West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
Get WSR FREE in your inbox

Search the site

No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

AVAILABLE NOW!


HERE

UWS Neighborhood Naturalists See the Wild Side of the West Side; Join Them

March 31, 2019 | 9:26 PM
in OUTDOORS
6


The naturalists had a vibrant meeting this month.

By Michael McDowell

Woodcocks, coyotes, snow scorpionflies, and Adriaen van der Donck were but a few of the bold-faced names mentioned at a recent gathering of the Upper West Side Neighborhood Naturalists earlier this month, which brought nearly twenty botanists, birders, gardeners, and urban naturalists of all stripes and persuasions to the Peter Jay Sharp Volunteer House near 108th Street in Riverside Park.

Dan Garodnick, the former City Councilman who now leads the Riverside Park Conservancy, was in attendance, and although the two groups are not affiliated, Garodnick expressed his support for the efforts the naturalists seek to undertake, namely: to monitor and observe nature on the Upper West Side; to educate and inform neighbors about biodiversity and nature in the community; and to advocate for nature in the decision-making processes of local government.

To that end, the UWS Neighborhood Naturalists convene prior to and attend Community Board 7 Parks & Environment Committee meetings, which are held on the third or fourth Monday of each month. A schedule of those meetings is available here.


Vanessa Sellers reads from Adriaen Van Der Donck’s ‘A Description of New Netherland’. Yonkers is named for Van Der Donck, who was a major landowner in Dutch New Netherland.

Logistics aside, the naturalists traded stories of recent notable observations. One naturalist mentioned a sighting of the American woodcock, a mottled shorebird with a prominent bill, which she spotted near the main branch of the New York Public Library, on Fifth Avenue. The woodcock is currently migrating northward through the city.

“They’ve been walking around on the steps of the public library,” a man exclaimed.

“They even have library cards,” another joked.

Very small insects called snow scorpionflies—spotted at Cranberry Lake Preserve in Westchester—were another favorite sighting, after heavy snowfalls earlier this month.

“If I see six or ten of them, that’s a good day, but this year we had 89—a huge record—including pairs mating,” a naturalist noted.

There’s no need to stray too far from the neighborhood to see animals beyond birds and insects, however.

“I saw a coyote up here, on 113th, it was about twenty-feet away, the speed of it was so humbling and just fantastic, I could not believe how fast it was. It was amazing, unmistakable,” a man recounted. The coyote quickly disappeared into Riverside Park.

Otherwise, what news?

“There’s peregrine falcons everywhere, I’m seeing them out [of my window] on 107th Street, looking north…they nest on Riverside Church.”

“The turtles are coming back from their dormant period in the mud, the red-eared sliders, [or] scripta elegans.”

And finally?

“The ostrich ferns have gone absolutely bananas!”

As the sun set over the Hudson, the meeting wound down and some of the group walked to 87th Street to attend the Parks & Environment Committee meeting, where, among other items, they would seek to advocate for reclaiming more spaces for native plants in the neighborhood.

Budding botanists or curious naturalists should contact Daniel Atha at datha@nybg.org, for more information. Expertise and experience vary in the group, and all who are interested in urban nature are encouraged to attend.

Share this article:
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
michael
michael
3 years ago

Reading from Adriaen Van Der Donck’s ‘A Description of New Netherland’? That’s AWESOME!!!

If you want a mind blowing story about how Manhattan came to be, who Van Der Donck was and how the Dutch were the true influence of tolerance in the “New World”, you MUST read “The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto.

0
Reply
ScooterStan
ScooterStan
3 years ago
Reply to  michael

Re: “…you MUST read “The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto.”

DEFINITELY!, an absolutely wonderful book.

Also “Exploring Historic Dutch New York”

0
Reply
Ye Olde Englishe Teachere
Ye Olde Englishe Teachere
3 years ago

Re: “Yonkers is named for Van Der Donck,….”

Ummm…that’s a bit of a stretch, idn’t it?
So why wasn’t it called “Donckers”…or “VanDers” ?

We know (at least some of us do) that “The Bronx” derives from the original land-owner Jonas Bronc. Maybe it could have been “JonasVille”…but that sounds too much like ‘YennemVeldt’ 😳

Anyway, as Ogden Nash wrote, “The Bronx? No Thonx”

0
Reply
michael silverman
michael silverman
3 years ago
Reply to  Ye Olde Englishe Teachere

The name “Yonkers” is derived from the Dutch word “Jonker” (the J is pronounced as a “Y”) and was an affable description of the man who owned the land, Adriaen Van Der Donck’ – an educated and wealthy young man.

0
Reply
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell
3 years ago
Reply to  Ye Olde Englishe Teachere

Surprising, but true!

https://www.yonkerschamber.com/city-of-yonkers/early-yonkers-history/

0
Reply
Marina
Marina
3 years ago

Just finished reading “The island at the Center of the World”. A great read and available in NYPL, though had to wait quite some time, worth the wait.

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

A Youth Basketball Team Grows on the Upper West Side
CRIME

A Youth Basketball Team Grows on the Upper West Side

February 2, 2023 | 3:46 PM
Books: A 330-Mile ‘American Ramble’ Ends on the Upper West Side
ART

Books: A 330-Mile ‘American Ramble’ Ends on the Upper West Side

January 29, 2023 | 7:38 AM - Updated on January 30, 2023 | 6:03 AM
Previous Post

Mrs. Maisel Returns to the UWS for Filming Next Week

Next Post

Morning Bulletin: Plastic Bags Banned, Congestion Pricing Passes, Yoga Instructor Accused

this week's events image

Explore Your Favorite Subject

20th precinct 24th precinct american museum of natural history animals art bicycling bulletin central park closings columns community board 7 coronavirus crash crime development dogs events fdny fire food gale brewer helen rosenthal history jcc lincoln center monday bulletin morning bulletin nypd openings pedestrian safety photography photos politics public schools pupper west side real estate restaurants retail riverside park silver stars fitness snow sponsored subway upper west side uws

CITY NEWS

Brick Underground
City Limits
Eater
Gothamist
NY Daily News
NY Post
NY Times

LOCAL RESOURCES

Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Central Park Conservancy
CB7
Community Education Council 3
Assembly District 67
The New York Historical Society
Riverside Park
West End Preservation

UWS Blogs

Bloomingdale History Central Park Blogger
North River Notes
Next Post
Morning Bulletin: Plastic Bags Banned, Congestion Pricing Passes, Yoga Instructor Accused

Morning Bulletin: Plastic Bags Banned, Congestion Pricing Passes, Yoga Instructor Accused

Picturesque UWS Scaffolding to Be Considered for Landmark Status

Picturesque UWS Scaffolding to Be Considered for Landmark Status

Help Decide Where $1 Million Gets Spent on the UWS: Participatory Budgeting Voting

Help Decide Where $1 Million Gets Spent on the UWS: Participatory Budgeting Voting

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.