Eagle Conversations: Heather Wolf, Birding at the Bridge
EAGLE: While Brooklyn — and the world —has celebrated the creation of the unique Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP), here is a whole new set of fans for what you do. That is, explore and share with us the rich birdlife that has grown in BBP. Located waterside, is it really a unique urban haven?
Heather Wolf: Yes, I would definitely agree with that statement. BBP offers a wide variety of native micro-habitats in a long, narrow space along the waterfront and proves that even the tiniest patch of appropriate habitat can attract certain species. For example, a few sumac tree branches hanging over the Long Pond at Pier 1 approximates the preferred habitat of the Prothonotary Warbler, a prized sighting anywhere in New York City. In 2019, this species made a stop there during spring migration. The park’s creative use of prairie grasses such as little bluestem and switchgrass to border walking paths has resulted in a wealth of food for resident and migrating seedeaters, the most famous being the Painted Bunting of winter 2019. These habitats combined with the waterfront, visited by cormorants, gulls, terns, geese, and dabbling and diving ducks, make BBP an ideal place to observe birds.
EAGLE: Some birders we have interviewed in the past (pre-BBP) have cited Brooklyn Heights, also somewhat waterside, sitting on a bluff, as a popular stop on the flyway. Is this still true? What are the most popular Brooklyn and Queens sites on the flyway?
Heather Wolf: Yes, this is still true! During migration, colorful wood-warblers visit the trees lining the streets of Brooklyn Heights to feed on insects that fuel the rest of their journey to breeding sites.