Salinger Died 9 Years Ago on This Day of 1-27

The author, J.D. Salinger, died nine years ago (2010) on this day of 1-27. He was ninety-one years of age as he had recently celebrated his birthday (he was born on 1-1-1919).

My photos atop this entry are of a male and female Mallard duck (respectively) enjoying either the pond or the lake in Central Park and they are (along with the other Mallard images included within this posting) intended to be a tribute to him.

Some Facts Re Male Wood Ducks (ETC) Tuesday's Truths WK 114

Hello and welcome to Segment 114 of my Tuesday's Truths series. In this post I'll be telling you (along with other points of interest) some cool facts re Wood ducks, the bird type featured in the image atop this entry, who seemed to be giving me the stare (or glare) when I saw him in Central Park this past Friday.

Monday Musings: ON BEING AN ODD DUCK ETC

Yesterday morning I got the notification via a tweet from from Manhattan Bird Alert  which stated
"The MANDARIN DUCK and his reflection, continuing this Sunday at the Central Park Pond (60th and Fifth)" and upon reading it I made my way over to that area of CP.

However, when I arrived the Mandarin duck was no where to be seen, but The Pond, was being used by a number of other ducks, including male Wood ducks, such as the one seen in my photograph atop this entry.

Nothing Lame about NYC Ducks!

There are a number of warnings signs (such as the one featured in the image directly above) posted near bodies of water in Central Park, including the lake, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, as well as Turtle Pond. In spite of these signs, there are those who do not heed the warning and walk on the "thin ice."

Ducks in a row and not in a row...

The "Ducks in a row..." seen in the picture atop this entry, where they are swimming in the pond  in Central Park, include a Wood duck, a Mandarin duck, and a Mallard duck (respectively).

And the set of images directly below feature other duck types, a Khaki Campbell (swimming in the Hudson River), a Bufflehead, (swimming in the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir), and a Muscovy, who is also swimming in the Hudson (respectively).

THIS MUSVOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

The latter of these, a Muscovy, is featured in volume three of my Words In Our Beak book series...

A Red-Winged Blackbird is Bird Number Eight! (Monday's Musings)

This past Friday I met my eighth new bird type (who can seen in the photographs posted directly above) in this Year of The Bird! I encountered the little fellow when I was walking in Central Park.

This particular is a member of the Red-Winged Blackbird family and his ID, as well as his gender, was confirmed for me by Robert DeCandido PhD. As you may recall, dear reader, DeCandido is the one who ID-ed a Great Blue Heron whom I came upon in Central Park earlier this year. You might also remember that he a provided bird information (gender) when I met a Bufflehead Duck for the first time. Both bird types can be seen in the photos below (respectively).

In any event, I'm very grateful for DeCandido and I hope I can afford to participate in one of his many bird walks in the near future.

But getting back to my coming upon a Red-Winged Black Bird, my encounter with him was by mere chance, for I had gone to the park and headed to the pond in hopes of seeing an American Coot, a bird type that I initially encountered on March 19th under very bad conditions for taking a photo and I was hoping to get a better picture of this bird.

Another Sunday in the Park WITHOUT George! (But there was a Great Egret ...)

Last Sunday, which was a gloomy rainy day (just as it is today), I was walking with a friend in Central Park, and we came upon a Great Egret. This creature can be seen in the photographs atop this entry. The first two images feature him/her spending time amongst Mallard ducks.

However, that was not my first time seeing a Great Egret. The first time in my long life for seeing an Egret was a little over three weeks ago (on May 11th) when I was also in the park. That Egret can be seen in the next image, where he/she seems to be watching me as I watch him/her.

In the Words In Our Beak book series (pictured below), Cam the cardinal who narrates the stories has a term for the activity of birds watching people: people-ing.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

The birds featured in her published stories are mostly ones whom she has met when spending her time in my rooftop garden, not the ones who frequent Central Park.

However, in Volume Two, she does include a story about Canadian Geese and their goslings who enjoy the bodies of water in the park. Moreover, after she finishes volume three (scheduled to be published this fall), Cam may "spread her wings" and tell stories of the birds who frequent NYC's parks.

This Thursday's Testimony is for the Birds! (some of the birds that is)

This particular Thursday (March 22nd) "is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 284 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56)."

Mooch and Earl are honoring the day by birding, as seen in the Mutts comic strip posted directly above, where Mooch is being "reprimanded" by a ruby-crowned kinglet for only noticing a robin.

Normally by the twenty-second of March, American Robins  have returned to my urban garden (here in NYC), but the spring season has been slow in getting underway in my area (as I mentioned in yesterday's post here on Blogger) and I haven't seen one spending time in my place as of this entry.

However, I saw them in Central Park, on February 8th, as they may have gotten the memo that the city's groundhog had predicted an early spring (which ended up being fake news) this past Groundhog Day (2-2-2018).

Be that as it may, one of the robins I encountered there can be seen in the set of pictures below.

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB" VOL 3

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB" VOL 3

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB" VOL 3

In any event, American Robins were not the first birds I've seen in Central Park in this year of 2018, which as you may know, has been designated as The Year of the Bird, due to this being the one hundredth anniversary of The Migratory Bird Act.

Ever since the onset of 2018, I've seen the usual cast of avian characters who spend some of their time in Central Park. These include blue jays, Canadian geese, cardinals (female and male), common grackles, European starlings, House sparrows (including a very young one), Mallard ducks (female and male) pigeons, as well as white-throated sparrows. They are all represented below respectively:

BLUE JAYS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

CANADIAN GEESE HAVE A STORY IN "WIOB" VOL 2

OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB" 

OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

OTHER STARLINGS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

OTHER SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

OTHER PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB"

For me, this Year of the Bird, has also already provided me with the opportunity to meet a number of bird types whom I've never seen in Central Park.

May 4th is STILL For The Birds!

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

Today, May 4th, is Bird Day. It seems more special today in 2018's Year of the Bird, which, as you may know, was designated as such due to this year being the one hundredth anniversary of the passing of The Migratory Bird Act.

In any event, according to Holiday Insights, "Bird Day is the oldest of the days set aside to recognize birds. According to the U.S. Library of Congress, Bird Day was first observed  on May 4, 1894. It was started by Charles Almanzo Babcock, superintendent of schools in Oil City, Pennsylvania. By 1910, Bird Day was widely celebrated, often in conjunction with Arbor Day. Bird Day and Arbor Day events are focused upon conservation training and awareness."

If this breaking news sounds familiar to you dear reader, it may be because I discussed Bird Day in my May 4th posting for the year 2016, which was quite extensive, as it included many bird varieties.

You may reference it by clicking here. Since the publication of my Bird  Day post, I have published two hardcover versions within the Words In Our Beak book series and they can be seen in the image atop this entry.*

Today in honor of Bird Day, I am featuring images of all the bird types whom (in alphabetical order) I have met in Central Park or at the Hudson River, as well as in my courtyard, since that the last year's Bird Day.