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.

Sunday's Sentiment: Knowing When to Keep Your Eye On The Birdie and Off the Birdie!

CORMORANTS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3

A lone Cormorant seemed to be posing from atop a rock in Turtle Pond as you might surmise from the photo atop this entry.

A Gray Catbird is on "the pink carpet!" Tuesday's Truths for Week Eighty-Six

As I stated in this past Sunday's post, I  recently encountered a Great Egret for the first time in my long life. This brought the number of new birds I've seen in this Year of the Bird up to ten. 

The other first time meeting of avian creatures that I've seen during this Year of the Bird, include (in alphabetical order) an American Coot, a Bufflehead Duck, a Great Blue Heron, a Northern Pintail, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a Red-Tailed Hawk, a Red-Winged Black Bird, a Ruddy Duck, and a couple of Wooden Ducks. 

And, now I've met my eleventh bird, who happens to be a Gray Catbird. My encounter with this bird type actually occurred shortly after I saw my first Great Egret, a little over three weeks ago, when I was in Central Park, This creature can be seen in the image atop this entry, he/she seems to be watching me as I watch him/her.

Another Sunday in the Park WITHOUT George! (But there was a Great Egret ...)

Last Sunday, which was a gloomy rainy day (just as it is today), I was walking with a friend in Central Park, and we came upon a Great Egret. This creature can be seen in the photographs atop this entry. The first two images feature him/her spending time amongst Mallard ducks.

However, that was not my first time seeing a Great Egret. The first time in my long life for seeing an Egret was a little over three weeks ago (on May 11th) when I was also in the park. That Egret can be seen in the next image, where he/she seems to be watching me as I watch him/her.

In the Words In Our Beak book series (pictured below), Cam the cardinal who narrates the stories has a term for the activity of birds watching people: people-ing.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

The birds featured in her published stories are mostly ones whom she has met when spending her time in my rooftop garden, not the ones who frequent Central Park.

However, in Volume Two, she does include a story about Canadian Geese and their goslings who enjoy the bodies of water in the park. Moreover, after she finishes volume three (scheduled to be published this fall), Cam may "spread her wings" and tell stories of the birds who frequent NYC's parks.

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.

"Saturday (January the 27th) in the Park"

Yesterday, Saturday, January 27, 2017, I took a walk in Central Park with the intention of observing Mallard ducks on the eighth anniversary of J.D. Salinger's death, and, indeed, I did see a number of these birds.

However, I also came upon a lone White-throated sparrow who is featured in the photograph atop this entry. This bird type is included in a video produced by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is included in one of my recent posts here on Blogger.

Birds + Cold Feet ("bomb cyclone" Follow-Up)

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

As of today, January the twenty-sixth, it has been a little over three weeks since a winter snowstorm that has been categorized as a "bomb cyclone" hit NYC with a vengeance. The three photographs atop this entry were taken during that storm.

They feature the same lone male cardinal perched upon the branches of the kiwi vines growing in my rooftop garden; alighting upon a metal railing that surrounds it, and "standing" on the ledge of one of my bird feeders (which is a "House Feeder" variety).

Upon seeing these images, dear reader, you may be asking yourself the same question that I asked myself: Why Don’t Birds Get Cold Feet?

My question led me to do some research on the matter and I found a number of helpful articles, including one posted by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which you may refer to by clicking here.

One of the facts the aforementioned article points out is: "... songbirds do get very cold feet: the surface temperature of their toes may be barely above freezing even as the bird maintains its core body temperature above 100°F (38°C). But most birds don’t succumb to frostbite because there is so little fluid in the cells of their feet, and their feet are mostly tendons and bones with little muscle or nerve tissue..."

In any event, we've had some very cold days here in NYC since that storm, but that hasn't stopped wild birds from getting out and about. I can almost here them mimicking Frank Sinatra singing the lyric lines from the song, New York, New York: "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you, New York, New York..."

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

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.

Saturday's Sentiments

 MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

FEMALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

The photographs atop this entry featuring a male and female Northern cardinal (respectively) in my rooftop garden, where they are alighting on the branches of my kiwi vines. They are two of many pictures that I took during the "bomb cyclone" (a winter storm which occurred on 1-4-2018 here in NYC).

On another note, do you notice a little house sparrow at the bottom of the second image? Under any "normal" weather conditions, these bird types do not tend to get along as evidenced by the You Tube video posted below.



I discovered the video (which is featured on a web-page for The Cornell Lab of Ornithology) when I was researching a different topic about wildbirds on the Internet.

As you can see, this clip features a "battle" of the Northern cardinal and the White-throated sparrow, but I have witnessed "battles" between an array of one type of avian species against another type, when they are spending time at my place.

My Monday Musings

Yesterday I went for a walk in Central Park with my next store neighbor. We sat on a bench that had a good view of The Bow Bridge, as well as of the lake, and noticed that groups of ducks were swimming in circles.

When I came home I googled "ducks-swimming-in-circles behavior" and discovered the You Tube video that is posted atop this entry. What can be seen in it, is exactly what I saw the ducks doing in Central Park.

Ode to a Tufted Titmouse and Dearly Departed Flora

It has often been said that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. I don't know much about making God laugh, but I do know that if I want to make my muse laugh, I'll tell her my plans, which is something I not only told her last week, but also posted here on Blogger, where I stated that in going forward with this blog, "I'll return to posting more in depth content within my blogging venues: Blogger, tumblr as well as hometalk. I'll leave the shorter content for FB readers, who will always be directed to my blogging in case they want to read more."

A week has passed and my postings have been confined to Facebook, not only my page, but the pages of others such as Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Ellen Show, and WBU-Paramus. 

I find it difficult to give up old habits and routines, but be that as it may, today's post is an attempt to act on the plan I laid out in my previous entry here on Blogger, and so without further ado, I give you today's post where I am honoring a very sweet bird.