Who-dun-it?

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

This past Monday (8-10-2020) when I arrived home after my follow-up appointment with the surgeon (re the procedure I had on 8-4 -2020), I discovered a portion of the string lights which provide a canopy over my garden, had come down and I knew it wasn't storm related....so my question was Who-dun-it?

A Recent Visit

HOUSE FINCHES HAVE A BACKSTORY IN VOL 1

HOUSE FINCHES HAVE A BACKSTORY IN VOL 1

HOUSE FINCHES HAVE A BACKSTORY IN VOL 1

I have only been able to take a couple of walks in my nearby parks since March (2020) because the coating on my lenses of my prescription lenses has worn off and replacing them is out of my financial reach at this time.

Unfortunately since the coating is damaged, my glassses steam up constantly when I wear  a face-mask and I can't see where I am going which is very frightening.

I have tried many "home remedies" to prevent the steaming but because the issue has to do with the coating, my battle is endless.

Moreover, due to the fact that I fell last January (which resulted in my  breaking my Greater tuberosity), I am feeling vulnerable when it comes to the prospect of falling, SOOOO... I have had to stay at home more than I would like to, and I miss the parks!

Therefore, my spirits were lifted the other day when I discovered that a lone male House finch was spening some of his time perching on the branches of Ailanthus trees in the courtyard (as evidenced in the imagess atop this posting).

#ClapBecauseWeCare: The 50th Session (Tuesday's Truths WK 180)

#CLAPBECAUSEWECAREPARTICIPANTS

#CLAPBECAUSEWECAREPARTICIPANTS

#CLAPBECAUSEWECAREPARTICIPANTS

Tonight's #ClapBecauseWeCare session (which was number 50) showed just how creative people are becoming in documenting it! The images atop this entry shows a participant using a frying pan as an instrument while the woman who lives below him "filmed" him on her Apple computer!

Finding Joy During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Tuesday's Truths WK 169)

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

Last night was the fifth night of the 7PM clapping/cheering nightly event (that has been dubbed #ClapBecauseWeCare) in NYC that is taking place to honor first responders and health care workers who are keeping New Yorkers as safe as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many people participated but I only took one picture (featured atop this entry) as I can't clap and take pictures at the same time.

A New Season Begins Today

I'm a bit behind in my posting here on Blogger, mostly due to preparations I have to make (just like everyone else) in light of the coronavirus pandemic. I'm hunkering down as much as possible and saw a disturbing sight from the vantage point of my garden yesterday: Someone had a fire going in their outdoor space and was leaving it unattended!

THINKING OF STARR SAPHIR

CAM, A FEMALE CARDINAL

If you follow TLLG here on Blogger or Facebook, dear reader, then you know that recently much of my content has dealt with the escapades of Cam (the cardinal pictured in the image above), as well as the tales of her unnamed (as of this posting) beau, pictured in the image below...

MAC, A MALE CARDINAL

...and of their romantic interlude (indicated in the following image).

MAC AND CAM: A CARDINAL COUPLE

I'm thrilled with the aforementioned couple, and could continue to write about them for some time to come, but I am dedicating today's post (through the "escapades" of the array of all the birds which visit my garden) to Starr Saphir, a dearly departed birder, who you may read about by clicking here.

Ms. Saphir was known to many for the bird walks that she led in Central Park. Even though I live very near to this park, I've never been on one of her bird walks; or any other bird "event," for that matter, as my interest in birds as well as their antics, is fairly new: I have the feathered creatures to thank for it because they showed up in my garden without an invitation or lure of food other than the vegetation in my garden!

A Thing or Two re Male House Finches

Upon my seeing the sighting (featured in the image directly above) of a male House sparrow and a male House finch at a bird feeder, I am reminded of something that  I've just read:

 "Among the feeder birds of North America, few are as recognizable and widespread as the House finch and House sparrow. The House sparrow, originally from Europe, is one of the most well-established invasive species in the United States. The House finch, however, is invasive in its own right. Originally native to only the western United States and Mexico, it has spread rapidly through the east since a small number of caged birds were released in New York in 1940."

This reference doesn't give due diligence to the plight of  House finches who were once pegged was "Hollywood Finches" when sold illegally as pets. Plus House finches were nearly wiped off the Eastern seaboard due to a a type of conjunctivitis.

In terms of male House finches, while their coloring is bright red, the colors of the female are  muted giving them a protective camouflage. Deep red coloring in the males of this bird type indicates they are healthy and might make good partners and fathers to their children. Perhaps this is what is on the mind of the female house finch featured in my photograph (titled Dinner for Two) during her date. 

It has been rendered on to a note-card by Fine Art America (AKA FAA).

CHECK THIS OUT ON FINE ART AMERICA

By the way, FAA can also render the images on to an array of surfaces for wall art.

My Malus 'Prairfire' (Prairfire Crabapple)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

Ever since I helped rescue Super, a migratory bird who is a Northern Flicker, all of my postings, except for one, have been about that injured bird. It is my intention to visit Super at least once a week until he is able to be released from the bird rehabilitation facility on NYC's Upper Westside to Central Park. I would gladly see him more often, but the facility where Super is recovering is very busy. I don't want to interfere with their efforts to help Super or the other injured birds they are treating.

Meanwhile, I am doing my best to maintain my urban rooftop garden and  keep it a haven for the urban birds who have visited it over the years. My garden can be seen in the photograph atop today's Blogger entry. I took the image from the vantage point of a nearby penthouse garden. The picture was taken in 2015 during the late summer or early fall; and Cam, a cardinal who visited me during that time, insisted we include it in the ePub (Kindle) version of our book Words In Our Beak Volume One.

Visiting Birds & the "CB" Feeder

The house finch pictured here is part of a "breed/variety" which was once known as Hollywood Finches (according to many sources including Wiki). They were given that nickname as a marketing artifice when this variety was initially sold illegally in New York City, and this past Friday, this little guy seemed to be living up to his nickname as he mimicked Gene Kelly's Singing in the Rain ,whilst accessing food from my CB (Chris Baker) feeder.

I am calling the feeder a CB feeder in honor of Chris, a birder extraordinaire, who has been very helpful in advising me on how to "accommodate" the birds which visit my rooftop garden.

I am fairly new to birding, an acute interest which was initially brought on by a humming bird visiting my garden in late May and June of 2012. To my knowledge, the humming bird never returned, but, as you may recall, dear reader, his/her visit was followed by visits from Cam, my lone female cardinal, who has been an on again off again visitor since that time. Cam can be seen in the images below, which were taken on the same day as the photograph atop today's blog entry.

In the first of this series of three pictures, the house finch is to Cam's right, and a portion of my CB feeder is to her left. The second image shows cautious Cam surveying the CB feeder whilst the third of these photos shows Cam surveying yours truly!

Let them eat snow!

It is the last day of 2017, and I really should be shredding documents as well as personal letters that are no longer relevant to me, but for now, I'm composing my third entry for this day. In my previous post for today, I mentioned that "it's only the seventh day of Christmas," which means it is the day when someone's true love gave to them seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Now, in honor of the occasion of someone giving their true love seven swans a swimming, I've posted an image of my swan-themed ornament atop this entry. You  might recognize her as she was featured in a 2016 posting here on Blogger.

However, at this time, I don't think they'll be many swans a swimming in many parts of the USA, as it is very cold in a number of parts of this county, so places they'd be swimming are frozen; and NYC, is hardly an exception!

TEST YOUR POWERS OF OBSERVATION

Male House sparrow, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning dove & Male House finch

Male House sparrow, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning dove, Male House finch

Male House finch, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning doves

Male House finch, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning doves

Male House finches, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning dove

Male House finches, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning dove

Male House finches, Male Northern cardinal, Mourning dove

A few days ago before the days upon days filled with heavy rains were in full force, I took the bird-themed pictures that are included within this post.

There are seven photos within this posting and they all feature a few bird varieties who have been hanging out at one of my feeders, as well as alighting on the branches of my Contorted Hazelnut. It's as if they were having a last hurrah before the onset of relentless downpours occurred.

At first glance these images might look the same to you as their differences are very subtle, can you spot how they differ?

Other bird types are also visiting but they are not included in these pictures.

FYI, all of these bird types are featured (along with many other bird varieties) in my books.

You can find info re this matter within a post on this blog.

MEANWHILE, I'd like to give a shout out to PC who has been supplying my visiting birds with a variety of seeds. I'm not in the position to get this for them, but fortunately for the avian community, she has been able to this, for she loves observing them from the vantage point of her place and she also appreciates the songs they offer while spending time here.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-G-1 (Sept. 1st — Sept. 11th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-G-1 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my rooftop garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, because September 2012 was the month when my garden went through so much upheaval, I will be posting the review for that month in three parts.

In today's entry I will be reviewing events that took place in the month of September during the time period of September 1st through September 11th for the year 2012. Tomorrow's (January 14th 2012) will deal with the events from September 12th — September 19th 2012, and on Tuesday, January the fifteenth of 2012, I will conclude September 2012's review!

So without further ado, I begin my September 1st — September 11th 2012 review and much to my delight, the month began with the return of my "lone" visiting cardinal, Cam. Her motive in visiting seemed to check out what I had to eat, as you might surmise from the images posted above. However, Cam also checked out yours truly as seen in the image below.

Cam would prove to be most delightful to photograph as evidenced by the number of images on two of my Pinterest Boards which you may view by clicking here as well as here.  Moreover, I've posted "stories" about her in a number of entries here on Blogger and within my tumblr pages. Additionally, Cam has become a "regular" on TLLG's Facebook Page.

However, Cam was not the only one who returned to my garden for some food in September of 2012, for September also saw a "lone" visiting bee - the first bee to visit my garden in the 2012 gardening season, who also came to nosh! This was a welcome surprise for me as I had enjoyed watching bees munching on my Echinacea as well as Hyssop in bygone years.

Crabapple Blossoms

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

The other day (Tuesday, 4-7-2020) in a post on my personal Facebook (FB) Page, I mentioned that I had just remembered that April is National Poetry Month and shared a Mary Oliver, then I made a commitment to post a poem (or lines from a poem) every day (on Facebook) during this month.

Because a strong wind knocked down my crabapple tree last night (as see in the photo atop this entry photo which was also included in a posting story in my Friday evening Facebook post on my business page, I've decided today would be a good time to share the poem Crabapple Blossoms, by Carl Sandburg.

STOP THE SPREAD (of lovers's quarrels)

HOUSE FINCHES ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

The other day was quite cold and I noticed a male House finch puffing up as he perched on a branch within an Ailanthus tree in my courtyard. Puffing up is something birds do to keep warm as I mentioned in this past Friday's posting. 

Male House finches are red and the females have brownish tones thus they blend in with nature, which is helpful in them being able to protect a nest.

The one seen here (lower left) blends in with the branches so much that I may not have noticed her had I not wondered what the male was looking at. Their distance reminded me of the social distancing, a "task" that folks around the world have been asked to keep to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Wednesday's Wisdom: Inern'tl Women's Day (Cam, my cardinal can relate.)

Today, March 8th, is one of my sister's birthdays. She can be seen in photo atop this entry, where she is on the lefthand side of the image, busily eating a drumstick, during a Thanksgiving dinner held in our home during bygone years. Because we grew up in the midwest, and because her birthday is in March, there were occasions that heavy snowfall prevailed on her birthday. We all recall that one year, when we were very young children, a major snowstorm occurred on her day, and she turned to my mother, and asked, "Doesn't God know it's my birthday?" My sister's day of March the 8th, coincides with an observance known as International Women’s Day. 

Regarding the aforementioned event, there is a web-page which states, "For a lot of people in the U.S., International Women's Day just isn't that big of a deal. Before this year (1977) one could argue that few Americans knew this "holiday" existed. Others who did know about it likely shrugged it off as yet another hashtag holiday (see: National Peanut Butter Day) social media marketers created to get consumers' attention. While the organizers of the Women's March on Washington have helped bring greater attention to IWD, the first time it was observed was back in Feb. 28, 1908." 

In 1908, my maternal grandmother would've been eight years old, the age that I believe she is in the following photograph (which has been featured in at least one of my prior posts here on Blogger.)

My grandmother is in the back row on the right. She died many years ago (1987); and, her parting words to me were ones that urged me to get back to my writing.

Thankfully I have done this by helping Cam, (the cardinal pictured directly below, in a picture I took of her in my rooftop garden)...

... write and publish her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One.

In fact, Cam is named for both of my maternal grandparents! Her name, Cam, is short for  Clara Albert Melahn (Clara is my dearly departed maternal grandmother; Albert is my dearly departed maternal grandfather).

In any event, Cam is quite a forthright spokes-bird; and in her narrative, she aspires to raise awareness of all members of the avian community, but especially those who  are cardinals. Cam's need to raise awareness stems from the fact that she understands what it is to be marginalized.

N'tl Bird Day 2021 has come and gone! However, one can continue to celebrate! (Tuesday's Truths WK 201)

MALE HOUSE FINCHES ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

This two hundred and one segement of Tuesday's Truths is to alert you to the fact that National Bird Day has come and gone for the year 2021. It was celebrated three weeks ago on 1-5. Information re this holiday can be found in a number of places on the web including a page for National Day. 

In bygone years, I've published posts about this occasion as I certainly appreciate any occasion that aims to raise awareness about members of the animal kingdom and I don’t think it needs to be limited to one day.

But this segement is also designed to let you know that if you missed this year’s National Bird Day, just make it a point to do something that will benefit our feathered friends, such as making sure any bird feeder you have is clean as well as replenished. 

They will truly appreciate your efforts as evidenced by this male house finch (in the photograph directly above) who is enjoying a snack from a feeder in my garden.

Another thing you can do is to make sure your bird bath is clean and if winter temperatures are prevailing, make sure the water isn't frozen.

Meet Wink: The Tenacious Finch!

I am in a bit of a funk over something that may be occurring re the health and well being of one of the birds which visits my garden, and, therefore, in my (unsuccessful) attempts to clarify what is going on with her, I was unable to post here on blogger yesterday as is my norm on Fridays!

The bird which I am concerned about is one of my house finches, who, as you can surmise from the images posted above, seems to be having an "issue" with her right eye!

Following Up (On a 8-2-13 Blogger Post)

LONG BEACH NEW YORK

LONG BEACH NEW YORK

ROBERT MOSES BEACH NEW YORK

ROBERT MOSES BEACH NEW YORK

The last time that I posted here on Blogger I mentioned that it was my fascination with the array of wild birds which visit my rooftop garden, that prompted me to be more observant than I had been in bygone years of the seagulls that I saw when I visited a couple of beaches last week with my sister. (A few photo-ops of these seagulls can be seen atop this entry.)

I am home now, and at the moment my "fascination with the array of wild birds which visit my garden," has turned into a mission: a mission as to what I can do to deter mourning doves and pigeons from interfering with my bird-feeders!

I understand these birds need to eat too, and I am happy to provide nourishment for them, but no matter what I do, the mourning doves as well as pigeons gravitate towards the feeders which are not intended for them!

#TheMayflower

House finches have been spending time in a flowering crabapple tree which I have in my urban (NYC) rooftop garden. I overheard them debating the answer to the question, "If the April showers bring the May flower what does #TheMayflower bring?"

It's Valentine's Day 2019!

HOUSE FINCHES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

Today is Valentine's Day 2019 and in some ways the holiday is for the birds because they take time to show their affection by giving total attention to one another; as evidenced by this pair of house finches who are atop the string lights which hang over my rooftop garden.