It’s That Time Of The UGS Year Again!!

UGS VACAY TIME!!  

Per usual, we’ll be heading north to MA and – this year – a short hike on the Appalachian Trail, ex-urban gardening, visits to indoor cultural sites and plenty of floating around in a pool!!

If only our UES trees/gardens could have some cool/wet time away… 

The good news being, we can regularly and liberally water ’em when we’re in town!!  And maybe not just the trees in front of our buildings but up and down the block!!

Then there’s this already existing feel-really-good-news-about-us-UESIders:

The 27 pairs of eyeglasses you dropped off at AM Seawright’s office??  They’ve been donated to Mount Sinai Eye & Ear (to be prescribed to those in need…)   (Bring on more!!)

(But can’t count the number of UESiders who’ve said they’ve dropped off clothes – lightly worn and even brand-new – for the immigrant families now lodged at the Barclay Hotel!!) 

Then there’re the 4,000 pounds of paper you brought for shredding this past Sunday!!

Add the 19,850 pounds of compost collected at 91st and 96th Streets over this May and June!!   (Details below!!)

PLUS, as of August 1st, we can look forward for all NYC food-related businesses placing their waste curbside in containers!!  (Take that, you pesky rodents!!)

Going even wider, there’s the $300M our U.S. Dept. of Ag’s going to spend to expand America’s organic agriculture!!

WOW!!
 
Alrighty then, on to our wonderful Greenmarkets and Food Box:

Every Saturday:  82nd Street/St. Stephen’s Greenmarket
_{82 Street between First & York Avenues, 9am-2pm}

As ever, look for our friends American Pride Seafood, Bread Alone, Ballard’s Honey, Sikking Flowers, Hudson Valley Duck and Haywood’s Fresh, Samascott,  Cherry Lane, Ole Mother Hubbert, Valley Shepherd,  Hawthorne Valley and Gajeski Farms!!

Every Sunday:  94th Street Greenmarket 
_{First Avenue at 94th Street , 9am-3pm}

With us will be Ole Mother Hubbert, Kimchee Harvest, Grandpa’s Farm, Halal Pastures, Meredith’s Bakery,  Norwich Meadows, Phillips and Green Life Farms!! 

(Fingers crossed on American Pride Seafood’s back!!)  

As ever, Maestra Manager Margaret has her market-savant wisdom to share:

“Dear Greenmarketeers:

No surprise to anyone in our NYC, but the temps are high outside so, please, come out and shop BUT BE PREPARED!!

As in:

*Head to the market as early as you can, before heat builds!!

*Bring a cooler bag or a couple of ice packs to keep your purchases  fresh and crisp while you make your way home!!

*Maybe a parasol/umbrella, too, to create some personal shade while shopping the summer’s bounty!! 

*On the market itself score:  If you’re wondering what’s especially prime at this particular market moment??  No surprise…  Corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and melons!!

*And how about this for a fun market fact:  Cucumbers and melons are in the same family!!  And they’re both just great for hydration!!

Happy and heat-respectful shopping, 

Margaret“

Every Tuesday:  Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Fresh Food Box
_{Robbins Plaza, First Avenue & 70th Street,  2:30-6:30pm}

A weekly, impressively generous and affordable bag of local and/or organic produce can be yours!!  Just get on over to GrowNYC’s Food Box page!!

Then there’re our compost collection sites:

Every Friday:  East 96th Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{96th Street & Lexington, 7:30-11:30am}

Where all good corn husks go to rest…

2022 Total:  66,962 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  17,729 lbs.

Every Sunday:  Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{91st Street & York, 7:30am-12:30pm}

And okra tops!!

2022 Total (from 3/1/22):  46,675 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  25,904 lbs.

As ever, there’re more great upcoming area events:

Friday, July 28th:  Roosevelt Island Summer Movie Series
Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island at  sunset

Tuesday, August 1st:  National NIght Out 2023
St. Catherine’s Park, FIrst Avenue & 67th Street, 5-8pm

Saturdays, August 5th, 12th & 19th:  NYC Summer Streets 2023
All-over NYC, 7am-1pm

Saturday, August 5th:  12th Annual Great Hudson River Fish Count
All Along the River, All Day Long

And we quote, “New Yorkers from the Capital Region to New York City are invited to explore the variety of creatures usually hidden below the river’s surface. Fresh upriver, and salty at New York City, the Hudson River Estuary and watershed are home to more than 200 fish species, including several species that migrate into the river from the Atlantic Ocean each spring to spawn. Nine sites are offering in-person opportunities to join the fish count, in addition to DEC’s live stream of the fish count from Lemon Creek on Staten Island, which will be featured on DEC’s Facebook Live at 5 p.m. on Aug. 5!!”  For more…  And to get onboard…

Sunday, August 6th:  Insect Walk with Steve Nanz
RIdgewood Reservoir, 58-2 Vermont Place, Queens, 12:30-2pm

(For more great NYC H2O summer happenings…)

Thursday, August 10th:  Another Great Evening on the Esplanade
Andrew Haswell Green Park, East RIver Esplanade at 60th Street, 6-8pm (weather permitting)

And online:

Tuesday, August 15th, 9am-1pm:  Farming with Soil Life via Zoom

Organized by the great Xerxes Society, participants will learn about common soil invertebrates, their ecology and roles in soil health, scouting methods, and management strategies to increase beneficial soil animal populations!!  Free!!  For more and to register...

The weekly installment of activism:

Should you wish to voice your support for the Beacon Wind (which when built will provide power to 1 million NY homes)…  

And if you think Governor Hochul should sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act…

Herewith, a pair of great articles addressing the piping plover plight and moves to address it (1 and 2)…

(If you haven’t , you might check out the NYTimes’ recent take on the state of “compost” in NYC…)

Moving on to the realm of diverting diversions: 

Lots of empty office space isn’t just a NYC issue…  How to identify different kinds of bees...   And a proposed  FIfth Ave tear-down and replacement...   For more great green news you want to be reading Big Reuse’s newsletter…  Our NYS DEC officers in recent action…  Cuts to the EPA budget…  Organic pest control myths…  Green ways to create coolng shade…  Upstate oak wilt…  Get up to speed on bird anatomy…  Showerheads that save water…   Before and after compost at Fort Greene Park…  Camping in comfort NYS-style…  Saving the American chestnut tree…  The war on weeds…  Living longer, together…  Tree tales…

Moving on to the Hudson River Almanac:

6/29 – Pollepel Island, HRM 58: Continuing our DEC Region 3 Hudson River Fisheries Unit’s Alosine [river herring] beach seine survey from earlier in the day, we caught a glimpse of white floating on a log near Bannerman’s Castle off Pollepel Island. We did a double take and looped around to find a white pelican sitting stoically floating upriver with the tide. – ElizaBeth Streifeneder

                                                      That White Pelican!!

[This white pelican was first spotted June 28 at Beacon (river mile 61) by Lynn Costello. This was only the sixth record of an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) in Dutchess County. Stan DeOrsey, R.T. Waterman Bird Club]

[The American white pelican is a large bird (nine-foot wingspan) of the Great Plains on up through central Canada. While every year or so, one or more turn up somewhere in the Northeast, they are a rare sighting in the Hudson River watershed. Pelicans are strong flyers with the ability to soar at great heights, covering long distances. Their presence here generally occurs when blown off course either in migration or drawn here from the Great Lakes area by nor’easters. – Rich Guthrie]

6/29 – Greene County: I recently took a walk through the woods and fields of Greene County and saw an incredible variety of wildlife. With the solstice having passed, summer was now in full swing. Fields of mixed wild flowers, daisies, clovers, forget-me-nots, and orange hawkweed were accented by flowing grasses and ferns. Fritillaries and yellow swallowtails flitted among the wildflowers. Overhead, raucous crows alerted me to a bald eagle perched above a lake. In a clearing, an indigo bunting flashed its vibrant deep blue, and a blue-headed vireo sang lustily. In forest glades, clusters of bright orange Mycena mushrooms burgeoned out of rotting tree trunks and a white tapioca-looking patch proved to be a common slime mold encouraged by recent rains.
                                                             
                                                      That Indigo Bunting!!

A white-tailed doe and spotted fawn walked across the path melding back into the woodlands. Down in a small pond, a massive snapping turtle floated lazily as dozens of tadpoles, dace, and fathead minnows skirted through the shallows. Water boatmen and other water bugs zipped in spiraling circles making wakes like tiny jet skis. High out of sight, a scarlet tanager, sang among the quavering, clacking leaves of a quaking aspen. What a treat it was to get out and enjoy our New York woodlands. – Mario Meier7/1 – Columbia County, HRM 122: We were kayaking just upriver from the Stockport Middle Ground when we spotted a young double-crested cormorant wrangling with and then swallowing an American eel. – Julie Elson, Michael Kalin

                                That Double-Crested Cormorant In Action!!

7/2 – Fishkill Creek, HRM 60: I came upon an adult female spotted turtle today along one of the tributaries of Fishkill Creek. Spotted turtles are listed by the NYSDEC as a “Species of Special Concern” and are also under consideration for listing by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. – Steve Seymour

7/3 – Hudson River Watershed: Among indigenous peoples, full moons have long been labeled with fanciful names that are rooted in oral traditions, indigenous memories, and ethnographic accounts. Among Mohican people, whose ancestral homeland lies wholly within the Hudson River watershed, the July full moon is known as the Honeybee Moon, Ãamowaawe Neepã in the Mohican dialect. Tribal translations of full moons pre-date colonization and generally reflect the seasonality of the lunar phase. Moon phases, in fact, were used by indigenous peoples as measurements of time. – Larry Madden, Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

                                            Namesake of the Honeybee Moon!!

7/4 – Saugerties, HRM 102: A neighbor alerted me today that he had encountered a harbor seal in Esopus Creek along the 1.25-mile stretch of tidewater from the Hudson River to the upstream dam. The neighbor was motoring up the creek in his dingy when he spotted the seal. As the seal approached within ten feet of his dingy, he got the impression that it was a “friendly seal.”
                                                          
                                                            That Harbor Seal!!

This behavior was reminiscent of the male harbor seal (flipper-tagged #246) that called Esopus Creek his quasi-home three years, from August 2019-August 2022. While no positive sightings of 246 have occurred since, there have been several tag-less seal sightings in Esopus Creek in the last year, a very unusual stop-over, 110 miles from the sea, for a marine mammal. – Patrick Landewe, Saugerties Lighthouse Keeper

[The male harbor seal (#246) was banded by the Mystic (Connecticut) Aquarium Animal Rescue Program more than 1,600 days ago. Seals have been known to shed their tags over time, leaving open the possibility that the recent sightings are of the same seal. Tom Lake]Hello, Fish of the Week:

7/7 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 227 is the northern stargazer (Astroscopus guttatus), number 205 (of 236), on our Hudson River Watershed List of Fishes.
                                                           
                                                  A Northern Stargazer!!

Northern stargazer is the only member of its family (Uranoscopidae), the stargazers, in the Hudson River Watershed. They are common over sandy bottoms in coastal waters along the Atlantic coast from the New York Bight to North Carolina. In the estuary, they are classified as a temperate marine stray and are uncommonly caught in research and education gear.

Ichthyologist C. Lavett Smith calls the northern stargazer “a bizarre fish.” They have been fashioned by natural selection (chock full of favored traits) in the mode of the oyster toadfish and the goosefish. Their common name “stargazer” is an example of clever nomenclature for common names stemming from its scientific name. Their genus, Astroscopus, comes from Greek (astron) translating as “star,” and scopus from Latin translating as “to aim.” Thus Astroscopus = “aim at the stars.”

Their eyes and nearly vertical mouth, surrounded by fringed lips, are located on the top of its large head, facing upward. Much of their body mass is in their head and they will eat pretty much whatever they can fit in their huge mouth. They bury themselves in the sand with their eyes and mouth sticking out just enough, aimed skyward (star-ward) and wait for prey. When something appealing swims by, the stargazer uses its large mouth to create a vacuum to suck it in. The northern stargazer can reach lengths of 22 inches and weight 20 lb.

Northern stargazers have an organ in their head that can deliver an electric charge that can stun prey and perhaps ward off predators. They can also produce a noticeable shock to anglers grasping their head to remove a fish hook. They also have two large venomous spines situated behind their opercle and above their pectoral fins. – Tom LakeAnd This Week’s Wonderful Bird:

The Northern Bobwhite!!

We leave you with this eco-oriented anecdote from an unlikely source:

Alfred Hitchcock once told François Truffaut he wanted to make a film that would examine a city entirely through food and, unusually, waste. He would show the arrival of meat and produce into a metropolis, “its distribution, the selling, how it’s fixed up and absorbed.  And, gradually, the end of the film would show the sewers, and the garbage being dumped out into the ocean.”

NOT INTO THE OCEAN ON OUR UES/UGS WATCH!!

Until September, friends,

UGS

Eco Facts of the Week:  The total weight of ants living on the planet is more than that of all humans!!

The planet hosts over seven billion people but more than one hundred trillion ants.Eco Tip of the Week:  Cutting corks – real cork corks – into small pieces and add them to the compost bin!!

 

Been a crazy 24 hours, UESiders!!

Somehow as a result of a system update that was advertised as involving TV only, Spectrum wound up eliminating our internet corrnection for near 18 hours!!

Needless to say, took a seasoned tech mind to determine what was happening and adjust things to minimize something similar hapening again.

Hoping to be brief-ish as it’s almost Saturday…  So let’s dive in, people!!

Shredding’s happening: 

Sunday, July 23rd: No-Cost Community Paper Shredding
^{_{First Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets, 10am-2pm}}

But there’re our great markets – and Food Box down the week – on the UES dance card, too:

Every Saturday:  82nd Street/St. Stephen’s Greenmarket
_{82 Street between First & York Avenues, 9am-2pm}

All the usual suspects and their great summer fare and flowers will be with us…  As in American Pride Seafood, Bread Alone, Ballard’s Honey, Sikking Flowers, Hudson Valley Duck and Haywood’s Fresh, Samascott,  Cherry Lane, Ole Mother Hubbert, Valley Shepherd,  Hawthorne Valley and Gajeski Farms!!

Every Sunday:  94th Street Greenmarket
_{First Avenue at 94th Street , 9am-3pm}

Look for Ole Mother Hubbert, Kimchee Harvest, Grandpa’s Farm, Halal Pastures, Meredith’s Bakery,  Norwich Meadows, Green Life and Phillips Farms!!

If you notice American Pride’s MIA this week, Maestra Ultima Margaret tells why:

“Dear Greenmarketeers:

So sorry to say that American Pride Seafood won’t be at 94th Street this Sunday…

Reason why…??  Staffing troubles.

But, of course, they’ll be doing their total level best to be at their 94th Street table next Sunday!! 

Happy shopping,

Margaret“

Every Tuesday:  Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Fresh Food Box
_{Robbins Plaza, First Avenue & 70th Street,  2:30-6:30pm}

No better budget-conscious and primo produce in the GrowNYC universe!!  To reserve your own big fat bag…

Moving on to our UES compost collection (May/June stats next week!):

Every Friday:  East 96th Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{96th Street & Lexington, 7:30-11:30am}

The perfect end for that yellowing kale!!

2022 Total:  66,962 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  10,119 lbs.

Every Sunday:  Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{91st Street & York, 7:30am-12:30pm}

And beet skins!!

2022 Total (from 3/1/22):  46,675 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  13,564 lbs.Then there’s…

Saturday, July 22nd:  Hydrophilic or Hydrophobic
Socrates Sculpture Park. Roosevelt Island, 11am-1pm

Wednesday, July 26th:  E-Vehicle Safety Town Hall
Darlington Hall, 2 East 90th Street, 6:15pm

Discussion will include risk to pedestrians and cyclists from collisions with e-vehicles, danger to residents from battery fires and to citizens from criminals using unlicensed e-vehicles as getaway vehicles.  Organized by the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance with co-sponsors, the East 86^th Street Association, East 72^nd Street NA and Carnegie Hill Neighbors.

And on the virtual gathering score:

Tuesday, July 25th, 5:30pm:  CM Boetcher Talks With Our NYC Rat Czar via Zoom 

Free, of course.  To sign up…

Activism’s (almost) always on our to-do list:

If you think Land O’Lakes should live up to their pledge to stop supporting the cruel caging of hens…

Should you think the mayor should abide by his campaign promise to fund NYC Parks to the tune of 1% of the budget…

Just a few diverting diversions this time out: 

Community Board 8 on bikes in parks…  NYS Environmental Police on patrol…  UES Barnes & Noble opens to happy crowds…  Innovation in plastic clean-ups…  Split-body garbage/recycling collection trucks…  Pygmy owls protected again…  The NYD WIldlife, Fish and Marine Life newsletter…

But, as ever, the Hudson River Almanac:

7/10 – Hudson River Watershed: An apocalyptic storm with unrelenting rain and high winds struck the Hudson Valley yesterday with severely damaging effects that continued into today and beyond. The most severe impacts were felt in Orange County especially at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where 8.12 inches of rain was recorded, prompting New York Governor Kathy Hochul to declare a State of Emergency for Orange County. Calamitous agricultural damage was experiences throughout the watershed.

Much of the Hudson Valley-wide damage came from localized thunderstorms that slowly moved over the region in waves into the evening of July 9 and hit some communities much harder than others with flash floods and major washouts. Many thousands of power outages were recorded in Putnam, Ulster, Orange, Dutchess, and Albany counties. By July 14, a Federal Disaster Declaration was approved for some areas of the watershed, most notably western Vermont. – National Weather Service

This screenshot from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System shows precipitation and air temperature at the Norrie Point Environmental Center in Dutchess County. Air temperatures dropped rapidly mid-day on July 9th, and within a few hours over two inches of rain had fallen. Note this graph shows cumulative rain over each day, so the sharp line denotes a “reset” at midnight between July 9 and 10. – Chris Bowser

7/4 – Little Stony Point Preserve, HRM 55: On our daily beach walk at Little Stony Point, we came upon a dead Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) that the receding flood tide had left on the sand. The fish was a big one, a male, measuring four-feet in length, and was missing its head, likely from a boat strike. (Photo of Atlantic sturgeon courtesy of Seth Dinitiz)
– Seth Dinitz, Elle Dinitz

[When accounting for the size of the missing head, in life, this sturgeon was about five-feet-long and 12-13 years old. Amanda Higgs]

[Boat strikes are not rare for sturgeon. While they are generally bottom-dwelling, deep-water fish in the estuary, they rise to the surface on occasion to refill their swim bladder with oxygen so they can maintain neutral buoyancy, or their position in the water column. When that rise meets the prop of a large vessel, life-threatening trauma can occur.

Atlantic sturgeon can live to at least sixty years, grow to approximately 16 feet long, and can weigh up to 800 pounds. In June 2018, a 14.1-foot-long female sturgeon was recorded on side-scan sonar near Esopus Island. In the Hudson River estuary, Atlantic sturgeon are protected by the Federal Endangered Species Act (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). Tom Lake]

[Report sightings of dead sturgeon to DEC’s Marine Life Incident Report online survey. Reports of live sturgeon help us better understand the occurrence of Atlantic Sturgeon in New York’s waters. Report live sturgeon in the Hudson River should be reported to 845-256-3073 or by emailing us and in marine waters to 631-444-0444 or by emailing us.]

7/5 – Newburgh, HRM 61: We went sailing this morning aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater with a group of families from Outdoor Promise, an organization in Newburgh dedicated to increasing urban access to the outdoors. We had a great time and caught Atlantic tomcod, channel catfish, a yearling alewife (class of 2022), and a young-of-year freshwater drum. – Chloe Smith

7/8 – Hudson River Watershed: Maple fruits come in the form of samaras — pairs of winged seeds that spiral to the ground, distribute some distance, as far as 330 feet from the parent tree. Aided by the wind, they’ve been clocked at falling at a speed of three miles-per-hour. Some, such as red and silver maple seeds, mature early and are fully ripe now. The seeds of other species of maples, including sugar maple, striped maple, and box elder, will mature by early autumn.
                                                                       
                                                         Sugar Maple Seeds!!

All maple species native to the Northeast have edible seeds which are loaded with protein and carbohydrates. They are especially popular with evening grosbeaks, ruffed grouse, nuthatches, porcupines, foxes, flying squirrels, eastern chipmunks, white-footed mice, white-tailed deer, and moose.

Humans also eat the seeds of maples, both raw as well as steamed or boiled with a little added salt and butter. Maple seeds can also be roasted, added to salads and other dishes, or dried and ground into flour. – Mary Holland7/9 – Newburgh, HRM 61: I went looking for the extremely uncommon neotropical cormorant today, first spotted here on June 27 by Bruce Nott Jr., but with no success. The Jun 27 bird might have been the same one that visited here last summer. That neotropic cormorant was a first, for not only Orange County but for the Hudson River Valley. Today’s tally was a pair (an adult and immature) of double-crested cormorants. – Matt Zeitler

                                          That Double-Crested Cormorant Pair!!

7/12 – High Falls, HRM 87: The mystical fronds of my favorite wildflower, Cimicifuga racemosa (snakeroot), had completely blanketed the hill below us this year. They used to signal the beginning of autumn, but lately have been appearing in early July. I’ve been noticing the backpedaling of bloom time for a while now (we have lived here for 32 years). – Sue Horowitz

                                                   That Snakeroot!!
[Snakeroot is a member of the buttercup family, a perennial plant native to North America. Other, mostly historical, names for this herb include black cohosh, black bugbane, rattleweed, and rheumatism weed. Snakeroot has a long history of use by indigenous peoples, for example to treat musculoskeletal pain, fever, cough, and pneumonia. National Institute of Health]

With the Fish of the Week being:

7/8 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 228 is the freshwater drum (Astroscopus guttatus), number 205 (of 236), on our Hudson River Watershed List of Fishes.
                                                    
                                                      A Freshwater Drum!!

Freshwater drum (colloquially sheepshead) is one of seven members of the drum family (Sciaenidae) in our watershed and the only member of its family in North America to occur completely in freshwater habitats. Other drums include silver perch, weakfish, spot, northern kingfish, Atlantic croaker, and black drum; *the latter six are marine or estuarine species.

In the Midwest and Northeast, freshwater drum are found throughout the Great Lakes watershed, where they are widespread and native. Their Type Site, where they were first described to science in 1819, is the Ohio River. In New York, they are common in the Hudson River watershed as well as lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain. They occur in bottoms of medium to large rivers and lakes. Adults feed on immature aquatic insects such as mayflies (Hexagenia), amphipods, fish (especially herring and young drum), crayfish and mollusks. Larval stages of drum consume larvae of other fishes. They can reach three-feet in length and weigh 54 lb., although their average size is far smaller (C.L. Smith 1985).

Young-of-year freshwater drum are not commonly caught in collection gear, so it was a bit of a surprise when Chloe Grey Smith, with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater’s otter trawl, caught an immature freshwater drum (75 millimeters) July 4 at Poughkeepsie, and a second one at Beacon (also 75 mm) the next day. – Tom Lake

[There is an almost parallel story, certainly a connection, between freshwater drum and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). The zebra mussel is native to lakes in southern Russia and Ukraine. The first record of zebra mussels in the Hudson River estuary was May 1991, in Greene County, just south of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. Based on the initial size and number of mussels, it is estimated they first arrived in 1989.

Freshwater drum like to eat bivalves. They have large, specialized (molariform) teeth that are adapted for crushing shells. Drum eat both zebra mussels and native “pearly” mussels (Unionidae). Ecologists suspect that the zebra mussel population explosions in the estuary in the early 1990s facilitated the spread and population growth of freshwater drum in the Hudson River. Dave Strayer]

Then there’s the pretty amazing Bird of the Week:

The Blue-eyed Ground Dove

Shred that paper with joy, UESiders!!

UGS

Eco Facts of the Week:  Amazon’s committed itself to phasing out its plastic mailers!!

Just one more month till the 2023 Daffodil Bulb registration!!

Eco Tip of the Week:  The Dog Decorum Poster for us all to print, maybe laminate and post in our hoods!! 

 

 

Happy City of Water Day, UESiders!!

Yes, a day with H2O-centric events all over town and this great one nearby:

Saturday, July 15th:  Celebrate the Nature of Water!
FDR Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, 11am-4pm

A celebration that extends from our reservoirs and aqueducts to ocean life of any and all forms to how best to conserve this precious resource to a dance performance!!  Organized by the wonderful iDig2Learn, NYC H2O and the NYPL!!  Free and for all ages…  “Just swing by anytime 11 to 4!!”   (Rain day:  Sunday, July 16th…)

And this happening downtown:

Saturday, July 16th:  Sea Chanteys for Work at Sea
Aboard the tall ship Wavertree Museum, 12, 1 & 3pm 

Delve into the rich tradition of chanteys with singer and educator, Chris Koldewey!!   Organized by the great South Street Seaport!!  Pay what you wish general admission…  For the total lowdown…

Yes, great events to partake of once market shopping’s done:

Every Saturday:  82nd Street/St. Stephen’s Greenmarket
_{82 Street between First & York Avenues, 9am-2pm}

At their tables will be our friends American Pride Seafood, Bread Alone, Ballard’s Honey, Sikking Flowers, Hudson Valley Duck and Haywood’s Fresh, Samascott,  Cherry Lane, Ole Mother Hubbert, Valley Shepherd,  Hawthorne Valley and Gajeski Farms!!

Every Sunday:  94th Street Greenmarket
_{First Avenue at 94th Street , 9am-3pm}

Look for American Pride Seafood, Sikking Flowers, Ole Mother Hubbert, Kimchee Harvest, Grandpa’s Farm, Halal Pastures, Meredith’s Bakery,  Norwich Meadows and Phillips Farms!!

As ever, Suprema Maestra Manager Margaret has wisdom to share:

“Dear Greenmarketeers:

Been a tough week to be outside in NYC, but…

Summer heat’s bringing on the veggies!!   Corn!!   Peppers and eggplants are also starting to show up!!  Along with (some) tomatoes!!
 
There’re plenty of greens as well!!
 
All with lots of no-cooking-required options to keep you cool and happy!!

Yes, and Hudson Valley Duck has several delicious, ready-to-eat  options, too!!

Or you could just get some fabulous cheese and make a meal of it with your great fresh veggies and fruit!!
 
Last but hardly least, this Sunday Green Life Farm’s and their beautiful flowers, berries and farm-fresh eggs return to 94th Street!! 

Happy shopping,

Margaret“

Never forgetting our Food Box: 

Every Tuesday:  Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Fresh Food Box
_{Robbins Plaza, First Avenue & 70th Street,  2:30-6:30pm}

Last week’s cukes were especially tasty…  And there was so much more deliciousness in that big, fat bag!!  To get hands on yours…

On to our UES compost collection sites: 

Every Friday:  East 96th Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{96th Street & Lexington, 7:30-11:30am}

The perfect end for those stale cookies!!

2022 Total:  66,962 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  10,119 lbs.

Every Sunday:  Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{91st Street & York, 7:30am-12:30pm}

And discolored guacamole!!

2022 Total (from 3/1/22):  46,675 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  13,564 lbs.

Add to the week’s event mix:

Wednesday, July 19th:  Schurz Park Presents Steve Shaiman and Swingtime Big Band
John Finley Walk, East 86th Street Staircase, 7:00-8:30pm

And just a week away now:

Sunday, July 23rd:  No-Cost Community Paper Shredding
^{_{First Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets, 10am-2pm}}

Close-to-home activism tops this weeks file:

Should you have some gently used or even brand-new clothes you’d like to donate, the immigrant families now staying at the Bentley Hotel, York Avenue at 62nd would be most happy to receive them…

And should you oppose cyanide bombing wolves…

And If you believe we should have stronger pollution regulation of power plants… 

Always great to include an activism success:

As in how advocates stopped aerial insecticide spraying on public land!!

Then there’re diverting diversions, both serious and frothy: 

AM Seawright’s Annual Summer Reading Challenge…  Bees making their nests from flower petals…  UES classic Goldberger’s Pharmacy is back…  Solar on water…  81st Street’s birdhouses on TV…  Pesticides and Parkinson’s…  Schurz Park’s June What’s in Flight Beauty Pagent…  Our NYS Forest Rangers’ busy week… The state of NYC beaches…  Cornell’s hummingbird course…   New Penn Station design…  Making our windows bird-friendly…  Extreme heat and our investments…  Find your July NYS outdoor adventure… Oyster shells now to the rescue of the Mississippi Delta…  Following our NYC Billion Oyster Project…  The many pluses of gardening…  Bat profiles and a Bat Chat…  NYS Invasive Species News…  NYC Wildflower Walks… 

Moving on to the Hudson River Almanac:

6/27 – Town of New Windsor, HRM 60: Within a small group of double-crested cormorants at the mouth of Quassaick Creek, looking south on the pilings, I spotted an adult Neotropic cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum). Although it cannot be proven, I believe it to be same adult as last year, seen May 28-October 9. The plumage looked identical at the same time last year. The 2022 Neotropic cormorant was a first, not only for Orange County, but for the Hudson River Valley. – Bruce Nott Jr.

                                                              
                                        A Pair of Neotropic Cormorants!!

Neotropic Cormorants are extremely uncommon anywhere north of the Gulf States (Texas to Florida). They are Meso-American-South American birds but are also found along the Gulf of Mexico. The first New York State record was August 2013 along the shore of Lake Ontario. – Stan DeOrsey

[A nearly all-black waterbird with a snaky neck, the neotropic cormorant occurs in sheltered waters of southern U.S. states, the Caribbean, and Latin America. It is smaller and longer-tailed than other cormorants, but otherwise looks very similar to the double-crested cormorant, and the two species often flock together. Unlike its larger cousin, it sometimes plunge-dives for fish from a few feet above the water, almost like a booby, though it dives mostly as it paddles along the water’s surface, catching fish as it darts through the water. –  eBird]6/24 – Albany County, HRM 135: The Carp Anglers Group’s 2023 Yankee Challenge was held at Henry Hudson Park in Selkirk. The day was stuck in the middle of a series of days that featured high humidity, heavy rain, and thunderstorms. On the day of our Yankee Challenge, it rained from 5:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Seventeen anglers participated, eight of which caught, weighed, and released 290 pounds of common carp. Blake Carlson had 15 carp, weighing 205 lb., the largest of which was 20 lb. The pool winner was Johnny Jackets and his 23 lb. 3 oz. carp. –  Sam Williams

   That 23 lb. 3 oz.Carp!!

6/27 – Millbrook, HRM 82: This was an outbreak year for spongy moth caterpillars (née gypsy moth), Lymantria dispar. It is indigenous to Europe, was introduced in North America, and is classified as a pest — its larvae consume the leaves of over 500 species of trees, shrubs, and plants. It is one of the most destructive pests of hardwood trees in the Eastern United States and is listed as one of the 100 most destructive invasive species Worldwide.
                                                               
                                                A Gypsy/Spongy Moth Caterpillar!!

The extent of the defoliation is regionally significant and locally astonishing. Two weeks ago, an apple tree and a pair of oaks in my top field had full crowns of leaves. Last Saturday every leaf had been eaten to the midrib. Not all plants are suitable spongy moth hosts, however. In the Taconic Hereford multi-use area of Dutchess County, there are areas where giant oaks, hornbeams (Carpinus caroliniana) and hop hornbeams (Ostrya virginiana) are as leafless as winter, while the maples, witch hazels (Hamamelis virginiana) and others are only nibbled. Fortunately, the trees have survived these outbreaks before (spongy moth outbreaks occur every 10-15 years), and they likely will promptly re-foliate and survive this one. – Nelson Johnson

6/29 – Piermont Pier, HRM 25.4: Our staff at the Hudson River Field Station went seining today, close to low tide, on the north side of Piermont Pier. The river had warmed to 77 degrees F, and the salinity was 7.0 ppt. Our net collected a small northern pipefish, four blue crabs, of varying sizes (25-150 mm), eight sand shrimp, and Beroe comb jellies. Our featured creature was a nudibranch, the eastern emerald elysia (Elysia chlorotica). Additionally, we had a wonderful osprey hanging around the area most of the day. – Matthew Tang

                                               A Nudibranch!!

6/30 – Hudson River Estuary: Seines are frequently mentioned in Almanac observations relating to fisheries research and education. Seine is a French word, from the Latin sagëna, which means a fishing net designed to hang vertically in the water, the ends of which are drawn together to enclose fish. A seine is a net with a float line on top, a lead line on the bottom, and tight meshes in between.                                                     

Seines range in length from fifteen to six-hundred feet long, four-to-eight-feet in depth, and mesh size of ¼ to 2½-inches, or even larger for sturgeon, depending upon application. The longer seines must be set and hauled by a boat and crew. Shorter nets are used by educators, researchers, and bait dealers. New York State residents can use a seine in the Hudson River, not to exceed 36 square feet in area, to catch bait for their own personal use. Using a larger seine requires a License to Collect and Possess (LCP) from the NYSDEC Special Licenses Unit.
                                                        
                                                     A Stone Netsinker!! 

Stone netsinkers, from prehistoric contexts, found along the river provide evidence that seines, and other nets were being used in the Hudson River for as long as our species has been here. Net sinkers are often a palm-size stone (most often sandstone) with notches or peckings at three-and-nine on its face to hold a strip of natural cordage.

It is believed that our species brought the technology for using handmade nets to catch birds, fish, turtles, and other forage, with them when they arrived here from points north and west, at least 12,000 years ago. – Tom LakeWith the Fish of the Week being:

6/28 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 226 is the summer sucker (Catostomus utawana), species number 72 (of 237) on our watershed list of fishes. 
                                                         
                                            A Summer Sucker!!
The summer sucker is one of six suckers (Catostomidae), plus one hybrid, documented for the Hudson River Watershed. Others include longnose sucker, white sucker, creek chubsucker, northern hog sucker, shorthead redhorse, and a hybrid, black buffalo x smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus sp.). All are native species except for the hybrid and the shorthead redhorse; they are both canal migrants from the Great Lakes and Mississippi refugium. The summer sucker is a fish of small waters and is small for a sucker, averaging 100-110 mm in length.

Summer sucker had been known to science since at least 1866, when it was described and named by Fred Mather (Catostomus utawana) and has certainly been in our watershed much longer. They live in small headwater lakes and streams of the Adirondack Mountains and are the only endemic (found nowhere else) species in New York State. And yet, until recently, was not on our list of watershed fishes. That omission was corrected in 2016, when it was added as species number 225.

The summer sucker was formerly included with the white sucker (C. commersoni), a common species in the watershed. However, analyses done by Morse and Daniels in 2009 (A re-description of Catostomus utawana, Cypriniformes: Catostomidae, Copea 2009: 214-220), elevated the summer sucker to full species status. The paper cited a 1934 record (NYSM 33225) from Little Pine Lake, Hamilton County, in the Mohawk River drainage, thus the Hudson River drainage. The summer sucker has both global and New York ranking of “Imperiled.” This species has a small range in lakes and tributary streams in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Within its range it is common but declining (NatureServe 2012).

Karin Limburg notes that the summer sucker is a good example of allopatric speciation. This occurs when a population becomes sufficiently isolated from its parent population (white sucker) to allow unique mutations and adaptations to occur to make if significantly different enough to warrant being a new species. – Tom LakeWas there ever a not fabulous Bird of the Week:

                                                                       The Eastern Meadowlark!!

Happy humid Bastille Day,

UES

Eco Fact of the Week:  There are over 3.04 trillion trees in the world. However, 27,000 of them are cut down daily to make toilet paper. This translates to about 9.8 million trees annually!!

Eco Tip of the Week:  Old t-shirts make most excellent cleaning rags!!

Happy National Watermelon and Blueberry Month, UESiders!!

Also kinda’ seems like Eastern U.S. Air Quality Alert Month, too…

More reason than ever to be eating Greenmarket and Food Box goodness: 

Every Saturday:  82nd Street/St. Stephen’s Greenmarket
_{82 Street between First & York Avenues, 9am-2pm}

Yes, and they’ll all be back…  All being American Pride Seafood, Bread Alone, Ballard’s Honey, Sikking Flowers, Hudson Valley Duck and Haywood’s Fresh, Samascott,  Cherry Lane, Ole Mother Hubbert, Valley Shepherd,  Hawthorne Valley and Gajeski Farms!!

Every Sunday:  94th Street Greenmarket
_{First Avenue at 92nd Street , 9am-3pm}

Not even ridiculous humidity will be keeping American Pride Seafood, Ole Mother Hubbert  Kimchee Harvest, GrNOt eandpa’s Farm, Halal Pastures, Meredith’s Country Bakery,  Norwich Meadows or Phillips Farms away from market tables!!   

Or Maestra Manager Margaret’s from sharing her usual, great tips:

“Dear Greenmarketeers:

Now that the 4th is behind us, we’ll be back to full markets at both 82nd and 94th Street this week!!

And you savvy shoppers be thinking lots and lots of greens…  For both cooking and salads!!  Yes, and blueberries and strawberries, too!!

Better add summer squash and freshly-dug potatoes to your lists, too…  Along with incredible cheese and breads…  NYC’s freshest fish, best cheese…

Oh and we’re expecting the return of fresh-cut flowers from Green Life Farm at 94th Street!!

See you at the markets,

Margaret“

Food Box’s back at 70th Street, too: 

Every Tuesday:  Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Fresh Food Box 
_{Robbins Plaza, First Avenue & 70th Street,  2:30-6:30pm}

Easy to get hands on that generous, cost-wise bag of primo local and/or organic produce!!  Just get on over to GrowNYC’s easy to navigate Food Box page!!!

As for area compost scrap collection:

Every Friday:  East 96th Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{96th Street & Lexington, 7:30-11:30am}

Bring on that vintage croissant!!

2022 Total:  66,962 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  10,119 lbs.

Every Sunday:  Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{91st Street & York, 7:30am-12:30pm}

And last week’s Sikking Flowers!!

2022 Total (from 3/1/22):  46,675 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  13,564 lbs.

Then there’re the new street-side orange bins, collecting scraps and lots more:

• Southwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 86th Street
• Northwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 82nd Street
• Northeast corner of 1st Avenue and 91st Street
• Southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 72nd Street
• Northeast corner of East 66th Street and 1st Avenue
• Southwest corner of 83rd Street and East End Avenue
• Northwest corner of 1st Avenue and 88th Street
• Northwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 95th Street
• Northwest corner of 3rd Avenue and East 95th Street
• Southeast corner of East 92nd Street and 2nd Avenue
• Northeast corner of 1st Avenue and East 76th Street
• Southeast corner of 79th Street and York Avenue
• Southwest corner of 3rd Avenue and East 88th Street
• Northeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 76th Street

But – and that plastic bags are allowable is a clue – waste collected in these bins won’t be enriching any NYC soil…  Instead it’ll be transported to the  Newtown Creek facility for – best case – anaerobic digestion that provides power to some 2,500 NYC homes (with waste landfilled) or – worst case – just plain incinerated and then landfilled… As the NYTimes describes…

Deep sigh.

Perking up and moving on:

Saturday, July 8th:  Day of Fun at Randall’s Island
Around the Island, 10am-6pm

From yoga at the farm*…  To Storytime for kids…  To a paper flower making workshop…  To early evening cocktails…   Entirely free!!  For the total rundown..

Saturday, July 8th:  Cyanotype Solar Photo Workshop
Transmitter Park, Brooklyn, 10am-12pm

And we quote, “Have you ever seen a blue photograph? If you lived in the 1800s you would have. By placing objects on special paper and exposing the paper to sunlight, early photographers created blue images called cyanotypes or sun prints. Join artists and photographers Amy WIlliams for an outdoor cyanotype print making workshop using native foliage!!”  For more and to sign up…


Tuesday, July 11th: Community Workshop #1 for Pier 107/Bobby Wagner Walk Reconstruction (To attend in person)
Dream Charter School East Harlem, 1991 Second Avenue, 6-8pm
&
Thursday, July 13th, 6:30-8:30pm:  Virtual  Pier 107/Bobby Wagner Walk Reconstruction Workshop via Zoom (To sign up)

NYC Parks, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and Stantec invite us UESiders to help shape the design and revival of these historic and much-needed public spaces!! 

Thursday, July 13th:  Ephemeral Clay Seed Vessels Workshop
_{Seward Park, 6-8pm}

And we quote, “Learn pinching and coiling methods for creating handmade clay vessels, but you will also learn about wildflower seeds and supporting our local ecology!!” Organized by the Lower East Side Ecology Center!! $7…  For more and to reserve a place…


Wednesday, July 12th:  Summer Sounds at Schurz Park
John Finley Walk, above the 86th Street mall staircase, 7-8:30pm

With music by the Daniel Jones Jazz Group!!  Free!!
                              

Friday, July 14th & On Through Summer:  Summer Movies on Roosevelt Island
Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island, At Sunset



Sunday, July 23rd:  No-Cost Community Paper Shredding
^{_{First Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets, 10am-2pm}}

Adding to July/August summer fun:

As ever, some activism:

Should you oppose child labor…

If you think legislation regulating factory farming practices should not be weakened… 

If you think pesticide-coated seeds should be banned… 

And some diverting diversions: 

A whole lot of great grilling recipes…  California’s Joshua Trees protected at last…  Our fireflies need protection, too…  CA Academy’s prize-winning nature pix…  Best kayaking around/near NYC… Co-existing with Central Park (or any NYC park) wildlife…  What CM Powers has been up to of late…  Squirrels and “spooting”…  Green bonds…  The proposed Second Ave subway extension…  Protection of birds and mosquito management… Birding and our brains…   The NYS State Wildlife, Fish and Marine Life Newsletter…  CR rates hot dog quality…  Free Learn to Fish Classes around NYC/NYS…  Our NYS Forest Rangers’ week…  Same for our NYS Conservation Police…  The Atwater Prairie Chicken past and future (scroll down for the video!)…  Spotted Lanternfly rundown…  New/old Penn Station design proposal…

Moving on to a heavy-on-jellyfish Hudson River Almanac: 

6/10 – Manhattan, HRM 1-2: Our Hudson River Park’s River Project staff opened our Wetlab doors on a beautiful Saturday to celebrate World Fish Migration Day. Toward the end of the day, we decided to pull up our eel mop to see if it had collected any fish and found a skilletfish (55 mm). Skilletfish are not an uncommon catch, but this one was special. We were elated to see, close to the skilletfish, a large patch of yellow eggs attached to the surface of the mop. According to the literature, male skilletfish guard the eggs (S. Runyan 1961).
                                                         
                                                That Skilletfish!!

After collecting a measurement and taking some pictures, the skilletfish and its eggs were safely returned to the river alongside our eel mop. – Toland Kister, Sivan Gordon-Buxbaum, Hart Mankin

6/12 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Our staff at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak went seining today from Beczak Beach. The result from five hauls was the most impressive collection of invertebrates this season. Crustaceans were collectively high count led by grass shrimp (69), sand shrimp (24), and blue crab (17). Comb jellies (33) and moon jellyfish (32) also showed well.
                                                        
                                                 A Moon Jellyfish!!

There were also a few fish in the net, albeit the minority, with American eel, bay anchovy, and naked goby. The water temperature was 67 F, the salinity was 12.6 ppt, and the dissolved oxygen (DO) was 6.7 ppm. – Jason Muller, Emily Orr, Ishika Joshi, Frankie Lloyd, Angel Seiffert

6/12 – Manhattan, HRM 1-2: Our Hudson River Park’s River Project staff and Harbor School interns (Beatrix and Ella) checked our research gear (pots and traps) that we deploy off Piers 26 and 40 as part of our fish ecology survey and monitoring.
                                                             
                                                  An Atlantic Oyster Drill!!

Pier 26 proved to be a busy day for fish. In our minnow traps we found a cunner (80 mm) and a juvenile oyster toadfish (40 mm). Our crab pots collected three tautog (125-275 mm). At Pier 40, a crab pot caught an oyster toadfish (195 mm) as well as grass shrimp, mud dog whelks, blue mussels, oyster drills, and mud crabs. – Sierra Drury, Sivan Gordon-Buxbaum, Siddhartha Hayes, Toland Kister, Zoe Kim, Rachel Swanson

[The Atlantic oyster drill (Urosalpinx cinerea) is a small sea snail, a marine gastropod. The oyster drill preys on oysters by drilling though their shell to get at the oyster inside. Tom Lake]

6/16 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Our staff at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak went seining today from the Beczak Beach strengthened by the enthusiastic assistance of a fourth-grade class from Hostos School in Yonkers. Across ten hauls, comb jellies were high count (41) while moon jellyfish (10) also showed well. Blue crab (16) and mummichog (3) completed our catch. The water temperature was 69 degrees Fahrenheit, the salinity was 12.6 ppt, and the dissolved oxygen (DO) was 6.7 ppm.- Christina Edsall, Jason Muller
                                                          
                                           Some of Those Comb Jellies!!

[Comb jellies (Ctenophora) are often mistaken for jellyfish but differ in that they have no tentacles and do not sting. Like true jellyfish, comb jellies are translucent, gelatinous, fragile, essentially planktonic, often drifting at the whim of the wind and current. For a real treat, gently scoop a few from a net with a wet, cupped hand, place them into a small clear container, and gently rock the water. Their rhythmic, symmetrical, and altogether graceful movements are enchanting.

Two comb jelly species, Beroe’s (Beroe cucumis) and Leidy’s (Mnemiopsis leidyi) are found in the estuary. The genus name Beroe comes from Ancient Greek mythology (Βερόη Beróē) as a nymph of Beirut, the daughter of Aphrodite and Adonis. Leidy’s comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) was named in 1865 by Louis Agassiz to honor Joseph Mellick Leidy, an American biologist. Tom Lake]

6/16 – Wallkill River, HRM 77: As I walked along the edge of a fallow cornfield, twenty feet from the Wallkill River, twenty-four years ago, today (1999), I listened to the exhilarating “witchity-witchity-witchity” song of the common yellowthroat. However, I was on an archaeology reconnaissance, a site assessment, so my eyes were following the contours of the harrowed soil when I spotted the thin edge of a small piece of gray “worked” chert protruding slightly from a crack in the dry earth.
                                                               
                                                         That Very Old Speer Point!!

It was an “Indian” (indigenous ancestral Algonkian) artifact, a stone projectile point (47 x 25 mm) that had eroded from the soil with the spring rains. I had come upon a very old spear point that we stylistically-date to about 12,500 calendar years ago. The implications reconfirmed our sense of the incredible time-depth of our Hudson River Valley. – Tom Lake

[Archaeologists have classified this stone artifact as a Barnes-type fluted spear point, a tool that predated “arrowheads” by ten thousand years. Fluted points are a diagnostic tool used by indigenous people, called Paleoindian, during the Late Pleistocene period of North America.

There was a triangular connection to this artifact: The style originated in southwestern Ontario, Canada, and the lithic (stone) material (Big Springs chert) came from a bedrock quarry in Sussex County, NJ. The third aspect was the Wallkill River Valley, a seasonal passageway, a conduit, for these hunter-gatherers from southwestern Ontario, through the Mohawk River Valley, and then south along the Hudson River, stopping at stone quarries along the way, and following game herds into northern New Jersey. Tom Lake]

With the Fish of the Week being:

6/13 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 224 is the skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus), number 208 (of 237) on our watershed list of fishes. 
                                                   
                                                      A Skilletfish!!

Skilletfish is the only member of its family of clingfishes (Gobiesocidae) documented for our watershed. They are a small benthos-loving fish related to gobies and blennies. Like gobies, they have a pelvic suction disc that leads to their other common name, clingfish (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928). In the Chesapeake system, they are colloquially called oyster-clingers. Their common name (skilletfish) comes from a dorsally flattened body with a large, roundish head that altogether looks like a skillet.

They are found from New York to Brazil inhabiting grassy and rocky shallow areas and around pilings where they range in size from 80-102 mm. In the Hudson River they are considered a temperate marine stray in the lower, brackish reach of the estuary. Skilletfish find oyster reefs ideal habitat for spawning, forage, and safety – they most often spawn in empty oyster shells. Female skilletfish deposit their eggs one at a time in a single layer of 650-1100 eggs. Once deposited, the male skilletfish remain on site to guard the eggs (S. Runyan 1961).

They are occasionally caught in the East River as well as in the Hudson River at the Hudson River Park-River Project off Piers 29 and 40 in Manhattan. In the deep past, when the estuary supported large and healthy oyster beds, skilletfish were likely more common. – Tom Lake

And This Week’s Most Excellent Bird:

 The Red-faced Warbler      

Here’s to plastic-free picnics in Plastic-Free July,
 
UGS

Eco Facts of the Week:  As of today,NYC has 22% tree coverage, and this coverage is predominantly in affluent areas.

Since the start of the 20th century, more than nine out of every ten of the world’s wild tigers have been “lost.” 

Eco Tip of the Week:  Recycle your quality magazines at your NYC library branch!!  (We black out our name/address!!)

 

Happy Really Long July 4th Weekend, UESiders!!  

You bet, we’ll be spending much of the mornings on those 4 days at:

Every Saturday:  82nd Street/St. Stephen’s Greenmarket
_{82 Street between First & York Avenues, 9am-2pm}

At their tables will be our friends Bread Alone, Sikking Flowers, Hudson Valley Duck and Samascott,  Cherry Lane, Ole Mother Hubbert, Valley Shepherd,  Hawthorne Valley and Gajeski Farms!!

And…

Every Sunday:  94th Street Greenmarket

94th Street  & First Avenue, 9am-3pm

Primed for our Sunday shopping needs will be Meredith’s Country Bakery, Ole Mother Hubbert,  Grandpa’s Farm, Halal Pastures, Norwich Meadows, Phillips  and Green Life Farms!!  

Maestra Manager Margaret’s adds hers wisdom on both:

“Dear Greenmarketeers:

Yes, a few of our great fishers/farmers/beekeepers will be taking their own well-deserved long weekend (American Pride, Haywood’s and Ballard’s)…

But everyone else will be at their tables with their delicious, plentiful  fruit and veggies, along with equally choice and abundant cheese, eggs, milk and, of course, baked goods!!

You know, personally, I especially like market shopping on holiday weekends when it’s a bit less crowded and I can enjoy the experience in a more leisurely  fashion… 

See you there!! 

Margaret“

Then there’s…

Every Tuesday:  Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Fresh Food Box
_{Robbins Plaza, First Avenue & 70th Street,  2:30-6:30pm}

Ever more summer deliciousness packed in those big, affordable bags of largely organic, all-local produce available to all New Yorkers!!  Joining in and getting yours couldn’t be easier…  Just head to GrowNYC’s Food Box page!!

Let’s talk compost:

Every Friday: East 96th Street Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{96th Street & Lexington, 7:30-11:30am}

Bring on those coffee grounds!!

2022 Total:  66,962 lbs.
2023 Total to date:  10,119 lbs. 

Every Sunday: Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-Off
_{91st Street & York, 7:30am-12:30pm}

And spinach stem tips Smart !!

2022  Total (from 3/1/22):  46,675 lbs.
2023  Total to date:  13,564 lbs.

Add our newly-installed, available round-the-clock (if they’re not full) and they’ll tell you if they are!, openable with either IOS or ANDROID, UES street-side compost bins:

• Southwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 86th Street
• Northwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 82nd Street
• Northeast corner of 1st Avenue and 91st Street
• Southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 72nd Street
• Northeast corner of East 66th Street and 1st Avenue
• Southwest corner of 83rd Street and East End Avenue
• Northwest corner of 1st Avenue and 88th Street
• Northwest corner of 2nd Avenue and 95th Street
• Northwest corner of 3rd Avenue and East 95th Street
• Southeast corner of East 92nd Street and 2nd Avenue
• Northeast corner of 1st Avenue and East 76th Street
• Southeast corner of 79th Street and York Avenue
• Southwest corner of 3rd Avenue and East 88th Street
• Northeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 76th Street

And, oh yeah, we were wrong about plastic bags… But we’re still going to use compostables!!

Then there’re these upcoming happenings:

Saturday, July 8th: Cyanotype Solar Photo Workshop

_{^{Transmitter Park, Brooklyn, 10am-12pm}}

And we quote, “Have you ever seen a blue photograph? If you lived in the 1800s you would have. By placing objects on special paper and exposing the paper to sunlight, early photographers created blue images called cyanotypes or sun prints. Join artists and photographers Amy WIlliams for an outdoor cyanotype print making workshop using native foliage!!” For more and to sign up…

Thursday, July 13th: Ephemeral Clay Seed Vessels Workshop

_{Seward Park, 6-8pm}

And we quote, “Learn pinching and coiling methods for creating handmade clay vessels, but you will also learn about wildflower seeds and supporting our local ecology!!” Organized by the Lower East Side Ecology Center!! $7… For more and to reserve a place…

Sunday, July 23rd: No-Cost Community Paper Shredding

^{_{First Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets, 10am-2pm}}

Sunday, August 12th: Ridgewood Reservoir Insect Walk

Throughout the summer:

Just a tidbit of activism:

As in if you believe the Endangered Species Act should be restored in its entirety…

The week’s diverting diversions:

Hot off the presses: The USWR Eco Letter… How to be shark smart… Backstage at Central Park’s Swiss Cottage… Advocate thoughts on Penn Station… Fast fashion gets some Congressional attention… What’s now in flight in our Schurz Park… UES gundgy subway canopies cleaned thanks to AM Seawright):

The 59th Street & Lex subway station to be – believe it! – cleaned… And our harbor’s health to be attended to.. When and when not to cut grass… Our NYS Forest Rangers’ week in review…

Hudson River Almanac Time:

6/21 – Ulster County, HRM 86: A while ago I came upon an elfin skimmer (Nannothemis bella) at the Shaupeneak Ridge Cooperative Recreation Area. I had been going to this site to find dragonflies for years, and this was a first for me. This individual briefly perched in a small field above the pond before disappearing into the brush.

That Elfin Skimmer!!

I initially saw this species two weeks ago but recently came across it again. Nannothemis is a genus of dragonflies in the family Libellulidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, commonly known as the elfin skimmer. The elfin skimmer is native to the eastern United States and Canada and, at about 20 millimeters, is the smallest dragonfly in North America. Males are powdery blue while females are black and yellow, resembling a wasp (see photo). – Frank BeresT

6/18 – Hudson River Watershed: Most white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) are now three to four three weeks old. They have spent their short life lying in a sheltered spot called a form, often in a field, where their stillness and relative lack of scent makes it more difficult for predators to detect them. Their mother stays away, not wanting to contaminate the form with her scent. She visits them periodically so that they can nurse.

That Fawn!!

At this point in their lives, fawns can stand and walk, but aren’t quite strong enough to keep up with their mother or run from predators. Should you come upon one, know that their mother is most likely within 100 yards, and the fawn shouldn’t be disturbed – it hasn’t been abandoned! Fawns continue nursing their mother for the next three months but are now beginning to eat vegetation. Very soon they will be accompanying their mother, foraging for food, and relying on their dappled coat for camouflage. – May Holland

6/18 – Orange County, HRM 47: This morning I followed up on a report from the Mearns Bird Club of a bank swallow colony at Slate Hill, one of the eight hamlets found in the town of Wawayanda. The site did not disappoint – there were many bank swallows present and they were very active. I used my car as a blind and enjoyed the show. Afterwards, I decided to make it a swallow day and headed to a known nesting area for cliff swallows. Unfortunately, the light was terrible, making for terrible photos. Finally, I headed over to Lower Wisner Road and spent some time with nesting tree swallows. – Matt Zeitler

One of Those Bank Swallows!!

6/20 – Town of Poughkeepsie: The first of two nestlings in bald eagle nest NY62 took its first flight today. It was nothing special, just a short flight to a nearby tree, and then the same to another. The fledgling’s egg was laid on February 4 and hatched on March 20. – Bob Rightmyer

That Bald Eagle and Nestlings!!

[There was a time when bald eagles were on the endangered species list — they were delisted in 2007 — that we would leg-band nestlings when they were about eight weeks old — too young to try a premature flight; yet old enough to not die of fright. While banding the birds, we’d take talon measurements and, through a complex formulaic equation, determine their sex. Over time, the process proved to be at least 80% accurate. – Tom Lake]

6/21 – Little Stony Point Preserve, HRM 55: Looking back to the Summer Solstice in 2005. We were on the water in early morning setting our seine as the Solstice arrived. Memories of our catch have long faded, but a striking bird left us with one that has endured for its beauty and simplicity: A male Baltimore oriole came to the water’s edge, walked in a few feet, doused itself and shook — an orange-and-black blur— like a bird in a paint mixer. – Tom Lake, A. Danforth

That Baltimore Oriole!!

[“The flash of an oriole is like a burst of fire!” Aldo Leopold]

6/22 – Newcomb, HRM 302: While paddling the low water on the Hudson River in Newcomb, we came upon many goslings and mallard ducklings. There are no common loons on Lake Harris yet, but that might be due to the presence of a bald eagle. There was rain in the forecast for the coming week and that should bring water levels up.- Walt Nelson

A Common Loon and Offspring!!

And now for the Fish of the Week:

6/19 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 225 is the banded rudderfish (Seriola zonata), number 179 (of 237) on our watershed list of fishes.

A Banded Rudderfish!!

The banded rudderfish is a member of a tropical-looking family of fishes called jacks (Carangidae). Other jacks that occasionally appear in the Hudson include Atlantic moonfish, permit, lookdown, round scad, and crevalle jack. All are temperate-water marine strays and are typically young-of-the-year, late summer, and early-autumn visitors to the lower, brackish estuary.

Adults are pelagic or epibenthic (living just off the bottom) and are confined to coastal waters over the Continental Shelf from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Santos Brazil. They feed on fishes and shrimp, can reach 30-inches in length, and weigh twelve pounds. Adults are bluish, greenish, or brown and do not have the dark vertical bars of juveniles. Juveniles have six transverse dark bars along their flanks and a dark stripe which runs from the eye to the first dorsal fin.

We long suspected that the banded rudderfish was present I the estuary, seasonally, in small schools, but their presence was so sporadic that finding one proved difficult. That is until August 7, 2014, when Chris Anderson of The River Project spotted a school of different-looking fish swimming around Pier 40. Chris took several high-quality photographs — all the fish were estimated to be about 250 mm. Although we did not have a fish-in-hand, the photos were compelling, and the banded rudderfish became species number 220 on our checklist of Hudson River Watershed fishes. Today, in The River Project-Hudson River Park’s Wetlab, we have empirical evidence of the banded rudderfish: a fish-in-aquaria. – Tom Lake

And then the Bird of the Week:

The Western Tanager!!

So happy Public Library funds were left untouched,

UGS

Eco Fact of the Week: France is the first nation to make it mandatory for all its supermarkets to give unsold food away to the needy!!

And likely to become fact:

 A recent study suggests that spending more time in nature may help older people delay serious neurodegenerative diseases.

Eco Tip of the Week: Plastic Free July begins this Saturday, July 1st!!  Any number of ways to celebrate and our choice… No more single-use Starbuck’s cups with their plastic tops!!