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Oh, those "dog days" of August.
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Somehow, this summer is starting to feel endless.
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The crushing heat and oppressive New York City humidity has a way of sapping and draining all of one's energy and motivation. It has a way of melting one's brain.
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It's been at least a couple of weeks since writing anything in this blog. Indeed I have all I can do to make it to the Central Park Reservoir every evening to check on the family of geese still there.
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The good news is that the remaining three goslings are so far, thriving and appear to be soon ready to fly. It is in fact, hard to distinguish them from their parents, Hansel and Greta (especially when the family is in the water) as the babies are almost full size now and have all of their adult coloring and feathers.
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I will soon go to the Reservoir one day and not find the family at all (probably some time next month). Such day will be a kind of reckoning, but hopefully in those early times of flight training, there will still be moments of seeing the family bounce back and forth; appear and disappear.
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Then one day they will simply be gone -- until hopeful return next spring.
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The Reservoir has been generally quiet since the molting geese who were there through most of July regained their flight feathers and departed.
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Besides the family of five geese, there are some mallards and gulls that can be seen most days and there are a few small gaggles of geese that fly into the Reservoir at night for roosting.
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But, mostly it is relatively quiet and presumably will remain that way until early November when the many skeins of migratory geese begin to pass over Central Park.
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But we are a long way from that now.
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And, If I think it eerily quiet and empty at the Reservoir these days, that is nothing compared to other areas of Central Park where there are barely any geese or ducks upon park lakes and ponds.
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Goose numbers are so low at the Central Park Boat Lake for instance (four), that my friend, Liliana reports not even seeing Geese Police there since the geese regained flight feathers.
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While low numbers of geese can be attributed to New York City's endless "war" on geese either through culling or harassment, it is hard to explain the low number of Central Park mallards compared to years past.
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It's possible that last season's bitterly harsh winter had a much more devastating impact upon duck numbers than we were aware of. Or, it's possible that the increase in human activities around Central Park is inhibiting duck numbers. Or, it's even possible that mallards particularly seek out areas where there are higher goose numbers as the two species generally like to hang out together.
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More likely, it's a combination of all three. But, in any case, all water bird numbers in Central Park are dramatically reduced from what they were in recent years.
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Not a happy development for me, personally, but I seem to be in a minority of the millions who go to Central Park every year -- mostly for exercise or entertainment purposes.
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Although Central Park may have initially been created to afford New Yorkers opportunity to escape maddening crowds and enjoy some quiet, reflective time with nature, in recent years it has seemed to become its actual opposite -- a magnet for crowds and frantic activities and a gradual pushing out of nature and wildlife.
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I fear the day when the ponds and lakes of Central Park will be drained and paved over in order to construct a giant ferris wheel, roller coaster or outdoor gym.
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But, perhaps (and hopefully) this is simply example of me being particularly cranky and ornery during the oppressive and seemingly endless, "dog days" of summer.
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I can't wait for the first whispers of falling leaves and excited honks of the magnificent and passing migratory geese of November. -- PCA
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