Today I finally got a chance to meet the elusive yet famous piping plover. Melissa Malloy was my expert today. Her many responsibilities include monitoring plover populations, documenting their activities, and protecting their nests. Unfortunately, the NPS has a difficult time protecting the plovers. To manage the population of this endangered species, portions of the beach have to be closed. Many people hate this, because they would like to enjoy the closed section of the beach instead of the nearby sections that ARE open. In conversation with residents of the nearby communities, we learned that most people felt that there were plenty of piping plovers, and they were therefore not endangered enough to warrant beach closures. We discovered that the residents were very certain they knew which birds were plovers; but were in fact mistaken. If you think you see piping plovers often, you do NOT know what piping plovers are!! The species people most commonly assume are piping plovers are sanderlings, or terns. This IS a piping plover!! They are very difficult to spot because they are very tiny and blend into the sand so well! Does this give you a sense about how small they are? They like to nest in the sand, where they scratch shallow depressions in which they lay their eggs. The nests are not very visible, nor are the birds themselves. This is why it is important not to allow visitors to walk, run, bike, or drive on the beach during nesting season! There have been some controversy about the culling of Canadian geese at GNRA.
JFK airport (previously known as Idlewild) is located on Jamaica Bay and was built over former saltmarsh. The salt marshes were filled in to make room for this very important transportation hub. The location of this transportation hub unfortunately coincides with preferred habitat for Canada geese. Canada geese are abundant in this area and their abundance often interrupts or causes danger to airplanes. Because of this, it was determined that it would be okay to cull the population of Canadian geese. This means that a certain number of these birds are rounded up and killed to decrease their numbers and create a more safe flight path. The Facebook page for JBWR addressed this this issue. Many people commented and felt very strongly. ~ Some people felt that the geese were there first and that the planes interrupt in ancient migratory flight path and therefore the geese should not be killed. ~ Other people felt that human safety is of utmost importance. 1. What do you think about this issue? a) What if you found out that the population of Canadian geese was too high? Would that change your opinion? b) What if you found out the population of Canada geese was too low that is they were endangered? Would that change your opinion? 2. How do you think government agencies balance the needs of wildlife versus the needs of humans? What are some factors they have to take into consideration ? Yesterday many residents of the communities surrounding Jamaica Bay had a party on the sandbar. The sand bar is a man-made island in the middle Jamaica Bay that is composed of fill that was dug up when digging a shipping channel.
The sandbar when I was a kid 20 years ago had no trees on it at all, and maybe a little bit of grass. Now there are trees on it, and it is important nesting ground for gulls and terns! That is ecological succession at work! At this party which takes place once a year, many people arrive with their boats; have refreshments and enjoy the music and dancing and playing the water. Some people think that this much commotion destroys habitat. For example, this disruption may cause the terns and gulls not to nest and reduce the population of the species. Additionally, if the partygoers are irresponsible, they may leave trash behind which would further damage the environment. However, an alternate point of view is that if people are allowed to enjoy their natural resources they will appreciate them and care for them more. Which do you think leads to greater conservation of natural resources: 1) prohibiting people from using natural resources 2) allowing people to do whatever they wish 3) permitting people to use natural resources but educating them to do so in a responsible way? I think the obvious answer is choice 3, but who is responsible for educating the public? Does it cost money? Are you willing to pay the money? Speak up! What are your thoughts? Happy Fourth of July and Independence Day!
Did you know that GNRA includes many sites that were important in defending America from attacks from the sea, from the Revolutionary War through World War II?! This park is an excellent resource not just for science teachers but also for teachers of history. Ft. Wadsworth, Ft. Tilden, Floyd Bennett Field, Sandy Hook and others all played important roles in many of our American battles. Why not do a project on the role of the local parks in our military history? Pick a war, then pick one of the locations, and explain why it was important, tell some exciting stories that took place there, and identify some famous people who have visited! Click here to get started on your research! Today I tagged along with Arianna to some hydrologic monitoring.
Ariana has been a volunteer for the National Park Service since March and has been completing these surveys since that time. Arianna is currently taking classes and looking for a suitable program to pursue her degree in conservation biology. The purpose of the hydrologic surveys is to determine the ground-water levels in the park. One objective is to determine if the area is conducive to establishing new wetland ecosystems. Throughout FBF there are white PVC pipes tucked into the ground. Arianna has two tools she uses to monitor the water levels: one is electronic and the other is manual. The manual monitor is a coil that Arianna lowers down into the pipe until it touches the water, at which point it beeps. Then she looks at how much coil was lowered and records how deep the water was. Some of the stations are also electronic: at these stations she hooks up a laptop computer to the a recording device permanently attached to the pipe, and downloads the data. Downloading this data takes a long time and I wondered why. It turns out that the water level is monitored continuously every 5 min. throughout the day. If the water level is taken every 5 minutes, every day for a week, how many data points is that? Do that calculation and you will see why it took a long time to download the data! While Ariana and I were locating the water monitoring pipes, we also got to see a really fun animal: the cottontail rabbit! These rabbits are very small with a fluffy white tail and brown/reddish fur. The problem with these cottontails is that they appear to not be afraid of trucks! However, they are afraid of humans. So the rabbits remained crouched on the path as the truck approached. I would have to kepp jumping out and shoo-ing the rabbits out of the way so they would not get run over. They were very cute!! Another exciting find today was another box turtle! Arianna located him as he were driving in the truck. She must have excellent eyesight and powers of observation to be able to spot a small species like this hiding in the brush. One cool thing was that this species had a tag. A tag on an animal means that a scientist has previously captured the animal and recorded several things about it: such as its size, weight, age, gender. Ariana recorded the number on the tag and location that we found this turtle. What is think we could use this information for? Some things I noticed about this particular box turtle was that the mosquitoes were swarming around it. I was surprised that mosquitoes would bother reptiles such as a turtle. However this turtlel did not seem to be in the best health as it seemed to have a bit of green foam coming out of its nose and mouth. We contacted the ranger station and their advice was to let nature take its course. We ended our day with the all-important tick check :) Today I came to sit in on the ranger meeting. It takes place every Tuesday morning. At this meeting the Rangers discuss their activities for the week and troubleshoot any issues they may be having. For example, if they are having trouble using equipment or filing reports or their vehicles need maintenance, they will bring it up during this meeting. Also they will give report on their various ecosystem monitoring projects.
I was happy to be here because I got to learn what these meetings are like. Additionally I got further insight into how rangers view volunteers: They are grateful for the help, but hope that the volunteers will be prompt, reliable, and consistent. I created my schedule for the next few days by asking the biotechnicians what days they could use some assistance with their field activities. I was surprised and delighted that I could begin my field activities that very day!! I got to go out with Katherine and Arianna to do cover board monitoring. This was exciting because I got to use a special GPS. Throughout Floyd Bennett Field and other locations in the Jamaica Bay unit, boards are placed throughout the park. Cover boards are simply wooden boards or metal plates under which organisms such as snakes may take cover. Mice and many bugs are found underneath these cover boards as well. The location of the cover boards are marked on paper but are also mapped on the GPS unit. This is very important. Even though all the boards may be marked on the map, weeds and other plants grow over these cover boards making them hard to find. The GPS tells you in which direction you must walk and for how far in order to locate the next cover board. This was very exciting. Katherine managed to find and check all of the cover boards. I think I would've given up if I had not been with her because I couldn't see the cover boards at all. Plus we were battling extraordinary numbers of mosquitoes. We didn't find any herps (this refers to reptiles and amphibians; coming from 'herpetology') but underneath the coverboards we found many ants and water bugs and beetles and what appeared to be the nest of mice. As a kid, I would often notice these boards throughout the wildlife refuge and lift them up. I often saw snakes such as black racers, milk snakes, and garter snakes. While we didn't find any herps underneath the cover boards, Katherine sounds several as we wandered through the brush! First she found a Fowler's toad and she taught me how to identify it by the number of warts per spot. Next she found a spring peeper: this was a very young spring peeper; it was about the size of my thumbnail. Finally the most exciting find of the day was a box turtle. Box turtles have beautiful colors but their most exciting feature is that they have a hinged carapace allowing them to retract their arms and legs inside their shell and shut the bottom shell up like a little box. It was very fun to watch! After completing the cover board monitoring we bought the most important part of the day, the Tick check. The tick check is very important because ticks are parasites which may carry diseases. Allegedly the ticks at GNRA are not the same as those that carry that the diseases but we don't wish to take any chances. Ticks are very good hiders. They can hide in your shoelaces or in little folds in your clothes and this makes it difficult to find them. That is why it is very important to wear light-colored clothing and also to make sure you're wearing long pants, long sleeves and high socks. Light-colored clothing neither repels nor attracts ticks; it simply makes it easier for you to see them if they are there! Gateway National Recreation Area is a park that consists of several units. I will primarily be working in the Jamaica Bay unit at the locations of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (JBWR) and Floyd Bennett Field (FBF).
Floyd Bennett Field is famous for being an aviation landmark; it was the home of NYC's first airport. Click the link to learn more! Today the New York Police Department's Aviation unit is based here. I am proud to say that my brother is a helicopter pilot for the NYPD! Maybe I will get to see him at work. Many additional activities take place at Floyd Bennett Field. For example, the Department of Sanitation trains its drivers here as do many units of the police department. The recreational Aviator Sports complex is located here as well. You may be wondering, 'How can the NPS manage the park for wildlife, with so many other activities taking place here?' Well, I wonder the same thing! Perhaps I'll find out as a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT). Today I met with my supervisor Dan Meharg at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (JBWR) in stunning Broad Channel, NY. JBWR has a very new visitors center. I feel very attached to this visitor center for several reasons. Firstly, I grew up in Broad Channel, New York. I explored JBWR, or the "bird sanctuary", all through my childhood and as a teacher at Beach Channel High School. Secondly, the interpretive staff of GNRA truly welcomed my contributions as a teacher and provided a wealth of experiences for myself me and my students. I helped to develop the Marine Invaders program and my students piloted the program. My students were the featured class for the national to the New York New Jersey Harbor EstuaryLive program. View the video and learn about the ecology of Jamaica Bay! My students and I were further honored by being asked to be a part of the opening ceremonies for the brand-new Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge visitors center. I met with the multi-talented Dan Meharg, who will be supervising my activities as a 'Teacher-Ranger-Teacher' (TRT).
The activity I am most excited about is that I will be supporting the biotechnicians in their activities throughout the park. The activities I will participate in are cover board monitoring, endangered species monitoring, hydrologic sampling, and invasive plant management. I will describe these activities in more detail as I learn more! Additionally, I will be preparing a lesson plan/ activity that teachers can use while exploring the park. Also, I will be updating some of the activities that are already in use by GNRA to include the Common Core Learning Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Finally, I will be maintaining this blog! I see this blog as a way to let other teachers know what it is like to be a TRT; to keep a log of my activities for my own use; and to educate the public about the activities that take place at GNRA. I will pose questions throughout at my posts, and I'd love to hear your responses!! More importantly, I'd like to hear the questions you have for me about |
CREATURE FEATURES!!
Who lives in GNRA? Poison Ivy Cotton Archives
August 2013
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