The Last Leaf Gardener: Search results for American robins

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Sunday, August 2, 2020

Let them eat grapes (Champagne grapes)!

The photograph of Champagne grapes, also known as Black Corinth or Zante Currant, which is atop this entry comes from a web-page within naturesproduce.com. Their page states this fruit is "a variety of grape that is grown in clusters that produce very small diameter grapes. It is a seedless grape that provides a very sweet flavor for salads, appetizers or as a snack with cheese. The stem, which is also very tiny and tender, is often consumed with the grape rather than attempting to detach the small connector from the main stem. This grape is very small, sweet and crisp. Wonderful as a garnish on cheese trays and a nice touch for fruit baskets."

While all of this may be true, I have found that this food is for the birds, especially those who happen to be an American robin.

American Robins Bring Joy to Others (Wednesday's Wisdom)

AMERICAN ROBINS HAVE A STORY IN VOLUME THREE

As I mentioned in a recent entry here on blogger, "Young American Robins initially have speckled plumage and no red breast, but as their post-juvenile molt progresses, the orange-red feathering of the breast starts to appear, as well as their pale belly."

The one who is featured in the image atop this entry seems to be in that phase of his/her life. in this picture he/she is alighting upon the string lights which hang over my rooftop garden.

Ground Hog Day: One Week Later

It's been one week since Groundhog Day; and, as you may know dear reader, on that day, the NYC creature, a groundhog named Staten Island Chuck, did not see his shadow! Hence, this fact meant that he predicted an early onset of spring; as seen in the You Tube video which is posted atop this blog entry.

However, on this one week anniversary of his early spring prediction, nine inches of snow fell in Central Park, which is near to where I live in my studio apartment. I have a terrace garden (on a rooftop) at my home, and, it is a place where I grow a variety of flora. It is also a place which is visited by an array of fauna.

The following images show how three of my bird feeders (one of them, a "wreath style" feeder is indicated by an orange arrow in the first image, which includes one of my "house-style" feeders...

THE STORIES IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

... looked after the snowstorm. As you can see, it appears that my place received close to the same amount of snow as the nearby park. I'm very happy to report that the heavy snowfall did not deter birds from visiting my place, nor did it stop them from partaking in nourishment!

"A bird in the bath is the soul of enjoyment..."

AMERICAN ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3

During our tremendous back to back heat waves in NYC which have come hot on the on the heels of lockdowns and gradual, partial re-openings (all due to the coronavirus pandemic), I'm most grateful to be able to provide relief for birds visiting my garden, including a young American robin, seen in the image atop this entry where he/she is taking refreshment from the brutal heat by spending time in one of my bird baths.

Seeing this sweet creature at my place has prompted me to do some research and one of the things I read, is, "Robins have hollow bones, so the are too light to submerge themselves. Instead, they bathe in shallow water and splash it up to wet their backs and heads," as one seems to be doing in the image atop this entry.

Some Characteristics of Young Robins

ROBINS HAVE A STORY IN VOLUME THREE

This past Friday here on Blogger, I published an entry re a fact about young Northern cardinals, as one (much to my delight) has been visiting my rooftop garden.

However, that adorable creature is not the only young bird who is spending time in my place. A number of young American robins have also spent a lot of time here and one of them is featured in the picture atop this entry.

Young Robins initially have speckled plumage and no red breast, but as their post-juvenile molt progresses, the orange-red feathering of the breast starts to appear, as well as their pale belly.

Some Reasons Robin's Bathe So Much (Tuesday's Truths Week 81)

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3

When I was in Central Park on the day before Earth Day, I saw many wonderful happenings, which I wrote about in a recent entry here on Blogger.

Something I did not include in the aforementioned post is that I witnessed an American Robin bathing in a small body of water in close proximity to a little water fall. He/she can be seen in the act of bathing within the photos directly above.

In the Company of a Cheery Bird

AMERICAN ROBINS FEATURED IN VOL. 3

It is a very tense and frightening time here in New York City and throughout the world as we confront the coronavirus pandemic. Yesterday it was announced the city will be in lockdown any only essential businesses and services can remain open. Moreover, a travel ban for everyone who is a non-essential worker is now in effect.

Therefore, I was more thankful than ever to have someone (pictured above) exempt from the travel ban and lockdown!

I truly welcomed the creature bob, bob, bobbin' along in my garden.

World Listening Day 2020 was 3 WKS ago.

AMERICAN ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3 OF WIOB

World Listening Day (WLD) was three weeks ago (July 18 2020). According to National Today (NT) it is an event which "is put on every year by the World Listening Project, a nonprofit organization that is 'devoted to understanding the world and its natural environment, societies and cultures through the practice of listening and field recording.' They explore acoustic ecology, a discipline that studies the relationship between humans and the natural world as mediated through sound. It falls on July 18 to honor the birthday of Raymond Murray Schafer, a Canadian composer and environmentalist who is seen as the founder of acoustic ecology. World Listening Day was established in 2010, and each year the holiday has a specific theme tied to it...

Given the lockdowns and re-openings I'm not sure how the holiday was celebrated this year, however I did think of WLD when I saw American robins having a convo in my rooftop garden the other day. They can be seen in the series of images atop this entry.

Tuesday's Truths WK 190: Hot Temperatures May Not Be For the Birds (certain birds)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB

Welcome to my one hundred and ninety-ninth segment of Tuesday's Truths series; which I am offering on another day of a second July 2020 heat wave taking place in NYC.

Even in the the southwest corner of my garden where temperatures are at their most coolest it was stiflingly hot, the temps were nearly one hundred degrees, as evidenced in the photo posted directly above which features a thermometer that hangs in that area.

Father's Day is FOR THE BIRDS!

This past Monday, June 13th, six days before today's holiday of Father's Day, I heard a sound in my garden. I still don't have my replacement glasses (which I need as my accident last month resulted in them being ruined as you can see from the image above), so I relied on my Canon 70D's long lens to see what was causing the unusual noise. The conditions were not optimal for photographing. It was in the wee (and still dark) hours of the morning. Also I was inside my place looking out through a broken window.

Still, I followed the noise from the vantage point of being behind a camera, then realized a baby bird or very young fledging, was alongside the American Robin who has been visiting my urban garden which is in close proximity to NYC's Central Park. I was thrilled for I've never seen such a young robin! However, both of these birds were hiding behind one of my clay pots, and with that, as well as the conditions I've just described, the images I did get are unclear, but I'm posting them anyway (below).

AMERICAN ROBINS

For as I mentioned in a recent post here on Blogger, when photo-ops do not turn out as I would like, I try to console myself with the wisdom that E.B. White spoke of in his essay, "Remembrance is Sufficient."

THE SILENT TREATMENT: American Robins ARE Hoppin' & A Bobbin' BUT...

AMERICAN ROBIN

The photographs atop this blog entry are of an American Robin that I came upon when I was walking in Central Park. I've seen a number of members of this bird type during my walks in Central Park, which is a fact I mentioned here on Blogger. I've also seen them when I've cycled (on a tandem) to The Little Red Lighthouse, but on those occasions it is usually too dark to take a decent photograph of this (or any) bird type.

When I first started noticing the presence of robins in both Central Park and near The Little Red Lighthouse, I nearly had a long term case of ohrwurms caused by my recalling the song "Rocking Robin."

Ohrwurms, as you may know, is the term given to the "condition" of having a song stuck in your head and seeing robins on a daily basis as I walked through Central Park, certainly prompted me to sing,"He rocks in the tree tops all day long .... Hoppin' and a-boppin' and singing his song. All the little birdies on Jaybird street, love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet... Rockin' robin, rock, rock, Rockin' robin, rock rock...."

But in reality the robins I saw in Central Park or near The Little Red Lighthouse were not "rockin' in the treetops," but they were "hoppin' and a-boppin" across the ground. And I never heard any of those robin go "tweet, tweet, tweet!" They have all been silent.

Photo-Ops from #ClapBecauseWeCare 65 & A Protest (Plus a return to pre-COVID topics)

PROTEST RE GEORGE FLOYD

As I said in this past Tuesday's blog post, I've been very distracted by the ramifications of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and now by the demonstrations/curfews taking place in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.

I also confessed it is high time (and even past high time) to think about the beauty of my garden's flora as well as in the birds who visit it. However, in spite of my intention, here I am "reporting" on last evening's (June 3rd 2020) sixty-fifth session of #ClapBecauseWeCare, as well as on an event concerning the killing of George Floyd, for just as the clapping tribute was scheduled to take place, throngs of protestors re the murder of George Floyd marched against traffic up an avenue close to where I live, and a few photo-ops can be seen atop this entry.

Baby Robin Makes Me Recall P.D. Eastman!

The image atop this entry is a screen shot of a page from one of my favorite books, Are You My Mother?, which is written and illustrated by P.D. Eastman. Eastman's book cover can seen in the next image (from a Wikipedia page).

The aforementioned Wiki Page explains that Eastman's book tells the "the story about a hatchling bird. His mother, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby bird hatches. He does not understand where his mother is so he goes to look for her. In his search, he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog, and a cow if they are his mother. They each say, 'No.'

"Then he (the little baby bird) sees an old car, which cannot be his mother for sure. In desperation, the hatchling calls out to a boat and a plane, and at last, convinced he has found his mother, he climbs onto the teeth of an enormous earth mover. A loud 'SNORT' belches from its exhaust stack, prompting the bird to utter the immortal line, 'You are not my mother! You are a SNORT!' But as it shudders and grinds into motion he cannot escape. 'I want my mother!' he shouts.

"But at this climactic moment, his fate is suddenly reversed. The earth mover drops him back in his nest just as his mother is returning home. The two are united, much to their delight, and the baby bird tells his mother about the adventure he had looking for her."

Eastman's story comes to mind on many occasions whenever I see a baby bird looking around and the other day when I was in Central Park and spotted a baby American robin doing this.

Identifying With Spike

IMAGE CREDIT

I am with you on this, Spike, for due to the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on NYC I have been following the pleas of our mayor and governor by sheltering in place ever since two weeks ago (March 21, 2020).

Yesterday it was very cold outside yesterday, as you might surmise upon looking at the following series of pictures, here you can see an American robin all puffed up in effort to keep warm.

AMERICAN ROBINS HAVE A STORY IN VOL 3

AMERICAN ROBINS HAVE A STORY IN VOLUME 3

His/her survival techniques even caught the attention of a male Northern cardinal who did some bird watching (bird staring if truth the told) when he noticed the robin.

A Red-Winged Blackbird is Bird Number Eight! (Monday's Musings)

This past Friday I met my eighth new bird type (who can seen in the photographs posted directly above) in this Year of The Bird! I encountered the little fellow when I was walking in Central Park.

This particular is a member of the Red-Winged Blackbird family and his ID, as well as his gender, was confirmed for me by Robert DeCandido PhD. As you may recall, dear reader, DeCandido is the one who ID-ed a Great Blue Heron whom I came upon in Central Park earlier this year. You might also remember that he a provided bird information (gender) when I met a Bufflehead Duck for the first time. Both bird types can be seen in the photos below (respectively).

In any event, I'm very grateful for DeCandido and I hope I can afford to participate in one of his many bird walks in the near future.

But getting back to my coming upon a Red-Winged Black Bird, my encounter with him was by mere chance, for I had gone to the park and headed to the pond in hopes of seeing an American Coot, a bird type that I initially encountered on March 19th under very bad conditions for taking a photo and I was hoping to get a better picture of this bird.

This Thursday's Testimony is for the Birds! (some of the birds that is)

This particular Thursday (March 22nd) "is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 284 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56)."

Mooch and Earl are honoring the day by birding, as seen in the Mutts comic strip posted directly above, where Mooch is being "reprimanded" by a ruby-crowned kinglet for only noticing a robin.

Normally by the twenty-second of March, American Robins have returned to my urban garden (here in NYC), but the spring season has been slow in getting underway in my area (as I mentioned in yesterday's post here on Blogger) and I haven't seen one spending time in my place as of this entry.

However, I saw them in Central Park, on February 8th, as they may have gotten the memo that the city's groundhog had predicted an early spring (which ended up being fake news) this past Groundhog Day (2-2-2018).

Be that as it may, one of the robins I encountered there can be seen in the set of pictures below.

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN "WIOB" VOL 3

In any event, American Robins were not the first birds I've seen in Central Park in this year of 2018, which as you may know, has been designated as The Year of the Bird, due to this being the one hundredth anniversary of The Migratory Bird Act.

Ever since the onset of 2018, I've seen the usual cast of avian characters who spend some of their time in Central Park. These include blue jays, Canadian geese, cardinals (female and male), common grackles, European starlings, House sparrows (including a very young one), Mallard ducks (female and male) pigeons, as well as white-throated sparrows. They are all represented below respectively: