Today is Friday in The
Octave of Easter; and because it is the last Friday in April, it is also
Arbor Day. I've always appreciated
Patrick McDonnell's (creator of the
Mutts comic strip) "take" re this event and have posted a copy of it atop this entry. As you can see, McDonnell's characters Earl and Mooch seem to know how much
birds appreciate
trees as evidenced in their planting one, which is appreciated by an avian creature.
I have also planted trees in containers that are in
my rooftop garden and have not only been blessed by the beauty they bring to my place; as well as by their often unspoken help to our environment; many birds have come to visit because of them...
....these include Northern
cardinals who (for over half a dozen years) have enjoyed my
Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi)...
... and my Japanese Maple variety known as '
Shisitatsu' Sawa...
... as well as near my other Japanese Maple which is a variety known as
'Tamukeyama.'
A number of other birds have also hung out with my Japanese Maple ('Tamukeyama'); as evidenced in the following images a male
House Finch...
... a lone
Mourning Dove ...
.... a lone
Blue Jay...
... a lone
House Sparrow....
.... a lone
Baltimore Oriole...
... a lone
European starling...
.... and a lone
Northern mockingbird.
Another tree in my garden that is a favorite of birds is my
Crabapple Tree. In the next two pictures a male and female house finch (respectively) can be seen enjoying its blooms.
This tree is also enjoyed by
bees as evidenced in the images directly below (you may need to look closely to see this insect. He/he is to the right in the first picture and to the left in the second one).
Birds also spend a good amount of time within the branches of
Ailanthus Trees in a courtyard which is adjacent to where I live. This is evidenced in the following series which features a lone cardinal...
.... Mourning Doves...
.... Blue Jays...
... Downy woodpeckers...
...
Pigeons...
... and a
Red-Tailed Hawk.
On Arbor Day (or any day), it's a good opportunity to give a shout out to the trees in
Riverside Park and
Central Park that provide a great resource for
squirrels to an array of activities as seen in the series of photo-ops below.
And as you know or can surmise, the trees in both parks (especially Central Park) provide a respite an array of birds including
American Goldfinches...
 |
| OTHER GOLDFINCHES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3 |
....a lone American Robin...
 |
| OTHER ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3 |
... a lone
Black-crowned night heron...
... a lone Blue Jay...
 |
| OTHER BLUEJAYS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" |
.... a
Gray Catbird...
....Northern cardinals...
 |
| OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" |
 |
| OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" |
|
 |
| OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" |
|
... a lone
Red-Winged Blackbird...
... a lone
Tufted Titmouse...
 |
| OTHER TIT MOUSE ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" |
|
and a lone
White-throated sparrow.
By the way, every bird type seen here, except for the Black-crowned night heron, the Gray Catbird and the Red-Winged Blackbird is included in my book series,
Words In Our Beak.
EACH OF THESE BOOKS CAN BE ORDERED FROM ANY PLACE SELLING BOOKS BY GIVING THEM THE TITLE, OR ISBN, OR MY NAME, PATRICIA YOUNGQUIST
Trees and birds have been of interest to me ever since I was a young child as evidenced by the pictures of yours truly posted below where I am hugging a tree in one and about to feed the birds in another.
It's likely I inherited these interests from family, as evidenced by a picture (taken in years long ago) of my maternal
grandfather with a tree that he just planted as well as of a photo of a paternal ancestor feeding the birds.
And with that, I'll end my Arbor Day 2019 post, as I began it, with a comic strip. This one, as you can see is by
Charles Schultz, who evidently
had an appreciation for Arbor Day.
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