I stopped off at Jamaica Bay yesterday to check out the East Pond. Not trying to do Andrew's "job" (in fact, he already tipped me off), but I'll say that I went dragonflying (and I don't mind getting my feet wet). Currently, the water extends all the way to the reeds along of the southwest part of the pond. The shallowest that the water is in any spot is about an inch and a half. But we've been down that road before, and time will solve that (barring more heavy rains).
The bigger problem is that the property owner to the south of the pond had a fence built. The fence extends into the water and effectively blocks access to the east side of the pond (unless you want to go through the muddy northeast entrance). I don't know where exactly the park boundary is and if this is legal. I'll let the National Park Service deal with it. I sent an e-mail to the refuge manager, who should be returning from his weekend tomorrow. Hopefully, I can hear something back soon. In the meantime, keep these issues in mind if you're planning a visit to the East Pond. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
