Wildlife Photography

I got an interesting e-mail from Rob Jett today. Rob is a great birder and spends a lot of time in Prospect Park. I totally agree with Rob because my own experiences in Central Park bear him out.

Just one small example:

The photo at the left is of an unleashed dog chasing Canada Geese in the Pool in Central Park this spring. The dog was part of a group of 15-20 being walked by a woman who owns a dog-walking service in the area. She treats that area like a personal dog run and her dogs have destroyed a lot of habitat and chased away lots of birds. Appeals to Parks Enforcement, the local zone gardener, and other park officials fell on deaf ears. She continues her abuse of the park and its wildlife to this day.

People tell me that dogs in Central Park will never be brought under control because the big contributers to the Central Park Conservancy all live around the park and have dogs. I hate to think this is the "unofficial" position of Parks and the Conservancy but it seems the facts bear this out.

I am not a dog hater--we always had dogs growing up--but the situation has really gotten out of hand. It used to be, if I stuck to the north end of the park, I didn't have any problems. That's not true any more--the north end has just as many (if not more) unleashed dogs running around than downtown.

Cal,

I recently posted on eBirdsNYC a note about enforcing NYC's leash laws. After stumbling upon your tribute to "Ducky" I thought I would send you the following information. Prospect Park has had numerous incidents where wildlife was killed by an unrestrained dog (even dogs by dogs). There used to be a pair of resident opossums in Prospect Park that were killed by unleashed dogs.

Juniper Park Civic Association has set-up an online petition to compel the City of New York to enforce the current leash law in city parks. Dog owners unleashing their dogs in public places has caused numerous problems to people, dogs, wildlife and property.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Juniper2/petition.html

The issue has not only been ignored, but also encouraged by city officials.

I've been accused of being a dog hater. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am one of 8 kids. Over the years we've had 4 dogs, 5 cats, numerous gerbils and hamsters, lizards...well, you get the idea. It's not about the animals, it's about the inconsiderate owners. Anyway, if you'd like to help rein in the problem I urge you to sign the petition. You might also want to check out another blog set-up to document the problem, as well as, provide useful informational links:

http://brooklynparks.blogspot.com/

Also, I've attached a flyer that you may want to spread around.

Please pass the information along to as many people as possible.

Thanks,

Rob

--

The City Birder Weblog
http://citybirder.blogspot.com

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 7/31/2006 01:16:00 PM | Permalink   

I got a very nice note from Arthur Morris yesterday thanking me for the copy of "Birds of Central Park" I sent him and asking if I minded him writing about it in his e-mail newsletter.

For those of you not familiar with Artie and his work he is one of the preeminent wildlife photogrpahers in the United States. He has published tens of thousands of images and was, until a few years ago, a resident of our own boro of Queens where he spent many years honing his skills at Jamaica Bay and other local spots. His book, "The Art of Bird Photography," is an extremely detailed look at Artie's particular method of wildlife photography. You can find out more about him and his photo tours on his Web site.

He sent his e-mail newsletter out yesterday. Today I checked the ranking of my book on Amazon and it had shot up from 76,000 to 17,000. That's a big drop that can only be attributed to Artie's newsletter. By the way, the newsletter has a lot of good information (interspersed with ads for his photo tours.) If you want to subscribe you can do so on his Web site.



Here is what Arthur Morris wrote about Birds of Central Park:

Cal Vornberger, who attended a St. Augustine IPT a few years back, was kind to send me a copy of his fine book, The Birds of Central Park.” In the mid-1980s I photographed a bit in Central Park with my first telephoto lens, the Canon 400 f/4.5 FD (manual focus) lens. It was a tough place to photograph. Cal began photographing in the park just after 9/11. He is to be commended for amassing a representative collection of the birds of Central Park in such a short time.

The book is a seasonally-arranged photographic collection with just a bit of text. While some of the photographs feature birds on man made perches like fences, street light fixtures, and pavement, and others have technical and design flaws, there are more than enough quality photographs to put a smile on any photographer’s face. My absolute favorite image is on page 137. It features a Red-winged Blackbird chasing a Great Egret in flight. Both birds are in sharp focus and the background of reeds is quite appealing. That this image was created right in the middle of my old home town, the Big Apple, is simply astounding. And the same could be said of the Eastern Screech Owl on page 139, the Mourning Warbler on page 84, and the Ovenbird on page 68. Ordinarily you would not think it possible to create such excellent images in the middle of a huge metropolis. Some of the images that were obviously taken in a large city are quite wonderful, most notably the cover image depicting the nationally famous “Pale Male,” a red-tail that nested high up on a large apartment building. (When the building’s owner let it be know that Pale Male and his mate were slated for eviction, a firestorm of protest arose and the bird and its nest were saved.)

If you would like to own this quite remarkable collection of bird photographs, you can order a signed copy here: http://www.birdsofcentralpark.com/shop.htm

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 7/30/2006 08:34:00 PM | Permalink   

On Monday, July 24th at 8:34 am the smallest Green Heron chick in the nest in the Upper Lobe died, probably of starvation. The chick was the last of the clutch to hatch and started out at a disadvantage. Approximately ten days after hatching it was less than half the size of its next largest sibling.

I was on hand as the smallest chick took its last breath. Here is a slideshow of the sequence of events leading up to its death.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 7/27/2006 08:54:00 PM | Permalink   

This year they started the nest quite late--almost a month later than in previous years. There are four chicks in the nest but one of them is much smaller and less developed than the others. You can see him at the bottom right of the photo. I fear this little guy is not going to make it although I did see him get fed on Thursday morning and so I do hold out hope for him. If he can keep getting a little protein each day he might make it but his siblings put up such a fight to be fed that he doesn't even bother. The fish I saw him eat fell onto the bottom of the nest from the adult's crop.

The nest got a drenching from Thursday's downpour. I went back immediately after the first storm of the day was over and took this photo.

I always shoot from across the Upper Lobe but there was someone very close to the nest on the opposite side taking photos Thursday morning before the rainstorm. This guy was breaking branches in order to get a clear shot of the nest and he was much too close--almost under the nest. This type of behavior should not be tolerated (I gave another idiot hell on Tuesday for shooting from right under the nest) but before I could go over to the other side of the lobe the heaven's let loose. When I came back the guy was gone and I did not see him return.

I did get his photo of him breaking some branches off a tree so if you see him around the nest, give him hell for me.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 7/22/2006 02:21:00 PM | Permalink   

This adult male Clapper Rail (seen here with one of seven chicks) mated with a female King Rail this summer at Oceanside Marine Study Center on Long Island. Their eggs hatched on the Fourth of July and the rails and chicks have been seen at various spots around the preserve.

Although not a common occurance, King and Clapper Rails do mate and produce offspring that look more like the Gulf Coast version of the Clapper Rail with warmer, reddish-brown tones. The Clapper Rail shows a lot of gray including gray cheeks with touches of brown here and there. The King Rail has no gray and is more reddish brown. The King Rail is less commonly seen in our area and is much more secretive. In fact, I have only caught quick glimpses of the King Rail while the Clapper Rail actually crossed the path ten feet in front of me.

Clapper and King Rails are also know as "marsh hens." Both rail species inhabit salt and fresh water marshes up and down the East Coast and Oceanside is probably the best place around to get a look at this species.

Posted by Cal Vornberger at 7/15/2006 02:20:00 PM | Permalink