Earth Day 2021

Earl and Mooch (from Patrick McDonnell's Mutts comic strip) as well as the prolific Mehmet Murat İldan sre spot on, for indeed "Wherever there are birds, there is hope."

For as discouraged as I might feel from time to time, whenever I see birds (such as the ones featured in the next sequence of photographs) in nearby Central Park, I feel more hopeful about most circumstances.

I also feel more hopeful about most circumstances when avian creatures spend time in the courtyard trees.

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.

Wednesday's Wisdom: One Cure for Rejection, Keep your eye on the birdie!

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

Today's entry is not part of the regular posting schedule I announced this past Monday, rather it is an extra posting which I mentioned might be something I will do from time to time.

My reason for today's entry is to let you know that the photography book project that I have spent much time preparing and is one I referenced when I altered my blog schedule this past August has rejected my proposal stating, "...and thanks for formatting the files to meet our request. G.S. thanks you for your submission 'It’s the Little Things,' which he personally reviewed. Unfortunately our program is set for years to come, and adding new books to our program is the absolute exception. I wish you all the best for the publication of your interesting project...") is to keep looking for another publisher, which I am doing."

Hence here is my Wednesday Wisdom: Probably one of the best cures for a rejected proposal is to look for other places to submit work and I found one based in the northwest portion of the United States who said it would be a long shot as their content focused on the wildlife in that area of our country.

STILL, when I told her my angle, she told me to send a PDF to her, which I did this past Monday after receiving the rejection.

THE OTHER CURE for rejection is to cull photos; so I went through some pictures I took of titmouses whom I encountered in Central Park in February 2019 and some of the images I came across are featured atop this entry.

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.

Friday's Feeling is FROM THE BIRDS

Certain birds are speaking out via a cartoon by Dan Regan (which he did for Shoebox) that something has to be done re the naming of certain birds.

A Bird in my Hand...

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

TUFTED TITMOUSES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

The bird type featured in the photos atop this entry is a tufted titmouse who I came upon yesterday (he was one of many in within that variety that happened to be there) while walking in The Ramble section of Central Park. Temperatures were very bitter, especially with the windchill but I took off my gloves and put some black-oil sunflower seeds in my hand, as I know that, in cold conditions, tufted titmouses have been known to eat out of someone's bare hand.

Friday's Fact: Valentine's Day is in SIX Days! (So Get Off the Fence)

Most everyone knows that "metaphorically, sitting on the fence is straddling the position between two ideas without committing to either of them."

And when I see various squirrel types "on the fence," in Central Park, it has prompted me to check out the idiom's origin.

Birds of feather... (Monday's Memo)

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

This past Saturday while walking in Central Park, I came upon a fence where a house sparrow, a female Northern cardinal and a white-breasted sparrow were perching.

On a "neighboring" fence a lone tufted titmouse was hanging out with a couple of white-breasted sparrows. This is evidenced in the photos I took which are posted directly above this entry.

Seeing these different bird types spending time in each others company got me thinking about the origin of the idiom: Birds of a feather flock together.

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.

February First

I confess that I feel that I don't have much to offer re the onset of February in this year of 2019 except to reiterate what Snoopy has to say re the date of 2-1 (in the comic strip that I've posted atop this blog entry). What I can do, dear reader, is to remind you that February is National Bird-Feeding Month.

Monday's Musings: Is it titmice or titmouses? That is the question!

The little bird featured in the photograph that's atop this entry is known as a Baeolophus bicolor AKA Tufted Titmouse. He/she is enjoying black-oil sunflower seeds from an umbrella style bird feeder that's atop an urban hedge in my rooftop garden.

Friday's Follow-Up (Re Yesterday's Blog Post)

In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned the fact that the bird type known as a tufted titmouse (who can be seen in the first photograph atop this entry), is being included in the forthcoming volume two of the first book that I wrote with Cam.

I also discussed the fact that the tufted tit mouse bird variety is "a cousin" to the bird type known as the chickadee (who can be seen in the second photograph atop this posting). Both images were taken in my rooftop garden where the story being told in the book takes place.

Thursday's Tid-Bit Re The Tufted Tit Mouse

Cam, "my" female cardinal, and I have been engaged in the process of tying up loose ends for our sequel to the book, Words In My Beak Volume One.

This means I've been going through a vast number of images to determine which ones will make the cut regarding being included in volume two.

I won't be giving away the story by telling you that the bird type known as a tufted tit mouse (who is featured in the image atop this blog entry, where he/she is spending time in my rooftop garden), will be featured in volume two.

Today, May 4th, IS FOR THE BIRDS!

Many of you might recognize the cardinal featured in the photograph atop this blog entry, for this creature is Cam, the author of Words In Our Beak Volume One, a book which I helped her to write.

In any event, the image that is atop-this posting is included in her story, and it was taken in my rooftop garden, located in NYC, and where the story takes place. Cam is with me in honor of the holiday, which is Bird Day. According to Holiday Insights (HI), Bird Day is aways celebrated on May 4th.

HI explains that "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."

Therefore, in honor of this event, Cam and I are featuring images of all the bird types who have visited my urban garden, as of this posting. We are doing this in order of the appearance of a given fauna type in my place.

Cam is the first bird I saw in my garden, however, others have seen hummingbirds her. But since I have not, we'll begin with her. Cam has been here with her husband, Mac, as well as couple of her children as seen in the next set of images.

The second bird type who I noticed in my garden is male and female house finches who can be seen getting intimate while perching on the string lights which hang over my garden.

Mourning doves were the third bird variety to spend time here and they also used my place to get intimate as evidenced below.

All three of the aforementioned bird types are discussed in detail (accompanied by an array of images) in Words In Our Beak Volume One.  

The  other birds which have visited here will be featured in subsequent volume. These include (in order of appearance in my garden.

Blue jays:

House sparrows:

Tufted titmouses:

Chickadees:

Downy Woodpeckers:

Common Grackles:

White-Breasted Nuthatch:

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak:

Pigeons:

Baltimore oriole:

European starlings:

Northern mockingbird:

American Goldfinch:

American robin:

A Leutistic House Finch:

And an American kestrel:

The American kestrel's arrival brought the total amount of bird types who have visited my garden to twenty.

Of these twenty varieties who have come here, I have seen seven of them represented in Central Park, including American robins, blue jays, cardinals, common grackles, European starlings, mourning doves, pigeons, sparrows and tufted titmouses.

I've also encountered other types of fauna in the park.