Category Archives: New York

Spills Are Sandy’s Latest Wildlife Impact

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The New York State Department of Wildlife Conservation (DEC) is reporting some oiled birds as a result of an oil spill on a Hudson River tributary in Kingston, NY.

More details about the spill are available from the Watershed Post and a report from the Hudson River’s Riverkeeper.
Read the Watershed Post piece, here.
And see the Riverkeeper site for more information about non-point source pollution in the area affected by Sandy.

There is also an oil spill in the Arthur Kill, a narrow waterway between Staten Island and New Jersey. The Hudson Valley Press Online is reporting a spill and clean-up at a local oil company on the Arthur Kill and nearby waterways. Read the story, here.

It appears a nearby marina is stumped by by the appearance of oil. New Jersey News 12 offers a brief write-up and a clip. See it here.

The New York State DEC also announced that shellfishing is closed off Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk Counties until next week because of sewage in the water. Read the details in the NYS DEC press release, here.

Photo: DEC staff rescuing a great blue heron harmed by an oil spill in the Hudson Valley after Hurricane Sandy. Photo used courtesy of NYS DEC.

Lynx and Bobcat in Northeast

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There are lynx sightings in Vermont and a new bobcat management plan in New York.

In New York, the bobcat management plan offers a road map for managing the species over the next five years. Bobcat numbers in the state are up, the report says:

All indications, including harvest trends, suggest that bobcats have increased in abundance here and in surrounding states, and observations have become more common in recent years. Based on analysis of harvest data, we estimate New York’s bobcat population to be approximately 5,000 animals in areas where regulated hunting and trapping seasons have been in place since the 1970s. Estimates are not available for populations expanding into western and central New York.

Because of this, the plan includes opening some new areas of the state to bobcat hunting and changing the bobcat hunting season in other areas for the sake of consistency. The report also mentions investigating the possibility of reestablishing bobcats on Long Island, in the urban southeast corner of the state.

Find a link to the management plan and a short description of it on the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s website, on the bobcat page, here.

In Vermont, it’s the rural northwest corner of the state that is seeing an increase of lynx sightings, according to the blog of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Ecological Services.

A total of eight lynx track intercepts were recorded during two survey efforts in February and March. The track patterns and genetic analysis indicated three to five distinct individuals, some of which were traveling together.

The animals traveling together were likely a mother and her young, the blog says, which suggests a breeding population in the area.

Read the entire blog post, here.

Photo: Lynx track, courtesy Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department

Research Round-up

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Earlier this summer, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologists banded 15 peregrine falcon chicks from five nests in western New York State. The birds are part of the growing peregrine population in the state.

Read the NYS DEC press release here.

The California Department of Fish and Game recently caught and captured 10 female deer as part of a study of habitat usage along I-280 in the San Francisco region. The information collected is part of an 18-month study that will allow scientists suggest ways to keep deer off the busy roadway.

Read the California DFG press release here.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that a recent sampling did not find Asian carp in western Lake Erie. A week of electrofishing and gill-netting did not turn up Asian carp. The survey was conducted because last summer, DNA samples revealed the presence of the invasive carp.

Read a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources here.

The Bend (Ore.) Bulletin reports that wildlife biologists will set out camera traps in the Cascade mountains hoping to catch a glimpse of wolverines, which are listed as threatened in the state.

Read the article in the Bend Bulletin here.

Photo: Wildlife Biologists process a sedated deer for the I-280 deer study courtesy of California Department of Fish and Game

Light: The Forgotten Pollutant

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Light pollution doesn’t get much respect. It is worst in urban areas, which most people in most places have pretty much given up on for wildlife conservation. Until recently, it hasn’t been well studied. And, like lots of other pollutants, human health and well-being are the focus of most of that research.

However, it seems likely that humans are among the species best adapted to light pollution (which may be why we create so much of it). It’s impact is more profound on other species.

A recent documentary, The City Dark, shown on PBS, focuses mostly on the human impacts of light pollution, but touches on wildlife issues as well. You can watch it on-line this weekend, here.

While we strive to give you “news you can use” in every post, this is more of a “something to  think about,” with extra appeal since it is watching TV instead of more science journal reading.

The City Dark, PBS web page.
The site for the film itself is here.
If you are interested in media coverage of the documentary, make sure to visit this post on the filmmaker’s blog.

Photo: Filmmaker Ian Cheney on rooftop, courtesy of Wicked Delicate Films

New York State Stops Using Photodegradeable Netting

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Dead garter snake in photodegradeable nettingWhether its road construction, utility work, or chemical remediation, many states call for the use of some sort of landscape fabric or biodegradeable netting to prevent erosion at construction sites until plants take root.

New York State has learned that plastic netting advertised as photodegradeable was used at sites in the state, and has killed and injured wildlife at those sites. The netting is an entanglement risk for wildlife for years, a story put out by the State Bureau of Habitat says.

Read the story, here. The link will bring you to a PDF. The netting story is the second story on page 2.

Photo courtesy of NYS DEC

NY’s River Otter Project a Success

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From 1995 to 2001, New York State relocated river otters to the central and western parts of the state, where the species was believed to be extirpated. The recent retrieval of a car-killed river otter was not entirely bad news for the program. A microchip implanted at the time of release indicated it had been released in 2000, making it 12 years old. That’s four years older than the average wild river otter.

Other reports from the public indicate that the river otter has regained a foothold in these areas of the state thanks to the relocation project.

Read more about the relocation project here. (Scroll down to the middle of the newsletter.)

Photo: River otter release in New York State, courtesy of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

NY’s River Otter Project a Success

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From 1995 to 2001, New York State relocated river otters to the central and western parts of the state, where the species was believed to be extirpated. The recent retrieval of a car-killed river otter was not entirely bad news for the program. A microchip implanted at the time of release indicated it had been released in 2000, making it 12 years old. That’s four years older than the average wild river otter.

Other reports from the public indicate that the river otter has regained a foothold in these areas of the state thanks to the relocation project.

Read more about the relocation project here. (Scroll down to the middle of the newsletter.)

Photo: River otter release in New York State, courtesy of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bat Numbers Rise in 1st WNS Caves

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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) released today the results of its winter survey of bat hibernacula. The most encouraging results were from the five hibernacula in the Albany area, where the disease was first discovered. The press release says:

Previous reports have suggested that little brown bat counts at these sites seem to be stabilizing in recent years. This year’s surveys saw substantial increases in little brown bats at three out of five of these caves. The largest and best documented of these sites saw an increase from 1,496 little brown bats in 2011 to 2,402 this year.

It goes on to say that it’s too soon to say whether this represents a recovery or just the fact that bats literally like to hang out together, and may moving from other hibernacula to form a larger group.

Read the NYS DEC press release, here.

Quite a few media outlets picked up the story immediately.
Read the Albany Times-Union article, here.
Read the Associated Press article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, here.

Research: Screech Owls, Urban Coyotes and Social Mountain Lions

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Forest cover is the best predictor of screech owl presence, and citizen scientists doing call-playback surveys compared well to professionals, says a paper in the March issue of the Northeastern Naturalist. The research was conducted in the metropolitan New York tri-state area.

Read the abstract here. (Fee or subscription required for the full article.)

Teton Cougar Project, which has been studying mountain lions (Puma concolor) in the Jackson Hole region for years, recently documented two adult female mountain lions feeding at the same kill on three different occasions. Once, a male also joined the group. Four years ago the research team documented one female mountain lion adopting another’s kittens.

The observations refute the conventional wisdom that mountain lions are solitary and only spend time together to mate.

Read more details in the Jackson Hole News & Guide, here.

Researchers in Denver, Colorado will begin radio-collaring up to 60 coyotes in the metro area with the goal of tracking them for the next two years. Stewart Breck, a researcher with USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, will lead the effort.The researchers would like to know how the coyotes are using settled landscapes, and if community-based hazing programs are working.

Read the Colorado Division of Wildlife press release, here.

Winter Research Roundup

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In New York State, a recent survey of the spruce grouse population revealed that there are not many of the birds left in that state. A revised management plan seeks to restore the population.
An Albany Times-Union article about the survey and results
A link to download the spruce grouse management plan.

New York State has also released a management plan for bobcats. The plan includes a survey of the state’s current bobcat population. Comments on the plan are being accepted until February 16.
Read an article about the plan in North Country News, here.
Here’s the state’s bobcat page, with a link to the management plan.

In California, the Department of Fish and Game is looking for volunteers over 16 years old and in good health to help count bighorn sheep in the San Gabriel Mountains on March 4. There is an orientation on March 3.
Read an article from KPPC, southern California public radio, here.
Go to a website dedicated to the count, here.

Also in California, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will review the status of the San Bernardino flying squirrel. It’s soliciting information about the flying squirrel and its habitat from state and federal natural resource agencies until April 2.
Read the article in the Riverside Press-Enterprise
The US Fish and Wildlife service press release is here.

Bobcat photo courtesy of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.