Mind the Gap

And what a gap it is!  more than two years. But it's time to come back on line, look up, and see what's ahead.

What's ahead, it turns out, is spring.

And the boardwalk is waiting, so let's step over that gap - just ignore it - get out and see what there is to see.

What's YOUR Superpower?

Birds: Can fly

 Some Insects: Can walk on water

This Squirrel: Has Super-cuteness

 
It occurred to me the other day that I have a couple of superpowers.*

You, too, probably have at least one.
   
     The trick to recognizing your superpower, I think, is to realize that it is never going to be something as high-profile as, let's say, X-Ray vision, or telekinesis, or the ability to fly. No, nothing like that. It's going to be commonplace, mundane even. But super-useful!

    I have two:

1. I can always get a good parking space, whether I am the driver or a passenger. If we are meeting you at a restaurant, I will get the space in front of the entrance door, or at worst, the spot right-around-the-corner-not-two-steps-away. If I am a passenger in your car, follow my cryptic instructions to "turn here" or "go around again" or "wait one minute and look about you,"  and you will get a good space, trust me.
    Friends enjoy this power of mine, but I don't mind parking far away, so it's not my favorite. My favorite is:

2. I always know about what time it is, within a quarter hour at most. And no, not because I wear a watch or carry a phone. I will be able to tell you what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night, when we've been walking around the museum all day, when we've been at the beach for hours and hours, when we've been waiting at a bus stop for what feels like forever ...anytime. That's my favorite because I don't wear a watch anymore, and sometimes I forget my phone. So it's super-useful.

*My superpowers do NOT include keeping this journal up-to-date.

Bailey Arboretum : A Walk in the Woods

    The one-time summer estate of Brooklyn financier Frank Bailey (whose fountain you may be familiar with), Bailey Arboretum sounds too good to be true: 40-odd acres of green peace on the North Shore, open free to the public, with free parking, 7 days a week the year around. And you are welcome to bring a picnic lunch and your dog (on a leash.)

    This is where we went to see Dawn Redwoods on Long Island. ("Surprise! We're not extinct.") And let me tell you, they are something to see:

I found it more or less impossible to frame a shot encompassing a whole specimen. Maybe next time. The ones growing on the estate here were planted from seeds collected in 1947.

 

Only seven acres are landscaped; the rest consists of rambling woodland paths, none of which are very interesting in late August. Still, they're shady and peaceful:

 

 

There is a dedicated children's garden area, and a small number of aviaries housing injured or otherwise-compromised rescued birds. They have a couple of crows (American and Fish), several red-tailed hawks, and a few owls (Great Horned and Barred).

 

This owl is blind in one eye.

 

    In my opinion, late August is a cruel month in the great outdoors. The birds are quiet, the insects are loud, and the pond scum is at its peak. So I'll be interested to see what this place is like in other seasons. The redwoods are deciduous!

    It surprised me to read that Bailey declares itself "the only accredited arboretum on Long Island and in the New York Metropolitan area." Say what now?  Planting Fields State Historic Park is a pretender? Bayard Cutting is a wannabe? Apparently they haven't applied for accreditation, which is a designation bestowed by these folk. Even more interesting, there are levels of accreditation, such that a golf course or a cemetery may be granted the status of an arboretum, albeit at a low level. (Maybe there's a tax benefit involved in doing so?) The page listing the levels of accreditation has links to lists of arboreta that meet each level. (Bailey is a Level 2.)

    So I'll be studying that list later, looking for more places to go. In the meantime, why don't you take a walk in the Long Island woods?

 

Do They Ever Grow Up?

I'm sure you parents of adolescents can relate to this cardinal's situation. There's your teenager, fully as tall as you are, and still you can't enjoy a few seeds by yourself without she's right there, piteously fluttering her wings and cheeping that she's hungry. The suggestion being, of course, that you crack those seeds and feed her. Which, of course, you proceed to do, knowing that someday, she'll do the same for hers.

 

Frog in Your Throat?

No, it's a fish. Today's walk revealed a Great Egret, fishing on the inlet of Jamaica Bay that runs as a creek through the Valley Stream Village Green. Look, ma, no hands!

 

Brunch For Everybody!

We weren't the only ones having brunch in Westbury today. The DH spotted this red-tailed hawk from waayy across the parking lot. "Is that a hawk?" he said. It was farther away than this when he saw it; what an eye!

     The bird was pretty wrapped up in his meal, so I was able to get right below it without freaking it out. It took one look to size me up, and dismissed me as unthreatening. (I'm okay with that.)

 

Be It Ever So Humble...

...it's still unfrozen water, and everybody's happy to get some.

Had two new visitors to the feeder today, two tufted titmice! Very common at feeders in the northeast, apparently, but the first time I've seen them! Sadly, DH is at work. I'll hope they come back tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I got pictures:

 

And... We're Back In Business!

Yes, we're back without ever knowing why it was we suddenly couldn't upload an image from our computer. Then today, the little window and "browse" icon appear in the exact same place they had recently disappeared from, and... voila! Order is restored to the universe and I can go back to not posting on a semi-regular basis. As a reward for your patience please enjoy this photo of a faithful member of my breakfast club..

Finch Fight!!

 

It's time for another episode of Real Housefinches of Long Island...

 

Such drama. Now knock it off, there's plenty of room for two.

And Another One!

For the second day in a row, a bird I'd never seen before came to the feeders; a white-breasted nuthatch:

It was a busy day at the feeders; the woodpecker from yesterday showed up the minute I put out breakfast; this new arrival above showed up, and there are at least four of these little dudes flitting back and forth, grabbing one seed at a time and then retreating to the shrubs to bang it open. So cute:

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, it's back to work, where the only birds I'm at all likely to see out the window are pigeons, starlings and seagulls.
 

A New Visitor!

Sosixmonthswentbylikethatandthen...
I put out some black sunflower seeds today, and everybody stopped by to check out the feeder. (I guess they were tired of the strictly-safflower-seed diet I had them on. But safflower is the only seed the squirrels will leave alone. And, it's good for them.) So the blue jays and the black-capped chickadees investigated, the mourning doves and juncos joined the party on ground-level, and the finches and sparrows indignantly flew around, chattering about how this was their turf. So funny. Then, this guy showed up:

 

                                                                                          
We've had downy woodpeckers around since I starting using suet a couple years ago, but this is the first red-bellied woodpecker I've noticed. So big and colorful!



 

Crafty Acrobats

Their cuteness is the only thing that keeps me from wanting to keeeel them! They are a pox and a scourge, I tell you! For six months, this feeder was one of two I could safely put any kind of seed in without having it nommed-in-no-time by these gorram grey bandits. Now it, too, has fallen to the furry ones, and shall from here on forward be filled exclusively with safflower seed, which is the ONLY thing the squirrels ignore. I don't know why this is, they are elsewise omnivorous: rock-stale bagels, cast-off Doritos, and browning limes are consumed with equal ardor. (I don't begrudge the grubby little vermin any seed that falls on the ground, and the DH always scoops out his rolls and bagels, so they get the nice fresh insides of those, as well as fresh apple cores and whole, wrinkly apples we didn't finish.) Nice fresh safflower seed? They couldn't care less about it, and thank heavens for that! Now I just need to get the local garden centers and pet stores to stock plain safflower as well as those squirrel-friendly mixes. Otherwise, I'll be buying plain safflower online, and that means 50-lb. bags. Oh dear.

Indoor Pursuits

Happy New Year.
And a beautiful day it was: warm and sunny and most unlike the season. While I'm happy about the weather, I blame it for the stupid, stupid sore throat I've got, which has caused me to miss the Muppet exhibit in Astoria yesterday, and cancel tonight's plans for tacos and margaritas in Long Beach. Stupid, stupid illness.
That's enough whinging and sighing, now. What can we do while we're stuck indoors?
One thing would be to watch the birds on the window feeder:

Okay, so that wasn't the most exciting clip. I did get a couple of still shots that weren't too bad, except for the window reflection:

Once in a while they'll try the purple berries of the Callicarpa, but I gather those are somewhat bitter, and are a food of last resort.

And then, lunch was over and they flew away. 
What now? I could wander over to my desk and start thinking about making Valentines:

Or I could get distracted by a computer file of old family portraits:

Those old studio portraits of family members long gone are a bit melancholy, especially when they're accompanied by plaintive inquiries like, "Do you know who this is?" (Sigh. Whatsamatter, didn't they have pencils in the first half of the twentieth century? They couldn't write a name on the back?)
But one thing I've always found charming is the studios' exquisite logos. Aren't they evocative?
Let's take a look at a few:

Okay, that's enough puttering about. Better go take a nap and get well; the first workday of 2012 starts tomorrow.

Boxing Day, And The Feasting Continues

Here's one creature in our household's orbit who's happy to put on a little weight before winter sets in. This chickadee is checking out the suet feeder that's now in the Norway pine. It's a challenge for my avian friends to find the suet feeder each morning, as I need to change its location every day or two to foil the squirrels, who would otherwise nom it empty in no time.

The sparrows and starlings also enjoy their fattysnax. Peck away, friends! And then tomorrow, look for it in the blue spruce in the backyard! Sshh! Don't tell Rocky, let him look for it.

If You've Filled It, They Will Come

...the wee, greedy sparrows, that is...and they will bicker and spat like the Three Stooges with wings. They'll be so busy tussling, in fact, they won't even notice they're being recorded.

Gone Baby Gone

In fact, they've been gone for days and days now, I've just been neglectful. Having resolved this year not to bother them five times a day like last year, the time just flew (ha ha) by, and I never saw even one of the three leave the nest like last year. I don't see them around the way I saw the juvies last year being fed on the ground, and then gradually on branches higher and higher up until their flight skills improved. Hope the new guys are making out okay, wherever they are.