This morning I visited the East Pond of Jamaica Bay in Queens and observed that the water level had drawn down enough to make a schlep up the pond. As a result, I did a survey starting from the south end of the pond to the north end and back. Please note that the conditions may be fine for me and for those intrepid EXPERIENCED East Pond visitors. The conditions are not for folks who are inadequately equipped or unfamiliar in navigating soft muddy conditions.
Additionally, the path I cleared last season on the north side of the stone berm that was created to close off the breach on the east side of the shoreline has become over grown--Poison Ivy, is abundant there. I made a small path through the overgrowth there today but will open it up some more when I return with the proper tools. There were not a lot of shorebirds around and being on the pond itself allowed me to observe yet another condition *(we can't seem to catch a break)* that I deem to be very problematic and could have been another variable in the number of drainage issues encountered this season. The flats that have opened up are covered in a THICK MAT of what appears to be Planktonic Algae. I had observed the Algae on the pond but had no idea how severe it was until I was walking the pond today. It made traversing the pond a bit challenging due to the viscosity and the amount. This is a problem, as there is very little open mud where peeps and other shorebirds could readily feed. There is breakage here and there in the Algae mat along the shoreline and on the pond which allows your ducks and other waterfowl to move about but I also watched a few ducks struggling to move around in some patches--this is how thick the Algae is on the pond. Algae, is merely a symptom to larger problems in a pond. Normally it means there are too many available nutrients in the water caused by fish waste, fish food, fertilizer run-off or other dead organic matter. Compounding matters further could be too much direct sunlight or even low oxygen levels...all of which contribute to algae growth. However, it could be managed with the proper care and maintenance. I don't know if any water sampling is done on the East Pond to checkup on the health of the pond but I will reach out to NPS and ask. Decomposing will occur but I have no idea how long it takes. I am tempted to take a rake with me and try to clear out some areas of the mudflats to give the birds (mainly peeps) areas in which they could feed. Here are my shorebirds species and numbers from today. American Oystercatcher (1) Semipalmated Plover (9) Killdeer (2) Spotted Sandpiper (2) Adult and juvenile) Greater Yellowlegs (9) Lesser Yellowlegs (11) Least Sandpiper (20) Semipalmated Sandpiper (30) Short-billed Dowitcher (53) Other non shorebird highlights were several Northern Waterthrushes, 1 juvenile Tri-colored Heron and 2 Falco Peregrinus whose playful antics were amusing to watch in lieu of shorebirds. Best, -- 風 Swift as the wind 林 Quiet as the forest 火 Conquer like the fire 山 Steady as the mountain Sun Tzu <http://refspace.com/quotes/Sun_Tzu> *The Art of War* <http://refspace.com/quotes/The_Art_of_War> (\__/) (= '.'=) (") _ (") Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
