Bird watching: It's a legitimate hobby!

 

Mark Parisi's birds (featured in the carton atop this entry) got this! Birds watching their neighbors (and vice versa) is a legitimate hobby. I love the park and natural areas but I am truly grateful to be able to watch birds from my window as sometimes when I come upon them when outdoors, I feel as if I'm intruding on their territory.

National Peanut Month 2021

The month of March arrived the other day and whether this month comes in like a lion or a lamb, it will always be known here in The United States as National Peanut Month.

Peanuts are a legume appreciated by members of the wildlife community including squirrels who over the course of many years, have stopped by my garden on countless occasions to eat them. This is evienced in the picture directly below.

Peanuts are also enjoyed by members of the wild bird community. In fact they are so popular with Northern cardinals, that my visiting cardinal Cam and her husband Mac, named one of their daughters,“Peanut,” in honor of this taste treat. These three cardinals can be seen (respectively) in the next sequence of photographs.

The stories of this cardinal couple along with the stories of an array of bird types are featured in my three volume hardcover book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

The books make a perfect gift for someone who may be in quarantine or lockdown due to consequences of the coronavirus because the stories in them can bring the outdoors into the homes of those who cannot go out and about.

Attn! Peanuts may not be good for squirrels!?! Let them eat corn? (Wednesday's Wisdom)

THIS SQUIRREL IS FEATURED IN MANY BLOG POSTS

THIS SQUIRREL IS FEATURED IN MANY BLOG POSTS

THIS SQUIRREL IS FEATURED IN MANY BLOG POSTS

As those of you who follow this blog probably know, a alone squirrel, has been visiting my rooftop garden since July 8th 2020. He/she can be seen in the photo-ops atop this entry where he/she is spending his/her time at one of my bird feeders that I have to accommodate the needs of various birds who visit my place.

Friday's Follow Up to my 7-24-2020's Post

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

Last Friday, I published a post here on Blogger which discussed Henry David Thoreau's well known quote, "The squirrel that you kill in jest, dies in earnest." 

In this follow-up post, I'd like to share with you what Thoreau had to say about this animal type in his essay, Walden 175.

I am prompted to do this upon seeing the squirrel (who has been visiting my rooftop garden since early July) enjoying peanuts from one of my bird feeders. He/she can be seen munching away while atop my ring-style feeder.

The reason I thought of Thoreau upon seeing this is I recently learned he was evidently known for leaving out ears of unripened sweet corn for these creatures during the winter.

I've never left out unripened corn in the winter (or any time for that matter) but during winter months, I have made sure my feeders (including my ring-style peanut feeder) are replenished during that season in order to provide my visiting birds with physical nourishment.

Friday Follow-Up: "Saturday in the Parks"

Hello dear reader, and welcome to my third and final follow-up to my 10-19-2019 blog entry, Saturday in the PARKS. As some of you may recall, in the aforementioned entry, I discussed the fact that that I would be spending part of my morning in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and then part of the afternoon in Manhattan's Central Park; and I promised to follow-up on October 25th 2019, with the hope that a few of my observations are inspiring to you.

However, as I said in this past Wednesday's blog entry, I've decided to split that content into a few (three) entries, rather then make one lengthy posting. The aforementioned posting discusses an aspect (an encounter with a bird whose ID determination caused a "controversy") of my October 19th walk in Central Park.

Then in yesterday's entry, I discussed my walk in Prospect Park and included a promise that I would talk about other aspects of my 10-19-2019 Central Park walk on Friday, October 25th 2019... so here I am to do just that, beginning with my sighting of a fast moving red dragonfly (seen in the picture atop this entry).

Is he/she or isn't he/she an American Crow? ("Controversy" over this one's ID!)

The photos posted atop this entry were taken in The Hallett Center. It is an area (within Central Park) that I visited this past Saturday afternoon when I was walking in the company of a couple who lives on the Eastside of NYC.

N'tl Peanut Day 2019

BLUEJAYS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

BLUEJAYS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

In addition to it being Friday the Thirteenth, its National Peanut Day, a this national holiday that blue jays would probably like to celebrate everyday, as you might surmise from the photos atop this entry.

WW is from Amanda R & Dr. Robert D

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Consequences as a result of the disruption in my rooftop garden and the work space in my home that I mentioned in yesterday's post are something I will be contending with today. Therefore this entry for this week's WW (Wednesday's Wisdom) will be brief. The wise words offered here come from Amanda Remsberg and Robert Robert DeCandido PhD.

I contacted both of them yesterday to ask a question about a Common Grackle whom I encountered when I was in Central Park this past Sunday. He/she is featured in the image atop this entry. A few minutes after this lovely creature gave me the once over...

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

... he/she began to exhibit behavior (seen in the next series of pictures) that I thought was one of those fake an-injured-wing thing which is common in the avian community.

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

But I had never seen such a young one doing the fake-a-broken-wing thing and seeing this caused me to wonder if the creature was practicing this "technique" or learning it or imitating it. I did a fair amount of research in hopes of finding out if I could determine what might've been happening, but I could not find out ant information so I reached out to my cyber buddy Amanda Remsberg (bird rehabber extraordinaire) via Messenger stating:

I saw a Common Grackle in Central Park  on Sunday and he/she was "walking" around the lawn but when this bird seemed to realize I was there, he/she seemed to the fake-an-injured-wing thing. Do you think this young bird was practicing this skill? Do young birds learn to do this early on + practice it? I can't find any research on the topic!

Here's a copy of our exchange:

AR: And he wasn’t injured?  Lol. No never seen that behavior in grackles at all!  Possible he might have been anting?  They rub their wings on an ant pile to pick up the Formica acid that can repel mites.

ME: Hmmm. Maybe he was anting but he/she seemed to look at me (I included  a copy of the photo directly below) and then do the wing bit. Maybe this young bird saw an older bird do the wing bit  and is coping the behavior without knowing why? Then again maybe  anting was the activity. It was a very hot day and sparrows were dust bathing in another location.

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

AR: Maybe he was flirting, such a cutie! Lol. Birds do a lot of odd things we are hard pressed to explain sometimes.

After AR's suggested that the bird I saw might've been anting, I did some more research and I reached out (via email( to Robert DeCandido PhD, a bird expert whom I've mentioned in prior posts here on Blogger.

Here's a copy of our exchange:

ME: I saw this Common Grackle (I included the third and fourth images seen in this posting) in on Sunday + at first I thought he/she was doing a pretend-to-have-broken-wing thing but it didn’t seem there was any danger around. Do  you think the bird could have been anting?

DR. R: Hi Patricia - we see this behavior all the time: a bird sitting motionless in the sun on the ground usually with feathers spread ; the bird looks dazed but if approached rights itself and flys off just fine 

The birds have parasites deep in their feathers. By spreading feathers in the sun they allow the heat to penetrate; the parasites do not like the heat and start to move around looking for a better spot; the bird preens them out...basically in an abbreviated explanation ...

That's it for today, dear reader, except to remind you that Common Grackles are  featured in volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak, and to once again thank both Amanda and Robert for sharing their knowedge with me!

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

Wednesday's Wisdom: Contact Amanda

OTHER COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

OTHER COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

OTHER COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

The adorable creature featured in the pictures atop this entry is a young male Common Grackle whom I saw in Central Park this past Sunday. From his characteristics (eye color and beak shape), I had suspected the bird's ID was a young Common Grackle, but I've never seen one in this brownish coloring, so I began to doubt my judgement in determining the bird type.

I second guessed myself to the point where I wondered if this bird was a member of the avian community known as Rusty Blackbirds; although that would be highly doubtful at this time of year. Still, one never knows unless they reach out to an expert; which is what I did by contacting the amazing Amanda Remsberg.

Saturday's Story The Bird Feeding Area (Within Central Park & My Rooftop Garden)

There is a portion of The Ramble in Central Park called The Bird Feeder Area and the name does not refer to people who feed birds, rather it refers to an area which has numerous bird feeders hanging from trees. A partial view of it can be seen in the picture (which I took yesterday) atop entry.

During the time I was there numerous American Goldfinches were congregating (and noshing from) a feeder which can be seen is at the extreme right of this photograph. The following set of  images feature both male and female varieties engaging in activities at or near to the aforementioned feeder.

"Splish Splash:" A Grackle Takes a Bath!

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

OTHER GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

In yesterday's blog post, I included two songs and I guess music is still on my mind because when I came upon a Common Grackle taking a bath within the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park (as seen in the series of photographs directly above, a rerun of Bobby Darin's performance of Splish Splash came to my mind.

Saturday's Sequel

STORIES IN MY BOOKS ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

It snowed again last night but the accumulation did not amount to much in my garden as you can see in the photo directly above and compare it to the one I included in yesterday's blog post, hence I'm considering this to be Saturday's sequel.

In the aforementioned  post, I also mentioned that March is National Peanut Month and I featured a quite a number of birds, including Northern cardinals, Blue Jays and Common Grackles, enjoying peanuts from various bird feeders in my garden.

It's March!

Well, here we are already in the third month for the year 2019, proving time does fly rather one is having fun or not! I hope someone remembers to wake Mooch (who can be seen in the Mutts comic strip posted atop this entry). But, maybe Mooch needs to sleep a bit more... after all, his pillow looks pretty comfortable and plus the weather might not be so great just yet.

As you undoubtedly know the beginning of March is associated with an idiom: "If March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb and if it comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb."

Evidently this is because "March straddles winter and spring in the northern hemisphere, it tends to have very harsh, unpleasant weather in the beginning but typically has milder, more palatable weather by the end." 

Here in NYC, March is beginning with moderate snowfall as seen in the picture below of my rooftop garden taken in the morning.

THE STORIES IN MY BOOKS TAKE PLACE IN MY GARDEN

In any event, according to a number of sources (including Holiday Insights AKA HI), the month of March in the United States is known as Irish American Month, Music in Our Schools Month, National Celery Month, National Craft Month National Frozen Food Month, National Irish American Heritage Month (designated by Congress in 1995), National Nutrition Month, National Peanut Month, National Women's History Month, Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month.

It's Feed the Birds day!

Today is truly for the birds because it's Feed the Birds Day, a holiday that I wrote about in at least one prior post here on Blogger. In any event, according to an entry on a garden related web-page (as well as other sources), "Every February 3rd is known as Feed the Birds Day."

Within the posting of the aforementioned garden-themed web-page, they have included a chart on what various song birds enjoy eating and in honor of this holiday, I've posted a screenshot of it atop this entry.

Friday's Facts (Re Common Grackles)

THIS BIRD TYPE HAS A STORY IN VOL 3

The photograph directly above this entry features a Common grackle perching on a branch in the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in Central Park.

No matter what life is bringing your way, STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS

COMMON GRACKLES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

Last Tuesday when I went to Central Park, I was on a mission to get a disappointment off my mind by observing squirrels as away of honoring Squirrel Awareness Month (which always occurs in October). I wrote about that particular experience (and included photographs of those busy-tailed creatures) in last Wednesday's posting here on Blogger.

One thing I did not discuss in the aforementioned entry is that while on my way to take in the antics of such entertaining furry creatures, I came across numerous Common Grackles and I shared some of the peanuts that I had intended for the squirrels with them.

A "representative" for this bird type noshing on one of my peanuts can be seen in the image atop this entry. I am aware that grackles like peanuts because I've often seen them in my rooftop garden, munching on this legume.

Throw Back Thursday: #NationalPeanutDay

IMAGE CREDIT

Today is National Peanut Day (hence the web-image atop this post). It is a holiday that I discussed in a prior post (published in 2016) making it "eligible" for a Throw Back Thursday entry. You may reference that posting by clicking here, and as I stated there, and reiterate today, #NationalPeanutDay is for the birds for they celebrate no matter what the day or the weather!

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.

Wednesday's Wisdom + Thursday's Testimony (It's The Little Things)

This past Friday, June 2nd 2017, I came upon some people who were hanging out upon a stoop  of a one family brownstone that is located on the UWS of NYC.

They were engaged in conversation, enjoying pizza. Seeing them take such pleasure in the activity of eating pizza, while hanging out on a stoop during a Friday evening in NYC, gave me pleasure; and, I told them so.

I rarely take photos of people, but regretted not having my camera with me. Upon my telling them this, one of the stoop sitters, who referred to himself as Josiah Kargbo, took a picture with his cell phone, and emailed it to me. Kargbo's image is featured atop this blog entry.

The couple (N&J) who owns the brownstone are folks who I know on a little more than a "hi-how-you-fine-thanks" status; and in all the years I've passed their building, I've never seen them sitting on their stoop to watch passersby. However, I have seen a number of persons of all shapes and sizes, of all genders, of all races, and, of all ages, hanging out on this stoop.

Tuesday's Truths WK 33: STELLA's occurrence was one week ago!

Welcome to Week Thirty-Three of my Tuesday's Truths series. As of today, March the twenty-first, it will be one week since the "bombogenesis" Nor'Easter, named, STELLA, hit NYC and much of the Eastern seaboard of our country.

You can most likely imagine the consequences of a storm of such magnitude, and they pretty much left me homebound, where I spent my time making sure my avian visitors had plenty of water as well as food to eat.

My posts that covered STELLA and her aftermath can be found here on Blogger, they mostly deal with the impact that STELLA had on my rooftop garden as well as my feathered friends who frequent it. The garden is on a roof extension, and a partial view of it can be seen below,

beneath my string lights, in an image which was taken yesterday, March the 20th, by a workman (who is named Kreshnik Vushaj). He is on assignment at a building two doors west of me.

As for the photo atop this entry, of a Common Grackle, it was taken by yours truly, this past Sunday when I was in Central Park. That was the first time I'd been there since the storm. The temperatures were still cold and frozen snow covered non paves surfaces; but the sun's heat, and the antics of a lone Common Grackle warmed me up.