Valentines Day is Two Weeks From Today!

Yet another reminder to lovebirds,

THESE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

who love birds,

soon it will be Valentines Day!

Valentines Day is now only two weeks away! If you know of bird lovers who love birds, the perfect gift for this 'holiday' (or any other day for that matter) is the gift of Cam's (the cardinal seen in the picture below) wisdom and wit.

CAM, THE NARRATOR OF  "WIOB"

As some of you know, Cam is a spokes-bird for the avian community, and she has written a book!

A photo of the hardcover version of her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One can be seen in the next image.

SEE PRESS RELEASE

Words In Our Beak Volume One (WIOB V1) has received rave reviews, including the following (which is posted on Amazon and written by the writer/musician/teacher, Joan Budilovsky).

"If you are not yet a bird-lover, you will be after reading this book. Words in our Beak is so enchanting as it follows a little cardinal named, Cam, through the rooftops of NYC and beyond. Cam has so much to share from a bird's eye perspective, it was hard to put the book down. I became enveloped in Cam's world by imagining what it is like to live on a rooftop, choose the right flowers to eat, and listen to the world around in the most intimate, gentle and fascinating ways. Thank you, Cam! I hope to read ever more of your travels in the new year!"

Because Valentines Day is just two weeks from today, it's not too early to get Cam's book for "that special someone" in your life.

Cam's story is accompanied by over one hundred pictures that feature flora, insects, points of interest in NYC; and of course, members of the avian community; including male and female cardinals, the birds featured in the photograph atop this entry.

Here's the info on how to buy all the versions of  WIOB V1:

HARDCOVER:
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2AFZDCz

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2zxVujM

Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2AAnB26
book culture On Columbus: http://bit.ly/2FsC1Uf

SOFTCOVER:
Magcloud: http://bit.ly/2nrBJDj

DIGITAL (TWO OPTIONS):
ePub: http://amzn.to/2kzWGw0
iBook: http://apple.co/2nHZMBq

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

The digital versions of Volume One within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can now be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books. Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021:

When the third volume of the hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak was released, I withdrew from promoting my former versions of Words In Our Beak. 

The very first one is an iBook and went into Apple's book store in 2015.

This was followed by an ePub version...

... that is available on Amazon and was also published in 2015.

Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's digital versions were published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud in 2017.

Its press release can be read by clicking here.  

Now with the release of BIRD TALES....

... I've been advised to make mention of my early versions of volume one of Words In Our Beak, they do vary ever so slightly in content from the hard-cover version of volume one.

As of this addendum, I do not intend to create digital or soft-cover versions of Words In Our Beak Volume Two or Words In Our Beak Volume Three.

Tuesday's Truths WK 73: Possible Book Review!

The NYC Audubon Society, is on my mind today because this past Friday, at their request, I left a copy of the hardcover version of Words In Our Beak Volume One at their office which is located on Twenty-Third Street in Manhatttan.

SEE PRES RELEASE

The person who contacted me from this office said that he would make sure that my book got in the hands of the folks who review books for them, which truly excited me! Hence, I'm featuring an image  (atop this entry) of an open door that leads to their office.

I suppose I shouldn't get my hopes up about this "open door" because a few people have offered to review Words In Our Beak Volume One, and never did anything about it! This includes a wildlife Blogger who requested I send her a complimentary copy (of the softcover version which is not pictured here), and a family member who purchased her own copy.

Be that as it may, hopefully, the person who contacted me from NYC Audubon will follow through, and, as of now re this particular Tuesday's Truths series, I do have the possibility of having my book, Words In Our Beak Volume One, being reviewed by them.

Monday's Memo: The Last Monday in January (Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day)

Once upon a time, on the day of January the thirty-first, in the year of 2012, absolutely everyone who was anyone, was talking about Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, which was occurring at the time!

This truism is evidenced in the video posted atop this entry. It was initially produced and released by yours truly back in 2012, and is included within my Vimeo channel. In any event, now, six years later, everyone who is anyone is STILL talking about how they celebrated Bubble Wrap Appreciation day! 2018's Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day falls on January the twenty-ninth (today), as it's the last Monday of the month.

No one appreciates bubble wrap more than the flora that grows in my rooftop garden in NYC, which is maintained by yours truly, Patricia Youngquist, The Last Leaf Gardener (with the incredible help of my comrade Juan V).



You see, for a number of winters now, I have used this currently being celebrated "poppin' wrap" to protect the eighty plus flora types that I grow in my garden from winter's normally cold temperatures!

That's this Monday's memo to you, dear reader, should you need an idea for any garden winterizing methods (although in most places in the hemisphere where I live, it's now a little late to do this for 2018; but make a memo of it to consider using Bubble Wrap when you winterize your garden in the coming years).

"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.

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.

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