Facts About Sparrows (Wednesday's Wisdom)

The other day when I was on Broadway I noticed some tulips swaying in the wind, but it was not until I put my camera’s memory card in the computer that I noticed a young female House sparrow had been catching some rays alongside those flowers.

Not Fake News: A Case of Mistaken Identity! (This bird is not a Savannah sparrow!)

Last Saturday, while walking in Central Park, I came upon the bird featured in the photographs atop this entry. I had never seen this fauna type before and the creature truly fascinated me! I took a number of photos of my sighting, and in the days that followed my chance meeting with the bird, I included my images in posts here on Blogger as well as in my entries on tumblr and Facebook.

However, prior to any of my postings, I reached out to wild life experts to see if I was correct in determining that the sweet looking creature I had met in the park was a Savannah sparrow. Everyone that I contacted confirmed that my assessment was correct and I began to publish my entries on the aforementioned social media platforms, as well as on Cornell's Lab of Orinithology's FB Page.

A few days later, I received a comment (on my Cornell posting) from Jennifer DeSelle-Milam, stating, "Looks like a white-throated sparrow to me. They also have yellow lores." 

Wednesday's Wisdom: A Re-Visited Lesson! (From Thoreau, whose b'day is today)

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

On this day in 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in the town of Concord Massachusetts. I have written about him a number of times here on Blogger, and if you'd like to refer to those posts, please click here. I think of the wisdom shown in Thoreau's writings on many occasions, but even more so when I encounter a house sparrow, which happens on countless occasions, given the number of this bird type that are living in NYC.

The six photographs atop this entry feature sparrows alighting atop various flora as well as various places (during all season) in my rooftop garden.

Snow Day with Sparrrows

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

We had a wet snowfall in NYC yesterday (December 9th 2020) and I was able to enjoy it by observing the reactions of a number of House sparrows visiting my garden during the occurance.

Saturday's Sequel: I've met my 14th bird!

This past Saturday while walking in Central Park and being memorized by the antics of a cinnamon colored squirrel (which I wrote about in Monday's post here in Blogger) I also encountered a bird type unfamiliar to me, making this my fourteenth new acquaintance in this Year of the Bird. I have since learned the creature who I noticed is a Song Sparrow and the little one can be seen in the image atop this entry where he/she is ignoring the fact that a fence had a padlock (although there seemed to be no reason for the lock — it wasn't securing anything).

The Inspiration of a Leucistic House Finch AND Vinicio Riva

Yesterday, a female house sparrow and a male house finch were having a conversation while perched on a railing that surrounds my rooftop garden (in NYC), as evidenced in the pictures atop this blog entry, where you can see them sharing the railing with my kiwi vines.

Normally the coloration of male house finches is red, and, knowing this, caused the little sparrow to be very concerned as to what caused this particular finch to have a white-colored face and a white head. The sparrow listened very carefully and with great empathy as the house finch confided in the sparrow saying that he had a case of leucism.

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!

This Thursday's Tale is FROM the birds! (Sparrows Speak out about Spring Training)

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

While walking in Central Park, this past Tuesday, January the thirtieth, I came upon a lone blue jay who was leaning a sympathetic ear to a couple of house house sparrows (as evidenced in the photograph atop this entry).

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.

My eyes are on the House sparrows...

HOUSE SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

HOUSE SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

I came across the photos (which are posted directly above) just the other day when organizing my photo-library. They were taken on October 24th 2015, which happens to be the day my dear friend, Donna DeSolis (DD) might've been celebrating her birthday with me had she not died a few months prior (in June of 2015). As readers of this blog may recall, I created at the request of DD's son a video commemorating her life and it may be viewed on Vimeo and/or You Tube.

As for these two pictures I am which I am now referencing they feature House sparrows enjoying a meal from a bird feeder in my rooftop garden. The sparrow with dark features an a black "bib" is a male. In a recent entry here on Blogger, I discussed this characteristic (bib) which is a feature of male House sparrows in a recent entry here on Blogger. However, my seeing these photos at this time caused me to think of a poem by Mary Oliver, which is posted below.

In the song sparrow's nest the nestlings,

those who would sing eventually, must listen

carefully to the father bird as he sings

and make their own song in imitation of his.

I don't know if any other bird does this (in

nature's way has to do this). But I know a 

child doesn't have to. Doesn't have to.

Doesn't have to. And I didn't.

Ms. Oliver is referring to a song sparrow in this particular poem, "Blue Horses" (from "To Be Human is to Sing Your Own Song"). I have pictures of that bird type too within my photo collection, an example of one whom I saw in Central Park is featured in the next image.

SONG SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN OTHER BLOG POSTS

However, it the House sparrow whom I've included in my three volume hardcover book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

Birds of feather... (Monday's Memo)

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

This past Saturday while walking in Central Park, I came upon a fence where a house sparrow, a female Northern cardinal and a white-breasted sparrow were perching.

On a "neighboring" fence a lone tufted titmouse was hanging out with a couple of white-breasted sparrows. This is evidenced in the photos I took which are posted directly above this entry.

Seeing these different bird types spending time in each others company got me thinking about the origin of the idiom: Birds of a feather flock together.

"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.

Creatures Take Garbo's: Cue Part One

This past September when I was in Riverside Park, I encountered a house sparrow. She appeared to be a loner (as seen in the photographs above).

My Rear Window

In less than one month's time, on September 1st 2017, it will be the sixty-third anniversary of the movie, Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film starred Jimmy Stewart. And the synopsis (stated on Wiki, where I got the image atop this entry), states the following:

"After breaking his leg photographing a racetrack accident, a professional photographer, the adventurous L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies (James Stewart), is confined to a wheelchair in his Greenwich Village apartment to recuperate. His rear window looks out onto a courtyard and several other apartments. During a powerful heat wave, he watches his neighbors, who keep their windows open to stay cool."

Like Jefferie, my NYC apartment (with a garden atop a rooftop terrace, something which Jefferies did not have), my rear window, looks into other apartments, as evidenced in the photo below.

The image was taken by Juan V this past Tuesday when he was here to plant some Toad Lilies, pot my Angusitifolum curry, and to help me keep a drainage problem from getting worse.

My Toad Lilies are indicated by the larger of the two arrows affixed to Juan's image. The vantage point of the image, because it was taken from overhead only gives one a sense of where these plants are located within my garden. However, I have published an entry here on Blogger that features these beautiful plants; and if you'd like to reference, dear reader, please click here.

The smaller arrow is referencing my Angusitifolum curry, which I will write about in the coming days. And the square is highlighting a new centerpiece that's been added to my place. It can be seen in close-up format below.

I am likely to include in a separate blog entry, but the center-piece's photo is here now for purposes of reader known as Sara, for she was instrumental in my having it, and I'd like her to see it, as she lives too far away to travel here.

And with that info, I've digressed enough, for I was speaking about my rear window view being much like Jefferies' except for the garden. The Rear Window character of Jefferie is on my mind today as I have been somewhat confined to my home with a foot injury. I'm not confined to a wheelchair as he was, but I am much more limited in going about my usual routine.

The reason for this being that I have to wear a boot cast which makes it difficult to go up and down the seventy stairs that lead to my place. Going up is actually much better than down in terms of my agility when wearing this cast.

Therefore, I've been attentive to what's going out from the vantage point of my rear window, and have been most fascinated by my view of the array of birds who visit here (as always), especially in relation to "their" wreath-shaped bird feeder that holds the unshelled peanuts that they enjoy eating.

In the following picture, the feeder I'm referring to is indicated with a circle.

In any event, A couple of weeks ago (July 25th), I wrote about a Northern cardinal availing himself of whole peanuts from this feeder. He can be seeing doing this in the next set of pictures.

If you'd like to read about this cardinal's antics and see different images, please click here.

The beaks of a cardinal are designed for un-shelling nuts and seeds which is one topic that is  discussed in the book, Words In Our Beak Volume One. The soft-cover version of this book is  available on MagCloud and it's written in the voice of the female cardinal whose picture is featured on the cover, as evidenced below.

But getting back to my wreath-style bird feeder and the birds who dine from it, sparrows are a bird variety that take pleasure there too, but the task of them eating an unshelled peanut is difficult as their beaks are not designed to open shells!

I suspect this bird type observes other birds eating from the wreath-style feeder and want to get in on the action, even though it is much easier for them to eat black-oil sunflower seeds from my house style feeder that contains their favorite seeds (as seen below).

But maybe house sparrows are like some people, I'm not naming names, in that they like to have what they see others having! For surely it is much easier for a sparrow to eat something other than a  peanut in the shell! However, it was a sparrow attempting to asses the possible ins and outs of getting some peanut crumbs that kept me watching from my rear window. Take a look (the photos have very subtle differences in order for you to see the time and attentiveness this sparrow put into procuring his food choice).