The Evening Of 2019's Marathon Fireworks

Yesterdays news....  the 2019 pre-New York City Marathon fireworks lit up the sky last evening and I wanted to post my photographs of them soon after but was unable to do so, for, as you can see from my screenshot, FB had other ideas... and so did Blogger!

Hence I'm posting what is now "old news" by today's standards within this entry and just like FB and Blogger having other ideas, I confess that I had other ideas re the fireworks too and almost did not even attend because of my strong feelings about the negative impact they have on birds and other wildlife, but as you will see, I did see the display.

My vantage point at a spot known as Hernshead.

It is a promontory that juts out into The Lake and named after what is considered to what once was in the shape of a “hern” or heron’s head, and a bird I’ve often sighted (the Great Blue Heron variety) hanging out with male and female Mallard ducks nearby or very close proximity to that area of Central Park.

My knowing that avian creatures, like many animals, are frightened by the sound of explosions is disturbing to me (understatement). At the first sign of incendiary celebration, they’ll fly away.

Sadly, their escape isn’t always successful.

Thursday's Testimony: The Legacy of Friends (Remembering DD and Claudia Ferrer)

Today is not part of my blog posting schedule for this week, but it is being published in honor of what would be the seventy second birthday of my dearly departed friend, Donna De Solis, who passed away on June 25th, 2015. The video posted atop this entry is one I created to honor her memory (at the request of her son) and it is included within my Vimeo as well as my You Tube library.

We first met in the mid 1980's. Donna (or DD as many called her) lived in my hood was a frequent visitor to my rooftop garden and I attended her annual Christmas parties held in her home.

Paying Homage to White, Oliver and Millay (Tuesday's Truths WK 119)

Welcome to the 119th "episode" of my Tuesday's Truths series. I am honoring it by sharing the mini essay posted atop this entry which was written by E.B.White and published ninety-two years ago today on March 26, 1927.

People are noticing a Great Blue Heron in CP

The screen shot atop this entry is of a tweet re the appearance of a Great Blue Heron who was seen in Central Park. It was in my Twitter feed yesterday. Not being a fan of using the word "hot" to describe a bird (or anything else for that matter unless it is weather or the temperature of food), I responded.

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.

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.

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.

Bufflehead Duck in Central Park's Reservoir (Tuesday's Truths 74th WK )

Welcome to week seventy-fourth of my Tuesday's Truths series. Let me begin by saying that yesterday I took a walk in Central Park, and when I was walking around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, I encountered a bird type whom I've never seen before. He can be seen in the photographs atop this entry.

The 8th Anniversary of J.D. Salinger's Death

Today, 1-27-2018, marks the eighth anniversary of author, J.D. Salinger's death. Over the years, I've referenced Salinger in a few entires here on Blogger, which you may reference by clicking here.

Because of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, this writer often comes to mind when I see Mallard ducks in Central Park, which is evident in my posts re Salinger.

Lately, during these bitter cold January days, I've paid particular attention to an area of a lake in the park which never seems to freeze. Ducks as well as a lone Great Blue Heron seem to know about as this area, and, they tend to congregate there on unseasonably cold winter days; as evidenced in the photographs atop this entry.

Squirrel Appreciation Day 2018

The squirrel featured in the photograph atop this entry is one I encountered in Central Park the other day when I was on a mission to catch another glimpse of a Great Blue Heron.

This squirrel seemed to be giving me a special look, as I took his/her picture; perhaps it's because he/she knew I would be writing about the holiday known as Squirrel Appreciation Day, which is today, January the twenty-first.

Saturday's Sequel re The Great Blue Heron

This past Tuesday, here on Blogger, I published a post describing my encounter with a bird type whom I'd never seen before, a Great Blue Heron. I mentioned that I came upon this lovely creature while walking in Central Park. I also stated that I only had a small pocket camera with me at the time, and that I normally use my DSLR to photograph birds. Therefore, I wasn't totally pleased with the images that I had taken of the Great Blue Heron. Because of this, I returned to the park yesterday (taking my DSLR this time) with the hopes of seeing the heron again.

But, alas, I did not see a heron. However, I did see Red-Belllied Woodpecker, who is also a bird type that I'd never seen before (which I discussed  in yesterday's blog post); and this creature is featured in the image directly above, where she is being pestered by house sparrows.

Seeing the Red-Bellied Woodpecker was a wonderful experience, but I still wanted another glimpse of the Great Blue Heron!

Yesterday, I checked the EXIF info re the images that I did manage to get of that awesome bird type the other day —  with the hope that knowing the hour in which they were taken — would give me a clue as to when I might anticipate seeing the Great Blue Heron in the place where I'd seen him/her this past Tuesday.

I'm thankful to say that my "detective" work paid off, for when I returned to the park, near to the time I'd seen the Great Blue Heron before, he/she showed up soon after I was there! The creature seemed in good spirits, nearly jumping for joy; as evidenced in the next picture.

It was very cold outside and my hands were freezing from being exposed as I took photos of this bird, but, as you will see in the next set of photographs (featuring the Great Blue Heron spending time with  Mallard ducks), my efforts were truly rewarded.

Friday Follow-Up

The three photographs atop this entry feature an encounter between a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker and a house sparrow that I witnessed when I was walking in Central Park yesterday. I had come to the park with my DSLR to try and find the Great Blue Heron bird type that I had stumbled upon yesterday when I was in the park, with only a pocket camera.

But alas, I did not see any Great Blue Herons, but, I did come upon this female Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a bird type that I'd never seen before. I confirmed the bird's ID with Amanda Remsberg, a bird rehabber.

Thursday's Tale: Yet another walk in the park. (A View From OAK Bridge)

This past Monday, even though temperatures were only in the twenty-degree range, with "real feel" temperatures much colder, I took a walk in Central Park; to see how our wildlife was faring in the bitter cold.

After all, beyond-frigid temperatures haven't stopped me from going to the park before. As you may recall, from a previous post here on Blogger, I took a walk in Central Park earlier in the month when temperatures were far below what they were this past Monday.

The first photograph atop this entry was featured in the aforementioned blog entry, and I'm including it in this posting as I have a correction to make, for I stated that the view being featured in the image was a view from Bow Bridge, but I had a senior moment in stating this, the view is actually from the Oak Bridge, which I returned to Monday afternoon and took the following picture of the same subject from that vantage point.

The only difference is I zoomed in quite a bit (so a view of one of NYC's sky-lines is not included here as it was in the image I took earlier in January). I zoomed so that I could capture a bird type whom I've never seen in Central Park, or anywhere else for that matter.

I've indicated this bird by affixing an orange square to the second photo below (which is a duplicate of the first one that's there).

A passerby indicated that the bird who was new to me was a type of Egret. However, I did not take her at her word before writing this post, as I don't want to be accused of reporting fake news, which I inadvertently did when I referred to the view from this bridge as being from the Bow Bridge; and not the Oak Bridge, as I've just stated.

Upon my realizing that I'd confused the Bow Bridge with the Oak Bridge, I thought of a passage from Joan Didion's, Goodbye to All That, an essay on Didion's decision to leave NYC (which she ultimately moved back to years later):

".... All I could do during those years was talk long-distance to the boy I already knew I would never marry in the spring. I would stay in New York, I told him, just six months, and I could see the Brooklyn Bridge from my window. As it turned out the bridge was the Triborough, and I stayed eight years.
—-
     In retrospect it seems to me that those days before I knew the names of all the bridges were happier than the ones that came later..."

Meanwhile, in terms of the bird who was new to me, I thought that I was ultimately able to find out his/her correct type from someone in my Twitter feed. Susan M. Thom, Esq solved my mystery, after I tweeted images of this bird and asked for an identification (since I could not find it in my own research).