Ready for the fishing season

Here's Tony, the President of FIDO, getting ready for the upcoming season of fishing, fishing lines left on the ground, in the trees, and around the waterfowl. Net and grabber at the ready! Hopefully, we will lose no birds to hooks and line left by careless fisherpeople this year. I love that Tony cares as much about the birds as the dogs. There are FIDO people who hate the water fowl and birders who hate the dogs, and Tony can name names and tell you exactly who's who. We are united in the concept that the park is for ALL creatures.

I will do regular counts of the geese and swans, so we can keep track. Ducks and gulls as much as I can. As I said, the geese seem to be concentrated in two areas. It's awfully hard to walk around the lake these days - on part of the path you have to walk on hay bales around the Lakeside fencing. Pictures coming in the future.

Yes, I did see all 6 swans. The parents were hanging out south of what I'm calling the main beach. The main beach would be the area closest to Vanderbilt playground, full of nannies and children on nice days. To the south is an area that is a little more secluded and closer to the Park Circle entrance. I don't think the swans have nested yet. Remember, last year's clutch were born on May 21. Mute swans incubate about 35 days, which would mean it starts at April 17. But these numbers are not set in stone, and I think it needs to be a little warmer to lay eggs. As I recall from my farm years, ducks (we didn't have swans) lay an egg a day for a number of days before they start setting on them, and the weather has to be warm enough. I used to find the nest and take all the eggs but one, so the ducks would continue to lay in the same place and we'd have lovely duck egg omelets. (Pause to reminisce). Anyway, one of the cygnets does seem to be separated from the other 3. It's why I think there's one male and 3 females - one of them was always more aggressive, more inclined to spread wings, etc.

Migrating Canada Geese

Regal, silent, and determined, three V's of migrating Canada geese flew overhead into the park this morning, just as I was getting there. About 20 - 30 in all. They landed over by the Peninsula, separate from the other geese on the Lake. Wonder if they are just stopping for a travel break, or if they plan to stay. Wish I could warn them about what happens to geese who decide to stay. When JJ and I got to the Peninsula meadow, she ran over to the spot where the newcomers arrived, she went and barked at them, and they flew off to another part of the lake.

Which reminds me of a supposed plan to expand dog areas to ward off the geese that I mentioned last week. According to a commenter, this is not so. This commenter says they are on the Committee studying the issue. Says there is NO new Parks policy yet, that they are not expanding the dog run times/places, and there is no reason for the birders and doggers to be at odds. Good to know. He/she says that the Prospect Park Wildlife Management Advisory Committee (PPWMAC) will be issuing recommendations in the next few weeks, and that these recommendations will be in accordance with the Humane Society. I can't wait to see these recommendations. It will be nice to report some facts in addition to the usual rumor, innuendo, and hearsay.

The Lake seemed particularly full of birds today. Some cormorants, a lot of ducks. All 7 swans were near the Peninsula, feeding off the phragmites. The cygnets are about 1/2 white-feathered now. Papa and Grandpa were having a little tussle, with much spreading of wings and attitude. A couple of the dogs went towards them, but not too close. Just enough to show their owners that they were doing their job of protecting them, without getting close enough to face the wrath of the protective male swan.

Saw Anne and Ed today, whom I haven't seen in a while. Anne found a big handful of fish hooks, lines, etc. She didn't get the Brooklyn Do-gooder award, but was very pleased to be one of the finalists.

Beautiful blue heron

It was a blustery day today, as Disney's version of Winnie the Pooh used to say. And there, standing quite calmly by the side of the lake, was a big, beautiful blue heron. I got within 10 feet of him, but no closer as I didn't want to scare him away. Previous heron sightings have always been across the water, and hard to see. This one was right at the lake edge by the path. AND he was not standing stock still, as I've always seen him before, but walking up and down, checking everything out.

Met up with Ed, who saw the snow goose on the Lullwater. Nice to know it is staying around. While talking, we saw a flying swan high overhead. It was moving way too fast for me to get a picture. We're not sure if it was a local or visiting swan. Quite possibly visiting, since it was very high up and headed out of the park. Maybe a visitor from Gateway, where I hear they also have swans.

I am pleased to report that Anne-Katrin is one of the 20 finalists in the Brooklyn Do-Gooder contest. Now a panel will select the top 5 Do-Gooders. Other Park people that we talked to think that the ultimate choices will be political decisions. Anne-Katrin, like so many of us who report on what's going on in the Park, is often regarded as a bit of a trouble-maker, so we are not optimistic about her winning. That's as nice a way as I can possibly put it.

I got a comment about the "birders vs. dog-lovers" disagreement that I mentioned the other day. Full disclosure: I am a dog owner and a member of FIDO. I never had much interest in bird-watching, although that is changing, what with the excitement of all the swans, geese, ducks, herons, etc. in the Park. I hear (rumor, innuendo and hearsay dept.) that some of the birders really hate the dog people. Hope that's not true. I really feel that there's plenty of room for all of us to enjoy the park.

Unfortunately, these big vehicles I saw the other day were not doing the landscaping that I had hoped. They just made room for big storage containers to be parked in the woods rather than on the road. I really hate the way plants are always the first thing to be sacrificed in the name of.....??? organization ??? efficiency ??? what ??? wouldn't it be nice if sometime concrete was the first thing to be sacrificed?

Cool and gorgeous

Writing teachers say you should never start a piece of writing by discussing the weather, but today is special. The heat wave broke, it is a perfect sunny day, not too cool, not too hot. The last time I remember weather this fantastic was the day that two planes brought down the World Trade Center, but I think that was just a coincidence and do not expect massive tragedy today - except in the Gulf of Mexico, but that's been going on for months now. Anyway, the park is truly a spectacular place on days like this.

The swan family has found it's home in the sun, or rather in the Lullwater, where the delicious duckweed grows. They don't even mind photographers getting close.

The piles of wood chips waiting to be raked into paths are sprouting mushrooms. JJ was interested but decided they were not edible after all,. I wonder if they are edible for humans. Hard to know with mushrooms. We used to have a mushroom identification book written by someone who tasted them all. Fascinating descriptions of exactly how sick he got from eating some of them - very specific as to pains, bodily effects, etc. Sadly, the book has been either lost or misplaced - we have a lot of books, and they seem to get camouflaged on the bookshelves every so often. Anyway, those descriptions were graphic enough that I only eat mushrooms from stores.

There are more boards piled up under the bridge. Repairs? Still hopeful, although Anne says that machinery pictured previously was trimming trees, not fixing bridges. Love our network of observers who can enlighten each other!

Progress at the Park: The east end of the Lake has been dammed up with blue plastic and wood while they've been building the new skating rink. Looks like they are filling in the drained part over there, suggesting that the new rink and plantings might actually be ready soon. Of course, I'm being hopelessly optimistic. Probably stems from today's Yahoo news - a prototype of a flying car is being tested. When I was a kid, flying cars were ALWAYS a part of the future, so I feel the future has arrived.

Casablanca in Prospect Park

My imagination may be running away with me, but why not. There are so many geese these days. They seem to have totally taken over the lake. There are very few ducks, and the swans have completely moved away from the lake. Their nest is now a home for geese. The geese are starting to remind me of Nazis. Partly because they do, well, goosestep when they walk, and partly because they take over when they move in. The swans and ducks are mostly all in the water by the Audubon Boathouse, which I shall now call Casablanca. Perhaps I shall name the swans Rick and Ilsa. Anyway, the swans and ducks seem quite happy there. We watched them eating and playing for a while. Then three geese arrived, in a straight line. A scouting party. Colonel Strasse and his minions. When they came close to Papa swan, Papa spread his wings and they retreated. The geese are quite cowardly in small numbers, but brave when there are a lot of them ganging up on others. Who does this remind you of?

There were also a lot of broken duck eggs on the shore near the bridge. Two unbroken ones and a lot of shells. We thought there had been some vandals, but we looked around further and found the ducks' nest! Nicely feather lined, with lots of shells from the hatched ducklings. Nice to know that they a found a safe place to escape from the marauding geese.

Tree pruning day today. I'd love to go up in one of those cherry pickers! Looks like great fun1

The rabbit, the turtle and the egg

Crack bag count: 15, including a new design of little purple unicorns. Unicorns? You can't make this stuff up.
This title does sound like one of Aesop's fables, but it's just some of today's happenings. First, we went to check on the nesting swans, since I had a dream that they had hatched last night. No, they haven't hatched yet. Papa is keeping very close guard. The lake level seems even higher today, and is pouring over the edge in many places. The swan nest looks like it is sitting right on the water. Hope it doesn't get waterlogged. I think that all the overflowing spots will save the nest if it keeps rising. I wonder why the Park is letting this happen? After all, it is an artificial lake and there are drainage places that they can open up. In the tree picture, you can see the wall that is supposed to be the outer edge of the lake but isn't.

We'll take another picture of the phragmite height tomorrow, but meanwhile I thought I'd show the big picture. All that green mass was blackened, burnt vegetation only a few weeks ago. I am constantly amazed at how nature restores itself if given even half a chance.

I saw a rabbit in the woods! And managed to photograph it before it ran away! My observation skills and speed with the camera are definitely improving.
actually, the rabbit ran off when I tried to get a bit closer, but I sensibly took the zoomed pictures before I tried to get closer. And, I got the 5 turtles sunning themselves on a log - been trying for that one for weeks! The egret is still hanging out around the Lullwater, and we saw another white bird - very thin, with a long neck, smaller than egret. As soon as I can remember where I put our bird book I will try to identify it.

About the egg: there was another one today, gone by the time we came back on the way home. So I decided to cook the one we have and eat it instead of incubating it. This is the subject of three part video, "The Story of the Egg." It was really quite delicious. I've had duck eggs before, and they are sometimes a little strong, but this one was mild and delicious. Of course I feel totally guilty about taking food from the Park - there are undoubtedly actual hungry people who deserve it more. But they're not out there at 8:00 A.M., and this was in pursuit of knowledge.

Poisoning the park

Back up Lookout Hill today, WITH my trash bag. 13 crack bags, but surprisingly few beer cans and water bottles. Looks like they did a decent job of cleaning up after this "run for water" thing yesterday. The dead raccoon is gone, as is the stage, tents, etc., as one can see from today's picture taken from the same vantage point as yesterday's dead raccoon picture. Did find surprisingly more cigarette packs than usual - do runners smoke? Didn't think so. There was a glass tube from a cigar - is that a sign of a quality cigar?

Also found a leaflet of interest. I hadn't realized that this "run for water" was brought to you by the same Dow that brought us Agent Orange, Bhopal, and Dioxin poisoning. I'm one of those people who has never forgiven them for agent Orange, and thus have never bought Saran W. Even when I cleaned out my mother's apartment and acquired what I referred to as "the heirloom Saran Wrap," I couldn't bring myself to use it, and threw it out after about 10 years. The leaflet refers to the Run for Water as "a shameless attempt to cover up the company's role as a major polluter of both drinking water and aquatic ecosystems." WELL PUT!!! Check out the websites at: http://vn-agentotange.org?, bhopal.net, trwnews.net and snipurl.com/dowdolphins for more info.

Back to the subject of the raccoons: Ber did get a response to his e-mail from Eugene Patron, who says he is forwarding the e-mail and thanking him for his interest. Form letter number 1 or 2?

My do-it-yourself rehab seems to be working. I had very little trouble bending down to pick up the trash. It was a beautiful day, and JJ really enjoyed finding herself a HUGE stick! The phragmites are growing several inches a day. Cygnets not yet born, and the hawk was not nearby. Papa was - can't be too careful!! Swan Princess and Knight reported on finding freshly decapitated turtle heads - someone might be eating them.

Speaking of food in the park, there was another duck egg sitting on the newly mulched shoreline. Since every egg we've seen there has ended up broken, we took this one home with us. Should we try to incubate it or just eat it???????

Swans and hawks and egrets, oh my!

Well, as you can see, we got a much better of the snowy egret today. He was standing right by the Lullwater edge, hanging out with a giant turtle, enjoying the sun. Ber got this picture. I kept trying to adjust the light meter on my camera, and by the time I was ready he (assuming it is a he) had flown away. It's a good thing there are two of us trying to capture the sights. We also saw one of the swans in that area. This was good - he's been kind of MIA lately. Still hoping he's looking after a nest nearby, but no sign of it.

Just realized that if you click on a picture it gets larger - and you can really see the egret clearly!

The Nethermead was closed to dogs because of the big "Run for the Water." A concert stage, booths, etc., were set up. A raccoon had decided to lay down and die right outside the rent-a-fence they had put up, so we notified a park person. I offered to pick it up if the park person had a bag and gloves, but she said no - an official person would get it. Ber wrote the the Parks Dept. about it. He had done this a couple of weeks ago, when we spotted another dead raccoon. we want to know why it dies, since there have been vague rumors of rabid raccoons. There was no answer at all the first time. I wonder if two dead raccoons will get their attention?

Princess Swan and the Knight of the 1,000 Swans took over to one of the trees that had blown down in the storm. Half the tree was cut up, but the other half is still standing, albeit at a steep angle right over the new playground. You don't have to be a fear-monger to be concerned. The roots look quite shallow, and intertwined with years of trash and plastic bags.

It was cool today, but the sun was shining. Perfect weather for the runners. I think it was a fund-raising run because they only went around once. The serious races make several loops of the 3 mile circular park road.

By the way, Cayuga and entourage are VERY HAPPY with the new wood-chip mulch on the shoreline. It certainly looks far cozier than the hard p[an underneath. No more eggs. I really will take one if I see another one - they aren't being sat upon to hatch as it is. Actually, no one remembers any baby ducklings from last year. They need parental training. Maybe they've forgotten how to nest? Is life too good in a city park?

Of course we did our usual check on the nesting pair of swans. The higher water level makes the nest look bigger - sitting above the water line. Both parents were very close - mom in her nest, pop right there. She seemed to be fussing a lot. We wonder if the cygnets are close to hatching. Perhaps. There was a large hawk in a tree nearby. We're pretty sure it was a hawk. Tried to get photos, but my zoom lens isn't strong enough. It flew off, and the wingspread was DEFINITELY hawk-like. Good thing papa the protector is nearby.

Here's some research about swans: "Swans are the largest and the most beautiful of large waterfowl. The Mute Swan is one of 7 species of swan worldwide. Adult females weigh around 20 lbs. with males around 25 lbs. Average. Weights of up to 38 lbs. have been recorded.

Swans are found in low lying wetland areas of the northeastern Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes. They breed at 3 years of age having a clutch of from 3 to 8 eggs. The gestation period is 35 days from the date of the last egg. During the incubation period the male becomes very territorial and will aggressively protect his mate. He will normally use his strong wings as a weapon instead of biting.

The cygnets are born with a gray downy plumage that eventually turns to white. They can fly in 3 to 4 months and generally stay with the parents until the next breeding season.

Mute Swans have been known to live for over 25 years, but most only survive to 5 or 6 years old. "

Too gray today

It's a busy weekend in the park today and tomorrow. Too bad the weather isn't cooperating. Gray skies, gloomy, temperature in the 50's and damp. Well, it could be worse. I have a facebook friend in New Hampshire who reports 2 inches of snow so far. I remember when I was a kid living in Rhode Island, there was generally one last snowstorm in April, and then winter gave uop and let spring come. The snow didn't stick long. Still, that's why it's now called "global weirding" not global "warming."

Today there was a bike race, and a re-enactment of the Middle Earth battles from Lord of the Rings. Nerds in costumes, what could be better. I mean that - I love nerds. Imaginative people WITH knowledge.

They're also preparing for a giant "run for water" tomorrow. See the giant trucks setting up base camp in the Nethermead, which will be closed for doggies tomorrow. Maybe we'll get a sneak peak from the backside of Lookout Hill. One poor puppy arrived, running gleefully looking for his doggie friends, but no one was there.

Another sighting of the snowy egret that sometimes comes to the park! Two pictures taken. The egret is hard to see in the distance, but the view of the lake is so beautiful anyway.

Four swans spotted. The plywood hasn't been moved (still quite waterlogged), but the floating dock is gone. Someone has probably taken it back to where it came from.

Low Flying Swans!

So exciting! I finally got a video of some flying swans! This flying wasn't very high, and the landing not as impressive as the ones I'd seen before, but it's a start. Now I have to get my hand steadier and adjust the movement of the camera to align with the birds. Still I think it's a good start.

Right now we only see 5 swans on the lake. We think there are six - no longer 10. The visiting couple and the lone stranger from the winter seemed to have moved on, and of course one died. Remaining should be two grown females, two grown males, and two adolescent cygnets. One mating pair is accounted for - the nesting pen (name for a female) and the guardian cob (male). The second male was swimming on the lake today, but the second pen seems to be missing. Her cob was seen lately near the Boathouse, so I'm hoping that she has found a well-hidden nesting spot. Hopefully she will show up with baby cygnets in a few weeks, but of course I'm being wildly optimistic.

The Center of the World is still there atop Lookout Hill, but slightly re-arranged. The Grey Goose bottle is gone, so there will be no close-up. Nesting pen was napping on her nest. She lets the ducks get very close, but they stay in the water and don't go on the floating phragmite island upon which her nest is built. Another duck egg sits forlornly by the side of the lake. I'm considering bringing it home and cooking it, since it won't survive there anyway. Need to bring an egg carton to transport it safely.
Other park activity: a bit more police presence in his golf cart. The wood chips from all the recycled Christmas trees and downed trees are being spread by the lakeside. I think it will be much nicer to walk on, and keep the soil from getting so compressed. And a guy with a metal detector! He was turning the soil, so I asked if he'd found anything good - a penny! I think this is great, since I remember when you could actually buy something with a penny. Weather cool, overcast, perfect for long walking, 2 1//2 hours in all!