Village of Love

Listening to a CD of what I call "paper route songs," i.e. songs I listened to on my little transistor radio while I did my paper route when I was twelve, the last verse of "Village of Love" popped out to me--I never noticed it when I was flinging papers up on stoops:

Tell your Ma
Tell your Pa
We're going back
To Arkansas

It's hard to believe that the Village of Love would be in Arkansas, but that's the implication of the song.

Prospect Park 10/22

Colder & windier than I expected it to be today. I should have brought gloves; my hands were so cold that I could barely turn the focusing wheel on my binoculars. Missed a few birds because of that.

Today I was greatly entertained by the Golden-crowned Kinglets. These birds are either so tame or so fearless that you practically have to avoid stepping on them. One stood a few inches from my shoes picking at the grass. Later I came across 5 or 6 of them in one spot, all blithely ignoring my presence.

Sparrows were abundant, but very skittish on the ball field enclosure. Three Red-tailed Hawks hovering overhead was likely the reason.

Some warblers are still hanging around.

The list:
Prospect Park
Number of species:     39
Canada Goose     40
Mute Swan     6
Wood Duck     1     Drake on Upper Pool
American Black Duck     2     West Island
Mallard     45
Northern Shoveler     60
Ruddy Duck     50
Great Blue Heron     1     Upper Pool
Black-crowned Night-Heron     1     Flew from West Island to phragmites across the lake
Red-tailed Hawk     3     Hovering over ball field fence
Merlin     1
American Coot     9
Ring-billed Gull     21
Herring Gull     1
Rock Pigeon     30
Mourning Dove     3
Northern Flicker     1
White-eyed Vireo     1
Blue Jay     6
American Crow     3
White-breasted Nuthatch     4
House Wren     1     Rocky Pass
Golden-crowned Kinglet     9
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     4
Hermit Thrush     6
American Robin     8
Gray Catbird     1
Northern Parula     1
Black-throated Blue Warbler     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3
Common Yellowthroat     1
Chipping Sparrow     60
Savannah Sparrow     1
Song Sparrow     12
White-throated Sparrow     80
Dark-eyed Junco     60
Northern Cardinal     4
American Goldfinch     2
House Sparrow     75

Pier 1 10/21

Pier 1 this morning had some interesting birds turn up. An American Kestrel flew in off the East River, alighted on a light pole, flew off and perched in a tree near the Promenade, then flew deeper into the Heights.

Three immature Black-crowned Night-Herons were standing on the old pier supports in the river. What food they were expecting to find there I can't imagine. They're young; they'll learn.

I had a brief look at an Eastern Towhee skulking in the brush at the top of the hill.

I still seem to be the only guy birding this park--I've gotten used to the joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists checking out the bozo with the binoculars.

The list for the morning:
Pier One
Number of species:     17
Canada Goose     7     Flyover
Mallard     2
Double-crested Cormorant     6
Black-crowned Night-Heron     3
American Kestrel     1
Ring-billed Gull     3
Herring Gull     4
Great Black-backed Gull     1
Rock Pigeon     7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     3
Palm Warbler     1
Eastern Towhee     1
Song Sparrow     1
Swamp Sparrow     2
White-throated Sparrow     3
American Goldfinch     2
House Sparrow     10

Gila Monster Spit

The basic ingredient of both Bydureon and Byetta [diabetes drugs], called exenatide, is derived from the saliva of the Gila monster, a dangerous lizard                   

                                                            NYT, 10/20/10                                                                                                                                                     

You really have to wonder what led some scientist to say, "Y'know Joe, I'll bet Gila monster saliva would make a great diabetes drug." Or else the weary researcher sighs to his colleague, "Well Fred, we've tried everything else--how about Gila monster saliva?  Let's go out, collect a bunch, and squeeze the spit out of them."


Which leads to the question: Exactly how do they get the spit out of a Gila monster? Are there Gila monster farms where they strap little pails under the chins of the monsters and wait for them to drool? Or do they somehow pry open their jaws and extract the saliva directly from their glands? Are there Gila monster wranglers  who do the prying and extracting? Are there guys running around the desert capturing Gila monsters for profit? Or do they have Gila monster stud farms to keep up the supply of the animals? How many Gila monsters does it take to supply enough saliva for one dose? No wonder these drugs are so expensive! 


And now it turns out that Bydureon has been rejected by the FDA as too dangerous. Seems they're afraid that the drug might build up in patients' kidneys instead of being passed through. Oh yeah, that seems like a bad thing--a kidney full of Gila monster spit. Of course, peeing Gila monster saliva doesn't sound a whole lot better!

Vesper Sparrow @ Prospect Park 10/19

This morning, around 11:30, I saw Peter's post that a Vesper Sparrow was in the enclosure by the ball fields in the park. I said to Shari, "Wanna go to the park?" "I can't, I'm working." "Take lunch," I said. That was persuasive enough and with a 1/2 hour we were at the ball field. As soon as we got there a flurry of juncos rose up out of the grass and flew into a tree.

It is amazing how many sparrows can hide in the grass, especially since this is part of the outfield for the baseball diamond, so the grass isn't particularly high, and even more so since it is relatively sparse and is being reseeded, which is why it is enclosed (and which is why there are so many sparrows). So I figured this bird wasn't going to be a slam dunk like the Snow Goose last week. Rob Jett was already there and he pointed out both a Red-tailed Hawk in a nearby tree and Merlin in a tree much farther away, explaining that these 2 hawks, plus a murder of crows in the park, were making the sparrows very skittish.

A few Chipping Sparrows popped out of the grass, as well as a few Savannah Sparrows. The juncos kept flying back and forth from the field to a couple of trees nearby. Peter came by and the four of us slowly walked the perimeter of the fence. And then, as if out of nowhere, the Vesper Sparrow popped out of the grass and perched on the fence. My first reaction was, "That is big sparrow!" It gave us a good look, flew down to the grass, then back up to the fence again, before flying down again to feed and hang around a small tree branch that was in the grass.

And then, "lunch hour" was over. Vesper Sparrow is a life bird for both Shari and me. Later, I saw that a 2nd Vesper had been found in the enclosure and still later a 3rd in the "sparrow bowl" a little bit to the north. Still, you only need one to add it to your life list.

Later in the afternoon Shari & I walked down to Pier 1. Nothing new there today.

Lists:
Prospect Park 
Notes:     Ball field enclosure.
Number of species:     8
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Merlin     1
Northern Flicker     1
American Crow     18
Chipping Sparrow     5
Vesper Sparrow     1
Savannah Sparrow     5
Dark-eyed Junco     100

Pier 1
Number of species:     9
American Black Duck     2
Mallard     3
Double-crested Cormorant     2
Ring-billed Gull     2
Herring Gull     2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     3
Palm Warbler     1
Swamp Sparrow     1
White-throated Sparrow     5

JBWR 10/17 The Ducks (& Geese) Are Back!

Brants panic as Norther Harrier swoops above them--photo by Shari Zirlin

Perfect day at Jamaica Bay--weather was clear & cool, lighting was perfect, and the birds were abundant. The winter ducks and geese have have returned in good numbers. There were thousands of Brants in the bay & on the West Bay. Strangely, none on the East Pond. The lone Snow Goose last week from Prospect Park has been followed by a large flock  on the West Pond. Again, none on the East. Lots of wigeons, shovelers, hundreds of Ruddy Ducks, both teals, a few Gadwalls, and scaup--most of them a coin toss as to whether Greater or Lesser, but a few we could confidently ID as Greater on the East Pond. (And for you out-of-towners, yes, that is the Manhattan skyline in the background--about 20 miles away.)

Green-winged Teal on Big John's Pond
--Photo Shari Zirlin

Like the salt marsh a couple of weeks ago, the place was lousy with Yellow-rumped Warblers--almost to the exclusion of any other passerines. There were some sparrows and other birds, but really, everywhere you looked a bird was flash its big yellow rump at you.

Hawks were also in evidence today. Merlins chasing each other, Northern Harriers scaring the birds on the ponds, and a couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Shari Zirlin

Despite being practically on top of this hawk at Big John's Pond, Shari & I had a hell of a time deciding between Cooper's and Sharpie. The bird wouldn't turn around to give us a look at its breast. I thought the tail was rounded enough to make it a Cooper's, but after looking at a lot of pictures in books and on line I finally had to admit, mostly from the shape and coloring of the head that it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. It was beautiful to see it from the blind for such a long time. That's the advantage of being able to take good pictures with Shari's new camera--we get review the birds we saw in tranquility, without the distraction of trying to identify all the other birds flying about at the same time.

The complete List for the day:
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
West Pond, East Pond, Big John's Pond
# of species: 42

Snow Goose    68
Brant    2000
Canada Goose    100
Mute Swan   106
American Wigeon    25
American Black Duck    10

Gadwall 3
Mallard    21
Blue-winged Teal    2
Northern Shoveler    12
Green-winged Teal    35
Greater/Lesser Scaup    20

Greater Scaup 5
Ruddy Duck    550
Pied-billed Grebe    2
Double-crested Cormorant    55
Great Blue Heron    3
Great Egret    4
Black-crowned Night-Heron    8
Northern Harrier    2
Sharp-shinned Hawk    2
Merlin    3

Peregrine Falcon 1
American Coot    6

American Oystercatcher    1
Greater Yellowlegs    11

Ring-billed Gull    X
Herring Gull    X

Great Black-backed Gull 1
American Crow    5
Black-capped Chickadee    1
Gray Catbird    4
Northern Mockingbird    1
European Starling    30
Yellow-rumped Warbler    90
Field Sparrow    1
Song Sparrow    2
Swamp Sparrow    1
White-throated Sparrow    16

Dark-eyed Junco    15
Northern Cardinal    1
Common Grackle 1
House Sparrow    2

Pier 1 10/14

Pier 1 of Brooklyn Bridge Park continues to be an interesting stopover for migrants as well as an attraction to winter residents. Today there were 4 species of sparrows, not counting the ubiquitous House Sparrow. New birds there for me today were House Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song, Swamp, and White-throated Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Junco. Most of the action was along the salt marsh--there isn't a lot of habitat there, but what there is is "cherce."

This broken down pier south of Pier 3 is a good place to roost--it might be really interesting to check out in the winter

Pier 1
Number of species:    15
Mallard    1
Double-crested Cormorant    5
Ring-billed Gull    2
Eastern Phoebe    2
House Wren    1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    3
Northern Mockingbird    2
European Starling    3
Yellow-rumped Warbler    2
Common Yellowthroat    4
Song Sparrow    1
Swamp Sparrow    2
White-throated Sparrow    6
Dark-eyed Junco    1
House Sparrow    15