Splish Splash Seagulls Were Taking a Bath! (Saturday's Sequel Re 10/7/2017's Beach Day)

 

This past Tuesday, in my entry here on Blogger, I discussed a few things related to the visit I made to Long Beach (on Long Island) last Saturday.

However,I did not mention a unique (to me) sighting that I observed when I was there, which was my seeing seagulls bathing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Tuesday's Truths WK 6: Least Sandpipers Are Known As PEEPS!

This is the sixth week of my Tuesday's Truths series, and three weeks ago, on August 2nd 2016, I described a truism of seagulls, the bird type pictured atop this entry. The seagulls I featured in that entry were ones I had met at the Atlantic Ocean when I was in Long Beach New York. The picture included here, was also taken at the Atlantic Ocean, but I met this guy/gal bird at Sea Side Heights in New Jersey. This beach is located within a New Jersey State Park. Friends had taken me there in honor of my birthday. Beaches in State Parks tend to be quieter as well as cleaner, and this beach was no exception. Still this bird managed to get a hold of a plastic lid and I certainly hope it didn't cause him/her health issues.

A seagull looked on as his/her comrade held the plastic lid in his/her beak. I left them to their own devices and strolled along the shoreline in search of sandpipers. It has been a long time since I've seen this sweet bird type at any beach, and I was happy to learn that sandpipers liked to gather in the Sea Side Heights area. And much to my delight I encountered throngs of this adorable bird type.

Tuesday's Truths WK 3: The Glands of Seagulls Allow Them to Drink Salt Water

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

Welcome to Tuesday's Truths week three. If you follow this blog, you may recall on the second week of my series, Tuesday's Truths, I blogged about certain truisms re the bird type known an an American Oystercatcher, a bird type I was "introduced" to during my recent trip to Long Beach New York. A member of this bird variety can be seen in the lower lefthand corner within the image posted above, where he/she appears to be taking a drink from the salty waters of the Atlantic. 

This Particular Friday's "FANTASTICK" Fact: "Deep in December it's nice to remember The fire of September that made you mellow."

Before the official onset of summer 2017, which was Wednesday, June 21, 2017, I told myself that I would make sure that I went to the beach once a week. There are many beaches near Manhattan and all of them are normally accessible by public transportation.

However, this summer getting to any beach via public transportation was impossible due to major construction on all railroad and subway stations. I wrote about the scenario in a previous post here on Blogger which you may refer to by clicking here.

I had also hoped to work around that transportation problem by tandem cycling to The Rockaways (a beach off the Atlantic Ocean) in the borough of Queens, but our plans were cancelled due to heavy rain.

And now September is here and I have not been to the beach. This fact brings the Dr. Seuss quote seen in the image atop this entry to my mind.

I do realize that one can still go to the beach in the fall. In fact, in bygone years, I cycled with my captain to the beach at Coney Island (in Brooklyn) during the month of October.

Tuesday's Truths WK 2: The American Oystercatcher's Beak Functions Somewhat Like the Beak of a Bluejay!

Last Tuesday (July 19th), here on Blogger, was my first week of publishing a feature I hope to keep going within this blog. This feature is Tuesday's Truths, which I stated would be entries about interesting truths that I've discovered about the flora that grows in my urban (NYC) garden, and or the antics I've observed re the avian creatures which visit it. 

Today only marks my second week with this format, and I'm already expanded my spectrum, for one of the bird types I will be discussing in this post is not one who has visited my garden. It is a type that I met this past Sunday and is a shorebird known as the American Oystercatcher (pictured above taking refreshment from the Atlantic Ocean).

Monday's Musings: "NYC is the place to be if your'e a bird."

Yesterday, Sunday December the seventeenth, was a mostly overcast day in NYC. The temperatures remained in the thirty degree range, so I layered up before heading down to Pier Eleven (near to the Greenway by the Hudson River) to follow the wisdom of the Negro spiritual and "lay down my troubles down by the riverside."

There is nothing like a walk in the park to clear one's head and Riverside Park is one of the best places to do that in Manhattan. As I made my way across the pier, I came upon a lone Ring-billed seagull (seen in the image atop this entry) who also knew about this respite on the UWS.

The Feast of The Annunciation (Monday's Meditation)

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS HAVE A STORY IN VOL 3

I'm in the process of preparing a submission for an exciting project, so I've been going through hundreds of my photographs featuring birds who visit my garden as well as my images of avian creatures who visit nearby parks (Central plus Riverside) and who spend their time on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean.

BUT I have a confession to make, trusting my choices of pictures and words to include in my proposal is mind boggling. Unfortunately, I've been turning to many people for their opinions because  I have somehow convinced myself that the thoughts of others are more worthy than mine. In this sense, I've been like a mockingbird,* the bird type seen in the picture atop this entry with his/her beak open ever so slightly.

Wednesday's Wisdom: Honor The U.S.A.'s Flag

Yesterday, June the 13th, I had hoped to make a day trip to The Fire Island Lighthouse. It is can be seen within the image atop this entry, where an American flag is flying to the lighthouse's left; and, where seagulls, are flying to that flag's left.

I've been to this lighthouse (located within the town of Kismet, on Fire Island), on a number of occasions. And yesterday seemed to be a good time to visit it, as real feel temperatures were in the low hundred degree range. Before nine o'clock in the morning, the actual temperature had reached ninety-six degrees in Central Park!

There are a number of ways to get to The Fire Island Lighthouse. One of them is to take a train (subway) to Penn Station and connect with an LIRR (Long Island Railroad) train to Bayshore, then from there take a taxi to a ferry, which drops passengers off at various towns on Fire Island.

Frigid Temps are for the Birds!

Sometimes the wild birds that visit my urban (NYC) garden as well as the Ailanthus trees in the adjacent courtyard, got a break from being scrutinized by yours truly though the lens of my camera. This is because I go down by the river side to see how the Canadian geese are faring in the freezing waters of Hudson River. These photo-ops show how this bird type responded to the conditions occurring in the river.

It seems Canadian geese are good candidates for The Polar Bear Swimmers!
The Polar Bear Swimmers are a group of folks that always ring in a given new year by swimming in the bitter cold wintery Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island.
Info on The Polar Bear Swimmers can be found by clicking here.

Some info on the Canadian geese who frequent the Hudson River  can be found by clicking here as well as here.

In Honor of National Lighthouse Day (8-7)

Today, August the 7th, there is a holiday known as National Lighthouse Day. Although I've only been to three lighthouses in my lifetime (one near Sandy Hook, New Jersey; one in Manhattan; and one on Fire Island), I really love them! I hope that one day, I'll be able to add other lighthouses to my list of ones I've seen.

The pictures posted atop this entry are of The Little Red Lighthouse and The Fire Island Lighthouse (respectively). I've never been inside The Little Red Lighthouse, but I have been in the vicinity of it on a number of occasions, as it is often a destination and/or rest stop for my tandem cycling trips.

Happy Anniversary To The Statute of Liberty! (She arrived in NYC 1885)

"On this day (June the seventeenth) in 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrives in New York Harbor after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than 200 cases," proclaims a page in a web-site titled THIS DAY IN HISTORY. The Statue of Liberty is often called Lady Liberty.

A number of years ago, I came upon a driftwood sculpture (at Long Beach), that was rendered in her likeness by an anonymous artist. This work of art is featured in  the image atop this entry.

Over my years of living in Manhattan, I have seen The Statue of Liberty countless times. Most of my vantage points have been from my this borough, as I have lived here for over thirty-five years.

However, I've seen her several times when I've been on from various boat trips. I've also seen her from other places. The photographs directly below show how looks from a vantage point of Red Hook (in Brooklyn) as well as from a vantage point on Governors Island (respectively).

Moreover, in my home, I have a figurine depicting Lady Liberty. She can be seen in the next image.

I got her at More & More Antiques (M&M), a shop located on NYC's Upper Westside.

Sunday's Sentiments for 10-29-2017

Yesterday, Saturday, October 28th, marked the one hundred and twenty-first anniversary of the dedication of The Statue of Liberty. According to a Wikipedia page, the statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. She can be standing in NYC's harbor (from the vantage point of Red Hook in Brooklyn), in the first image atop this entry. The second image features a driftwood sculpture of her.

That particular image (which was was included in an entry here on Blogger this past June), was taken by yours truly when I made a trip to Long Beach (on Long Island in NY) with my sister a number of years ago.

Saturday's Sequel re The Great Blue Heron

This past Tuesday, here on Blogger, I published a post describing my encounter with a bird type whom I'd never seen before, a Great Blue Heron. I mentioned that I came upon this lovely creature while walking in Central Park. I also stated that I only had a small pocket camera with me at the time, and that I normally use my DSLR to photograph birds. Therefore, I wasn't totally pleased with the images that I had taken of the Great Blue Heron. Because of this, I returned to the park yesterday (taking my DSLR this time) with the hopes of seeing the heron again.

But, alas, I did not see a heron. However, I did see Red-Belllied Woodpecker, who is also a bird type that I'd never seen before (which I discussed  in yesterday's blog post); and this creature is featured in the image directly above, where she is being pestered by house sparrows.

Seeing the Red-Bellied Woodpecker was a wonderful experience, but I still wanted another glimpse of the Great Blue Heron!

Yesterday, I checked the EXIF info re the images that I did manage to get of that awesome bird type the other day —  with the hope that knowing the hour in which they were taken — would give me a clue as to when I might anticipate seeing the Great Blue Heron in the place where I'd seen him/her this past Tuesday.

I'm thankful to say that my "detective" work paid off, for when I returned to the park, near to the time I'd seen the Great Blue Heron before, he/she showed up soon after I was there! The creature seemed in good spirits, nearly jumping for joy; as evidenced in the next picture.

It was very cold outside and my hands were freezing from being exposed as I took photos of this bird, but, as you will see in the next set of photographs (featuring the Great Blue Heron spending time with  Mallard ducks), my efforts were truly rewarded.

Tuesday's Truths WK 7: More people are born in August than any other month.

Today, August 30th, marks the seventh week of my Tuesday's Truths series. It's also the last Tuesday in August, so I should point out this truth: more people are born in the month of August than any other month of the year! I'm one of those persons, and am very grateful to CDDS and FRG, as well as his mother, Ruthie, for giving me a very special birthday celebration last week,  a  couple of days before my birthday. After they took me for a short trip to the Atlantic Ocean, where I encountered sandpipers known as the Least variety, we headed back to FRG's mother's house for dinner followed by a birthday cake. Alas, it was not the cake pictured here, but I was caught up in the celebration and did not take a picture of it! Hence I'm using this web image by an unknown source, for the candles featured in it remind me of a shopkeeper who constantly says, "Don't ask me my age, how much I weigh, or how much rent I pay."  — And that's something to keep in my mind with this Tuesday's truism, no matter what month in which one happens to be born.

Honoring the Onset of Fleet Week (Wednesday's Wisdom)

The image atop this entry is from a tweet that I noticed in my Twitter feed. As you can see it pays homage to the fact that Fleet Week kicks off in NYC today, Wednesday May 24th, 2017.

According to a web-page (silive) "the Parade of Ships moving up the Narrows and into New York Harbor beginning at about 8:15 (in the morning.)"

A Wiki page explains that "The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been considered to be the maritime "gateway" to New York City and historically has been one of the most important entrances into the harbors of the Port of New York and New Jersey." 

The aforementioned Wiki page also proclaims "in 1964 the Narrows was spanned by the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, and still the longest suspension bridge in the United States (by length of the main span). "

I have been across The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge as a passenger in a car. However, in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, I crossed it as a tandem cyclist.

The occasion for all of those cycling experiences is due to my participation in an annual event known as The Five Boro Bike Tour (TFBBT). During the last year of my participating in the tour, I took the following picture of The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

You may recognize this image (which was taken on the Staten Island side of the bridge), dear reader, as I included in in a prior entry here on Blogger. I have another photo of the bridge (which was taken by an unknown cyclist at a rest-stop in 2011's TFBBT).

Tuesday's Truths WK 62: Facts RE Herring & Ring-billed Gulls

It's week sixty of my Tuesday's Truths series; and as you may recall, dear reader, in this past Tuesday's posting (10-10), I mentioned that on the first Saturday of October, which was October seventh, I had finally been able to make a trip to Long Beach (which is on Long Island in New York).

Moreover, I have published a followup entry to that post (10-14), where I discussed some of the seagulls who I had seen bathing in the Atlantic Ocean on that beach day. In this aforementioned blog post, I promised to use my then forthcoming Tuesday's Truths entry to discuss a few other facts that I had learned re seagulls as a result of my recent trip to the beach, and so without further ado: The seagull seen in the picture atop this entry, where the creature is preening, is a shorebird whom I encountered on that October afternoon. I've done some research since that time and my understanding  from reading a number of seagull related/themed articles and web-pages; the variety pictured here is known as a Herring Gull.

A Few ANTICS of LONG ISLAND SEAGULLS

I have been away from Blogger to focus on my sister's annual visit, and now I'm focusing on a behavior of the mourning doves that visit my garden, a behavior in which they alight on one of my bird feeders in such a manner (as indicated in the image posted above) that it causes seeds to fall to the ground, "inviting" mice and pigeons into my garden, a problem I am continuing to have, and a problem that I will now be aggressive about finding a solution to resolve it now that my sister has left.

Prior to her arrival, I did procure a mini vacuum cleaner (the hand-held variety) to collect the fallen seeds, which will help to some extent, but some of the creatures that are ground feeders are ones that I want to have around, such as Cam and Mac, my visiting cardinal couple, seen in the image below.

My cardinal couple does not like to perch on any of the feeders that I have, so I am thinking of installing a pole system to secure my feeders, which may encourage Cam — as well as Mac — to perch on feeders that will have trays to collect falling seeds. By eliminating falling seeds I hope to deter the pigeons and mice who now visit far too often!

Meanwhile it is the behaviors and antics of the array of wild birds which visit my garden, that caused me to observe the seagulls I saw at two different beaches on the Atlantic Ocean (during my sister's visit) from another perspective than I had when I'd seen them in bygone years.