It's Berry Time In The City

This past Thursday I went to the greenmarket at Tucker Square, and a representative for GrowNYC, the organization that oversees the greenmarkets throughout the city, took the second photograph atop today's blog entry. I was so caught up in complimenting him on his sign, that I forgot to ask his name so that I could give him a photo credit. Because I go to that market on a regular basis. 

I hope to see him again and then give him a nod (in cyber space) for taking this image for me. In any event, while I was there, I told him (as well as a grower that happened to be standing nearby), how much pleasure I got in providing berries for the American Robins who have been visiting my urban (rooftop) garden — which is something I wrote about this in a recent blog post, "Serving The Frugivores."   

The grower begged to differ about deriving pleasure in seeing birds eat blueberries. She explained that she goes to great lengths to prevent birds from having access to her blueberries.

A bit of serendipity for the NYC birds that visit my rooftop garden: The grower covers her blueberries with nets to keep the birds away, then she brings her blueberries to the city, where I buy them, and use them to feed the bird types that she tries to keep away!

In the aforementioned post, I also discussed how much Northern mockingbirds enjoy the berries too, and I love it when any bird enjoys my provisions, but at this time, I've gotten a lot of pleasure of observing a young robin discovering  blueberries, which is something you might understand upon seeing the little one indulging in blueberries in my garden (first image above and the picture below).

I often wonder if the young bird knows that I am the one providing the berries? It often seem as if he/she is looking at me as evidenced by the images below.

It's hard to know if the robin identifies me or associates me with the one who is providing the berries, but he/she does seem to be doing some people-ing at a very young age.

Readers of Cam's (a female cardinal whose an author) book, "Words In Our Beak Volume One,"  (pictured below) will  probably recall that the term, "people-ing," was invented by Cam as a way to describe the activity of birds watching people.

And as this little robin observes his/her surroundings, I observe what a quick learner he/she seems to be! At such a young stage in life, this bird is already preening. 

But getting back to my providing berries for birds, I must say that my avian friends provide me with much more!

Unfortunately, the robins don't often sing when they are here, which is a topic, I discussed when this bird type first appeared. I guess they're not apt to sing with a blueberry in their beak, which makes me suspect that if one of them were to write a book such as Cam did, they would modify her title, "Words In Our Beak,'' and call their narrative, "Blueberries In Our Beak."

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021:

When the third volume of the hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak was released, I withdrew from promoting my former versions of Words In Our Beak. 

The very first one is an iBook and went into Apple's book store in 2015.

This was followed by an ePub version...

... that is available on Amazon and was also published in 2015.

Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's digital versions were published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud in 2017.

Its press release can be read by clicking here.  

Now with the release of BIRD TALES (which is in Apple's Bookstore and On Amazon)...

... I've been advised to make mention of my early versions of volume one of Words In Our Beak, they do vary ever so slightly in content from the hard-cover version of volume one.

As of this addendum, I do not intend to create digital or soft-cover versions of Words In Our Beak Volume Two or Words In Our Beak Volume Three.

NOVEMBER 2021 ADDENDUM 

My new book, IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS is now available in Apple's Bookstore.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS is a book with a light hearted tone and stunning photography, taking nature lovers of all ages on a delightful journey. Youngquist’s exquisite photos capture the detail and awesome wonder of various birds; assorted insects; a reptile; a fish; and an array of flowers as well as foliage; all found within New York. Youngquist’s playful writing gives insights regarding nuances found in these aspects of Mother Nature. Read IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS and add a bit of joy to your day.