Peak Horseshoe Crab Mating in Lower NY Bay

With the arrival of a new moon on Wednesday night, we are now coming into peak Horseshoe crab mating season in Lower New York Bay. What goes on now has been taking place for at least 350 million years. 

Adult males arrive on surrounding beaches in May, a few weeks before the females, and begin patrolling the near-shore waters for mates. When the females arrive, they release into the water a pheromone or a natural perfume that acts as a sexual stimulant. Horseshoe crabs also use their compound eyes to spot potential mates. When a male crab finds a mate, he hooks his specially modified second set of clawed appendages that look like small boxing gloves onto the backside of a female. 

A pair of Horseshoe crabs coming up onshore in the Shrewsbury River, across from Sea Bright, NJ

The female will then drag the male to the water's edge. Once on shore, she uses her pusher legs to form a shallow nest between four and six inches deep between high- and low-tide lines. Here she deposits 5-7 clumps of 2000-4000 eggs each, or up to 20,000 eggs in a spawning episode. She will repeat this process several times over the spawning cycle laying 90,000 eggs or more in a season. It is estimated that less than ten of these eggs will survive to adulthood. 

 

The arrival of Horseshoe crabs in Lower New York Bay also brings the arrival of hungry, migrating shorebirds, which have returned for their annual visit to the bay to feed off fatty Horseshoe crab eggs. To watch this ancient connection between birds and crabs is an exciting sight, like seeing a real live prehistoric event. 

A flock of migrating shorebirds seen along the shores of Union Beach, Raritan Bay, before they fly off to northern Canada to breed.

Migrating Dunlins seen near the tip of Sandy Hook feeding and resting before continuing their journey up to the high arctic to breed

Three migrating Semipalmated Plovers along with a single migrating Semipalmated Sandpiper stopping in the Navesink River recently to feed and rest before continuing their journey northward to northern Canada to breed

Shorebirds are feeding and fattening up for the last leg of their journey to breeding grounds far to the north. We will not see the birds again until the first week in October and the Horseshoe Crabs until next spring.

Heat & Humidity Swelter Lower New York Bay

It's not July or August yet, but on this Memorial Day, a high temperature in the upper 80s with humidity readings in the lower 70s combined to make a summer-like day for the unofficial start of summer. It felt just like a typical "July day," hazy, hot and humid, with an occasional t-storm rolling in.

Moreover, the presence of mosquitoes and biting flies, bad air quality warnings, and sultry days are all good indications that spring is winding down and summer is here or not far off. 

Perhaps the best indication that summer is near, though,  is the vision of a lazy squirrel. Although squirrels can be quite spastic, earlier today I spotted a Grey Squirrel just hanging near the top of a shady Locust Tree around mid-day. The litter critter looked quite content as it rested for about hour from the heat and humidity of the day.

For me, I enjoy the prospect of stunning summer sunsets over the water. It is just the thing to wrap up a steamy day near the great tidal waters of Lower New York Bay. 

How to Keep Bees in New York City

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/new-york-city-rooftop-beekeeping.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

From Treehugger.com:

When we spoke to the directors of the Vanishing of the Bees documentary as part of Discovery's Bees on the Brink efforts, they talked about their delight that cities around the world were recognizing the value of bees in the urban environment. In fact, they told us, bees are often doing better in inner city environments than they are in the countryside where monoculture fields of single crops have become all too commonplace. Nowhere is the renaissance of urban beekeeping more noticeable than in New York City, which only recently lifted its ban on city bees.

To read more and see related videos click here.

Oystercatchers nesting in Lower New York Bay

Over the last two days of this three-day Memorial Day weekend, I have been walking or kayaking around the southern end of Lower New York Bay. With the weekend weather warm and sunny, I was able to experience a real treat. It was the view of several nesting American Oystercatchers at both the high dunes near the tip of Sandy Hook and the marsh islands in the Navesink River. 

 

There was a time when this bird with the long, bright orange beak and piercing golden eyes was nearly driven to annihilation in Lower New York Bay due poaching, egg-collecting,  and hunting in the 1800s through the early 1900s. Fortunately, protection from the Migratory Bird Treaty in the 1900s has helped the American Oystercatcher make a slow comeback. In New Jersey, the bird is also listed as a species of special concern, which provides some money for research.  

Today, the American Oystercatcher seems to be a regular resident around the coastline of Lower New York Bay with nests not only at Sandy Hook and the Navesink River, but at Jacob Riis Park beach, Breezy Point, and Jamaica Bay. This beautiful shorebird currently seems to be doing well. 

Of course, not all the news is good.  With increasing loss of beach habitat due to greater than ever human development and escalating sea-level rise from global warming, suitable nest sites can be in short supply. This sometimes forces oystercatchers to nest very close to the high-tide line. Spring tides during full or new moons can flood and ruin many such nests.

So if you are out walking the beach over the next few weeks to take a peek at nesting shorebirds, please respect their space. Bring you binoculars, but leave your dog at home. Observe all posted signs and watch the birds from a safe distance.

The Flight of Least Terns in Lower New York Bay

It was a humid, misty, and muggy morning near the tip of Sandy Hook. The Memorial Day weekend has begun. I set off down the beach to discover what birds might be calling the far-off northern end of Sandy Hook home this time of year. 

First, though, I had to step through a gauntlet of mosquitoes and biting flies. They turned out to be the welcome delegation on this day. One bug after another keep buzzing around my head or biting my skin. Half-way down the sandy path my bare legs, arms, and neck were being nailed every few seconds by every blood-sucking bug on the beach. This wasn't exactly the exciting activity I was looking for. Slapping and scratching, I staggered on with camera and binoculars in hand, though I wish I had a few extra hands to keep the flies away. 

Finally at the tip of Sandy Hook, a westerly breeze helped to shoo the blood-suckers away, at least for a bit. I welcomed the temporary relief. I can respect that a blood-sucking bug has to do what it has to do to survive, but I just wish I wasn't the main course. 

It wasn't long, though, that I heard the sharp, shrill voice of a tern. The beach in fact was alive with dozens of Least Terns. This was an extraordinary sight, especially considering these little birds really shouldn't be located here in one of the most urban coastlines in the world. 

Least Terns are an endangered species in New Jersey and a threatened species in New York State. One of the main reasons that Least Terns are endangered or threatened is due to their choice of nesting areas. This smallest of American terns, weighing only about an ounce and measuring just about 9 inches in length, like lots of open space and solitary stretches of sandy beach as a nesting area. Of course, this is no easy request when you have loads of people who are also looking for their own deserted stretch of sandy beach to rest and relax. Conflicts can arise, and it is usually people that win. 

Can the over-whelming numbers of summer visitors to beaches and the tiny, finicky Least Terns co-exist? This is the experiment that has been going on for years downstream from Lower Manhattan at Sandy Hook. 

Fortunately, the tip of Sandy Hook is inaccessible enough to keep the hordes of beachgoers away. Except for some fishermen, beachcombers, and birders, Least Terns feel comfortable enough to still hunt, feed, and nest here as they have I am sure for at least hundreds of years. It helps too that the National Park Service has installed a rope fence around the beach nesting sites to keep people away.  

Least Terns are very small birds, but conspicuous enough in flight that they are a joy to watch. The way the terns use the wind and their sprightly bodies to skim atop the surface of the water. They hover at heights over 50 feet, then quickly plunge head first into the water to catch a fish in their beak. Then they glide around the air and over the beach and back out far beyond the shore. Terns are the masters of the air as no plane can ever be.

This time of year Least Terns are at their  breeding grounds. The Least Tern breeds in colonies of up to 200 birds. Nests are scraped in sand, shell or gravel, and may be sparingly lined with small shells or other debris. Eggs are commonly laid in clutches of 2 from late May through June, and are incubated by both sexes for 21 days. The young fledge in 19-20 days.

The Least Terns were courting over the Memorial Day weekend. The male was catching and carrying a fish in its bill to present to a female to demonstrate that he can be a good provider. A mating ritual that must be as old as the tides.

This is the real deal, right. As long as Least Terns still have that rush to reproduce and raise a family, there is always hope. Sure, there is still hard years ahead, but watching the flight of terns over Lower New York Bay always brings optimism, as long as a majority of people can share the beach with tiny, nesting shorebirds.  

Memorial Day Weekend Flowers

Around Lower New York Bay, everything seems set for the start of the celebrated Memorial Day weekend. The boats and buoys are in the water at marinas. The rides, games, and venders are set up on the boardwalks to begin their long summer trip of chance, and many streets and front yards are lined with red, white, and blue. Even the weather is cooperating by bringing on an early taste of summer's humidity.  

There is just one thing. Don't forget the flowers!

Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, tender flowers of white and pink surround Lower New York Bay. All together, three flowers from three totally different plants are in full bloom right now along our beaches, woodlands, wetlands, or uplands .

To begin with, the sweet, gentle smell of creamy white flowers from the hardy Black Locust tree fills the air near our bay beaches and along the edge of wetlands. Next, the sensitive, wrinkled flowers of Rosa Rugosa or the Beach Rose bush are in full bloom along the coastline, and the diminutive and dainty pink and white flowers  of the native Mountain Laurel shrub are providing a touch of color to the upland hills and wooded slopes of the area.

All around the bay, the landscape is in full late spring glory. Get outside this weekend and don't forget to smell the flowers. 

Rosa rugosa or Beach Rose flowers: 

Mountain Laural flowers:

Black Locust flowers: