Horseshoe crabs!
Jun. 24th, 2025 06:12 pmSo, last summer, I learned from HK about the horeshoe crabs in New York City. She had -- I think, I forget the exact story -- been out exploring the distant parts of the city, and had come across Broad Channel, and she saw the horseshoe crabs on the beach there, and she gathered some people to go see them again. So she and I and some other friends went out to see them.
See, around May and June, it's horsehsoe crab mating season. I had no idea that horseshoe crabs even lived in the waters around here, but they do. And during the mating season they come up into the shallows to mate. But, you can't see them at just any time. My understanding is, they come out mostly when the tide is highest. You want to go at high tide, but not just at high tide, you want to go at high tide around a spring tide.
Anyway, last year's trip out to Broad Channel and we saw lots of horseshoe crabs. Although, at first, we made the mistake of heading north to the wildlife refuge, rather than south to the beach. The wildlife refuge did not have horseshoe crabs. What did have was lots and lots of mosquitoes. We all got really bitten before deciding to turn back and head to the beach instead.
I wanted to try the same thing again this year -- but maybe we didn't need to go all the way out to Broad Channel? The city has a webpage listing where horseshoe crabs can be seen. None of these locations are all that convenient, but Kaiser Park, in Coney Island, seemed like the most overall accessible.
So a few friends and I tried it out. Unfortunately, we made a bit of an error in timing. Yes, we went near a spring tide... but I hadn't checked the detailed tide charts, and it was actually near low tide when we went. Oops. We ended up mostly only seeing dead horseshoe crabs -- although we did find one live one, buried in the sand. Once the tide came in, it came out, and we got to see it swimming around! Still, just one is a bit disappointing. We did see a really cool bird which I have since learned was a yellow-crowned night heron!
We (well, not the same group) tried again two weeks later, same location. In this case we knew it would be around low tide, but, well, Kate insisted it be then (and then didn't show up...). The result was basically the same. A bunch of dead horseshoe crabs, only one living one. Well -- I spotted one living one buried in the sand before the others arrived, but once they showed up and the tide had come in a bit, I couldn't find it anymore. I guess it swam away? We did not see any herons this time, which was a bit disappointing, as Kippy (a birder) had come hoping to see one.
We did see lots of fiddler crabs! They're difficult to see, because in addition to being small, you can only see them from some distance -- get anywhere near them and they'll scuttle back into their holes (their holes covered that section of the beach). But move away and they'll come out and wave their claws up and down!
Anyway, I decided to make one final attempt this past Sunday. This time, the tides should be right. (And for whatever reason, this spring tide was projected to be especially high, higher than the other recent ones. I wonder why?) HK suggested we try Calvert Vaux Park, across the creek from Coney Island rather than on it, although, like Kate, she then didn't show up! But this time it worked -- we did find horseshoe crabs! And also an egret, and a fiddler crab that wasn't so good at hiding, and also lots of cats? By the entrance near 27th Ave I encountered 3 cats. Huh.
The park seems to consist of 3 peninsulas (do all 3 count as the same park? I think the south one is separate), but the three seem pretty split off from one another -- I think they all have separate entrances. We didn't try the northern peninsula because we just kind of missed it, but it looks like there's a beach there we could have tried. We did try the cove that lies between the northern and central peninsulas, since there was a beach there, but it was a dump, and also had no horseshoe crabs. (It also required taking some paths through the brush that were not the easiest.)
Ultimately the place we found horseshoe crabs was one of the beaches on the south side of the central peninsula. This is basically where we found all the animals, except the cats! There weren't as many as at Broad Channel last year -- possibly still an issue of timing, we were a bit after high tide and a few days before the highest tides -- but still a good number. One of them was tagged! So, yes, I reported it afterward.
We didn't try the southern peninsula (which I think is actually not part of the park). We were kind of tired from the heat at that point, and I'm not sure that the southern peninsula has any beaches, or how to get to them if so.
June is ending now so I think that'll be it for this year. But I'll go look for them again next year, I figure, and that time I'll be more considerate of just when high tide is...
(Meanwhile, the goats arrive on July 12th!)
See, around May and June, it's horsehsoe crab mating season. I had no idea that horseshoe crabs even lived in the waters around here, but they do. And during the mating season they come up into the shallows to mate. But, you can't see them at just any time. My understanding is, they come out mostly when the tide is highest. You want to go at high tide, but not just at high tide, you want to go at high tide around a spring tide.
Anyway, last year's trip out to Broad Channel and we saw lots of horseshoe crabs. Although, at first, we made the mistake of heading north to the wildlife refuge, rather than south to the beach. The wildlife refuge did not have horseshoe crabs. What did have was lots and lots of mosquitoes. We all got really bitten before deciding to turn back and head to the beach instead.
I wanted to try the same thing again this year -- but maybe we didn't need to go all the way out to Broad Channel? The city has a webpage listing where horseshoe crabs can be seen. None of these locations are all that convenient, but Kaiser Park, in Coney Island, seemed like the most overall accessible.
So a few friends and I tried it out. Unfortunately, we made a bit of an error in timing. Yes, we went near a spring tide... but I hadn't checked the detailed tide charts, and it was actually near low tide when we went. Oops. We ended up mostly only seeing dead horseshoe crabs -- although we did find one live one, buried in the sand. Once the tide came in, it came out, and we got to see it swimming around! Still, just one is a bit disappointing. We did see a really cool bird which I have since learned was a yellow-crowned night heron!
We (well, not the same group) tried again two weeks later, same location. In this case we knew it would be around low tide, but, well, Kate insisted it be then (and then didn't show up...). The result was basically the same. A bunch of dead horseshoe crabs, only one living one. Well -- I spotted one living one buried in the sand before the others arrived, but once they showed up and the tide had come in a bit, I couldn't find it anymore. I guess it swam away? We did not see any herons this time, which was a bit disappointing, as Kippy (a birder) had come hoping to see one.
We did see lots of fiddler crabs! They're difficult to see, because in addition to being small, you can only see them from some distance -- get anywhere near them and they'll scuttle back into their holes (their holes covered that section of the beach). But move away and they'll come out and wave their claws up and down!
Anyway, I decided to make one final attempt this past Sunday. This time, the tides should be right. (And for whatever reason, this spring tide was projected to be especially high, higher than the other recent ones. I wonder why?) HK suggested we try Calvert Vaux Park, across the creek from Coney Island rather than on it, although, like Kate, she then didn't show up! But this time it worked -- we did find horseshoe crabs! And also an egret, and a fiddler crab that wasn't so good at hiding, and also lots of cats? By the entrance near 27th Ave I encountered 3 cats. Huh.
The park seems to consist of 3 peninsulas (do all 3 count as the same park? I think the south one is separate), but the three seem pretty split off from one another -- I think they all have separate entrances. We didn't try the northern peninsula because we just kind of missed it, but it looks like there's a beach there we could have tried. We did try the cove that lies between the northern and central peninsulas, since there was a beach there, but it was a dump, and also had no horseshoe crabs. (It also required taking some paths through the brush that were not the easiest.)
Ultimately the place we found horseshoe crabs was one of the beaches on the south side of the central peninsula. This is basically where we found all the animals, except the cats! There weren't as many as at Broad Channel last year -- possibly still an issue of timing, we were a bit after high tide and a few days before the highest tides -- but still a good number. One of them was tagged! So, yes, I reported it afterward.
We didn't try the southern peninsula (which I think is actually not part of the park). We were kind of tired from the heat at that point, and I'm not sure that the southern peninsula has any beaches, or how to get to them if so.
June is ending now so I think that'll be it for this year. But I'll go look for them again next year, I figure, and that time I'll be more considerate of just when high tide is...
(Meanwhile, the goats arrive on July 12th!)
