riepe

*This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 6 ©Chris O’Flaherty

FEATURES * 6 NYC Audubon’s Summer Island Home by Suzanne Charlé

7 7 “It’s Your Tern” Festival at Governors Island

©Debra Kriensky 8 New York City Nightlife: Hanging with the City’s Bats by Ned Boyajian

8 Remember the Birds

9 On Becoming an Activist: Sharing the Learning Curve by Meryl Greenblatt

10 Birding Cemeteries in the Five Boroughs: Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery 11 by Mary Jane Kaplan 11 12th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival

©David Speiser 17 Kingsland Wildflowers

20 The Fall Roost

DEPARTMENTS 4 Conservation Notes 16 Book Reviews 5 Volunteer! 18 Acknowledgments 12 10 Annual Meeting and Conservation 19 News & Notes Update 19 Support NYC Audubon’s Mission 12 Events and Adventures

Summer 2017 3 CONSERVATION NOTES

uring most summer days (and ©NYC Audubon some nights) you can find our Dconservation staff and volunteers out in the field. Spring migrants have come and gone, but summer is right in the middle of the breeding season, which means we are hard at work monitoring breeding populations of herons, egrets, shorebirds, gulls, terns, and more nesting throughout the City. Here are some updates from the field:

PROJECT SAFE FLIGHT This spring, we partnered with Dr. Greg Dobler, data scientist from ’s Center for Urban Science and Progress, to begin a study looking at the role light plays in building collisions throughout Herring Gull and Chicks Nesting on Javits Green Roof lower . A recently installed high- tech camera perched at the top of One Bryant At the beginning of May, we once again WATERBIRDS OF NEW YORK HARBOR Park will be tracking light levels at various took to the green roof of the Jacob K. Javits We are currently in the middle of our buildings, while our dedicated Project Safe Convention Center to monitor for birds, bats, 33rd Annual Harbor Herons nesting survey, Flight volunteers will be patrolling those and arthropods. Each year we find that more led by Tod Winston. For over three decades, buildings to track bird collisions. We are bird species are using the roof as habitat, we have been recording colony size and looking at 16 different buildings located such as eastern kingbird and white-throated species composition in rookeries on our harbor from Battery Park to Midtown. If the waves sparrow. We will also be monitoring the roof’s islands (and some on the mainland). Last of migration should pass further to the west, growing colony of nesting herring gulls. Last year’s comprehensive survey of 20 locations few to no birds would be flying over lower year we had 11 nests and 17 fledged chicks throughout the City showed a continued Manhattan, and collisions would be rare. on the sedum roof. Through a grant from decline of black-crowned night-heron, To help us determine whether birds are the Greenpoint Community Environmental though they remain the most abundant wader present over lower Manhattan, Dr. Andrew Fund, we began similar monitoring this nesting in the harbor. But, glossy ibis has Farnsworth, NYC Audubon advisory council spring on the new Kingsland Wildflowers increased by 45% since the last full survey in member and scientist at Cornell University, green roof in Greenpoint. Dustin Partridge 2013. Go to www.nycaudubon.org/issues-of- will be adding a weather radar layer to the and Kaitlyn Parkins are once again leading concern/harbor-herons to find the complete data set to tell us where exactly the birds are the team, along with Dr. Alan Clark of 2016 report. migrating. The data we collect from D-Bird Fordham University. Citizen science volunteers are also out in is also a very important component. This Some additional hot-off-the-press news: force for our Harbor Heron foraging surveys, work has been made possible by a generous we were awarded a grant from the New York which help us learn more about where and grant from the Leon Levy Foundation. Community Trust to advance the science of when these birds are foraging. We are still During one day in late March, we had green roofs as habitat by facilitating a working tracking Edward, the great egret fitted with a an overflow of reports—over 40 in total—of group of urban ecologists and resource backpack SMS transmitter in 2015 on Staten injured and dead American woodcocks that managers. The working group meetings, Island as part of a project in partnership had collided with glass windows.While very designed to help us better understand the with John Brzorad, the U.S. Forest Service, sad, the data will help us understand more function of green roofs as habitat and make and New Jersey Audubon. Edward goes about where and how often this is occurring. recommendations for the creation of more back and forth between New York City and The New York Times published a story, quoting green roofs, have been hosted by the Javits South Carolina, but as of April 5, he’s back Dr. Elbin, about this highly unfortunate Center. in the Big Apple at Hoffman Island in New occurrence. Read the story online by visiting York Harbor. You can check Edward’s latest nyti.ms/2mbMH3l. movements on www.movebank.org.

4 www.nycaudubon.org Debra Kriensky and Susan Elbin, PhD

American oystercatchers are back, five small radio tags, called NanoTags, to forward to providing an update on Shorebird breeding on City beaches, and right about migrating semipalmated sandpipers to track Blitz findings and future Shorebird Blitz dates now chicks are beginning to hatch. For the their migration from Jamaica Bay as they pass in our fall Conservation Notes. sixth year, Field Biologist Emilio Tobón is by VHF radio towers throughout the eastern Horseshoe crabs are once again spawning monitoring oystercatcher nests in Breezy U.S. We are excited to be expanding this on our shoreline. We are currently in our ninth Point thanks to funding from the National work in 2017. We hope to put out 20 more year of surveying horseshoe crabs, whose eggs Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Manomet NanoTags on semipalmated sandpipers by the are an important food source for migratory Center for Conservation Science. Each year, we fall to learn more about how long they stay in shorebirds as they make their way to their band adults and chicks to track oystercatcher Jamaica Bay, where they go from there, and if breeding grounds, in conjunction with the nest productivity, local movements, and they return. New York State Department of Environmental annual migration patterns. Since 2012, Several volunteers counted shorebirds Conservation. Monitoring takes place at NYC Audubon has banded over 60 birds in during their spring migration and will start Plumb Beach, Dead Horse Bay, and Big Egg 3 different areas: Breezy Point and Arverne up again in fall (which for shorebirds is July) to marsh. Last year we had a record number of in New York City, and Nickerson Beach on contribute data to the International Shorebird citizen scientist volunteers (163) helping us . Through resightings, we have Survey effort that helps experts track global count horseshoe crabs. learned that our adult banded birds spend and regional populations over time. The From a busy migration season, to their winters in Florida, South Carolina, and surveys also tell us a lot about shorebird monitoring green roofs, to surveying the Georgia, then come back to NYC to nest— abundance and diversity in New York City. City’s waterways, it’s been an active and with some pairs breeding in our area for at We held our third NYC Shorebird productive time for our conservation staff and least four consecutive years. Blitz on May 21 to get a one-day snapshot dedicated volunteers. Stay tuned for updates Speaking of migration, last year we of shorebird activity in the City, and are and results in the fall Urban Audubon. conducted a pilot study where we attached currently poring over the numbers. We look

VOLUNTEER!

ork in NYC Audubon’s PROJECT SAFE FLIGHT wildlife rehabilitators in the area. INTERNATIONAL COASTAL Wfriendly office or in the field Begins Friday, September 1 A training session will be held CLEAN-UP and make a difference for the City’s During spring and fall, migrant Thursday, August 31, 6–7pm, at the Saturday, September 16, wildlife. There are many ways to birds confront many hazards as Wild Bird Fund. 10am–1pm help. If interested in any of the they pass through New York City. With American Littoral Society, projects listed below, contact us at Volunteers are needed to monitor TRIBUTE IN LIGHT MONITORING , and [email protected]. buildings weekly for bird collisions, Monday, September 11, begins Sadhana rescue injured birds, and record at 8pm Join us at North Channel Bridge OFFICE PROJECTS any casualties. Orientations will With National September 11 to take part in a multi-state effort Help with mailings, filing, and gen- be held Monday, August 21, and Memorial & Museum to improve coastline habitat. The eral office work. Computer skills Thursday, August 24, 6–7pm. Each year a tireless group of volun- North Channel Bridge area, used and birding knowledge are helpful, teers monitors the Tribute in Light by species like the American oys- but not required. BIRD TRANSPORTERS to ensure that migrating birds do tercatcher, is also a stone’s throw We often receive calls from not become entrapped in the light away from the Harbor Heron Is- THE URBAN AUDUBON concerned individuals who have beams. A training session will be lands, and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Join the newsletter committee and found injured birds but are unable held Tuesday, September, 5, 6–7pm. Refuge. Help us clear the beach contribute your writing skills to to transport them to a rehabilitator. and raise awareness of the impor- four seasonal issues. Meetings are We need caring volunteers to tance of coastal areas to birdlife. bi-monthly in the early evening. transport these birds to licensed Please check www.nycaudubon. org/volunteer-events in the com- ing months for more details and registration.

Summer 2017 5 NYC Audubon’s Summer Island Home ©NYC Audubon his spring and summer NYC Audubon will have a seasonal education center on Governors Island, right in the heart of New York Harbor, where we Twill offer a wealth of projects and activities for visitors including free bird and nature walks. Since opening the island to the public in 2006, The Trust for Governors Island has regularly increased its programming for arts, culture, food, and the environment. This year, said NYC Audubon Executive Director Kathryn Heintz, “The Trust started offering opportunities for nonprofit organizations to do a residency on the island.” Competition for the “residency”—the right to occupy one of the island’s handful of former captains’ houses— was keen. And with reason: The outreach Nolan Park House #17, NYC Audubon’s Summer Island Home potential is enormous. “Last year, there were more than 600,000 visitors,” Heintz said. information about our own work in the five house will be open seven days a week from NYC Audubon was awarded Nolan Park boroughs and in the harbor, including Harbor 10:30am to 5:30pm, offering displays, books, house #17, once one of several homes for officers Herons and Project Safe Flight.” The cottage and videos about NYC Audubon projects, as during the island’s days as an Army base and will also provide a reference library of nature- well as nature-inspired crafts and activities for later Coast Guard base before being closed related books to read. children and loans of binoculars. The house in 1996. Heintz added, “It’s a great location The residency will have limited hours will close with the end of the Governors Island from which to provide walks and interpretive in May and June; in July and August, the public season on October 1. NYC Audubon staff members, guide Gabriel Willow, other guides, and volunteers will lead the free We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of those who recognized the unique nature and bird walks throughout the 172- opportunity that a residency on Governors Island would offer to bird conservation and acre island. High school interns will serve as to NYC Audubon: ambassadors, greeting visitors at the ferry and Anthony Argento Rich Fried and Stella Kim answering questions at the house. Gina Argento A. Caroline Greenleaf Broadway Stages Nancy Hager NYC Audubon’s Director of Conservation Marcia and Bruce Fowle Yungie Hahn and Science Susan Elbin is particularly Tatiana Kaletsch Kathryn and Vincent G. Heintz interested to see how birds take to the new Fredric and Winnie Spar Lynne Hertzog and Steve Pequignot areas Hammock Grove and The Hills, on the Mary and Michael Tannen Jeffrey Kimball and Pamela Hogan Michael and Caroline Mason southern tip of the island, which have been Robert Bate and Tracy Meade Jennifer Mazzanti planted with more than 50 species of trees Karen Benfield and John Zucker Alice McInerney and bushes native or adapted to the New York Drianne Benner and Kevin Perry Janet Mishkin region. These bird-friendly landscapes were MaryJane Boland Jean Pettibone Virginia Carter David Rodgers designed by the Dutch firm of West 8 and the Christian Cooper Nancy Shamban New York City firm of Mathews Nielsen. Sybil Costello John and Heather Shemilt The avian stars on Governors Island Alan Drogin David Speiser and Kimberly Kriger are the common terns, colonizers of its Susan and Greg Elbin Scott and Dhuane Stephens Alexander Ewing and Wynn Senning Leslie Sternlieb decommissioned piers. In 2013, Elbin and Kate and Andrew French Nancy Ward NYC Audubon Research Associate Liz Craig Philip Fried and Bruce Patterson Tod Winston counted 181 nests and banded 100 chicks. In June 2015, there were only 72 nesting pairs.

6 www.nycaudubon.org Suzanne Charlé

©NYC Audubon Just how many terns will be nesting this year remains to be seen, as Yankee Pier, a favored nesting site, collapsed during a recent storm. “We’ll see if they desert the area or move to the other two piers,” said Elbin. “We’re doing all we can to enhance the habitat for nesting.” Efforts include scattering grass cuttings and oyster shells from the New York Harbor Foundation’s Billion Oyster Project (another summer resident). To help visitors see the terns, NYC Audubon is configuring webcams, thanks to a grant from the Improvement Fund. Come mid-July, the island hosts NYC Audubon’s annual “It’s Your Tern” Festival. (See below for details.) Amid Governors Island’s jam-packed schedule of special events and festivals, hanging with NYC Audubon and visiting the terns is just one more reason to join the fun on the island this summer. The Hills on the Southern Tip of Governors Island

“IT ’ S YOUR TERN” FESTIVAL S ATURDAY, JULY 8,10AM–4PM (Rain Date Sunday, July 9, Noon-4pm) ©David Speiser

With Governors Island Alliance, National Park Service, New York Harbor School, Earth Matter NY ome celebrate Governors Island’s treasures: common terns and Coysters! Common terns, listed as a threatened species in New York State, have nested for several years on decommissioned piers on Governors Island’s waterfront. The colony has benefited recently from the introduction of oystershells as a nesting material. Free activities at this year’s festival will include bird walks and talks with Annie Barry, displays, and hands-on activities for the whole family. Get to the festival by taking a ferry to Governors Island. For more information and directions to the Tern Festival, visit www.nycaudubon.org/tern-festival. No limit. Free

Summer 2017 7 New York City Nightlife: Hanging with the City’s Bats Ned Boyajian

ong mysterious to New York City’s residents—and research- Of the nine New York State species (all microbats), five have ers—the City’s bats are gradually becoming better known. been detected in New York City: big brown bat, eastern red bat, LTo improve knowledge of these nocturnal critters, researchers hoary bat, silver-haired bat, and tri-colored bat, according to Debra have set up detectors around the town to monitor and record the Kriensky, NYC Audubon’s conservation biologist. Only eastern red ultrasound squeaks bats emit for echolocation. ©Anita Gould bat was identified for certain at the 2016 Tribute NYC Audubon has monitored bats at the in Light. But all five of these species were found

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center’s green roof * during the 2014 and 2015 monitoring seasons at and the Tribute in Light memorial. Additionally, the Javits Center. Fordham University and the Wildlife Conserva- “Eastern red bats dominated the Javits Center tion Society have been observing bat activity at sample in both years, accounting for nearly 50 per- the Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Central Park cent of the total passes recorded,” notes Fordham Zoo, and four locations throughout the Bronx. University PhD candidate Kaitlyn Parkins, who led To identify bat species and activity, researchers monitoring efforts there. Parkins goes on to note use acoustic recording devices set up on building that eastern red and silver-haired bats are common rooftops as well as handheld ultrasonic recording during their fall migratory period, while big brown units. These recording devices are able to capture bats are more common during the summer. bat echolocation calls, which fall outside the Some bats roost in caves while others roost range of human hearing. Using a software program, in trees. Eastern red, hoary, and silver-haired are such as SonoBat, researchers are able to analyze the among the latter group. “An interesting finding recordings to identify the different species present. Eastern Red Bat is that some tree bats seem to spend their win- This increased attention is for good reason. ters here and come out on warm days. I’ve heard Bats, whose 1,200 species make it the second largest order of mammals reports of birders seeing eastern red bats out during the day in in the world (behind rodents), are divided into two groups: megabats winter. It seems like winter activity is a normal behavior that we and microbats. Each group serves important ecological functions. just don’t know much about yet,” commented Parkins. Megabats, which mainly eat fruit and are usually found in warmer Many other discoveries may await as Parkins and her colleagues climates, act as pollinators and seed dispersers for hundreds of plant continue to investigate the City’s bats for NYC Audubon. You can species worldwide. Microbats, which primarily eat flying insects, observe these nocturnal critters yourself by joining NYC Audubon serve as a natural pesticide, with a single bat able to eat thousands of on a “Twilight Bat Walk in Central Park” this summer (see page 13 insects in a given night. for walk details).

REMEMBER THE BIRDS

here are many ways to play a UÊ >“iʺ iÜÊ9œÀŽÊ ˆÌÞÊÕ`ÕLœ˜»Ê>ÃÊ>Ê The tax benefits of these options can be very significant and lasting role in residual beneficiary, or co-beneficiary, in attractive, too. Be sure to speak with your Tsupporting New York City your retirement account, bank account, financial advisor about any arrangements Audubon’s mission to protect wild birds or insurance policy. It’s very easy! Often you make on behalf of New York City and their habitat in the five boroughs of it can be done online. Retirement plans Audubon. New York City: include IRAs, 401(k) plans, profit- UÊ ˜VÕ`iÊ iÜÊ9œÀŽÊ ˆÌÞÊÕ`ÕLœ˜Êˆ˜Ê sharing plans, Keogh plans, and 403(b) To learn more about ways to plan a gift your will or irrevocable trust. Specify plans. to New York City Audubon, contact “New York City Audubon Society, UÊ >ÛiÊ«>ޓi˜ÌÃÊvÀœ“ÊޜÕÀÊÀïÀi“i˜ÌÊ Director of Development Kellye Rosenheim 71 West 23rd Street, New York, NY account made directly to New York at [email protected] 10010” as a beneficiary. You can change City Audubon. You must be 70 ½ or or 646-502-9611. your bequest or designation at any time. older. Payments made this way are not included in your gross income.

8 www.nycaudubon.org On Becoming an Activist: Sharing the Learning Curve Meryl Greenblatt ©NYC Audubon UÊ ˜`>˜}iÀi`Ê-«iVˆiÃÊVÌ°Ê9œÕÊV>˜ÊÀi>`ʈÌÊ at www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/ pdf/ESAall.pdf. 3. Contacting your representatives works, depending on your approach. The New Yorker’s article “Call and Response” (March 6, 2017) suggests that personalized emails, personalized letters, and editorials in local newspapers are more effective than telephone calls. But calls work better during mass protests because they take up more staff time, interrupt business as usual, and garner media attention. Clicking “Take Action” links are fine, but you’ll accomplish more by drafting your own email. National Audubon offers these tips: UÊii«ÊޜÕÀʏiÌÌiÀÊ̜ʜ˜iÊ̜«ˆV° UÊii«ÊˆÌÊà œÀÌÊ>˜`Ê̜ÊÌ iÊ«œˆ˜Ì° UÊ/iÊ ޜÕÀÊ >ܓ>ŽiÀÊ œÜÊ Ì iÊ ˆÃÃÕiÊ affects you personally. Conservation Biologist Debra Kriensky (Right) with Colleagues from UÊiÌÊޜÕÀʏ>ܓ>ŽiÀʎ˜œÜÊޜÕʏˆÛiÊ>˜`Ê Wildlife Conservation Society at NYC March for Science, April 22, 2017 vote in their state or district. UÊÎÊvœÀÊ>ÊÀi«Þ° volunteered at January’s Newsletter may help in deciding how you want to engage. Committee meeting to write an article Having good reference material can help you 4. When it comes to email lists, I’ve Ion activism. Furious with the new map the forest. Then you can choose your tree. found EDF Action alerts to be the most political order, I proclaimed: we’ve got to informative, with timely updates and do something! Then I read and highlighted LESSONS LEARNED Take Action links. I favored those from articles. Tweeted and retweeted. Pored 1. Not everything you hear matters. Tune ABC for bird-specific issues. through emails. Clicked link upon link. out the President’s Twitter rants. Focus And watched as my inbox sagged under the on what’s coming out of Congress. The WE NEED YOUR HELP onslaught of incoming missives. Sign this legislation is what matters. As President Jeff Kimball stated in The petition. Call my congressperson. Organize a 2. There’s a limit to what any one person Urban Audubon spring issue, NYC Audubon bus to Washington. Information and directives can take in. Avoid information overload is not a lobbying body. But we’re talking piled up, along with a growing sense of dread by focusing on one area. Choose your about what we can do as a chapter, and as well as guilt at my inability to keep up. passion. Some examples: we invite you to join the conversation. My deadline kept me from shutting UÊ ˜ÛˆÀœ˜“i˜Ì>Ê*ÀœÌiV̈œ˜Ê}i˜VÞÊ­ *®°Ê If you have an idea, or want to help us down. Immersing myself in the American According to EDF, EPA’s funding at develop a plan, write to communications@ Bird Conservancy (ABC), Environmental present is only 0.22% of the federal nycaudubon.org with the subject line “NYC Defense Fund (EDF), League of Conservation budget. The President has proposed large Audubon Takes Action.” And if you haven’t Voters, National Audubon, Natural Resources cuts to this agency, moving toward its already, please send us your email address. Defense Council (NRDC), The Nature termination. We’ll add you to our Armchair Activist Conservancy, and The Sierra Club, I saw how UÊi}ˆÃ>̈œ˜Ê œ˜Ê Vˆ“>ÌiÊ V >˜}i]Ê >˜`Ê Action Alerts list. Finally, please continue I could help. First, I shortened the learning management, migratory flyway to donate. You’ll be contributing to on-the- curve for others (see “Lessons Learned” Nos. safeguards, air and water quality, and ground conservation efforts that generate 1 and 2 below); then, I took my own advice pesticide use. These laws could affect birds data to support the legislative work being (“Lessons Learned” Nos. 3 and 4). You can find and their habitat. done by others. a list of resources at www.audubon.org that

Summer 2017 9 Birding Cemeteries in the Five Boroughs:

Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery Mary Jane Kaplan

©Laura Meyers o end our series about cemetery tour guide at Green-Wood, notes that the birding in the five boroughs, we purpose was to get rid of crop-eating pests, Theaded to Brooklyn. Green-Wood and not (as legend would have it) to ensure Cemetery, unlike some of the other sites representation in New York of all the birds we’ve previously described—Trinity Uptown named in Shakespeare’s works. (Manhattan), Evergreens (Queens/Brooklyn), Founded in 1838, Green-Wood, like or Moravian (Staten Island)—needs no nearby Evergreens Cemetery, predates introduction for many of the City’s birders. In Central and Prospect Parks and is another fact, it is one of only four Brooklyn “hotspots” example of early cemeteries being the only described on the NYC Audubon website. open green space available to New Yorkers And even non-birders may be familiar with before the development of urban parks. its most well-known wildlife species: the Green-Wood’s site, like Evergreens’, figured monk parakeets that for decades have lived prominently in the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn, American Kestrel Spotted at year-round in nests on the cemetery’s Gothic which eventually forced George Washington Revival entrance gate. to retreat in order to fight another day. Green-Wood Cemetery With its 478 acres of hilly topography Green-Wood’s 200-foot high Battle Hill, the

©David Berkowitz hosting 7,000 trees, 4 spring-fed lakes, and highest point in Brooklyn, was named for an abundance of stunning monuments (many that famous confrontation. with famous names), Green-Wood has long In addition to trolley tours, Green-

* been a treasured oasis for New Yorkers. But Wood offers bird walks, after-hours nocturnal for bird lovers, the wide variety of birds critter tours, and many special events; see seen in all seasons is a special attraction. www.green-wood.com for the full schedule. Over 220 species are listed on ebird.org, the For more information about Green-Wood’s same number as on the cemetery’s printed trees and birds, as well as suggested birding checklist; and thanks to the lakes, more than itineraries, go to www.nycaudubon.org/ 30 of those are waterfowl, wading birds, and brooklyn-birding/green-wood-cemetery. Or shorebirds. sign up for the NYC Audubon walk with As if to prove the suitability of Green- Gabriel Willow on June 25, “The Parakeets Wood’s habitat for birds, research indicates of Green-Wood Cemetery.” See page 13 for that it was in Green-Wood that house trip details. Monk Parakeets Nesting at sparrows were first introduced to North Green-Wood Cemetery America, in the 1850s. Marge Raymond, a

Annual Meeting and Conservation Update

All lectures are free and open to the public. This series has been made possible by the support of Claude and Lucienne Bloch.

ANNUAL MEETING AND NYC Audubon conducts scientific monitoring in all five boroughs to understand how CONSERVATION PROGRAM UPDATE birds are using our urban environment and how this environment affects them, via By Susan Elbin, PhD, and Project Safe Flight, our Jamaica Bay program, and our Harbor Herons project. Join us Conservation Staff as Director of Conservation and Science Dr. Susan Elbin, Conservation Biologist Debra Tuesday, June 6, 6pm Kriensky, and our conservation team provide updates on what this research has taught us The Arsenal, Central Park, Fifth Avenue at in the past year. Our board election and annual meeting will precede the lecture. Snacks 64th Street, Third-Floor Gallery and refreshments will be provided.

10 www.nycaudubon.org 12th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival ©Don Riepe

AT JAMAICA BAY WILDLIFE REFUGE, SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 8:30am–5pm

uring the past 40 years, over 40 species of shorebirds 8:30am Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (including rare and accidental vagrants) have been Visitor Center for registration and recorded at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East and continental breakfast (coffee, donuts, juice, D etc.) West Ponds from mid-July through October, with the greatest 9am Hike to the West Pond to view shorebirds during diversity and abundance usually occurring in August. We invite the incoming tide (Kevin Karlson, Lloyd Spitalnik, you to attend our 12th annual celebration at the Jamaica Bay Sean Sime, Tom Burke, et al.) Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, August 26. Activities include guided 10:30am Welcome from the National Park Service (Gateway shorebird walks, family programming, and talks from experts on Superintendent Jennifer Nersesian) shorebird conservation, shorebird identification, and Jamaica Bay. 10:45am* Family activity with a National Park Service Ranger Free bus transportation from Manhattan to Jamaica Bay is 10:45am Overview of Jamaica Bay conservation issues and available for NYC Audubon members at the Student/Senior level wildlife (Jamaica Bay Guardian Don Riepe) and up. Meet at 71 West 23rd Street at 7:30am. Contact the 11:15am NYC Audubon shorebird research (Conservation office at 212-691-7483 to reserve a seat. For more information, Biologist Debra Kriensky, Director of Conservation contact NYC Audubon at 212-691-7483, American Littoral and Science Dr. Susan Elbin) Society at 718-474-0896, or Don Riepe at [email protected]. 11:45am Lunch (bring lunch or drive to deli located in The program is free, but suggested donations of $20 for adults nearby Broad Channel) 12:30pm Hikes to East and West Ponds at high tide or (children are free) to NYC Audubon are most welcome to offset other sites to be selected (all leaders) the festival cost. 2pm* Family activity with a National Park Service Ranger The Shorebird Festival is a NYC Audubon partnership 3pm Shorebird photography (Lloyd Spitalnik) program with the American Littoral Society and Gateway National 3:30pm Birding by Impression (Kevin and Dale Karlson) Recreation Area. 4:30–5pm Discussion and wrap-up

*Family activities are intended for children and will run concurrently with principal festival events.

Summer 2017 11 EVENTS AND ADVENTURES ©Steve Nanz • NYC Audubon Events • BREEDING BIRDS OF THE • Partnership Events HUDSON HIGHLANDS, NY Saturdays, June 17 and July 8, • VAN CORTLANDT BIRD WALKS, 8am–5pm THE BRONX Guide: Gabriel Willow Saturdays, May 6–July 29, 8–9:30am Join Gabriel Willow on a day-long Guides: NYC Audubon, Van trip to some of the most exciting Cortlandt Park Conservancy and beautiful birding locations in With Van Cortlandt Park the Hudson Valley—Doodletown Conservancy Road, Constitution Marsh, and Meet at Van Cortlandt Nature Indian Brook Farm. We'll look Center. The history of birding and for uncommon breeding warbler Van Cortlandt Park are inseparable. specialties at Doodletown, such Influential birders such as Roger as cerulean, hooded, blue-winged, Tory Peterson and Allan D. golden-winged, and worm-eating Cruickshank got their starts on Van warblers. We will then head to Cortlandt’s ecologically diverse the Constitution Marsh Audubon grounds. These walks celebrate the Sanctuary, home to breeding wood tradition set forth by these great duck, bald eagle, least bittern, marsh ornithologists. Participants will look Saltmarsh Sparrow wren, and more. After a picnic for various species of resident and lunch, we will drive to Indian Brook migrant birds and discuss a wide Farm in search of breeding field range of avian topics. For more Activities include guided bird • SUMMER BIRDING AT WAVE and savannah sparrows, bobolinks, information, call 212-691-7483. No walks, hiking, running, bikeriding, HILL, THE BRONX and indigo buntings. Transport by registration necessary. No limit. Free kayaking, free shuttle buses into the Sundays, June 11, July 9, August 13, passenger van included. Limited to park and to the top of a hill offering and September 10, 9:30–11:30am 12. $129 (90) per trip • THE BREEDING BIRDS panoramic views of New York, and Guide: Gabriel Willow OF DOODLETOWN ROAD, educational tours and displays. Visit With Wave Hill • THE SUMMERING BIRDS ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY www.freshkillspark.org for more Meet at the Perkins Visitor OF INWOOD HILL PARK, Thursday, June 1, 8am–4pm information. No limit. Free. Center. Naturalist Gabriel Willow MANHATTAN Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers contributes his extensive knowledge Saturday, June 17, 8:30–11am LLC • BIRDING GEMS OF STATEN of bird species and their behaviors Guide: Annie Barry THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT ISLAND: CLOVE LAKES PARK on these captivating walks. Wave Meet at the entrance to Inwood Hill Saturday, June 10, 8am–12pm Hill’s garden setting overlooking Park at the corner of Isham Street • FRESHKILLS DISCOVERY DAY, Guide: Gabriel Willow the Hudson River flyway provides and Seaman Avenue. Join Annie STATEN ISLAND Meet at the Manhattan terminal the perfect habitat for resident Barry for a hike through a mature Sunday, June 4, 11am–4pm of the Staten Island Ferry and and migrating birds. Ages 10 and forest in search of Baltimore and Guides: NYC Audubon, NYC Parks journey to the "forgotten borough" up welcome with an adult. NYC orchard orioles, eastern towhees, With NYC Parks to discover some of the beautiful Audubon members enjoy two-for- wood thrushes, warbling vireos, At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park forests and incredible birding spots one admission (see www.wavehill. and other summer residents. We is almost three times the size of of Clove Lakes Park. Look for ducks org for more information) will then move to the shores of the Central Park and the largest park and seabirds in New York Harbor Inwood Hill Park saltmarshes to to be developed in New York City on our way across on the ferry • EXPLORE THE MEADOWLANDS search for herons and ducks. Some in over 100 years. It also has a ride and then catch a bus to the BY PONTOON BOAT, hilly walking required. Limited to 15. significant history as the site of park. Numerous warblers, vireos, SECAUCUS, NJ $36 (25) the former Fresh Kills Landfill. The tanagers, and other migratory Saturday, June 17, 7:30am–12:30pm landfill has been covered with layers songbirds can be seen here, as well Guides: Tod Winston and NJ • PROSPECT PARK BIRD WALK of soil and infrastructure, and the as nesting eastern screech owls and Meadowlands Docent Sundays, June 18, July 16, and site has become a place for wildlife, great blue herons. We'll even see With NJ Meadowlands Commission August 20, 8–11am recreation, science, education, one of the largest and oldest trees in THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT Guide: Gabriel Willow and art. Trails and paths normally NYC. Limited to 15. Bus fare ($2.75 Meet under the arch in Grand off-limits to the public will be open each way; bring your MetroCard Army Plaza. Join Gabriel Willow on this day and offer views of the or exact change) not included in for a leisurely walk to see later- park’s hills, creeks, and wildlife. registration price. $43 (30)

12 www.nycaudubon.org spring migrants and breeding bird • BREEDING BIRDS OF home to rolling grasslands, tidal and a flashlight. All children must residents of “Brooklyn’s Backyard,” NICKERSON BEACH AND MARINE marshes, successional woodlands, be accompanied by an adult; beautiful Prospect Park. Although NATURE STUDY AREA, LI and a freshwater pond system, recommended for ages 5 and up. summer birding in the City can be Saturday, July 8, 6:30am–1pm which host an array of breeding Limited to 15. $26 (18) a bit slow, Prospect Park has a wide Guide: Tod Winston birds, butterflies, mammals, frogs, variety of habitats that attract a large Join Tod Winston in exploring two and turtles. Grasshopper sparrows, • CROTON POINT PARK, NY number of migrants and breeding popular birding spots that are a osprey, yellow warblers, and blue Sunday, July 23, 8:20am–3pm bird species. We will explore the little hard to get to for car-less New grosbeaks nest alongside wrens, Guide: Gabriel Willow park’s meadows, forests, and Yorkers. Departing early to beat the blackbirds, orioles, and shorebirds. Meet at Grand Central and travel in waterways in search of waterfowl, heat, we’ll first seek out breeding Wading birds feed on the mudflats comfort aboard Metro-North to visit warblers, tanagers, and more. common and least terns, American at low tide while hawks and vultures Croton Point Park, overlooking the Limited to 15. $36 (25) per walk oystercatchers, piping plovers, and soar above. On calm, sunny days, Hudson River about one hour north black skimmers at Nickerson Beach. one can expect to find nearly two of the City. This 500-acre park is a • THE PARAKEETS OF GREEN- Then we’ll walk the boardwalks of dozen species of butterflies here. wonderful mix of forest, wetlands, WOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLYN the nearby Marine Nature Study Transport by passenger van on S.I. and grasslands that are home to Sunday, June 25, 10am–1pm Area in search of nesting saltmarsh included. Limited to 12. $64 (45) hard-to-find breeding birds such Guide: Gabriel Willow and seaside sparrows, as well as indigo buntings, grasshopper With Green-Wood Cemetery as osprey, herons, egrets, and • CITY OF WATER DAY sparrows, bobolinks, and eastern Meet at the cemetery entrance at shorebirds. Transport by passenger ECOCRUISE meadowlarks. Great horned owls, 5th Avenue and 25th Street, Park van included. Limited to 12. $94 Saturday, July 15 willow flycatchers, and orchard Slope, Brooklyn. Explore Green- (66) Guide: Gabriel Willow orioles breed in nearby woodlands. Wood Cemetery, rich in both history With The Waterfront Alliance Bring lunch for a picnic in one of the and wildlife, in search of spring • BIRDING GEMS OF STATEN Boat launches TBA. As part of City riverside pavilions. Limited to 20. migrants and its most unique avian ISLAND: FRESHKILLS PARK of Water Day, a celebration of the Round-trip Metro-North fare ($20.50) residents: the huge flocks of brilliant Sunday, July 9, 8am–3pm waterways and harbors of New not included in trip price. $50 (35) green monk parakeets that nest Guide: Cliff Hagen York City, join naturalist Gabriel there. Native to South America, With NYC Department of Parks and Willow for a free guided ecocruise • “IT’S YOUR TERN” FESTIVAL these charming immigrants are Recreation to Hoffman and Swinburne Islands ON GOVERNORS ISLAND surprisingly hardy and flourish even Meet at the Manhattan terminal of exploring the natural history of Saturday, July 8, 10am–4pm in our harsh winters. Limited to 15. the Staten Island Ferry for a special the area. Find more info about (Rain Date Sunday, July 9, $46 (32) opportunity to see Freshkills Park, City of Water Day and register Noon–4pm) currently in transition from what was for the free boat tour to Hoffman With Governors Island Alliance, once the world’s largest landfill into and Swinburne Islands at http:// National Park Service, New York an expansive park. Currently closed waterfrontalliance.org/what-we- Harbor School, Earth Matter NY to the general public, the park is do/city-of-water-day. Registration See page 7 for details

©Lloyd Spitalnik required. Limited to 150. Free • SHOREBIRD IDENTIFICATION • TWILIGHT BAT WALKS IN WORKSHOP CENTRAL PARK Thursday, August 10, 6:30–8:30pm Tuesdays, July 18–August 22, (class) 7:45–9:15pm (no walk on August 15) Saturday, August 12, 10:30am– Guide: Paul Keim 2:30pm (trip) Meet at 103rd Street and Central Instructor: Joe Giunta, Happy Park West. Explore the mysteries Warblers LLC of Central Park at twilight as Shorebirds are one of the most we seek these fascinating and challenging groups of birds to misunderstood flying mammals— identify, yet beautiful and fascinating and learn about their great once they can be distinguished. Learn importance to our environment. to identify plovers and sandpipers We'll see local bat species in flight (including "peeps") by learning as they hunt and dive for insects, behavior, field marks, and calls—then and hear them with an echolocation take a field trip to Jamaica Bay to device. Other nocturnal creatures practice your new skills. Limited to 12. Golden-crowned Kinglet like crickets and katydids may $65 (45) be seen as well. Bring bug spray continued on page 14

Summer 2017 13 EVENTS AND ADVENTURES (CONTINUED) ©Lloyd Spitalnik • SHOREBIRD WALK IN JAMAICA plovers and sandpipers that already • MORNING FALL MIGRATION BAY, QUEENS will be headed south. Limited to 15. WALKS IN CENTRAL PARK Saturday, August 19, 9am–1:30pm $40 (28) Wednesday Series: Guide: Gabriel Willow September 6–October 25 Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife • 12TH ANNUAL JAMAICA BAY Thursday Series: Refuge. We'll search the mudflats SHOREBIRD FESTIVAL September 7–October 26 and ponds for breeding herons Saturday, August 26, 8:30am–5pm (All Walks 7:30–10:30am) and egrets, Forster's and common With Gateway NRA and American Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers terns, clapper rails, and American Littoral Society LLC Piping Plover oystercatchers, as well as migratory See page 11 for details Meet at Central Park West and 72nd Street. Birders of all levels

OVERNIGHT TRIPS

• MONTAUK SPRING WEEKEND • BOREAL BIRDING IN THE along a scenic shoreline, and a of course, the hawk watch is Friday, June 2–Sunday, June 4 ADIRONDACKS, NY lobster dinner. Contact Don Riepe legendary as well. We’ll visit Guides: Mike Bottini, Mickey Friday, June 30, 8am–Monday, at 718-474-0896 or donriepe@ Cape May Point, Higbee Beach, Cohen, Don Riepe July 3, 8pm gmail.com for more information Cape May Meadows, and more With American Littoral Society Guides: Gabriel Willow, and to register. $425 ($150 single in search of songbirds, raptors, Join us for our 20th year at the Joan Collins supplement) wading birds, ducks, and terns. luxurious Montauk Manor and NYC Audubon returns to the Transport by passenger van enjoy indoor/outdoor heated Adirondacks, NY State’s wildest • CAPE MAY FALL MIGRATION, included. Limited to 10. $350 pools, Jacuzzi, and spacious suites. region. The incredible diversity of NJ ($50 single supplement) Registration price includes five habitat within Adirondack Park’s six Saturday, September 23, 9am– meals, five guided field trips, two million acres leads to an astounding Sunday, September 24, 7pm • CHINCOTEAGUE REFUGE/ evening slide programs, an evening variety of plant and bird species, Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers ASSATEAGUE ISLAND: BIRDS star watch, and free pickup at the including several specialities of LLC AND PONIES, VA LIRR station in Montauk. Contact mountain spruce and fir forest Cape May, NJ, is one of the best Thursday, November 9, 9am– Don Riepe at 718-474-0896 or as well as gray jays and boreal birding venues in the United States, Sunday, November 12, 6pm [email protected] for more chickadees. Accompanied by local especially during fall migration. Visit Guide: Don Riepe information and to register. $395 Adirondack resident, guide, and the Cape May hawk watch on two With American Littoral Society ($140 single supplement) president of the NYS Ornithological days, once late in the day and then A great natural history weekend Association Joan Collins, we’ll stay early, to get a good variety of hawks. on the Virginia coast. See • BASHAKILL, SHAWANGUNK in the town of Saranac Lake, spend Also visit birding hotspots such wild ponies, snow geese, NWR, AND DOODLETOWN, NY our days exploring the mountains as Higbee Beach, Jake’s Landing, bald eagles, migrating hawks, Saturday, June 10, 8am–Sunday, and valleys in the region, and dine Cape May Meadows, and Nummy waterfowl, shorebirds, and lots June 11, 6pm at restaurants in Saranac Lake and Island. Transport by passenger van more. Includes three nights Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers nearby Lake Placid. Transport by included. Limited to 10. $350 ($50 lodging at the luxurious Refuge LLC passenger van included. $720 ($220 single supplement) Inn (heated pool, Jacuzzi, THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT single supplement) sauna, exercise room, and • CAPE MAY FALL MIGRATION, observation deck), breakfast, a • BASHAKILL, NEVERSINK, AND • CAPE ANN WHALE WATCH, MA NJ Safari bus tour of back dunes STERLING FOREST, NY Thursday, August 10–Sunday, Saturday, September 30, 9am– area, guided hikes, evening Saturday, June 17, 8am–Sunday, August 13 Sunday, October 1, 7pm programs, and an “all-you-can June 18, 6pm Guide: Don Riepe Guide: Gabriel Willow eat” oyster & seafood dinner. Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers With American Littoral Society Cape May, NJ, is the East’s capital of Contact Don Riepe at 718-474- LLC Visit scenic Gloucester, birding, and is particularly bird-rich 0896 or [email protected] THIS TRIP IS SOLD OUT Massachusetts and enjoy a whale in the fall. On good fall migration for information and to register. watching boat tour, an evening cruise days, the area’s forests and marshes $395 ($150 single room on the Essex River, easy canoeing are swarming with warblers, vireos, supplement) on the Ipswich River, a guided hike thrushes, and other songbirds, and,

14 www.nycaudubon.org ©François Portmann can enjoy this fun and educational round residents on the expansive, • SNOW GEESE AND TUNDRA series of eight walks, observing the wooded cemetery grounds, while SWANS OF BRIGANTINE, NJ diverse and ever-changing waves of the Woodlawn Conservancy's Susan Sunday, October 29, 9:30am–7pm migrants that stop over Central Park Olsen shares fascinating stories Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers during fall migration. Limited to 15. about Woodlawn’s history and the LLC $180 (126) per series interesting mixture of individuals Brigantine, part of the National interred there. Bring water. Limited Wildlife Refuge System, is one of • FALL WARBLERS to 15. $35 (24) the East Coast's premier sites for Friday, September 8, 6:30–8:30pm waterbirds, offering a diversity (class) • JAMAICA BAY SUNSET of species and panoramic views. Sunday, September 10, 8–11am (trip) ECOLOGY CRUISE Bring lunch and water. Transport by Instructor: Joe Giunta, Happy Saturdays, September 16 and 23, passenger van included. Limited to Warblers LLC 4–7pm 12. $125 (87) Identifying “confusing fall warblers” Guides: Don Riepe, Mickey Cohen can be tricky, even for the experts. With American Littoral Society and EARLY MEMBER Come study some of the most Gateway NRA REGISTRATION FOR puzzling species that stop through Cooper’s Hawk Meet at Pier 4 in Sheepshead UPCOMING EVENTS our area during fall migration with Bay, Brooklyn. Enjoy a three-hour More fall and early winter expert Joe Giunta, and then enjoy a narrated cruise aboard the “Golden events will be posted at second session in the classroom of • HOOK MOUNTAIN HAWK Sunshine.” See migrating hawks, www.nycaudubon.org and Central Park. Limited to 12. $65 (45) WATCH, NY herons, ibis, and many other available for registration for Sunday, September 17, 9am–4pm species and learn about the history, contributing NYC Audubon • EVENING FALL MIGRATION Guide: Joe Giunta, Happy Warblers ecology, and wildlife of this great members starting on Monday, WALKS IN CENTRAL PARK LLC urban preserve. Wine, cheese, fruit, August 7. (Registration will open Monday Series: Part of the Palisades Interstate and snacks included. To register, to all on Monday, August 21) September 11–October 16 Park system, Hook Mountain has contact Don Riepe at 718-474-0896 Tuesday Series: commanding views of all nearby or [email protected]. Limited TO REGISTER FOR ALL NYC September 12–October 17 mountains ridges and the Hudson to 140. $55 (children under 16, $25) AUDUBON EVENTS and for Wednesday Series: River. From this inland hawk watch per cruise more information, visit www. September 13–October 18 spot we expect to see many species nycaudubon.org or call Danielle (All Walks 5–6:30pm) of migrating raptors, including • BIRDING GEMS OF STATEN Sherman at 212-691-7483 x304 Guide: Gabriel Willow broad-winged and red-shouldered ISLAND: CLOVE LAKES PARK unless otherwise specified. Meet at Central Park West and hawks, bald eagles, accipiters, and Saturday, September 23, 9am–1pm 72nd Street. Witness the spectacle falcons. Note: this trip requires a Guide: Gabriel Willow IMPORTANT INFORMATION of autumn migration as songbirds 35-minute hike up and down the Meet at the Manhattan terminal • Classes meet at 71 West 23rd follow the Atlantic Flyway to their mountainside. Bring binoculars, of the Staten Island Ferry and Street, Suite 1523. tropical wintering grounds. Look water, and a bag lunch to enjoy atop journey to the "Forgotten Borough" • Contributing Members (Student/ for tanagers, warblers, and other the mountain while watching the to discover some of the beautiful Senior level and up) receive a neo-tropical migrants in the wilds hawks fly overhead. Transport by forests and incredible birding spots 30% discount on most local of Central Park. Limited to 15. $146 passenger van included. Limited to at Clove Lakes Park. Look for ducks trips and classes (on discounted (102) per series 12. $99 (69) and seabirds in New York Harbor events, the discounted price on our way across on the ferry appears in parentheses after • INTRO TO BIRDING: BIRD • FALL MIGRANTS OF ride and then catch a bus to the the nonmember price). See WALK IN CENTRAL PARK WOODLAWN CEMETERY, THE park. Numerous warblers, vireos, membership form on page 19. Saturday, September 16, 8–10:30am BRONX tanagers, and other migratory • For all coach and van trips, the Guide: Tod Winston Sunday, September 17, 8–10:30am songbirds can be seen here. We'll meeting location is in front of Meet at Central Park West and Guides: Tod Winston, Joseph even see one of the largest and 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan 72nd Street. Are you curious about McManus, Susan Olsen oldest trees in NYC. Limited to 15. unless otherwise specified. "birding" but don't have much (or With Woodlawn Conservancy Bus fare ($2.75 each way; bring your • We depart promptly at the stated any) experience? Come on a relaxed Meet at the Jerome Avenue MetroCard or exact change) not start time. walk through Strawberry Fields entrance of Woodlawn Cemetery. included in registration price. $43 • For all overnight trips, and the Ramble to go over birding Join us for a morning bird walk (30) membership in NYC Audubon at basics and see warblers, tanagers, and tour of beautiful Woodlawn the Student/ Senior level and up sparrows, waterbirds, and more. Cemetery. Tod Winston and is required. Binoculars available. Limited to 15. Joseph McManus will help us $36 (25) look for fall migrants and year- Summer 2017 15 BOOK REVIEWS Hillarie O’Toole,

New Jersey’s Hawks to visit. Number one on his list, Cape May her thoughts running through the region’s Point State Park, is reported to have annual biology, geology, human history, and more. By Len Soucy fall counts of 35,000-40,000 raptors. When A former vice president of NYC Audubon, Ace/Twill, 2016 mapping the route to visit one or more of Sharp embraces the beauty of this land and these sites, consider adding a stop to tour the its wildlife. Her enthusiasm infuses her Raptor Trust in Millington, NJ. Founded in holistic observations: “The changing light— 1982, it is one of the premier wild bird re- the ever-shortening days—is the signal for habilitation centers in the U.S. and is home the summer birds to begin their migrations to about 50 non-releasable permanent raptor south . . . The nectar-loving ruby-throated residents. Over the years, it has provided care hummingbird, which is also an insectivore, for more than 100,000 injured or sick birds. is the first to heed the warning of the light’s The nonprofit center is open seven days a diminishment . . . Seeing them at feeders week and serves as an active education center so close to the house, I get to know them for the public. Admission is free, with a sug- as individuals—their quirky and passionate gested donation of $2.—HO personalities.” Sharp similarly summons dozens of The Quarry Fox: And Other wild critters familiar to the Catskills region, Critters of the Wild Catskills offering insights into how nature shapes lanning a birding trip in New them and, in turn, how they shape their Jersey? If the answer is “yes,” be By Leslie T. Sharpe world. —NB Psure to familiarize yourself with the The Overlook Press, 2017 hawk species that can be seen in the Garden One More Warbler: State. If the answer is “no,” this book may A Life with Birds make you reconsider. Lovingly curated by the late Len Soucy, founder and president By Victor Emanuel & S. Kirk Walsh of the Raptor Trust, New Jersey’s Hawks is University of Texas Press, 2017 a thorough reference guide not only to the 16 hawk species found in New Jersey, but for all species found throughout the eastern United States. These include some that one might expect, such as the red-tailed hawk, but surprises as well, like the golden eagle While the book’s content is geared pri- marily for novice birders, the level of detail on biology, taxonomy, behavior, and habitat can be of interest for more experienced nature pending time with naturalists can enthusiasts. The book provides an overview enrich the way one views the world. on taxonomy practices and describes traits STake, for example, just a naturalist’s shared by all diurnal raptors. For each spe- close examination of a small bluestone rock cies, Soucy presents a two-page spread with that contextually evokes a vision of upstate a description of the raptor’s features, range, New York covered by a warm, shallow sea ne More Warbler: A Life with Birds of- habitat, nesting habits, diet, voice, and de- some 350 million years ago: “Even today, it is fers a highly personal story recount- tails of known occurrences in New Jersey possible to see this ancient sea and the racing Oing Victor Emanuel’s lifelong interest (including future survival prospects and rivers that nurtured it at work in the ripple and dedication to birds and birding. Travel- threats). marks left on bluestone slabs, and in some ing to every continent, including Anarctica, The chapter dedicated to New Jersey places in the Catskills.” the renowned bird guide has tallied over hawk-watching lists Soucy’s top nine recom- In The Quarry Fox, naturalist Leslie 6,000 bird species. mended locations, based on species report- Sharp invites readers to conjure the Great Emanuel explains how the sight of a male ed, site accessibility, and best time of year Western Catskills through her eyes and to hear cardinal as a child of eight in his native Texas

16 www.nycaudubon.org Ned Boyajian, Claude Bloch KINGSLAND WILDLOWERS ©

first drew him to birds. By the time he was Mitch Waxman 15, he was invited to Mexico by experienced birding friends for his first experience in tropical birding. He describes his excitement on the day he was told to join a well-known local birder to look for a very rare shorebird on Galveston Island, Texas. That group remains the last to have seen the eskimo curlew in the U.S. Emanuel also details his numerous journeys to the El Triunfo World Biosphere Preserve in Mexico. His many encounters with tropical birds, penguins, and birds of prey are vividly enumerated. Woven into his journey, Emanuel describes his get-togethers with a host of top- notch birders, well-known ornithologists, writers, artists, and political leaders, among them Roger Tory Peterson, George Plimpton, and Laura Bush. Many were instrumental in his formative years and later; others participated with him in exploring AN ORAL HISTORY OF new regions with a specific focus on avifauna. NEWTOWN CREEK AND INDUSTRIAL In a particularly moving section, NORTH BROOKLYN Emanuel shares how his longtime friend, the late writer and environmental activist Presentation by Mitch Waxman Peter Mathiessen, had hoped for one more Followed by Green Roof Tour visit to Texas to see warblers. Unfortunately, Saturday, June 3, 5–7pm Mathiessen was unable to fly while undergoing chemotherapy. Emanuel instead 520 Kingsland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222 flew to New York and the two went birding oin Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman for a special slide- in the Ramble in Central Park. “We saw show presentation exploring one of the key epicenters of the Industrial warbler after warbler,” he writes, tallying 18 Revolution: Newtown Creek. A photographer and blogger, Mitch has been species that day. The last, which Mathiessen J documenting the area’s rich history and the environmental issues that plague the spotted, was “one of the most beautiful largely unknown 3.8-mile-long waterway, found at the center of New York City warblers, a male Cape May.” and recently placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Federal Superfund Also evident is Emanuel’s devotion to site list. The presentation will photographically carry viewers from the Newtown training young people by including them Creek’s junction with the all the way back to the heart of darkness in local and distant field trips, and by found at its end in East Williamsburg. A tour of the Kingsland Wildflowers starting summer camps to develop the next green roof will follow the presentation, offering views of this historical site. generation of birders. I highly recommend This event is free and open to the public. For more information on Kingsland this book to learn more about the fascinating Wildflowers and upcoming programming, visit www.kingslandwildflowers.com life of this avid and legendary birder, who continues to seek new adventures and inspire Funding provided by the Office of the New York State others to bird by leading birding tours to Attorney General and the New York State Department this day. —CB of Environmental Conservation through the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund

Summer 2017 17 Acknowledgments

PARTNERSHIPS Staten Island Museum Conservation is not possible without working partnerships. NYC Palisades Interstate Park SUNY College of Environmental Audubon collaborates with government agencies and other nonprofit Commission Science and Forestry and community organizations to reach broader audiences and achieve Patagonia Toyota TogetherGreen common conservation goals. Recent partnerships have included the Port Authority of NY and NJ The Trust for Governors Island following organizations: Prendergast Laurel Architects U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Prospect Park Audubon Center U.S. Geological Service Alive Structures Macaulay Honors College Protectors of Pine Oak Woods U.S. Green Building Council of American Bird Conservancy Manomet Center for Conservation Queens Botanical Garden New York American Birding Association Sciences Queens College, CUNY U.S.D.A. APHIS/Wildlife Services American Littoral Society Massachusetts Audubon Society Queens County Bird Club Unitarian Church of All Souls American Museum of Natural History McGolrick Park Neighborhood Randall’s Island Park Alliance Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy Audubon New York Alliance The Raptor Trust Wagner College The Battery Conservancy Michael Ahern Production Rockaway Waterfront Alliance The Waterbird Society Broadway Stages Services Inc Rocking the Boat Waterfront Alliance Bronx River Alliance Million Trees NYC Sadhana Wave Hill Brooklyn Bird Club Moynihan Station Development SCAPE Studio Wild Bird Fund Bryant Park Corporation Corporation Science and Resilience Institute at Wildlife Conservation Society Canadian Wildlife Service National Audubon Society Jamaica Bay Woodlawn Conservancy Central Park Conservancy National Park Service South Shore Audubon Society YMCA of Greater New York Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve Gateway National Recreation Area St. Bernard’s School National September 11 Memorial Columbia University Environmental and Museum NEW YORK CITY AUDUBON THANKS THE FOLLOWING Biology Society The Nature Conservancy FOUNDATIONS, CORPORATIONS, AND GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES Con Edison Natural Areas Conservancy Conserve Wildlife New Jersey Audubon Society FOR THEIR FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Constitution Marsh - Audubon New Jersey Meadowlands Achelis Foundation The Marta Heflin Foundation Center and Sanctuary Commission AmazonSmile Foundation Moore Charitable Foundation Cornell Cooperative Extension American Bird Conservancy National Audubon Society Cornell University The New York Botanical Garden Bank of America National Fish and Wildlife The Corner Bookstore New York City Department of Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation The Environmental Protection Broadway Stages National Park Service Earth Matter NY New York City Department of Carle Place Union Free School The Nature Conservancy Ennead Architects Parks & Recreation District New York Community Trust The Event Office Arts & Antiquities The Chervenak-Nunnalle NYC Soil & Water Conservation Evergreens Cemetery Central Park Arsenal Foundation District Film Presence Natural Resources Group Commercial Roofing Solutions NYS Department of Environmental Fordham University Urban Parks Rangers Con Edison Conservation Freshkills Park Alliance New York City Economic The Dobson Foundation Office of the New York State Friends University Development Corporation The Eppley Foundation for Research Attorney General FXFOWLE New York City Soil & Water FedEx Patagonia Governors Island Alliance Conservation District First Cornerstone Foundation Queens County Bird Club Great South Bay Audubon Society New York Harbor School FXFOWLE Queens World Film Initiative Greenbelt Conservancy New York State Department of Genting New York LLC Robert and Joyce Menschel Family Greenbelt Native Plant Center Environmental Conservation Great Performances Foundation Green-Wood Cemetery New York State Office of Parks, Greenpoint Community Rockaway Beach Boulevard Grounded Truth Recreation and Historic Preservation Environmental Fund Construction Harbor Estuary Program New York State Ornithological Hallingby Family Foundation Roland Food Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association Hollywood Theatre Romemu The Horticultural Society of New York New York University Center for Urban Hudson River Foundation Sperone Westwater Gallery Science and Progress (CUSP) Investors Bank Foundation Tannen Family Foundation Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon New York University Wallerstein Jacob Burns Film Center The Walt Disney Company Society Collaborative for Urban Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Foundation Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Environmental Education Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Jamaica Bay Birders’ Coalition New York Water Taxi Conservancy William C. Bullitt Foundation Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers Newtown Creek Alliance Kekst The Williams Companies Jamaica Bay Institute The North Shore Waterfront Kimball Foundation Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater JM Kaplan Fund Conservancy of Staten Island Leon Levy Foundation Wildlife Conservation Society Kingsborough Community College NYC H2O Lily Auchincloss Foundation Larksong Media Ocean Conservancy Manomet Center for Conservation Lenoir-Rhyne University Open Space Alliance for North Sciences Linneaen Society Brooklyn LongHouse Reserve The Ornithological Council 18 www.nycaudubon.org News & Notes Support NYC Audubon’s Mission

JAMAICA BAY WEST POND’S LOOP THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO PROTECT GIVE A MATCHING GIFT Supporters can PATH TO BE RE-OPENED THIS MAY NEW YORK CITY’S WILD BIRDS double or triple the value of donations through We are happy again to report on n addition to becoming a member or their employers’ matching gift programs. continued restorations efforts to making a one-time donation, there Contact your company’s human resources return Jamaica Bay’s West Pond, Iare several ways to play a larger role department to learn how. Be sure to specify originally breached during Hurricane in supporting NYC Audubon’s mission to New York City Audubon as the designee. Sandy, to its original state as a protect wild birds and their habitat in the five freshwater source. With construction boroughs of New York City: LEAVE A LEGACY When you designate New FRPSOHWHGWKLVZLQWHUWRÀOOWKH York City Audubon as a beneficiary in your will, pond’s breach and fortify it, National GIVE MONTHLY Provide ongoing monthly IRA, life insurance policy, or investment/bank Park Service began construction to support to ensure our birds are protected account, your gift will support the conservation re-install the loop path around the throughout the year. You can make a huge of the birds you love for many years to come. pond this spring. The trail is expected difference for as little as $5 per month. See the Visit www.nycaudubon.org/leave-a-legacy or to be open to the public by the end membership form below or donate online at contact us to learn more. For more information of May. www.nycaudubon.org/donate. on a bequest, see the REMEMBER THE BIRDS box on page 8. SUMMER ECOCRUISES ON HIATUS BECOME A MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN THIS SUMMER KESTREL CIRCLE Soar above the rest by To learn more about any of the above, contact Our scheduled Summer Ecocruises to making a donation of $2,500 or more. Director of Development Kellye Rosenheim the Harbor Heron Islands regrettably American Kestrel Circle patrons enjoy at [email protected] or 646- had to be cancelled as of press time. special access and exclusive tours. See the 502-9611. Save paper, time, and money by These trips are taking a hiatus as we membership form below or donate online at making your contribution online 24/7 at seek a new cruise partner. www.nycaudubon.org/donate. Contact us to www.nycaudubon.org/support-us. learn more. MANY THANKS FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS HELP We wish to thank Sarah McGullam MAKE A DIFFERENCE for her volunteer service working on Contributing members are essential to our conservation and outreach work. As a member of NYC Audubon, you will receive The Urban Audubon newsletter and The eGret email newsletter; enjoy discounts The Urban Audubon. As a member of on field trips and classes; and make a difference in helping to protect the City’s wildlife and natural areas. our Publications Committee, Sarah [ ] I would like to become a member by making a recurring donation in the amount of $______copy edited, proofread, and fact- each month. checked our newsletter using her I would like to become a member by making a one-time donation: eagle eyes and astounding expertise [ ] American Kestrel Circle $2,500 [ ] Conservationist $250 [ ] Supporter $100 in all matters involving style and [ ] Family $75 [ ] Dual $50 [ ] Friend $25 [ ] Dual Senior(65+) $30 language. We wish her the best as she [ ] Student/Senior(65+) $15 [ ] New [ ] Renewal relocates to Western Massachusetts. We also thank Susan McFeatters [ ] Additionally, I would like to make a donation to NYC Audubon in the amount of $______. for her contributions helping with [ ] I’m already a member but would like to make a gift in the amount of $______. our communications efforts this past fall and spring. Susan joined us as an Name: ______intern through Patagonia’s Employee Internship Program, choosing to vol- Address: ______unteer with our organization because of her interest in our horseshoe crab Phone: H: ______C: ______Email: ______monitoring work in Jamaica Bay. During her time here, Susan was in- [ ] Enclosed is my check payable to NYC Audubon dispensable in helping with many [ ] Charge my credit card: [ ] VISA [ ] MC [ ] AMEX [ ] DSC of our communications efforts, includ- CARD #______Exp. Date:______Security Code: ______ing editing this issue of The Urban Mail this form with your payment to: Audubon. Her good-natured and NYC Audubon • 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1523 • New York, NY 10010

enthusiastic spirit will be missed. Membership in NYC Audubon does not include National Audubon membership or Audubon Magazine. Donations to NYC Audubon are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. NYC Audubon is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Summer 2017 19 New York City Audubon NONPROFIT ORG. 71 West 23rd Street US POSTAGE Suite 1523 PAID New York, NY 10010 HUDSON NH PERMIT No. 82

DATED MATERIAL: Summer 2017 Newsletter

SAVE THE DATE

THE FALL ROOST Benefiting NYC Audubon—Protecting Wild Birds and Their Habitat in New York City for 38 Years

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 The Edison Ballroom

Honoring Broadway Stages, Gina Argento, and Tony Argento and Volunteer of the Year MaryJane Boland

For more information, please contact Kellye Rosenheim at 646-502-9611 or [email protected]

20 www.nycaudubon.org