Wildlife Photography

Before the opening ceremonies of yesterday's "Bioblitz" in Central Park I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Wilson and to give him an inscribed copy of my book, Birds of Central Park. I am a great admirer and have read all of his books. He spent quite a while looking through my book and was very effusive in his praise.

I was at the opening ceremonies of Bioblitz primarily because I wanted to take some photos of Dr. Wilson. I snapped away during the opening ceremonies but was not prepared when, during his remarks, E.O. Wilson pulled out his copy of my book, held it up for everyone to see, acknowledged me, and praised the book. I was so surprised that I only managed three shots of him holding the book. Wow!

I was walking on air when I went to teach my last two classes of the semester. My students sensed my mood and one of them asked, "What are you so happy about?" When I explained I got a lot of blank stares.

Edward O. Wilson is a distinguised Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University where he taught from 1955 to 1997. He is one of the most highly respected scientists in the world today and has been hailed as one of "America's 25 Most Influential People" by Time Magazine. He has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, (once for The Ants and a second for On Human Nature). His book, The Future of Life (2002), offers a plan for saving Earth's biological heritage. You can read some quotes from the book in my blog entry.

Dr. Wilson has received more than 75 awards in international recognition for his contributions to science and humanity, including the U.S. National Medal of Science (1976), Japan's International Prize for Biology (1993), the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990), the French Prix du Institut de la Vie (1990), Germany's Terrestrial Ecology Prize (1987), Saudi Arabia's King Faisal International Prize for Science (2000), and the Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society (1999). For his conservation work he has received the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society and the Gold Medal of the World Wide Fund for Nature. He is also the recipient of 27 honorary doctoral degrees from North America and Europe.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/24/2006 02:17:00 PM | Permalink   

And we thought we had a lot of starlings....

Every spring millions of European Starlings gather in western Denmark on their way north. Approximately 1/2 before sunset the fly from the fields where they were feeding and form a huge flock on their way to the reeds where the will sleep.

The Danes call the phenonema "Black Sun." This photo was taken in Tøndermarsken on April 5th of this year.

More photos here: http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=309856v

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/22/2006 02:16:00 PM | Permalink   

It's amazing to see how fast Peregrine Falcon chicks mature. The photo on top was taken on May 23rd when Chris Naderski of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection banded the two chicks at Riverside Church. Sometime last week this pair fledged. The second photo shows one of the fledglings in flight. More photos of the adults and fledlings are in my photo gallery.

The following information is from the DEP's Web site courtesy of the University of Minnesota's Falcon Flyer:

Female peregrine falcons typically lay two to four eggs, which they incubate for 31 days with help from the male. Hatching begins when the eyas hammers a hole in the egg with a special "egg tooth" on the end of its beak. The bird makes a neat cut all the way around the egg, essentially cutting off the large end of the egg. This process may take up to 48 hours and requires a great deal of energy.

A newly hatched falcon chick weighs about one and a half ounces (60 grams) and is virtually blind. Covered only with a light coat of fluffy white down, it requires constant brooding by the female in order to stay warm. Obtaining energy from the small remnant of the egg yolk, now neatly tucked away inside its body, the newly hatched eyas isn't usually fed by the parents for about 24 hours. Feeding commences on day two, when the young falcon gapes and bobs its head around in search of small pieces of meat delicately provided by the female. She elicits their food-begging and feeding behavior by evoking a sharp "eeechup" call as she approaches the brood with food.

In its first weeks, the peregrine chick develops at an astonishing rate.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS . . .

Ten Days: The eyas has grown a second coat of down, much heavier and fluffier than the first. It requires little or no brooding, but an ever-increasing amount of food.

Two Weeks: The eyases are four times their hatch size. They have gained their keen eyesight and a recognition of their self-image by seeing their parents, an important development process referred to as imprinting. They have acquired strength in their legs and are now moving about the nest.

Threr Weeks: Flight feathers and body contour feathers are poking through the down. Very active, the young birds are moving out of the nest scrape and exploring the area around the nest. They have a marked interest in anything that moves.

Five Weeks: Most of the down, save for a few tufts on top of the head, has given way to regular plumage. Having discovered their wings can grasp the air, they engage in bouts of wing-flapping and eventually, often accidentally in a strong wind, discover that they can actually separate themselves from the ground.

Six Weeks: The eyases take their first flights away from the nest. Not always choosing to or being capable of returning to the nest site, they will be found on adjacent buildings or sometimes on the ground.

Six to Seven Weeks: Exploratory, tentative flight attempts give way to ever increasingly complex sorties involving soaring, chasing, dog-fighting with siblings, and general aerobatics. Prey still tends to elude them, however, so they remain dependent upon the parents for food.

Eight to Nine Weeks: The young falcons start to show a keen interest in pursuing other birds, and soon experience their first successful capture of prey.

Ten to Twelve Weeks: The young peregrines become more adept at acquiring their own food. As July gives way to August, they disperse from the nest site. The aerial extravaganza that has provided enjoyment for many people, and a serious learning program for the falcon eyases, dissipates with the summer's heat, not to be repeated for another year.

Originally printed in The Falcon Flyer, University of Minnesota, Volume 1, Number 2.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/21/2006 11:57:00 AM | Permalink   

Did you ever look up at the metal poles that are used to suspend New York City's traffic lights over the intersection? Just about every one of these houses at least one House Sparrow nest. In fact, an informal survey this spring failed to find a single pole without a nest. The openings, blocked by threaded cross bolts are the perfect size for House Sparrows. The pipes that form the metal tees are pierced with threaded rods that narrow the opening so that only a House Sparrow can fit inside.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/16/2006 11:14:00 PM | Permalink   

I was amazed to see this Eastern Kingbird diving into the Mulberry tree on Nutter's Battery and coming away with an unripe berry in it's beak. I knew that, according to John Terborgh in his book Where Have the Birds Gone?, Eastern Kingbirds

. . .become avid fruit eaters in the nonbreeding season . . . in their Amazonian winter homes . . . I have seen 50 or 60 kingbirds pour into the crown of a single tree and begin snatching fruit . . . The species is the most abundant North American migrant in eastern Peru from the end of September through early November, a period that coincides with the fruiting peak of their favorite lauraceous trees. Later in the season, ripe lauraceous fruit becomes relatively scarce, and the big flocks of kingbirds disappear.

This kingbird has nested, for the past two years, in a Black Locust tree just a stone's throw from the Mulberry tree pictured here. I imagine an abundant supply of fruit is one of the reasons the birds are attracted to this area and both male and female probably supplement their protein-laden meals of insects with a fresh fruit desert.

I am not sure if this is a Red Mulberry (native to North America) or a White Mulberry (the "silkworm" Mulberry of Chinese origin.)

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/09/2006 06:54:00 AM | Permalink   

This Monday, June 5th, Mayor Bloomberg's half-hearted fractional closure plan goes in to effect in Central Park. The Park's East Drive north of 72nd Street will be closed to cars in the morning and the West Drive will be closed in the evening.

Currently, vehicular traffic is allowed on both the East and West drives of Central Park between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Under the new traffic plan, Central Park’s West Drive will be open to motor vehicles from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. only, while Central Park’s East Drive north of 72nd Street will be open only from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The East Drive from 57th Street and Sixth Avenue to 72nd Street will continue to be open from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

My opinion: the residents of Fifth and Madison Ave. don't want the added traffic from taxis and black cars so we may never see the East Drive closed completely, but we made enough noise so the Mayor had to throw us come kind of bone.

It looks like the City Council will vote on the Summer Car-Free Parks bill (Introduction 276) on June 13. If you are as outraged as I am about this half-assed plan, now is the time to let Speaker Quinn and your City Councilmember know that you support this critical legislation and they should too. Call, write, email, phone or fax.

You can find the e-mail address of your City Councilmember here. E-mail them.

Contact Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President here.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/02/2006 08:43:00 AM | Permalink   

This from Sunday's New York Times. My sentiments exactly--

May 28, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Off Track
By SHARON SEITZ

I LIVE in Brooklyn, and while I love its human energy and its variety of cultural and culinary offerings, there are days when I need a little nature. Luckily for me, my husband, our two children and other Brooklyn residents, there is a national park right in our backyards, the amazing Floyd Bennett Field.

Floyd Bennett Field is a 1,115-acre historical and natural gem in the southeast corner of Brooklyn. There's fishing, camping, nature trails, the city's largest community garden and a gorgeous bay ripe for dragging a seining net and investigating marine animals up close.

Now the actor and car-racing enthusiast Paul Newman and some city officials think it might be a good idea to bring Grand Prix-style racing to Floyd Bennett Field, creating a 3.5-mile course in the heart of the park. This is a deplorable idea.

Even if the racecourse were used for only one major yearly event (and that's what they're saying now), the negative impact of cars that roar around a track spewing out exhaust at 240 miles per hour would be devastating, causing irreversible damage to local and migratory wildlife as well as the general ecosystem, including a rare grasslands habitat.

The grandstands would hold 65,000 people even though right now there is a rule prohibiting more than 10,000 people at the park. Additionally, local families who now enjoy leisurely bicycle rides on the old runways (Floyd Bennett Field opened as the city's first municipal airport in 1931) on which the track would be built might be displaced.

It hardly seems worth converting the runways into a high-speed track that is used once a year, but things would quickly get worse if the track were used regularly for major events; there would be greater environmental destruction, and traffic jams on the Belt Parkway (already a living monument to tie-ups) and in surrounding communities would wreak havoc on Brooklyn. The park already plays host to a remote-control airplane field, model train enthusiasts and historic aircraft rehabilitators but these sanctioned hobbyists take up little space and have co-existed peacefully with the natural surroundings. An indoor sports complex will open in the fall and will be infinitely less destructive than a race track, while serving the needs of the community.

Of course, Mr. Newman is waving the proverbial golden carrot in front of the park, promising $1 million annually for the use of the "facility." When did we start referring to parkland as a facility to be commandered by wealthy developers? Why can't this parkland, just like the rest of the 26,000-acre Gateway National Recreation Area to which it belongs, get the same respect as, say, Yosemite or Yellowstone?

Just because Floyd Bennett Field is in New York City doesn't mean it has to be fast-paced. When it was created in 1972 as the nation's first urban national park, the intent was to provide New Yorkers with a national parkland close to home. Floyd Bennett Field's role in the life of Brooklyn is especially vital since it has less parkland than any other borough, even though it's the city's most populous.

A major political fight is garnering headlines over plans for an even bigger racetrack on Staten Island. While opponents there must face off against Nascar's might and a more convoluted political process, Floyd Bennett Field's future ultimately rests with the National Park Service.

I hope that the National Park Service rejects this dreadful plan immediately and decisively. We Brooklynites, especially those of us without country homes to which we can retreat, like Floyd Bennett Field the way it is — a mostly natural, wild and wide open place where we can breathe without choking on exhaust and mislaid plans.

Sharon Seitz is the author of "Big Apple Safari for Families: The Urban Park Rangers' Guide to Nature in New York City."

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 6/01/2006 07:15:00 PM | Permalink