Monday, September 30, 2013

The Bass are Beconing

The Wind was calm with some soft puffs from the north while I was fishing on the beach a few nights back.  A subtle glow from the milky way helped to shimmer some light while retrieving my lure.  I was having a vision of a striped beauty snagging my lure when....BAM! and yank.  It was the second striped bass of the night and they both took the black teaser.  The second was a legal keeper so I sauteed it with white wine and tomatoes.  I say "it"  because it was not a particularly large or girthy fish.  It was about 10 lbs and 30 inches long.  At that size it could be either a male or female, but if it is over 25 lbs or 35 inches long is a female according to some sampling conducted in the 1950's




Here is a good overview of bass migration and biology, although there is some debate about some different migratory patterns of the Hudson River population.

Many say that an east Wind is the best time to fish for the stripers, possibly because it blows plankton to our shores and the bait fish pile up on it.  Living up to its reputation of being piscivorous, only fish were found in its belly (pictured above).  I sliced open its stomach and found what I believe to be Altantic silverside...or after some consultation with my bass brained cousin, possibly sand lances, aka sand eels.  Funny, the lure I happened to be using mimics these fish...


Does anybody know if bass can see colors in the same manner that we do? Or how deep light penetrates the water column to allow the colors to be seen with much difference other than shades?

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Bird Time

I love watching birds.  They are colorful and dynamic, meaning they are purrty and constantly changing.  They change colors over the course of the year by molting their feathers, the species that are seen in a particular region change over the course of the year due to migration, and the species that are seen change depending upon what type of habitat you are in.  Like I said, I love watching birds...I like to observe them feeding, fighting, nest building, and flying.  There are very few dull moments when out on the prowl spying on birds.  Optics are optimal for full viewing pleasure, as binoculars or spotting scopes truly enhance the viewing experience.  They are not necessary though; as listening to bird song, counting large migratory movements, or an occasional up close and personal interaction do not require optics. 

September and May are particularly fantastic months to bird watch on Long Island and elswhere in the Northeast.  During September neotropical migrants make their mind blowing voyages from their breeding territories in North America down to Mesoamerica, South America and the Caribbean.  Thus many species that do not call Long Island home during the summer breeding season can be seen during September as they pass through on their way south or in May as they pass through on their way north.  This highly coordinated movement is highly dependent upon the Wind.  The birds pray to the Wind gods, especially Boreas during September.   Boreas gives the migrants a favorable flow to engage on their journey.  In fact the majority of migrants wait for north Winds to blow before they ascend into the air column to move dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of miles to wintering grounds.

This dependency on the Wind can be observed very easily, if one's timing is well planned.  It is not that hard, just wait unit the Wind pushes from a northerly direction during September; particularly if it blows northwest overnight.  Get out into some good habitat early the next morning, and there will likely be a noticeable increase in the abundance and diversity of birds life.  An emerging tool for monitoring these massive movement is through the utilization of NEXRAD Doppler weather radar.  The radars, which are the same units used by NWS and other meteorologists, can detect birds, bats, and insects while they operate in clear air mode.  I think clear air mode is the default mode of operation when significant water laden air masses are not present.  NJ Audubon does a great job of explaining the entire process for using radar to monitor bird migration.  Essentially, many birds are nocturnal migrants, they take to the skies at dusk, and the radars can detect the density, velocity, and direction of birds much as the radars do for nimbus clouds. Birds show up as more pixelated representations on the radar image, denoting many separate individuals as opposed to the more nebulous and contiguous images that result from the relatively larger rain clouds. 

Check out the radar time loop I recorded from the Upton, Ny radar a few nights ago when the Wind was blowing from the north.  Sunset was a little before 7pm and the loop is playing from 6:30ish to 8:00ish.  You can see that small pixelated images emerge on the display just after sunset.  These areas of blue and green represent birds taking to the sky.  They seem to be concentrated over over the Bridgeport area; maybe the migrants piled up as they hit the LI Sound after following the Housatonic River as a flyway.  Maybe a reader can speculate why they are congregating at Bridgeport on this particular evening.
 Here is an image from later that same night.  Lots of birds up and moving.....which way are they headed???
 Looks like they are moving from northeast to the southwest, as would be excepted given the north Wind and the desire to stay over land, which runs generally from NE to SW in this area.  The red signifies birds moving away from the radar and the green shows movement towards the radar. 

The whole NE is lit up with sweet bird action given the favorable Winds and the time of year, September.  The next morning I went out and enjoyed a great day of bird watching.  Here are some possible questions to start up some blog conversation.

How high do you think birds fly during migration?  How do we know theses are birds shown on the radar and not something else, like insects?  Who first though of using radar in this manner?  Please join in.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

About Wind Blown Freedom

The Wind Giveth and the Wind taketh away.  This website serves to promote scientific knowledge and will go wherever the Wind blows it.  The Wind is an immensely powerful phenomenon and affects many aspects of life on earth.  The Wind demands respect and should be capitalized when written.  On this site I plan on sharing my passion of outdoor freedom and seeing if I can connect my passions to the wind somehow.  Let's explore how far we can take the Wind's relationship to earthlings.  Please participate and share unique ways in which the Wind affects you or things you enjoy.  There is no limit to the degrees of interconnection between the Wind and... anything.  Don't forget to pray to the Wind gods.