My Encounter with a Scarlet Ibis (AKA Eudocimus ruber) Tuesday's Truths WK 154

The photo atop this entry features a Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) who is a bird type I met in Central Park Zoo nearly a week and a half ago. This variety is found in the wild Tropical rainforests and mangroves of Central America and northern South America.

The zoo's web-page describes them as having  being "solid scarlet except for black wing tips (and having ) a bill that is long, thin and curved downward; (with a) neck (that) is long and slender; (their) legs are also long and thin with partially webbed feet; juveniles are dull, grayish brown and they grow up to twenty-four inches."

Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) eat "shrimp, crabs, various crustaceans, mollusks, and insects" and have a "life span of up to 20 years."

Additionally "the scarlet Ibis is the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago. It belongs to the same order as herons, spoonbills, and storks. Scarlet ibises forage for food by probing their long curved bills into soft mud. They also are known to sway their bills back and forth in shallow water to capture prey."

John Lennon was shot 39 years ago today!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY JOHN LENNON ARTICLE 

Today marks the thirty-ninth anniversary of John Lennon's assassination. You may also click here to read my recently published iLovetheUpperWestside article where you will learn about the day it took place and the legacy left by Lennon.

Eve of the Second Sunday of Advent 2019

Tonight marks the Eve of the Second Sunday of Advent, a season that I've written about in a number of entries throughout my years of having this blog. Wikipedia defines this time period as a "season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning 'coming."

I'm most thankful to have been given a wreath, which can be seen in the photo that is atop this entry (you can read about the significance of the wreath on another Wikipedia page by clicking here).

This wreath was made especially (as a gift) for me by the same women who gave me one last year.

Tuesday's Truths WK 153: The Mandarin Duck May NOT have turned his back on NYC!

Welcome to my one hundred and fifty-third segment of Tuesday's Truths. Today, I feel obliged to share some disturbing news that I found in my feed: "New York, NY — Mandarin Patinkin, a duck best known for making New Yorkers happy, at least for the six months he resided in Manhattan, is missing and feared dead."

Snow Day

Hope NYC peeps are enjoying this snowfall!

It has come before I’ve had a chance to winterize my garden (which I’ll be doing next Wednesday) and it has come on the date that Winter’s Eve (the tree lighting at Dante Park) is scheduled to take place. I feel sorry for the Chinese dancers who are scheduled to perform there.

Sunday's Sequel: Answering the Question, "How low can you go?"

In my Thanksgiving Eve entry here on  Blogger, I mentioned warnings that unusually high winds could prevail on Thanksgiving, causing the grounding of balloons who were set to "march" (fly) in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

And as I said in my subsequent entry which I published on the day after the official holiday (where I featured the Macy's balloon who is rendered in the likeness of Chase from Paw Print), "Indeed, there were VERY high winds, but the balloons were allowed to participate..."

I concluded my aforementioned entry by stating, "THE QUESTION OF THE DAY WAS: 'How low can you go?' Stay tuned for photo-ops (in subsequent entries) re the answer to this question!"

Now, two days after I published that entry, I'm still not sure how low a Macy's ballon can go, but I am able to give you a pictorial accounting of what happened in the case of several of them.

In the first picture atop this entry, Sinclair's Dinosaur, can be seen heading south down CPW during this year's parade.