Back from Baltimore

Back from a terrific 3-day mini-vacation in Baltimore, where there were leaves on the trees, warmth in the air, and Spring had definitely arrived. Three days of visionary art, crabcakes, and water taxi rides across the bay. There were some Canada geese in the harbor. I tried to persuade a pair to come back to Brooklyn with me, but they said absolutely not - seems that word of the Killing Fields of Brooklyn has made it as far south as Baltimore.

I do feel as if I brought spring back with me, since we now have leaves and flowers on the trees, turtles sunning themselves on every possible rock and twig, and tons of trash all about. Come on people, pick up after yourself!! Although Candleman's corner has no candles or any trash at all now. even my little sign has been cleared away.

Only about a dozen geese in the lake these days. Interesting, since there are many news reports about how they're going to oil the eggs and see what happens to keep the population down. Down to what? I don't think 12 are nearly enough. Okay, maybe 300-400 was too many, but it's a big lake. I think we can accommodate about 100 geese in all. that's the number we should be making plans for, instead of making plans to kill and destroy and reduce the population. Parks Dept: Write 1,000 times NATURE IS GOOD, NATURE IS GOOD, NATURE IS GOOD.

I'm sure I'm getting very repetitive and boring, going on and on about how important wildlife is in city parks, but B'berg went on the other day about making the city greener. How can he order the mass killing of wildlife and want a "green" city. The man has no clue. "Green" means more than energy efficient lightbulbs. He says he wants more parks - smaller ones - that no wildlife would find inviting. His ideal park is a concrete square with two trees. Such a far cry from the beautiful vision of Olmstead and Vaux, who gave us the gems that are PP and CP!

We have our own visionary art in PP - see the beautiful silver angel in the pine tree! The haze is smoke from someone starting up a fire in BBQ Plaza.

Some gray musings on a gray day

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One of my facebook friends put this up, and it perfectly describes exactly how I feel this morning. Thought I'd share it, since I know I'm not the only one. Gray day, gray thoughts. We are seeing so few animals in Prospect Park these days, and I really miss them. There were so many last year!!It felt like it was their park as well, and I really appreciated their sharing their lives with us. Now they seem to be all gone.

The entire population of geese was, of course, eradicated. And for no good reason. And all the different excuses/reasons given sounded remarkably like the rationale for every genocide every committed. They don't belong. They're dirty. They're dangerous. And now, since these were resident geese, there are no more. A few migratory ones come in, stay only for a while, and leave. Goslings return to the place where they were born. And since all the little baby goslings were also killed, there are none to come back.

Then there is the lack of turtles. Apparently they've been sunning themselves in Central park for weeks, but none here so far. It could be that there haven't been that many warm sunny days, and the rocks in Central Park are a little more open and amenable to warming in what sun there has been. I certainly hope so.

PP itself seems to be getting much less natural and wild. Herbicides to kill off the "bad plants." The Lakeside Project concreting over large areas, with tame, manicured little gardens replacing large portions of fields and grass areas. Everything planned, predictable, safe, boring. The magic of nature and wildlife - gone, gone, gone!

So, on the one hand, I feel very lucky to have experienced the magic of wildlife in PP last year. I feel a little flicker of joy whenever I think about it. The geese flying overhead. The swans puffing up and trying to intimidate each other. The turtles - slipping into the water at the merest hint of sound. The rabbit we used to see. The many species of ducks. Even when the animals fought, which was only very occasionally, it was wonderful. Genuine wildlife!! Maybe not peace and love all the time, but at least when there is a fight it is fair and for a reason. Gee, I wish humans would learn from them instead of wiping them out.

Turtle news!!

Ber got an e-mail from Martin Woess of the Prospect Alliance about the turtles - he's the guy driving the Lake Mess Monster, pulling the island, etc., in other posts. Well, I'll just quote him:

"Not all the turtles that are out of the water need putting back. It’s egg laying season and most are off to dig a nest and unless they are in a bad place should be left to their own devices. Also there are some large snapping turtles on the move and encounters with them can be dangerous. They must be handled in a particular way to avoid injury. I have known people to lose fingers, chunks of arms and hands."


good to know, although we haven't heard of anyone getting bitten yet, but inquiring minds want to know how to tell the difference between snapping and non-snapping turtles. Also, how to figure out if a turtle is stranded or nest-building. We have to assume that when a turtle is in the middle of the Nethermead, far, far from water, baking in the sun, it needs to be rescued. Perhaps in a shaded area, no so far from the water, it doesn't.

'''''' Pause for research

You handle a snapping turtle by picking it up at the rear end, using one hand or two, depending on the size. One hand with the tail in between the fingers. Two hands: one on either side of the tail. Apparently they can reach back half the body length to bite you. Also, they seem to start biting right away - no laying in wait to get you. As a precaution, we will now pick up all turtles as if they were snappers.

Thank you Channel 11!!!

The TV is out of the lake, finally. No thanks to the Parks Dept. but to Channel 11 and Greg Mocker, with whom I am suddenly deeply in love.  


Otherwise, it seemed to be Turtle Day in the park. In the Lullwater, by the duck beach, back at the burned phragmite area number 1, we saw 15-20 turtles sunning themselves,. Enlarge the pictures and see if you, too can spot them. One let Ber get VERY close.

Phragmites are now over 6' tall. We saw akll three swans. Nesting swans still look fine. She is lying so flat over the nest she almost looks 2-dimensional. Papa was busy hissing and using his wings to intimidate the geese.

Sad news: we fished a dead bird of the lake and laid it to rest in a trash can.

Spring has Sprung!!

Gorgeous day and the first day of spring. It seemed like half of Brooklyn was out in the Park today. The road was so full of cyclists, runners, walkers, skaters, etc., that we kept to the woods. Since it was Saturday, we went all the way across to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket for our fabulous bacon and a couple of foccacios. Daffodils blooming on all the little hillsides. There was a turtle sunning itself on a log in the Lullwater. Three people fishing in different places,. They catch and release, but I hear rumors that there early morning fishers who keep and eat. Not Recommended!! Assorted horse-back riders. Dogs galore in all 3 meadows. There was a triathlon being held. Ber and I speculated as to what the third sport might be, since there is no swimming anywhere in Prospect Park. Traffic dodging? Taxi-hailing? Getting through yellow lights before they change? I finally asked one runner - a fairly slow one, I didn't want to interfere with anyone's winning time. Run, bike, run. Doesn't sound like three sports to me, but I guess they have to make do.

Since I am still suffering from the fall (bruised butt and strained hamstring), I was quite slow, and the c. 4 miles that we walked took its toll. Why does walking slowly with some sore muscles make you so much more tired than brisk movement? Makes no sense to me. But we did come back later than usual. Interesting to see what happens after 9 when the dogs go home. Long Meadow had several pick-up ball games - baseball and soccer. These aren't official fields, just a big, long (as the name indicates) meadow. Nethermead had a huge frisbee game going on. This is not just throwing frisbees, but looks to be a frisbee soccer game. Is this a new sport? Is it or will it be in the Olympics any time soon? Looked like fun, and was being played by men and women - no gender separation. Always a nice thing to see. Peninsula meadow became a huge green tot lot - at least a dozen parents with children, strollers, some balls and such, all engaging in that free play that is supposedly dying out across America. And I realized we no longer have to be concerned about the water-fowl going hungry. The lake was lined with family groups on blankets, tossing bread, crackers, apples, cereal, everything.

Looked like Paradise, but unfortunately there is some trouble in Paradise. Thursday or Friday morning there was a huge pile of animal intestines by the side of the lake. Someone sent me a picture of it, but I haven't figured out how to get it here yet. Parks Dept. was notified and sent someone to clean it up. There were things in the lake too, which turned out to be a bunch of chicken heads. Doesn't bode well for the cleanliness of the lake! Not that children go in much, but they put teir hands in, and dogs go in to swim, and of course water fowl and turtles live there. The thought of the bacteria that might live there is a little scary.

You wonder the Parks Dept. doesn't monitor these things more closely, especially since there are fines of $1000 and up for this kind of dumping - might help the city close the budget gap!

Another beautiful spring day!! Crocuses and hyacinths are blooming everywhere, and I saw my first daffodils of the season - so bright and cheery!! Hobbled to and around the park; figured it's best to keep moving, and the epsom salts bath last night helped. Skipped the steps, though. Last week at yoga I could forward fold and put my hands under my feet. Now I can barely reach my knees. Well, enough about my health issues. The second duck egg was broken open, and the yolk still inside. No signs of a third egg. Either mom has quit altogether or found a better hiding place. The turtles have found a better place to congregate, and are keeping out of the burned phragmite stand. Of course, we don't know if these are the same turtles. Ed tells us that he told the head of FIDO and a person at the Sean Casey Animal Shelter about the turtle rescue. The Sean Casey told him that 1) the turtles were hibernating [nonsense in this weather and location], and 2)came and took 3 turtles away for study. Since all the park animals are owned by N.Y. State, it is a crime to take them away - punishable by about a $4,000 fine. I do not believe this fine has been levied in living memory.

It is hard to figure what is happening in Prospect Park. The trash seems to get worse and worse (I am on a hiatus from collecting until the leg is better and I can bend down.) The police presence seems nil, except for the dog runs at 9:00 to make sure all dogs are put back on leash. The dog people, all come with their bags and are scrupulous about picking up after their dogs, so as not to lose the off-leash privilege. Apparently at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a relatively new and small park, is going to get 7 -8 full-time security people. Could it be because it is surrounded by the new multi-million dollar lofts now in the 19th century warehouses? Also, the Parks officials don't give straight answers. The phragmite fire is an example. According to one park ranger and the man in the bodega closest to that bit of the park, it was a huge fire, tons of smoke, and many fire engines came. The official park explanation, according to Ann Wong, was that it was a small fire that went out all by itself. Ignorant or lying?

No steps, ergo no crack bag count todayl