Registrar: Amanda Bielskas
Participants: 19
Weather: 78–82 F; Mostly sunny, N winds 5 mph.
Bird Species: 18
Eighteen Linnaean Society members and botany enthusiasts gathered on a warm sunny morning to wander in the available tree shade and light breeze around The Pool and The Ravine of northern Central Park. Regina Alvarez, the walk leader, with her familiarity and experience with Central Park and teaching, shared much information about the plant life of the park and the way it has been managed over the years.
She started by lending magnifying loupes to participants, explaining that a jeweler’s loupe at 10x would be best for field study. She demonstrated how to use them by bringing the loupe quite close to the face and resting it against the cheek to hold it near the eye. The object to study must be very near the bottom of the glass.
Regina pointed out which plants are native, non-native, and invasive. She shared her extensive knowledge about the plants and other species in the park. She pointed out and talked about over 50 plant species. We talked a bit about plant/bird interactions as well and discussed foraging and the possible risks to an inexperienced forager. Generally, foraging is not advisable in an ecosystem like Central Park, which would suffer greatly if thousands of visitors took up the practice. We encountered poison ivy (native) in the Loch. Regina explained that the Park has a policy of managing rather than eradicating this plant, which produces berries popular with 60 species of birds, as well as the urushiol oil that stimulates an allergic reaction in approximately half the people who come in contact with it.
It was a very successful walk on a beautiful day in Central Park. Overall, we saw over 50 botanical species, eighteen birds, and several types of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.
Species Lists
Birds
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Great Egret
Northern Flicker
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
House Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Plants
Trees—Native
American Sweetgum Tree
American Sycamore
Bald Cypress
Black Cherry
Hackberry
Oak Tree
Pin Oak
Pumpkin Ash
Red Maple
Sassafras
Serviceberry or Shad Bush
Sweetbay Magnolia
Tulip Tree
Tupelo Tree (Black Gum)
Trees—Hybrid
London Plane
Trees—Non-Native
Ginkgo
Shrubs, Vines and Flowers—Native
American Plantain
Blackberry
Black Raspberry
Bluebell
Blue Flag Iris
Bottle Brush Buckeye
Common Blue Violet
Duckweed
Elderberry
Flame Axalea
Fragrant Sumac
Goldenrod
Hackberry
Knotweed
Lizard’s Tail
Poison Ivy
Pokeweed
Purple Flowering Raspberry
Spicebush
Viola Blando
Virginia Creeper
Virginia Knotweed
Virginia Sweet Spire
Wolffia (Watermeal)
Woodland Sunflower
Native rose (Swamp Rose and Virginia Rose)
Arrowwood viburnum
White Wood Aster
Shrubs, Vines and Flowers—Non-native
Bittersweet Nightshade
Burdock
Deadly Nightshade
Mugwort
Seibold Viberdum
Strawberry (mock)
Ferns – Native
Christmas fern
Goldie’s Wood Fern
Grass—Native
Bottlebrush Grass
Grass—Non-native
Phragmites
Mammals
Brown Rat
Eastern Chipmunk
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Herps
Bullfrog
Red-eared Slider
Snapping Turtle
Insects
Lady Beetle
Great Blue Skimmer