Fellow blogger Cynthia was kind enough to send me her fantastic photo of a heron at the Gowanus canal. I had never seen one myself, nor, in all honesty, did I know that there were any by the shores of the heavily polluted waterway. Cynthia writes:
I was walking the dog one night and was in the dead end on Sackett when I saw the most beautiful bird. It is an immature Black-Crowned Night Heron. He was just sitting there on the boom (not sure what it is) in the Canal. I just hoped he didn't drink or fish in the water. LOL Just thought this might interest the readers especially those living nearby.
Unfortunately, the heron most probably feeds on the fishes in the canal. And this is how the pollutants deep within the water of the Gowanus are spread out from its banks and get into the food chain. That is what the EPA is concerned about and why the federal agency proposed to place the Gowanus Canal on its list of Superfund sites. For the heron's sake and ours, lets hop they do.
Thanks Cynthia , for sharing the photo. The name of her blog is Living in Brooklyn-Longing for Maine. Hope you check it out, dear Reader.
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5 comments:
That's right, Katia. Beautiful Gowanus sighting, but people should not take this as a sign of a healthy habitat! But it should be cleaned so that it can be, for wildlife, including people!!!!
I saw a night heron a few weeks ago. It was sitting silently on the shore. We were watching it for a while and then a fashionista type talking loudly clunking by in her noisy sandals completely ignoring the few people sitting in silence on the bridge, scared it away.
We did get to see it's beautiful wingspan though...
Wouldn't it be fun to put up a chalkboard and for people to get to write their sightings along the Gowanus, and when? Like they have in nature preserves? I know someone will (rightfully) say this is a dumb idea, and that it would just get trashed with dumb comments. But really, Gowanus is a beautiful nature habitat, even in the sorry state it is in.
Nice. Usually cormorants and mallards to be found on the greasy green waters of the Gowanus. Black-crowned night herons are also found in Prospect Park, Green-Wood, and Jamaica Bay (last week there were more than ten, mostly juv., on the East Pond at the Wildlife Refuge).
Thanks Katia for the link. ZInteresting to find out that others have seen the heron or another one on the Gowanus.
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