Visiting duck, beautiful fall

Here's a pretty good shot of the new visiting duck. It's all white, and quite large. I wonder if it's an escapee from one of the Long Island duck farms. Hmmm - are there still Long Island Duck farms? There were many of them when I was a kid, but I suspect many have been replaced by housing developments. This is my new camera, a replacement for the one I lost on vacation. It seems pretty good, and hopefully will last at least until next summer's big vacation.

Fantastic fall colors in the park right now - just a few trees, really standing out in contrast with the greenery.

Interesting fishing line caught in a tree. It comes straight up from the water, and is looped over a branch of a tree by a stick tied to its end. Sadly, it looks impossible to get from the shore. Hopefully none of the birds will strangle themselves on it before the Parks Dept. takes action.

Swan in Danger!!

One of the two goslings who were born here and returned a mere two days ago is caught by a fishing line and lure. The swan, known as Ziggy, is swimming in circles and back and forth all around the lake, trying to loosen itself. It looks like the line, with attached lure, is wrapped around one leg. the bird can't come ashore for someone to try to save it. It has been reported to the rangers, and we have e-mailed whatever contacts we have in the park. Let's hope it can be saved. Ziggy was one of last year's goslings, and the only one who had never been wounded by the fishing line and hooks. It came close enough to shore so I could get some good pictures - note the red thing (lure?) right behind him/her. This is so disgusting, that we kill off so many birds and still can't look after the precious few that are left.

Anne is trying to teach me to identify individual birds. She pointed out that one of newly arrived geese has a white "eyebrow" on its face.
what an eye for detail she has!

There was a rumor that "something big" was floating in the water near the Lullwater - stay tuned for further info.

Bridge repairs moving ahead. Hope they replace the decorative metal piece that is sitting on the ground.

Other than the panic about our swan, it was a quiet day - Mondays seem to be. I guess people and their dogs skip the park and just go into work, having had the weekend. Speaking of which, someone used the Peninsula Meadow for a baby shower - what a beautiful spot! But maybe they could have taken all the evidence with them, rather than leaving the decorations to blow around on the grass.

On the subject of geese - it is more controversial than I thought, the idea of using them for food. A commentator pointed out some of the issues. I will do some more research and rethink this. But I would like to say that people often have a lot of emotional baggage about their food. Dogs and snakes are food in China, horsemeat is a treat in Quebec, Americans are horrified by both. It wasn't so long ago that oysters and lobster were so plentiful and cheap that they were common fare in prisons. Maine actually passed a law limiting how much lobster could be fed to prisoners, since too much was considered abuse. And of course, the ultimate mouth-watering feast in Dickens' "Christmas Carol " was ...GOOSE!!! Just saying.

War in the Park?

There was a N.Y. Times article about a war in the park in which Papa swan attacked and killed 3 goslings. Here's the link: Just want to say that I am definitely on the side of the swans. Here are the pictures to support my position. The geese are invading the swan nest and attacking it. There have been a lot of them in the swan nesting vicinity. At last count, we saw 17 live goslings in one day, and that was after we had seen some dead ones. The geese are the original invaders in Prospect Park, taking over the lake. There are so many of them! Apparently they have stopped migrating and have found the perfect year-round home right here in Brooklyn. This would be fine, but they seem to be overrunning the place. And now, the protective Papa Swan is desperately trying to take care of his little flock of four. And mama too. They both came right to the edge of the lake to hiss at Ber and JJ this morning, with their cygnets right in between them. (and note the delightfully full log of sunning turtles in the background.) I know that the swans are also an "invasive species," meaning that they are not native to this area, but there are only a few of them and they don't make messes on the grass like the geese do.

Of course, as I reread this, I realize I sound EXACTLY like those disgusting anti-immigration people, talking about hordes of foreigners coming to America. HOWEVER, this is about waterfowl. IT IS NOT ANY KIND OF ANALOGY TO ANY HUMAN ACTIVITIES WHATSOEVER.

We're not the only ones looking after the lake. there's now a Prospect Park Pond Patrol! This is a group of school children who took a trip to the park and became very involved. I am very hopeful about the future, with children like these. Will try to scan in their adorable brochure....managed to do it. First time scanning in something. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

THIS ENTRY NOT FINISHED - MUST TAKE JJ FOR HER SUMMER HAIRCUT. BACK LATER WITH PICTURES AND MORE

JJ is at the groomers and will be unrecognizable with her summer shave. I'll put photos of her in her cool new look tomorrow.

FOUND IN PARK: what appear to be two turtle traps. This would explain the recent finding of what look like freshly eaten, decapitated turtles.

Tony, the FIDO president, was very upset. FIDO spent a lot of money buying specially designed trash containers for fishing line, to ensure that the lines stay in and do not get blown into the lake to strangle swans, geese, ducks, etc. They were given to the parks department, who claims that they were thrilled to get them. However, the Parks have not put them out. What are they waiting for? Everyone knows that these torn lines are a menace to the animals in the lake.

Lastly, look closely at the last picture. Can you spot the giant (live) carp? He was quite impressive, but the camera's eye is not as clear as the human eye.

A reminder: click on pictures to make them big and clear and, when appropriate, readable.

END OF ENTRY