Here's Tuesday's Truths for the 71st Week: This is The Year of the Bird

In honor of the sixteenth day, of the one-hundredth anniversary of The Migratory Bird Act, I am posting a reminder: This calendar year of 2018 has been designated as The Year of the Bird.

The collage atop this entry depicts the fact that The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is partnering with organizations that include National Geographic, National Audubon Society, Bird Life International, and, is "asking people to pledge to do one thing per month to help birds."

 A web-page for National Geographic, includes a quote attributed to Thomas E. Lovejoy, which states,“If you take care of the birds, you take care of most of the big environmental problems in the world.”

Readers of this blog surely know, I enjoy any opportunity to take care of birds, which I mostly do for the array of types who have visited my urban garden.

They include (in alphabetical order), a lone American Goldfinch;

THIS BIRD IS FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

a lone American kestrel;

THIS BIRD IS FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

a number of American Robins (one of them can be seen in the next picture);

ROBINS ARE  FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

a lone Baltimore oriole (Emily);

THIS BIRD IS FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

a number of blue jays (three are featured in the following image):

BLUE JAYS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

a few cardinals (two of them are featured in the photo below);

CAM AND MAC AS SEEN IN VOL ONE

an occasional chickadee (one of them is featured in the following picture);

CHICKADEES GET A NOD IN VOL 3

several Common Grackles (one of them is featured in the next image);

OTHER COMMON GRACKLES  GET A NOD IN VOL 3

a number of dark-eyed juncoes (one of them is featured in the photo below);

JUNCOES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

a few downy woodpeckers (one of them is featured in the following picture);

DOWNY WOODPECKERS HAVE A STORY IN VOL 3

dozens of European starlings (two are featured in the picture directly below);

STARLINGS GET A NOD IN VOL 3

several house finches (two are featured in the next image);

OTHER HOUSE FINCHES HAVE A STORY IN VOL 1

a lone rose-breasted grosbeak;

WILSON IS FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

dozens upon dozens of house sparrows (a few of them are featured in the following picture);

HOUSE SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

a lone leucistic house finch (he/she is featured in the next photo);

THIS BIRD IS FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

dozens, upon dozens, of mourning doves (two are featured in the following image);

MOURNING DOVES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

a few Northern mockingbirds (one is featured in the next photo);

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

lots, and lots, of an array of pigeons types (two like-types are featured in the following picture);

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

as well as an occasional White-breasted nuthatch (one can be seen in the photograph below);

THIS BIRD TYPE  GETS A NOD IN VOL 3

Another thing that I've done for the avian community, is to help a female cardinal, Cam, whose been a regular visitor to my garden (and is pictured below), to write a book.

CAM, THE NARRATOR OF "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Cam is a spokes-bird for the avian community, and it was my pleasure to help her tell her story, which aims to raise awareness re the plight of urban birds. The book, as regular readers of this blog know by now, is titled Words In Our Beak Volume One.

SEE PRESS RELEASE

WORDS IN OUR BEAK is the first volume in a series of narratives introducing readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and its environment. Set in a New York City rooftop garden, the story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits the garden regularly.

Written for children and adults who are curious about birds and want to learn about them from a unique perspective, WORDS IN OUR BEAK includes rich, colorful images of Cam and her friends surrounded by lush flora and fauna. Also woven within this amusing and informative narrative are references to additional text and video expanding the reader’s experience.

Hopefully, Cam's book will raise awareness re the avian community. As I mentioned in a prior post, one reviewer of the book has this to say:

"If you are not yet a bird-lover, you will be after reading this book. Words in our Beak is so enchanting as it follows a little cardinal named, Cam, through the rooftops of NYC and beyond. Cam has so much to share from a bird's eye perspective, it was hard to put the book down. I became enveloped in Cam's world by imagining what it is like to live on a rooftop, choose the right flowers to eat, and listen to the world around in the most intimate, gentle and fascinating ways. Thank you, Cam! I hope to read ever more of your travels in the new year!"

Here's the info on how to buy all the versions of the book.

HARDCOVER:
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2AFZDCz
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2zxVujM
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2AAnB26
book culture On Columbus: http://bit.ly/2FsC1Uf

SOFTCOVER:
Magcloud: http://bit.ly/2nrBJDj

DIGITAL (TWO OPTIONS):
ePub: http://amzn.to/2kzWGw0

iBook: http://apple.co/2nHZMBq

Yet another thing I've done, to help birds, is to rescue three different pigeons who were visiting my place, when I noticed that they needed medical attention. Please click here, as well as here, and here, to see photos of the rescued pigeons, and to read about these birds, and to learn about the places who gave them medical attention.

I also participated in the rescue of a Northern Flicker, who injured him/herself on the premises of a building that is a few doors west of where I live. Please click here to see the list of posting which discuss his injury and the places that tried to care for him.

Another action that I have taken to help the well being of an array of wild birds outside my garden was to participate in a Costal Clean-Up initiative (sponsored by Audubon in 2017), in an effort to help bird types known as the American Oystercatcher as well as Canadian Geese who visit Jamaica Bay near the North Channel Bridge.

I hope that in #ThisYearoftheBird, I'm able to do much more. I also hope that Cam's book is read by many, and that in doing so, her readers are inspired to do more for the avian community.

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

Hardcover versions of volume one, two and three can be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

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....

... 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.