AW, spot that great blue heron in CP ? or was it just ok ?
Hmm, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, but then I don't have the long-term experience to know these patterns. I saw GBHs all last Winter, and every time out so far this year, so I didn't think it unusual. I guess they're expected to leave, now that we've reverted to a colder Winter pattern. On most days, I've seen two or three, but last weekend there was only one, consistently seen near Balcony Bridge on the Lake. They seem to be assuming it's the same as the one at Turtle Pond, but it's so typical to see one in either location (as well as at the Pool and the Meer) that I don't know. They're so common that I don't usually take much note, but they are rather spectacular, and one of the easiest birds to see in the Park, so let me know if you want to check it out, or maybe this Heron is more your style.
A little follow-up: I talked to an esteemed elderly bird watcher, who assured me that this whole article is "a lot of nonsense". Great Blue Herons have wintered in the Park for as long as anyone can remember, while Goldeneyes, also mentioned in the article, do not. Probably this is just Henry Stern blowing smoke for publicity purposes; conflating various regional reports, and it may be a trivial issue (to some), but it's clear that fact-checking, in this case, was zilch. This just confirms my usual impression of the Times, which is that whenever I read an article of theirs about a subject with which I am familiar, I find all sorts of inaccuracies. Kind of makes me wonder about the stuff I'm not so familiar with.
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- bill 1-29-2001 11:19 pm
Hmm, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, but then I don't have the long-term experience to know these patterns. I saw GBHs all last Winter, and every time out so far this year, so I didn't think it unusual. I guess they're expected to leave, now that we've reverted to a colder Winter pattern. On most days, I've seen two or three, but last weekend there was only one, consistently seen near Balcony Bridge on the Lake. They seem to be assuming it's the same as the one at Turtle Pond, but it's so typical to see one in either location (as well as at the Pool and the Meer) that I don't know. They're so common that I don't usually take much note, but they are rather spectacular, and one of the easiest birds to see in the Park, so let me know if you want to check it out, or maybe this Heron is more your style.
- alex 1-30-2001 7:29 pm [add a comment]
A little follow-up: I talked to an esteemed elderly bird watcher, who assured me that this whole article is "a lot of nonsense". Great Blue Herons have wintered in the Park for as long as anyone can remember, while Goldeneyes, also mentioned in the article, do not. Probably this is just Henry Stern blowing smoke for publicity purposes; conflating various regional reports, and it may be a trivial issue (to some), but it's clear that fact-checking, in this case, was zilch. This just confirms my usual impression of the Times, which is that whenever I read an article of theirs about a subject with which I am familiar, I find all sorts of inaccuracies. Kind of makes me wonder about the stuff I'm not so familiar with.
- alex 2-21-2001 11:28 pm [2 comments]