Talk:Wildlife of the Bronx

Potential sections

Potential sections, taken from Wildlife of Canada

• Biodiversity of the Bronx
• Habitat of the Bronx
• Fauna
• Flora
  • https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/photos/TheStateoftheNYCUrbanForest.pdf
• Species at risk
• Invasive species
• Conservation in the Bronx

--Wil540 art (talk) 19:04, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by SL93 (talk) 18:22, 16 June 2022 (UTC)

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• Comment or view
• Article history

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• ... that in 2007, José the beaver set up housekeeping in the Bronx? Source: "The first known sighting of a beaver in the city since that time was in 2007, when one built a lodge along the Bronx River, near the Bronx Zoo." "After 200 Years, a Beaver Is Back in New York City (Published 2007)". nytimes.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Full BASIC

Created by RoySmith (talk). Self-nominated at 16:11, 1 June 2022 (UTC).

• I'll review this one.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 18:58, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Interesting article that gave me many new insights, new and long enough, the hook is fun and surprising (at least for non-New Yorkers, I first thought José was a person). I sourced some unsourced phrases, to which I found a source at ease and for the rest I assume good faith. As to me it is good to go.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 19:02, 12 June 2022 (UTC) y

• @RoySmith: clever and quirky as always, but why "housekeeping"? theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/they) 10:03, 15 June 2022 (UTC)
  • Setting up housekeeping is a common idiom for moving into some place and making it your home. I'm open to other suggestions. -- RoySmith (talk) 12:08, 15 June 2022 (UTC)
    • I thought it was a clever wordplay, an uncontroversial, fun hook for DYK on an interesting article. I believe readers would understand the pun in a jiffy, but I'll I provide two ALTs.
• ALT1 ... that José built the first lodge of the Bronx in 2007?

• ALT2 ... that José the beaver set up the first lodge of the Bronx in 2007? But those then I couldn't approve myself.Paradise Chronicle (talk) 07:34, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
  • listen, I'll tick 'em both, but if ALT0 is an accessible pun for everyun then the promoter's welcome to that too. theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/they) 08:36, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
    • Technically, ALT1 and ALT2 are not correct. "First in modern times" would be correct, but I actually like my original better. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:09, 16 June 2022 (UTC)

Map of the Bronx showing nature?

A map of the Bronx showing the different natural features/wildlife hotspots would be interesting. Could also be a labeled aerial photograph. Does something like that exist on commons? @DutchTreat:, any thoughts map master DutchTreat? --Wil540 art (talk) 23:15, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

@Wil540 art: Interesting idea. NYC Open Data has info tracking Urban Park Ranger Animal Condition Response in the city. The locations are loosely defined and could be mapped. It is specific with names of animal species, so not the best way to capture larger population densities. Is this dataset interesting for the article? - DutchTreat (talk) 12:18, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

@DutchTreat: That sounds interesting! I imagine there are lots of overlapping habitats in the Bronx. I pulled a list of the wildlife in the Bronx from that site. I played around with their the open data search engine on their site and found 61 species listed in the Bronx: Mallard Duck, Common Snapping Turtle, Bat (Unknown), Green Heron, Cockatiel, Eastern Coyote, Painted Turtle, Corn Snake, Common Grackle, Argentine Black and White Tegu, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Parrot (Unknown), Muscovy Duck, American Robin, Striped Skunk, Bird (Unknown), Sparrow, Cat, Snow Goose, American Crow, Virginia Opossum, Peafowl, Ovenbird, Bearded Dragon, Chicken, Red-winged Blackbird, Red-eared Slider, Raccoon, White-tailed Deer, Black Racer Snake, Barn Swallow, Great Horned Owl, Red-eared slider, Red-Tailed Hawk, Seal (Unknown), Harbor Seal, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Guinea Pig, Guineafowl, Red Fox, Harp Seal, Rock Dove, Barred Owl, Eastern Gray Squirrel, House Sparrow, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Canada Goose, European Starling, Mute Swan, Domestic Rabbit, Gull (Unknown), Red-Eared Slider, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Domestic Duck, Scaup, Herring Gull, Turtle (Unknown), Dog, American Kestrel. In addition to a map, info on species could exist in a table with species status and photo of the creature(preferably taken in the Bronx). Just some brainstorming ideas. Thanks for bringing up this dataset Dave! @RoySmith: Check out this dataset.

The link was not working for me. I found it with an added 2 and it worked, strange. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Environment/Urban-Park-Ranger-Animal-Condition-Response/fuhs-xmg2 --Wil540 art (talk) 14:59, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

If this could be turned into an easy-to-read graphic, I think it would be a wonderful addition. Thanks! -- RoySmith (talk) 15:09, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

@Wil540 art: Sorry about the malformed link to NYC OD. Thank you for the correction. I agree with RoySmith that an info graphic showing specifies and a sort of geolocation would be interesting. Getting only pictures from the Bronx is a stretch goal. There are other datasets from remote-sensing that give more details on vegetation. Let me look into this area. - DutchTreat (talk) 13:02, 5 June 2022 (UTC)

@Wil540 art and RoySmith: Created a Bronx map using Landsat 8 data to see land use. Comments welcome. - DutchTreat (talk) 12:02, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

@DutchTreat, Wow, thanks. A few suggestions, however...

Pelham Bay Park includes all three of the big green areas. The part that you have labeled is just the two golf courses, but the area to the east of that, with the semi-circular Orchard Beach, and the part separated by the water to the south, are also part of the park. Could you move the label or add some other indication which makes that more obvious?

And, a minor nit, the label for Woodlawn Cemetery should be moved over a bit so it doesn't slop out of the green area.

As this article progresses, there will probably be some other locations that will need to be added. The next one I can think of will be Riverdale Park / Wallenberg Forest, but maybe hold off on that until it's actually mentioned. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:08, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

I like where you are going with this DutchTreat! I think this type of map will be a great resource for this article! You could add a label for the Bronx River, Westchester Creek, and Pugsley's creek. I defer to Roy on what should be included. --Wil540 art (talk) 13:20, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

Now that you mention it, I'd certainly add the Bronx River, since we mention that in the article, under Beavers. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:41, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

Great feedback. I will work on the next version with the changes suggested above. It may take me up to two weeks since I have travel plans. - 15:26, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

@DutchTreat, looks good so far. I wonder if we should include Crotona Park, despite its relatively small size, since it at least has a small pond. Soundview Park may also be a good addition as well. Though, I feel like if we're going to mention large green spaces, then there would be a large number of them, so I can see why some green spaces may not fit in this image. – Epicgenius (talk) 17:37, 12 June 2022 (UTC)

I think what makes sense is to include any space which is mentioned in the article, although I admit adopting that strategy may mean lots of churn to keep the graphic up to date. -- RoySmith (talk) 17:39, 12 June 2022 (UTC)

@Wil540 art, RoySmith, and Epicgenius: Updated map with Crotona and Soundview Parks, Orchard Beach and added labels for select rivers. Improved the base map image from Landsat 8 with contrast adjustments, add missing Blue band. Let me know your feedback. - DutchTreat (talk) 13:06, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

@DutchTreat: Nicely done! It looks great. A couple ideas: I think it would informative if the Bronx river and maybe also Westchester creek were blue. Also the label on Crotona park is a little hard to read. Maybe could use a drop shadow and be bigger? Should the two big Golf courses be labeled? Do they have significant wildlife? Also, you could bump up the vibrancy/saturation of the green a little bit. Just some thoughts. Have a nice day. Wil540 art (talk) 15:46, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the input, Wil540 art. Next version uploaded with improved labels. The colors have not changed much. This image is true color based on the RGB Bands 4-3-2 from Landsat. We should consider what role a false color image should play which emphasizes the land use of vegetation and water. Upon further reflection, most land use maps are centered on these categories (and others). I can see good reasons for choosing to use one instead. I have drafts of more images of this kind which I might upload as new files for further community review. Lastly, I did not call out the golf courses, but would be glad to do that if there is interest. If so, I would like a few hints on which of the courses should be labeled and with what names. - DutchTreat (talk) 14:39, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

@DutchTreat and RoySmith: Nice improvements. The titles are more legible. Good point re:false color. I'm not familiar with the name of the Golf courses or whether it would be useful to include them, perhaps Roy knows. Again, very nice work! --Wil540 art (talk) 19:56, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Yes, I do know the names of the golf courses :-) But, I think adding them would just be visual clutter. The wildlife doesn't care much if they wander over the boundary between a golf course and the park it's adjacent to, so I don't see that we need to either. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:01, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Using Landsat 9 data from May 2022, I created two false color maps for the same area:

• 
  Vegetation from Bands 6-5-2
• 
  Water from Bands 5-6-4

Overlay version

Using the former one, I propose adding an {{Overlay}} map to the article with pushpins for the main parks and areas:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 Van Cortlandt Park 2 Woodlawn Cemetery 3 Bronx Park 4 Pelham Bay Park 5 Orchard Beach 6 City Island 7 Soundview Park 8 Brother Islands

I welcome any feedback on the format, the list of parks, order that parks are listed (clockwise) or anything else. - DutchTreat (talk) 12:24, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

It's hard to read some of the labels due to the small font size and lack of color contrast with the background image. I've never used {{Overlay}} before. It looks like a neat tool, but unfortunately, if I click on the image to see an easier to read version, all I get is the base image without the overlays. -- RoySmith (talk) 16:03, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

I want to try something. Where can I find the raw landsat image without any labels? Or, even better, is there a version of File:US-NY-Bronx-Landsat-2022-05-26-Bands652-parks.png which includes the shape outlines, but not the text? -- RoySmith (talk) 16:10, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

I can generate a version of the image without labels, if that would help. The pieces are a combination of raw satellite data which was processed into RGB and cropped, coastlines from NYS/NJ and labels that I added. Should all labels be removed like the parks, islands, counties and rivers? - DutchTreat (talk) 16:34, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Maplink version

Another proposal is to keep the Landsat image without any decoration. Do not use {{Overlay}}). Add a second image of a map using {{maplink}}. This two image approach allows for the remote sensing image of vegetation to be easily seen with fewer labels. The labels seems to cause obstructions. The map will have pushpins and allow for zoom/pan from both desktop and mobile devices.

I have chosen a zoom factor of 12 which gives some details, but this required a larger frame-size, 500x500 above. See alternative views using zoom 11 and 13 for comparison - DutchTreat (talk) 10:56, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

Maplink version 2

Updated map above with Hart Island, smaller size of 475x475 and some refinements in the numbered markers. The disadvantage of the smaller size is that the Harlam River is clipped and Manhattan is mostly obscured,. Both of these features are important for the reader when wayfinding. It's a compromise because the smaller size will take up less space on the page. - DutchTreat (talk) 11:04, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

Maplink version 3

Generated another version with colorized markers. See example at User:DutchTreat/Projects/Maps/wildlife-bronx#Maplink. - DutchTreat (talk) 15:13, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

I like version 2 above. I don't think the colorized version on your user page adds much; the colors are more of a distraction than anything else. I also like the one with just the numbers vs the icons (pine tree, etc), which likewise I think are just a distraction. KISS. I do agree that adding back in a little more of the surrounding area would help with orientation. Certatinly make sure you include all of the Bronx down to the Harlem River. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:36, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

I agree. Version 2 is the least distracting markers. Let's go with that version at the 500x500 resolution, zoom level 12. This scale provides details on each large park. The bounding area includes the Harlem River on the weast and Hart Island on the west. - DutchTreat (talk) 10:52, 15 August 2022 (UTC)