A Favorite Food of Cardinals

Cam, the female cardinal seen in the first image above this entry, loves to nosh on black-oil sunflower seeds when in my urban (NYC) rooftop garden (seen in the second image). 

This is one of the many facts about wild birds that Cam discusses in her book, Words In Our Beak,Volume One which is now in Apple's iBooks Store as well as on Amazon. Additionally, there are reviews for Words In Our Beak Volume One available on Goodreads. Moreover, information related to the book is posted on Brian Lehrer's (of WNYC) A New York Values Vision Board.

Words In Our Beak's goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City, my story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The book includes hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

ADENMENDUM: 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 a hardcover version of Volume One can be found wherever books are sold.

Moreover, Volume Two of the book series is now available! Both volumes one and two are in hardcover format (as seen below) and can be purchased any place where books are sold.

Here's the purchase info for the hardcover versions of the Words In Our Beak book series:

Volume One: ISBN: 9780996378529:
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

Volume Two: ISBN: 9780996378536

Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2q75g8e

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DY0mz0

Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2G65m6H

Cam and Brian Lehrer's NY Values Vision Board

The image above today's entry is from WNYC's "A New York Values Board." I have included it with this entry as I am thrilled to announce that one of my images of Cam (posted below), with a passage from her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One , has been accepted to be on Brian Lehrer's WNYC's A New York Values Board.

Please go to the link, scroll until you see Cam, and if you feel it worthy of your liking — and there is an option to do so — I would truly appreciate it! AND if Cam was still around, I'm SURE she'd appreciate it too!

A Post In Honor of George Washington's Birthday

Last Monday, February 15th, our nation celebrated Presidents' Day. It is a holiday that is celebrated here on the third Monday in February. The holiday of President's Day was originally established in 1885 in honor of President George Washington, and was traditionally celebrated on February twenty-second, the actual birthday date of George Washington, which is today.

According to history.com, "the holiday became popularly known as President's Day after it was moved as part of 1971's Uniform Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three day weekends for the nation's workers." 

Be that as it may, George Washington's was born on February the twenty-second, and the switching of the day to observe this, was a topic E. B. White wrote about in his correspondence with Gluyas Williams in 1971. White's humorous attitude toward our government's switching the celebration is something I discussed in my post this past President's Day and I included E.B. White's musings on the matter. On another note, George Washington has been linked to the creation of our American flag, and that is the reason I'm including photo-ops of my patriotic friends within my entry for GeorgeWashington's birthday.    

However, it seems there is some controversy over Washington's involvement with the creation of our flag, which you can read about in a Wiki Page by clicking here. For my focus in this blog post honoring George Washington's birthday is to provide information on an interest I share with him which is birds.

Frigid Temps are for the Birds!

Sometimes the wild birds that visit my urban (NYC) garden as well as the Ailanthus trees in the adjacent courtyard, got a break from being scrutinized by yours truly though the lens of my camera. This is because I go down by the river side to see how the Canadian geese are faring in the freezing waters of Hudson River. These photo-ops show how this bird type responded to the conditions occurring in the river.

It seems Canadian geese are good candidates for The Polar Bear Swimmers!
The Polar Bear Swimmers are a group of folks that always ring in a given new year by swimming in the bitter cold wintery Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island.
Info on The Polar Bear Swimmers can be found by clicking here.

Some info on the Canadian geese who frequent the Hudson River  can be found by clicking here as well as here.

In Honor of Harper Lee's Passing 2-19-16

Even though Atticus Finch said (in the novel #ToKillAMockingbird) that it was OK to ‘Kill all the bluejays you want….’ my blue jays mourn ‪#‎HarperLee‬’s passing as do I. She died today and in her honor, I’m offering a link to a post (on Fb) that featured how Ms. Lee had time to kill in order to write #ToKillAMockingbird.

In honor of #NationalWine Day, February 18th!

In honor of #NationalWine Day, February 18th!