Summer's End -- A Mixed Bag for Central Park Water Birds, Wildlife and Horses

A "fluke." Early migratory geese observed at the Central Park Reservoir a couple of weeks ago. But since then, things very quiet.

An early migrator. Rested briefly and was quickly gone the next day.

Family of raccoons popping out from rock dens in the evening at the Reservoir.

Summer has finally ended. Once again we take a look back to examine it's impact upon the wildlife of Central Park, specifically the water birds of our lakes and ponds, in addition to other animals.

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As noted repeatedly in recent months, mallard numbers have mysteriously and precipitously dropped and to this day remain extraordinarily low in one of the world's most prestigious parks.

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It wasn't even five years ago, when it was typical to observe upwards of a couple of hundred mallards at most of the park's watercourses throughout summer and fall. These days, one is lucky to see even 15 to 20 ducks (of any kind) on Central Park's lakes, ponds and even the Reservoir.

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One is at loss to explain why the duck numbers have fallen so drastically this year. While the last two winters in the north east were particularly brutal and killed thousands of water birds, this alone does not explain the losses of so many of our resident mallards in Central Park. (Personally speaking, I cannot help but wonder if all the harassment and culling activities against Canada geese over the years have also had adverse impact on the ducks? Mallards particularly are noted to frequently hang with geese.)

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Central Park (and New York City at large) has of course been conducting a "war on Canada geese" over the past five years and between both, lethal and non-lethal means, has decimated our resident goose population -- which is down even further than that of the mallards. (Currently, there are not even a dozen resident Canada geese in all of the 843 acre Central Park.)

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This past summer, all but six Canada goose eggs were destroyed by park workers in Central Park. The only reason for survival of the one goose nest (at the Reservoir) was because it and the mother were so well hidden. The goose pair I named Hansel and Greta were successful in hatching four of their six eggs. Fortunately, three of the four goslings survived long enough to fly out of the Reservoir with their parents in late August.

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Unfortunately, that is the only "good news" to report in terms of Central Park's surviving geese and ducks. The rest appear to be just hanging on as their numbers continue to plummet. So low are the goose numbers now that Geese Police has not yet been observed to be harassing (non-existent) geese on Central Park lakes and ponds since the molt began in early July and GP was forced to leave flightless geese alone.

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But rest assured, Geese Police will again resume harassment activities as soon as the migratory geese begin arriving in steady numbers, beginning next month (October).

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Contrary to the repeated claims of the Central Park Conservancy, they and Geese Police harass ALL Canada geese on CP lakes and ponds, not just the "resident" birds. Were that not so, Geese Police would not be employed during the fall and winter months when virtually all the geese in Central Park are migratory, not resident. (As noted, we currently have fewer than a dozen resident Canada geese in CP.)

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Recent walks around Central Park have indeed been boring, if not downright grim and depressing in terms of the little wildlife actually observed. (One reason for lapses in blog writing. -- Put simply, there is not much to write about.)  Though I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a few skeins of early migratory geese that arrived briefly at the Reservoir, those sightings were apparently flukes and aberration.

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The fact remains that Canada geese are primarily late migrators, the bulk of whom, don't usually pass through NYC until late fall and early winter.

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Along with abnormally low numbers of ducks, geese, robins (and other small birds) and squirrels, there are also few cormorants, herons or egrets to be seen around Central Park these days.  (Come to think of it, its been a long time since personally observing any red tailed hawks -- perhaps there is not enough prey for them?)

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The only wildlife so far seeming to maintain its numbers are the raccoons, at least a few families of which, survive around the Reservoir and the Boat Lake in Central Park. But that might also change since the Conservancy replaced the old garbage cans with news ones that are resistant to raccoons.

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Nevertheless, raccoons are resourceful and adaptable animals who don't necessarily depend on human cast-offs for food. (Raccoons are, for example, excellent swimmers who readily find food sources in water.) Since raccoons mostly come out at night, they are also less likely to inconvenience humans resulting in "nuisance" culls. Still, one can never feel too confident or optimistic for any wildlife in Central Park these days -- though for the moment, raccoons seem to be hanging in there better than most.

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Other animals (though not wildlife) safe and protected for the time being in Central Park are the carriage horses. The relentless, ill-thought-out campaign to "ban carriage horses" in New York City has apparently fallen to failure as even Mayor deBlasio has abandoned it. (I always said the mayor was an opportunist simply seeking to secure votes from people who otherwise don't follow politics.)

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Personally, I am relieved and pleased about this turn of events. While a horse pulling a light carriage through Central Park may not seem the "ideal" life to some people, it's a lot better than falling through the cracks of human responsibility and ending up on a truck bound for a Mexican slaughterhouse. (The picture for American horses in our country is indeed bleak with 155,000 of them trucked off for slaughter each year.)

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Horse rescues and sanctuaries already have their hands full in the U.S, just trying to save those horses from actual abuse and neglect situations or headed for auction. They truly don't need the extra burden of having to take in countless horses who already have home, purpose and law protections.  Save those rescues for the horses who actually need them. The carriage horses I have observed all appear to be more than well cared for and well adjusted to their "work." Like most animals, horses like having something to do.

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So, all in all, it's a mixed bag for the animals of Central Park this past summer.

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Mostly a negative for the few water birds who remain, but a general positive for the clever and resilient raccoons and a meaningful win for the carriage horses.

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And in a few weeks, the migratory Canada geese will begin to arrive from places far north (at least those who make it through hunters bullets).

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Something to look forward to -- and say a prayer for.  -- PCA

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Early Migratory Geese During the Otherwise Lull?

Arriving geese at the Reservoir in recent weeks. But, it's not clear if the geese who come and go are local "pond hoppers" or represent the first waves of migratory geese showing up unusually early.

 It's been a few weeks since Hansel, Greta and their three goslings departed the Central Park Reservoir and a few weeks since updating this blog.

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As usual this time of year, there is a kind of "lull" of geese in Central Park, though the comparatively low number of mallards is still hard to explain. The dozens of geese who molted at the Reservoir during the early summer are long gone and as soon as the three goslings of the Reservoir were capable of flying in late August, they too, took off with their parents. I don't anticipate a return of Hansel and Greta (hopefully with their three youngsters) until next spring.

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Nevertheless, the past few weeks have been a bit surprising in that Central Park has not been entirely goose-empty.

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There are the six resident Central Park geese who still remain at the Boat Lake that my friend, Liliana regularly reports on. And there have also been gaggles of geese flying in and out of the Reservoir, usually to rest at night on the causeway that runs north to south in the middle of the watercourse.

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It seems way too early for migratory geese to begin passing through NYC and specifically, the Reservoir during their journeys south, so this observation is a little puzzling. (Usually the migratory geese passing through aren't first observed until early October.)

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Last week, for example, while walking around the Reservoir after the sun had set, I suddenly heard loud, excited honking coming from the north.

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A large skein of at least 25 to 30 geese flew low over the trees and as soon as reaching the water, literally dropped out of the sky and plopped on the water -- like rocks falling. There, the geese remained for some time, barely moving from the spots they had landed -- as if exhausted from a long and challenging flight.

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Such behavior is typical of migratory geese, not resident NYC geese simply, "pond hopping" around the city. Usually the latter are fairly quiet when arriving to a location and move around freely when landing and skiing across the water.

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I didn't know what to make of the particular observation as the geese were obviously not Central Park resident geese (we don't have that number of geese anywhere in CP) and it didn't appear they were local by the behavior.

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(Weather has been unusually hot in NYC over the past few weeks and was on that particular day. It's possible that even a short, local flight exhausted the geese causing them to behave more like migratory birds -- though that doesn't explain the loud, excited honking when this particular skein arrived.)

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A few night later, there were nearly 40 geese observed resting on the causeway, but last night far fewer.

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The only conclusion to be drawn from these unusual sightings this time of year is that, for whatever reason, geese are moving around a lot. But, it's not known if I am seeing the same geese each night or different geese coming and going.

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Nor is it known if these are local NYC geese or geese moving through from some far away, exotic location -- i.e. migratory geese.  

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Yesterday, Liliana reported 21 geese suddenly at the Boat lake -- something not observed at all since the very early spring, and then only briefly. She further reported hearing the cooing of goslings, though they were not the goslings who hatched at the Reservoir this summer whose white face markings are actually beige.

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So, the question remains: Are some geese migrating exceptionally early this year? Looking back on this blog from last year, the first observation of migratory geese passing through the Reservoir was not made until October 10th.

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One thing that is known however, is that if these are in fact, the first waves of migratory geese, they are here and gone in the blink of an eye.

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It isn't until late December or even early January that the last wave of migratory geese who actually "winter" at the Reservoir arrive -- and stay. -- PCA

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