Jordan's Science and Teaching Blog

Species 121-124: "Peep-Lo!" cries the Piping Plover

2010-06-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Back in the summers of 1999, 2000, and 2001 (and briefly in 2005), I strolled along the beaches of Long Island and New York City monitoring the breeding of the endangered Piping Plover. When it comes to getting to know a bird, it doesn't get much more familiar than I was able to get with these little tan puffballs.

As soon as I heard the call this weekend at Jones Beach's West End, I instantly recognized what bird made it, and began scanning the uninterrupted expanse of sand for movement or a little of the black and white on the Piping Plover's plumage. Plovers avoid predators by squatting down in depressions in the sand and not moving, their camouflage being so effective that they are almost impossible to see. Only when this particular bird moved and began to tilt to the side letting its wing hang limply did I begin to see it. The "broken wing display" draws predators away from the nest in normal situations. In the presence of an experienced plover steward like myself, I expect the bird finds it disconcerting that its usual display results in me walking away from it and probably closer to the nest it is trying to protect.

Don't be fooled! Piping Plover's Broken wing display

I walked the expanse of the beach from one walkway to the Jetty, then back east to the next walkway. I only saw 13 species, but 4 were new for the year. Ocean side beach like this is a habitat I haven't been to this year, but need to come to more frequently as the season wears on. Now that we have passed the summer solstice, days will begin to get shorter and the birds in the far north will begin their long migrations back to the southern hemisphere. I hope to get back to the Long Island beaches for birding at least once a month this summer so I can catch the rest of these species.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
121	Willet	2	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
122	Piping Plover	13	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
123	Common Tern	12	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
124	Least Tern	8	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10

Species 119 and 120: Summer in Swing Part 2 - Patience is Hard

2010-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today I had approximately 90 minutes to speed through Sunken Meadow State Park before I had to go back west to get my significant other from church. When speed is of the essence, it works against a birder. You have to be willing to part with a potential sighting for the sake of other commitments or other birds. This is not one of my strong points - I make notoriously slow progress down a trail when there are birds to be seen in the bush.

So, there I was on the higher elevation forested trails of Sunken Meadow, already having seen Tufted Titmice, Chickadees, Cardinal, and a VERY loud Eastern Towhee who was still calling in my ear. I stood frozen while other hikers passed me by and probably made some odd looks over at me. I heard a very different call than usual - it sounded like "DIP baby DIIIIP," coming from a skulker who didn't want to be seen. Minutes ticked by, and I kept looking at my phone to see my time of departure get closer and closer - 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes. Mind you, I was about at the halfway point of my walk and thanks to closed roads on account of molting Canada Geese, had a long distance of parking lot to walk before I could get back to the car.

Finally after about 20 minutes of walking back and forth over 30 feet of trail, I spotted my target, a White-Eyed Vireo, for about 45 seconds. I guess sensing my intense concentration, a hiker stopped before crossing my line of sight to the bird and waited at least 30 seconds before I stopped muttering self-congratulations and told him he could walk past. What a bird though - the name is right about the eye - it has a very distinctive ring of white in the iris, and is just attractive all around. It looks like someone painted it using only black, white, and yellow. Just as I was getting into a full moment of admiration, the secretive vireo at last accommodated my wife's plans, and dove back out of sight into the bush. I double timed my way back, having to be satisfied for now.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
119	Black-crowned Night-Heron	1	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	13-Jun-10
120	White-eyed Vireo	1	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	13-Jun-10

Species 115-118: Summer in Swing Part 1 - Port Washington

2010-06-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month in our lives. We moved this past June 1st, picking up our stuff from the 3rd flight walk-up in Astoria and moving it all to a house in Port Washington. It's great having some land to plant and some space to spread out. So far we haven't unpacked all that much, but I've gotten to plant a small garden and a flower bed. I'm also experimenting with the Topsy-Turvy tomato grower - basically a tomato plan suspended upside-down in a fancy bag of dirt. It's nice living the suburban life, especially now that there's plenty of daylight to be had at this change of the seasons to summer.

With the craziness of the move and packing, it was hard to get out during the May peak of migration. I'm sure there are a bunch of species I'll have missed for the year thanks to the transition (I'm still kicking myself for not finding the Prothonotary Warbler in Northport around Easter). This past weekend I finally got back out into the world to look for birds, and the first place I went was the very odd Sands Point Preserve right here in my new home of Port Washington. The preserve is along the north and east shore of the "neck" that contains Port Washington, and it has got a variety of purposes. It seems the major attraction are the two castles - literally, castles - that were once homes for the rich and famous. All the land around there, the forests and the crumbling sea wall one might call a beach, show evidence of a more bourgeoisie past. Thanks to time and disrepair though, a lot of the beach is reverting to very tidal shoreline and the forests are in varying stages of succession - everything from Japanese Knotweed to full grown maples.

The variety of habitats makes it a nice place for birds to stop over during migration (which I missed) or just for breeding. I got to see a bit of the latter, and it contributed nicely to my year list. The best sighting were Bank Swallows which seem to nest in abundance in the North Shore's steep and mostly stable beach cliffs. I saw many dozen active nest holes (see picture at left) on my walk at the shoreline. The swallows were all over the grounds of the preserve, swooping and twisting in the air, always leaving me with a sense of expectation they might land, but almost always at the last minute twisting away in an acrobatic effort for another insect on the wing.

Here's the list for that day:

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
115	Yellow Warbler	2	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
116	Bank Swallow	10	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
117	Cedar Waxwing	3	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
118	Wood Thrush	2	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10

Species 118 - Wood Thrush - best ID'd by their trilly, lyrical call, but the ones I heard weren't much in the mood for singing.

Species 115 on the other hand - Yellow Warblers couldn't shut up!

Species 75-114: I know, I know, I've been busy.

2010-06-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

How bad have I been at keeping up with this? Reeeeeaaaalllly bad. I haven't posted in almost 2.5 months. I have gone birding a lot in that time, although not lately. Some of the places I've been during this peak of migration have been Jamaica Bay, Sweetbriar preserve in Suffolk, and Montauk Point in early April. I'm going to post the updated list for now and let you peruse it for your enjoyment. This time, I am attempting to make links for some of the more exciting birds so you can read about them on Cornell's "All About Birds" website.

Now that school is letting out, I will be getting myself and my binoculars out more often. There are still lots of shorebirds I have not seen since they came in during migration. Namely, I need some terns, piping plovers, skimmers, and peeps. In the woods, there are still a lot of warblers and flycatchers out there waiting to be found. And of course, let us not forget that on June 29th, Kim and I will be flying to Puerto Rico. I've already started compiling species I should see there. With any luck, maybe I'll see one of the 50 or so P.R. Parrots that still remain in the wild.

The list since March 27th:

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
75	Ring-necked Pheasant	1	Sagaponack - Fairfield Pond Rd.	US-NY	30-Mar-10
76	Common Eider	50	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
77	Black Scoter	400	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
78	Northern Gannet	4	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
79	Surf Scoter	50	Montauk SP	US-NY	1-Apr-10
80	White-winged Scoter	3	Montauk SP	US-NY	1-Apr-10
81	Wilson's Snipe	3	Montauk - Theodore Roosevelt SP 3rd House	US-NY	1-Apr-10
82	Osprey	2	Sears-Bellows County Park	US-NY	2-Apr-10
83	Eastern Towhee	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
84	Swamp Sparrow	3	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
85	Hermit Thrush	10	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
86	Winter Wren	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
87	Laughing Gull	15	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
88	Great Egret	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
89	Green-winged Teal	16	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
90	Glossy Ibis	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
91	Chipping Sparrow	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
92	Brown Thrasher	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
93	American Oystercatcher	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
94	Tree Swallow	50	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
95	Snowy Egret	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
96	Palm Warbler	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
97	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	2	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
98	Pine Warbler	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
99	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
100	Wood Duck	1	Central Park--The Pond	US-NY	20-Apr-10
101	Gray Catbird	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
102	Boat-tailed Grackle	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
103	Least Sandpiper	5	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
104	Orchard Oriole	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
105	American Redstart	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
106	Little Blue Heron	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
107	Black-and-white Warbler	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
108	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
109	Tricolored Heron	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
110	Barn Swallow	4	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
111	Chimney Swift	4	Flushing International High School - 147th St and Barclay Ave.	US-NY	4-May-10
112	House Wren	2	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10
113	Hairy Woodpecker	1	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10
114	Blue-winged Warbler	2	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10

Species 74: At Risk

2010-03-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Rusty Blackbird is a migrant on its way North after spending the winter here. I was lucky enough to catch them at Central Park today. Anywhere there are relatively clean, wooded creeks with lots of leaf litter, there should be this bird. Unfortunately, their populations have been on the decline the last several decades, probably due to loss of this habitat. While it's nice to see them in the heart of NYC, it's been several years since I saw them last. Despite the nagging feeling at the back of my mind, I always hate to think this is a "Last chance to see" situation. There is a national campaign in place, the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, to track them in their wintering habitat in the US. Hopefully with some more attention, conservation scientists can begin to understand the cause of the decline of this beautiful species.

(above) Male in breeding plumage
(below) "Rusty" winter plumage

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
74	Rusty Blackbird	3	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10

Species 69-73: Spring is Here

2010-03-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend and last, the sun has come back to warm up New York. OK, today was only 45 degrees F, but the sun made it a whole lot more bearable. Mixed with the remaining birds of winter, I'm starting to see more of the summer residents of New York. Lots of ducks still remain on the ponds of Prospect Park and Sunken Meadow. There are still Common Loons on Long Island Sound as of last weekend, as well (see prior post).

However, Common Grackles showed up in force this week, Eastern Phoebes are back in both Prospect and Central Parks, and in Central Park today I saw a Golden-Crowned Kinglet for the first time this year. Another oddly absent bird in the winter is the Double-Crested Cormorant. Two were at the Belvedere Castle in Central Park today, foreshadowing the onslaught of thousands that will decimate our fish populations in the summer.

Eastern Phoebe - its call is easy - "Phee-bee"

DC Cormorants aren't waterproof because they don't have oil glands like other waterfowl, so they have to air-dry.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
69	Common Grackle	30	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	20-Mar-10
70	American Coot	4	Prospect Park - Lullwater	US-NY	21-Mar-10
71	Eastern Phoebe	1	Prospect Park	US-NY	21-Mar-10
72	Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10
73	Double-crested Cormorant	2	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10

Species 68: Cooper's Hawk in Traffic

2010-03-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Driving from Flushing to Northport for her birthday dinner with the folks, Kim decided the scenic route of 25A would be faster. In Huntington one of her shortcuts diverted us around the traffic of Main Street, but then put us into the parking lot of the Elk's Lodge. I am told that normally there are never any cars in this parking lot. On this night, the Elks must have been meeting because the lot was packed and there was a line of cars trying to get back out onto Main St.

Whiling away the time in the passenger seat, I saw a silhouette not too high up flying toward us from the East. As it got closer, the long tail and good size told me I was seeing my first Cooper's Hawk of the year. It kept going west while we were still in the lot a while longer. We definitely didn't save time, but it sure was scenic and productive.

At twilight, this is about what I saw.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
68	Cooper's Hawk	1	Huntington - Elk's Lodge Inn	US-NY	19-Mar-10

Species 67: Calling all Killdeer

2010-03-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

On the first beautiful weekend of the year, Kim and I got out this morning and drove to the closest beach we could think of, Orchard Beach in Pelham Park in the Bronx. We enjoyed our morning bagels on the boardwalk and watched all the other people who came out to relieve the tedium of being cooped up indoors all winter.

Even the birds seem to be excited at this first sign of spring. Song Sparrows were calling more vociferously than I've heard them in months, and Red-Winged Blackbirds were busy flying around their territories in anticipation of the return of mates. Out on the water signs of winter were still abundant - Buffleheads and Red-Breasted Mergansers still patrolled Long Island Sound and the inlets.

The tide was out, so I walked near the exposed flats in hopes of seeing shorebirds. Almost immediately, Kim and I heard a quick alarm call from a Killdeer, but had a lot of trouble locating it. I brought out my iPod and mini-speaker and dialed up the call for a Killdeer. Within seconds of broadcasting the call, the bird on the flat called back loud and angry-sounding. After that, it was easy to pinpoint from where the call came. We saw the brown-backed bird in the brown mud less than 100 feet away. When it finally calmed down, it went back to slurping worms from the intertidal mud and keeping a wary-looking eye on us. Judging from the quick reaction to the recording, I guess he's got his territory marked out and is as ready for spring as I am.

Not my picture, but you get the idea.

Killdeer

Orchard Beach - Twin Island

US-NY

07 March 2010

Species 61-66: Wrapping Up Vacation Week On LI Sound

2010-02-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is back to work after a great week-long respite. This vacation included time with Kim, great food and wine, a short getaway, time at home, and a lot of new birds for the year. Since last Sunday, I've added 18 new birds to the year's list, starting with a Northern Harrier in Connecticut, and finishing yesterday with a Horned Grebe at the mouth of the Nissequogue River.

There are a few important factors to consider when it comes to finding birds. First and foremost though, you need to go where they are. To see a variety of species, you need to go to a variety of habitats. Ticking off the habitats I saw this week, I counted salt marsh, sandy dunes, freshwater riparian, deciduous forest, estuarine, and finally at Sunken Meadow yesterday, open water on Long Island Sound. It seems that I'm not visiting a lot of the same places twice, but I expect that to change in the coming weeks as the weather begins to warm and migration gets underway. The species I've been seeing will by and large disappear until next fall, and those migrants from lower latitudes will begin to find their way back here to New York. Cardinals and Chickadees were singing in full force yesterday, so spring and the migrants can't be that far around the corner.

Common Loon through my scope

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
61	Fish Crow	4	Sunken Meadow SP Pond	US-NY	20-Feb-10
62	Sanderling	15	Sunken Meadow SP E Beach	US-NY	20-Feb-10
63	Common Loon	3	Sunken Meadow SP E Beach	US-NY	20-Feb-10
64	Long-tailed Duck	2	Sunken Meadow SP E Beach	US-NY	20-Feb-10
65	Northern Flicker	1	Sunken Meadow SP E Beach	US-NY	20-Feb-10
66	Horned Grebe	1	Sunken Meadow SP E Beach	US-NY	20-Feb-10

Species 58-60: On the Shoulders of Giants (or birders)

2010-02-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

One of the easiest ways for a birder to find novel species for their life lists is to rely on word of mouth from other birders. To that end I always check the New York birding listserv, the ebirdsnyc Yahoo group, or libirding.com before I head out. Last year it lead me to Inwood Park during the summer where I saw a very out-of-season Red-throated Loon loafing about in the boat basin. In some ways it feels like cheating. But, cheating feels good sometimes because it gets you somewhere you want to be without having to do all the work on your own. After all, science is a collaborative endeavor, so it's okay that I sometimes rely on other birders for easy sightings. There, I've just rationalized this.

Today was another such example in the long list of peeking-over-the-proverbial-shoulder. I found myself at the Coast Guard Station at the Jones Beach West End, following a tip for Lapland Longspur and Horned Larks. I've seen a Horned Lark on the south shore before, but I've never seen a Longspur (at least not that I know - they look a lot like a sparrow). It was a quick proposition to get out of the car, locate the spot I read about on the NY birding listserv, and get these harder to get birds in my spotting scope. It was doubly nice because I did not have to spend lots of time fighting the gusting chill winds off Zach's Inlet searching all over the West End (I can't complain though - I have no idea how these birds managed to get blown about as they did in the wind today, yet still land on their feet to forage). I was in and out in the time I had before I had to go pick up my better half from her morning playdate with a friend.

I wasn't the only one taking advantage of birding tips either. In the 25 minutes I was there, 3 other birders came for sightings or photos. It's nice to have that community out there. However, you always have to balance these types of outings with the garden variety "just looking". You never know when you'll go walking with no particular idea of what's there and find the bird that everyone else is going to read about.

Lapland Longspur in the back, watching the Horned Larks feed.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
58	Brown-headed Cowbird	40	Jones Beach Coast Guard Station	US-NY	19-Feb-10
59	Horned Lark	21	Jones Beach Coast Guard Station	US-NY	19-Feb-10
60	Lapland Longspur	2	Jones Beach Coast Guard Station	US-NY	19-Feb-10

Species 56 & 57: Jamaica Bay on a Cold Day

2010-02-18T08:35:00.000-08:00

After a light snowfall on Tuesday, New York had a fresh layer of powder to sift through on Wednesday. Jamaica Bay had a plow crew clearing the parking lot as I arrived at 9:00 AM, and apparently, I was the first person out of my car and onto the West Pond Trail. I could see the ghostly filled in footprints of the day before alongside the tracks of whatever squirrels or rabbits came out before me.

It was beautiful to see the clear sky and the muted colors after a fresh snowfall here, and even more beautiful to see the passerines out, survivors of the cold looking for the rare seed or berry still remaining at this late stage of winter.
Yellow-Rumped Warblers were out in force, with 2 to 6 flying about me at my stops. They were interspersed with Song Sparrows, White-Throated Sparrows, and a Northern Cardinal.

While there was a lot of action on land, out on the mostly icy water there were plenty of waterfowl, all seeming to take a break. Scaup all had their heads tucked away as if in early morning siesta, and ducks, Brant, and Canada Geese loafed about, not going far afield of where they sat, perhaps just waiting out the chill winds that eventually drove me back to the warmth of my car. The Buffleheads seemed to be the only ones who didn't mind the cold, enthusiastically diving for whatever happened to lay just below the waves.

Common Goldeneye on West Pond ... ...Herring Gull wishing it had a can opener

Only 2 new species today...I'm gonna hit the wall pretty fast until migration hits in full force.
Not my photo, but you get the idea of a Yellow-rumped Warbler: it has a yellow rump.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
56	Yellow-rumped Warbler	2	Jamaica Bay NWR - Visitors' Center	US-NY	17-Feb-10
57	Ruddy Duck	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Feb-10

Species 49-55: Up and Down the Connecticut River

2010-02-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

We took our "annual" trip to Essex, Connecticut this weekend so that we could stay at the Griswold Inn, eat good food, drink good wine, and see Bald Eagles. Last year, we took the boat tour up the Connecticut River offered by the Connecticut River Museum and saw a whole mess of Bald Eagles and other raptors. This time around, we decided to stick to land and see what we could see from shore. I did a lot of exploring around Essex on my own in between the bookends of Kim and I going to the Salt Meadow Unit south of I-95 in Westbrook, and then up and down the river by Gillette Castle. The Connecticut River at dawn - beautiful

I got a couple of tough species for my area, Great Cormorant and Bald Eagle. With those 2 out of the way for the year, any others I see will just be icing on the cake. The Common Goldeneyes were another treat, not entirely unexpected, that I was able to see from the River Museum Dock early one morning. All in all, a beautiful couple of days of birding followed by a snow-filled one upon our departure this afternoon. Maybe we'll be back next year, but I'm hoping to save the trip for a warmer month when we can take advantage of longer days, sun, and some summer migrants.

The immature Bald Eagle through the scope... ...then he's chased off by an adult.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
49	Northern Harrier	1	Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR	US-CT	14-Feb-10
50	Tufted Titmouse	12	Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR	US-CT	14-Feb-10
51	Common Goldeneye	8	CT River Museum, Essex	US-CT	15-Feb-10
52	Common Merganser	3	CT River Museum, Essex	US-CT	15-Feb-10
53	Turkey Vulture	1	Gillette Castle SP	US-CT	15-Feb-10
54	Great Cormorant	1	CT Route 148 Ferry	US-CT	15-Feb-10
55	Bald Eagle	2	CT Route 148 Ferry	US-CT	15-Feb-10

Species 44-48: Early Day in a Cold Kissena Park

2010-01-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

Had the late schedule at work today, so I spent a couple of hours this morning birding the nearby Kissena Park. Everytime out I am seeing fewer and fewer novel species for the year, and this was no exception, with only five. Ebird doesn't seem to count domestic species of ducks or geese, of which I saw one of each at the lake. Since they don't count, I'm at 48 instead of 50 species, but hey, who said this would be easy.

There's beautiful light at this time of day, and I got a nice closeup of a Great Blue Heron and the dinner ducks. If only every day was a late schedule. I could spend a couple of hours in the park, log a few species, take some pictures, then stroll into work a little after 9. Yeah, must be nice.

What's good for the goose... ...has nothing to do with this Great Blue Heron

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
44	Fox Sparrow	1	Kissena Park	US-NY	27-Jan-10
45	Red-winged Blackbird	1	Kissena Park	US-NY	27-Jan-10
46	Red-tailed Hawk	1	Kissena Park	US-NY	27-Jan-10
47	Song Sparrow	2	Kissena Park	US-NY	27-Jan-10
48	Great Blue Heron	1	Kissena Park	US-NY	27-Jan-10

First Red Tail of the year...

Species 37-43: 2010's First Trip to Suffolk County

2010-01-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

Got the oil changed and the car inspected today. Seeing as I'm leery of letting just anyone touch my car, I made a day of driving out to Commack and my parents' house so I could go to their reliable and honest mechanic. Of course, as an added bonus, I am near all of the beaches, forests, and harbors that are within a 10 minute drive of the house.

I had a few stops today, first a walk around the headwaters of the Nissequogue River by the mechanic this morning. After having to explain why I was trespassing on the new motel's property to get back to the pond, I saw a whole lot of Mallards and some other "neighborhood" species including House Finch, Blue Jays, Chickadees, and lots of Starlings. I also got my first Northern Mockingbird of the year.

The trip to Centerport later in the day yielded better results as I picked up a few common species like Red-breasted Merganser and the Belted Kingfisher. The real jackpot was finding 130 Canvasback in the pond behind the motel off 25A. I haven't seen these in a while, probably dating back 2003 or earlier on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca. It was great to then get a diagnostic lesson across the street in the larger Mill Pond where I saw a Redhead side-by-side with their reddish-headed cousin. Nice day for birding and I would have stayed longer, but it was too cold by the dam.

Redhead

Canvasback

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
37	Northern Mockingbird	1	Town Line Motel	US-NY	23-Jan-10
38	Red-breasted Merganser	3	Centerport Harbor	US-NY	23-Jan-10
39	Belted Kingfisher	1	Centerport Harbor	US-NY	23-Jan-10
40	Lesser Scaup	8	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
41	Ring-necked Duck	3	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
42	Canvasback	130	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
43	Redhead	2	Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10

Species 22-36: Day off, Birding on

2010-01-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Knocked out a few more easy to get species this morning in Central Park after Physical Therapy. If it looks like I'll hit 200 by next week, keep in mind that once I see a species, it doesn't count anymore. I saw a few repeats today that I also saw yesterday, such as Mallards and Hooded Mergansers.

Nice thing about this trip was that I got another raptor, the Peregrine Falcon. It was just a flyover, but I could see clearly from flight patterns and silhouette that it was that and not another Buteo or gull. It was also nice to get a Brown Creeper. I didn't realize until I entered it that I hadn't recorded one all of last year.

I also tried to hit what would have been a life bird, a White Winged Crossbill, based on advice from a fellow birder by the feeders in the Ramble. She said she saw them in the hemlocks by the Shakespeare Theater yesterday. Unfortunately, I came up empty with 20 minutes of searching and playing the Crossbill calls from my mini-speaker and iPod. If I'm gonna hit 200, I need to get rarer species like that.

Row #	Species	Count	Location
22	House Sparrow	20	Central Park--Strawberry Field
23	Downy Woodpecker	2	Central Park--Strawberry Field
24	Blue Jay	2	Central Park--Strawberry Field
25	Rock Pigeon	80	Central Park--Strawberry Field
26	White-throated Sparrow	8	Central Park--Strawberry Field
27	Mourning Dove	5	Central Park--Strawberry Field
28	Peregrine Falcon	1	Central Park--The Ramble
29	White-breasted Nuthatch	2	Central Park--The Ramble
30	Red-bellied Woodpecker	1	Central Park--The Ramble
31	Northern Cardinal	1	Central Park--The Ramble
32	House Finch	5	Central Park--The Ramble
33	Black-capped Chickadee	3	Central Park--The Ramble
34	American Goldfinch	3	Central Park--The Ramble
35	Dark-eyed Junco	1	Central Park--The Ramble
36	Brown Creeper	1	Central Park--The Ramble

Jordan 200, species 1-21

2010-01-17T21:12:00.001-08:00

No, I have not revived the "Wolf Brothers 200 lbs." challenge from a few years ago. David and I just couldn't consume enough calories to overcome our metabolisms, so the idea is dead. Jordan 200 is a far more manageable endeavor, based not on food, but on birds. Last year, I started an account on ebird.org to submit my birding observations for scientific use. A nifty feature of the website is that it keeps track of what, where, when, and how many birds I've seen. In 2009, minus the 13 or so species I saw in Paris, I saw 123 species of birds in the United States. This includes mostly observations in New York, with short trips to Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, and Virginia. The list began with observations in April, and ran through the Christmas Bird Count in Smithtown on 27 December. September was the only month with no observations, largely owing to the fact I was recovering from shoulder-reconstruction surgery.

My goal in 2010 is to observe 200 unique species of birds. This can include species I have seen before, so this is not a goal to increase my life list by 100% or so. I've never really kept track of my annual sightings, so I figured this was a good start. To me, it is a manageable goal that will hopefully get me out of the house more often and looking through the lenses of my spotting scope and binoculars. My goal is to keep the record of what I see in ebird, and export it here for observation by whoever might want to read about it. Since ebird has no easy link-in feature, I'm probably going to experiment with a couple of methods of posting. First, I'm just going to try cutting and pasting the exported table that I've formatted in Excel.

Today I inaugurated the drive by knocking out about 10% of the goal at a very quiet Jamaica Bay. Fittingly, I spent part of the time birding with two Irishmen I ran into who were layed-over in New York on their way back home from a month-long, 550 species birding trip to Columbia. While my goal for the year pales in comparison, its fitting I should encounter that kind of dedication to the hobby on the first day out. None of what I saw today were new to me though.

The list:

Row #	Species	Count	Location
1	American Black Duck	10	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
2	American Crow	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
3	American Robin	12	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
4	American Tree Sparrow	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
5	American Wigeon	10	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
6	Barn Owl	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
7	Brant	200	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
8	Bufflehead	40	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
9	Canada Goose	10	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
10	Carolina Wren	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
11	European Starling	150	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
12	Gadwall	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
13	Great Black-backed Gull	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
14	Herring Gull	50	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
15	Hooded Merganser	12	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
16	Mallard	5	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
17	Mute Swan	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
18	Northern Pintail	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
19	Northern Shoveler	40	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond
20	Ring-billed Gull	30	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
21	Snow Goose	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--East Pond

Keep coming back to see how I'm doing!

Queens College here we are...

2009-11-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

From our trip to see Eureka! at QC this afternoon.

Worms, worms, worms

2009-11-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

Take a look at some of the experiments we did on the senses of worms. Our classes found that worms can respond to light, odor, wetness, and temperature.

Only in New York...

2009-03-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

New York is THE city, and there's no place else like it on earth. It's been said so many times in so many places that it takes on the air of cliche, and maybe it is. I think that the real meaning of the saying doesn't come from the saying itself, though. Like in "It's a Wonderful Life" - a bell tingling and an angel getting its wings - , I think that the real significance in saying "New York is THE city..." comes from the person who says it having their New York moment. Like New York itself, there are so many different reasons for people to say it, that every time they do, it's a renewal of the idea, it's another piece of evidence that makes it true.

In this case I'd like to introduce into evidence exhibit #15,829,182,218. This past Friday, our team E/R took a trip to one of the greatest collections of art anywhere in the world. Will our students remember the frantic control of brushstrokes on Chinese landscape paintings? Maybe. Will they recall with fondness sitting in the light-soaked indoor Greek and Roman sculpture garden, sketching the great life-like marble edifices of the past? I'm sure. What I think they might remember most of all though is the man outside the museum who made saws sing.

It started with two students sitting on the fountain edge, staring but not staring in that not subtle enough way people do when they want to observe, but not be noticed. Of course, the kind man with the saw was fully able to see their interest while playing songs like Happy Birthday and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. He called them over, eager to sate their interest and whet their appetite for more, and maybe get a future saw player started. He patiently explained how the saw made music, and then gave the students a turn to make it sing on their own by having them strike with a wooden dowel while he bent the instrument into the right configuration for the notes he wanted. More students came over to see. It was 3, then 5, then 10, many of them getting the chance to make the instrument sing.

We went inside, saw the great art, but as soon as we emerged from the way we went in two hours earlier, the crowd quickly developed around the saw man yet again. I can't think of another place I've been where individuals change the landscape just by being themselves as this man did. I've lived in New York City for 5 years now, and I think I am only starting to understand why this is the greatest city on Earth. The New York moments are everywhere, and they never take the same shape twice. For today, it was a man with a saw seeming bigger and more important to a group of kids than the huge columned building behind him and all the thousands of years of human creativity contained within. Only in New York...

Seeing Stars with the Science Challenge Club

2008-12-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last night, Anthony, nine of the members of our science challenge club, and I made the long trek from Flushing to the Upper West Side and Columbia University. Our goal was to use the telescopes at the free public viewing to get closer to the stars and the moon. As we started out from school around 4:30, the skies did not look like they were going to cooperate. A hazy layer of clouds obscured the stars, but we still had hope as the light of the moon, though diffuse, could clearly be seen as we descended into the subway.

When we emerged from the one train at 116th Street at Columbia around 7:00, temperatures had dropped into the low thirties, but the clouds had mostly disappeared, and a clear night awaited us. After a short lecture entitled "From Protons to Planets to Penguins," we and about 120 other New York star-gazers made our way to the 15th floor of the Astronomy building and the telescopes. We gazed at the moon through the large domed telescope, then retreated to the open air of the New York City night where we were treated to a skyline of New Jersey and the Hudson River. Even better than the earthly vista were our telescopically enhanced views of the moon and the star cluster nebula, the Pleiades.

Tonight reminded me of the cold nights I would spend in my backyard growing up with my long telescope. I recall the faintly bright rings of Saturn, the reddish hue of a lunar eclipse, and the previously unseen stars too dim to see with the naked eye. Space made me feel very small then, but it made everything around me feel much more important. I can't wait until next semester when Flushing International gets its own telescope courtesy of Anthony's hard work and Columbia University. I'm looking forward to having more nights like this with our insipid explorers of the cosmos (i.e. the eager students of our school).

DNA Workshop - Election Day PD

2008-11-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

Click here to get to the agenda and links: Click Here

Science Challenge (E/R version) Goes Birding

2008-09-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon after school, six intrepid Science Challengers and I walked to Kissena Park in search of wildlife. (Is it a coincidence that all six students are from Team Evolution / Revolution? Go E/R!)

It took us longer than usual to make the 20 block trek, mainly because we kept stopping along the way to look at the House Sparrows and Pigeons that inhabit the busier parts of Flushing. We certainly got a few looks from people on the street. Six students from all parts of the world are not uncommon in Queens. Six students from all parts of the world holding binoculars and staring into trees and rooftops, now that caused a few people to look twice. I'm supposing that no one had a problem with us, and perhaps appreciated that we were taking an interest in our neighborhood's flora and fauna. People were friendly and we got a few "hello"s from folks walking about.

I was impressed with the curiosity my students exhibited, stopping to spend time and really observe something that is around them everyday, but they may not always see. That's how scientists are made, I guess - normal people taking an interest in the world around them. Even while resting, they did not rest in their search for birds.

For a group of beginners, and the casual nature of the walk, we had a decent haul of bird species:

- House Sparrow
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Canada Goose
- Mallard
- Snow (Dinner) Goose
- Double-Crested Cormorant
- Northern Cardinal
- American Robin

I saw or heard some others we did not all have a chance to see:

- Black-Throated Blue Warbler
- Blue Jay
- Downy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Red-Winged Blackbird

Hopefully we can go out again soon and see even more.

Sunday Birding from My Desk

2008-09-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Roger Tory Peterson, the famous birder and father of the modern field guides, is once rumored to have stayed in bed one morning while an eager group of scientists and birders went looking for birds. As the story goes, upon returning, the group boasted how they had seen and heard 40 species, a good haul for any morning. Still in bed, Peterson rolled over and nonchalantly said, "Oh, is that all? I heard 50 from here."

Now, it would be pretty presumptuous of me to compare myself to Peterson, but I have miniature moments. While sitting at my computer this morning, my cat in the window, I heard a common bird, but a rare voice to my neighborhood of Astoria, Queens: a Downy Woodpecker. It was comforting to know that even though I'm cooped up while working at the computer that there is a world unseen and unheard to most just outside of my window.

Welcome Back To School!

2008-09-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day returning to Flushing International High School. It was refreshing to see all of my returning students from last year, and exciting to meet my new 9th graders. Even though this is my third year teaching at this school, I have lots of new ideas for our projects this year. This fall, get ready to work on our own plant growth experiments, a few projects on healthy eating and living, and of course, the International Feast! I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of the delicious food we had last year.

Day one was exhausting though, so I'm off to bed to recharge my batteries for Day two! Good Night!

P.S. Interesting article in the New York Times Science Times today: a new video game that lets you play as evolving species. The new game, "Spore" lets you build new species according to the rules of evolution, and watch it change over the years. If he was alive today, Charles Darwin would buy a PS3.

Dr. Watson, I Presume?

2008-07-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

This week at Cold Spring Harbor is a week for reflection on what we have done, practice of the techniques and experiments we have learned, and a time to plan how we will use our new knowledge in the classroom.

We had a welcome break from our work yesterday when legendary scientist James Watson visited and spoke with us. Dr. James D. Watson is one half of the famous pair of Watson and Crick, the two men who first described the structure of DNA in 1953. Since 1968, he has been the director of the lab here at Cold Spring Harbor. Yesterday, he stopped by for 45 minutes and spoke about a variety of topics including the role of science in society, the future of DNA science in careers, and his tendency to not be very religious.

It was a short talk, but all of the teachers and I at this workshop came away with a sense of awe at meeting someone we have read about in textbooks almost all our lives. There have been many people who have contributed to the advancement of human understanding and science, but not many who have made a bigger or more important discovery than Dr. Watson.

The Worm

2008-07-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Caenorhabdis elegans (C. elegans, for short) is a worm that is about 1 millimeter in size. It lives in the soil, eats bacteria, and lives for about 2 weeks. At first glance, this little critter does not seem exciting. However, I am quickly finding out this week that C. elegans is at the front line of science research in the fight against human diseases.

You see, C. elegans is what biologists call a model organism. Studying genetic diseases in humans is really hard because humans live for a long time and are all very different from each other. Also, it's not really acceptable to do experiments on humans and their DNA. So instead of human studies, biologists use organisms like this worm.

You might think, "what can a worm teach us about humans?" Actually, they can teach us a lot - just think of all the things they have in common with us: they are animals, they are made of cells, they have digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems. Most of all, worms and humans evolved from the same ancestor, so even though we look different, we share a lot of genes.

Take a look at the video of C. elegans moving across the plate:

When you are ready, check out this introduction to the worm. I'll post more about the experiments we are doing tomorrow.

DNA Science, Long Island Style

2008-07-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again from The Dolan Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor.

This past week has been a blur of extracting, amplifying, slicing, and analyzing DNA. Last week, we analyzed several different sections of the human genome (that means all of the DNA that we have in our cells).

One of the great experiments was something the police and FBI use to solve crimes. I was able to extract and amplify a section of the DNA that is called D1S80. Everybody gets two copies of this gene (one from mom, one from dad) and there are lots of different kinds you can inherit. It is a section of DNA that repeats itself. So, some people have 18 repeats, others have 19, 20, 21, all the way up to 44. So this is one of the ways that geneticists can tell two people apart from each other. My results were that I have a copy that is 21 and one that is 27.

In the picture you can see our instructor pointing to the results we saw in our gel electrophoresis. You can learn more about this by going to this link: www.dnai.org, and clicking on Applications, and then Human Identification.

We begin work with nematodes or round worms today. I'll post more tomorrow when I have some great pictures!