The Good Luck Wood Duck

Originally published March 2013

Some time in January, I think (though it could have been December), I noticed a duck that was different from the other ducks in the Pond in Central Park. I investigated (surfed the Internet looking at duck pictures), and discovered that this handsome specimen of duckness was a wood duck. I began to photograph this Prince of  the Pond (as one of the Central Park Conservancy employees calls him) and tried to visit him as often as possible. Sometimes it was daily, sometimes more sporadic (I found it difficult sometimes to do three auditions in a day and still get to the park).

On Feb. 28, after being away from the park for two days (I'd actually gone the night before, but it was so dark I didn't really see which duck was which), I circled the Pond a couple of times and couldn't find Woody (as I now call him). I searched and searched, and began to get worried. I feared for him, so different, so unique.

People are not always good to the animals in the park. I've seen people feed french fries to the ducks, and I've seen little brats chasing the mallards and threatening to kick them. So I don't think my fear was unjustified. It was possible Woody had taken off, flown north, or south, or found a need to discover new territories. But I still worried about him. I asked a park employee (the one who called Woody the prince), and he said he hadn't seen him in two days.

As I noted on Facebook, don't fall in love with a wood duck. He'll only break your heart.

On March 1, in the morning, I walked by the Pond on my way to an appointment. A brief glimpse found no Woody. But after the appointment, I came back. And I looked. And I looked. And then ... Woody! Swimming around in the northern part of the Pond. What indescribable joy to see him again!

Those of you who have visited this page before may have seen other Central Park pictures I've snapped. I've now moved those to another page, Central Park, for the Camera, and you can see those pictures anytime you want. Those photos were taken primarily with my HP Photosmart M525, although some were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S. The HP camera was a great friend. Though not able to get terribly close, it was reliable and easy to use. But on the day of the victory parade after the Yankees won the World Series in 2009, I got jostled and pushed so much in the crush of the crowd that I dropped the HP and since that time it had worked —  or not —  on its own schedule. By March 1, it was choosing not to work except with great coaxing, and by the end of my Central Park walk, it was dropped one more time, and never recovered.

I couldn't face the idea of taking my walks without a camera to capture what I see when I open my eyes to look. A camera keeps me focused (pun intended), and looking, really looking. So instead of paying some bills I should have paid, I found a new camera, a Canon PhotoShoot SX500 IS, and I bought it. I spent the evening after a Carnegie concert charging the battery and reading the manual. By the morning of March 2, I was ready to take it for a test run.

The first picture of Woody, above, was from the HP camera. The female mallard (the following picture) was one  of the last pictures taken by the HP before it bit the dust. I am so happy with so many of the pictures I took with the HP. But now it's time for the Canon. I have used Canons for a long time (I still have my TLB and my AE1, which went with me on many trips, including an African safari). I've noticed that the battery on the new Canon doesn't last as long as I'd like, so I've ordered two backups to carry with me. (The battery died on March 2 before
I could take another 200 pictures of Woody.)

I hope you enjoy seeing these new pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

The second photo of Woody, also above, was taken by the Canon, and the detail is quite wonderful. You can see the feathering of the tail feathers.

The squirrel, right, was taken using the zoom function. I've found I really have to be steady when I zoom in this close. But since squirrels often get skittery if you get too close, it's nice to stand a bit away and not spook them. Again, the detail in the tail hairs is quite nice. I just have to practice some more.

One note: I really don't manipulate the photos I take. I might crop them, but generally I don't edit them much more than that. I have been known to take a dark photo and fix the contrast a bit, but generally what you see is what I saw.

I love the picture of the bird's back, showing all that beautiful coloring and detail. And the bark on the tree trunk.

And the blackbird [grackle] photo is just a joy for me, because these birds are so loud and aggressive, and the picture captures that.

I decided that mallards need head shots, too. So I give you two mallards up close and personal. The feather details are great fun.

One last photo from the new camera, a robin that had been digging in the dirt before I so rudely snapped its photo. I think there might be a "Ya lookin' at me?" attitude going on here.

I hope to add some more pictures soon. I will keep moving some pictures to the Previous Postings section (I'm starting to add some thumbnails on the list below). I have decided to keep the video links on this page for a while longer. I've had so much fun taking videos with my Samsung Galaxy S and editing them with music into Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby. I look forward now to seeing what the new camera can do with video. Sometimes you just have to find the money to do what you need to do to enjoy your life. That's what I decided when I bought the camera. I think I chose well. 

Central Park, for the Camera

Originally published February 2013

I am so happy to share some of the photos I've been able to take in Central Park and along the Hudson on this Web site. See below for shots taken right after the blizzard, and for other favorite shots, mainly of wildlife in Central Park. This top section is from walks on Feb. 13 and Feb. 16.

These two are of the blue heron, the first taken on Feb. 13 on the west side of the Lake in the West 70s, and the second was taken on Feb. 16 on the east side of the Lake, also in the West 70s. I got to see him fly. He is a truly magnificent bird.

I was able to get closer to the heron on Feb. 16.

I love cardinals, the bright red so easy to catch sight of if you're looking and patient. These shots were also taken on Feb. 13 and Feb. 16. The park has beautiful cardinals, and although it is common to spot them, it is always exciting. My Mom used to say that spotting one was lucky, so I'm always happy to have a bit more luck.

I love the ducks in the park and along the Hudson. I've fallen in love with a lone wood duck at the Pond in the southeast part of Central Park. He swims with the mallards, and I've come to the conclusion that he thinks he is a mallard. The mallards tolerate him, and he follows them around, but sometimes I see him lead them as well. As you can see in my last post, I've taken lots of pictures of him.

There are lots and lots of mallards, at the Lake, the Pond and the Pool. But there are also other ducks, including, I think, gadwalls. [Editor's note: These are actually mallard hybrids, as your Chronicler was told later.] I had the pleasure of watching the gadwalls on both Feb. 13 and 16, including what looked like a mating session on the 16th. At least the head bobbing before and the wing waves after from both seemed to indicate a happy time. I guess I'll know more if I see lots of little gadwalls come spring.

There are many, many bird species in the park (today I heard someone say 350, but who knows whether he was right or not). I've seen hawks, wrens, sparrows, robins, blue jays, blackbirds and so many others. The titmice are particularly fun to watch, but they are so fast they are hard to photograph. So many of the birds seem so common that you often overlook them. So I include a photo here of pretty familiar birds that are nonetheless quite beautiful.

Winter Walks

Originally published February 2013

CENTRAL PARK AFTER LOTS OF WHITE STUFF

We had a major snowstorm overnight on Feb. 8-9, and I couldn't resist a Central Park walk on Saturday afternoon. I wasn't the only one. The paths when I got there in midafternoon were packed and icy from multiple feet tromping on them. Nonetheless, it was a great day for photographs. Here are some snow pictures, and then some shots from a Feb. 6 walk on a cold but less snowy day.

This is the Lake, looking south. The tall building to the left is the culprit for the dangling crane after Hurricane Sandy that closed Carnegie Hall and caused all sorts of other problems (of course, the loss of music was criminal enough).

Gapstow Bridge, over the Pond near the Plaza, was quite beautiful, and quite crowded. The ducks were happy to be swimming, although I was tempted to throttle a little brat who was throwing snowballs (while his dad looked on with pride and snapped pictures) at the hapless mallards. I did speak up, but I guess with the walker I didn't seem as threatening as I might have with a cane!

The wood duck (see below, on the Feb. 6 walk) was still pretending to be a mallard and just trying to make it in New York! (If you can make it there, you'll make it ...)

These mallards, however, seemed happy to be mallards.

On Gapstow Bridge there were two miniature snow people looking at the crowd. Quite delightful. The bridge itself was so slippery that although I had the walker, I didn't attempt to cross it. Several nice people warned me about the danger, and I got to see one young lady take a fall. That was enough for me. I love this bridge. It was the location for my final shot in Picture This, directed by Lydia Galeno. It was 100 degrees on the shoot date, so I've been on this bridge in all kinds of weather.

My bird-watching cravings were well taken care of on this snowy day, thanks to people who left oranges in the trees and held out peanuts in the hand to attract an assortment of cardinals, wrens, sparrows and titmice. This cardinal put on quite a show at the northern side of the Lake, and the red-tailed hawk below hung out in a tree, silently waiting, until with a squawk he flew off.

AN EARLIER WALK

On Feb. 6, 2013, I walked through Central Park and had quite a day with the camera. While I invite you to read below why losing weight, ducks and Silly Videos are related, I invite you here to see the pictures of the blue heron, the mallards and the wood duck I saw on a cold February afternoon. The photos, I hope, will give you an idea of why I'm having so much fun with my video projects.

This was the first (and only) wood duck I've seen at the Pond this year. It was quite magnificent, and just swam around with the mallards. Maybe he thinks he's a mallard?

Just blending in, just blending in.

The mallards, out for a swim.

And a blue heron, who took flight across the Pond, and back. I didn't capture that on camera, but did in my memory.

Meanwhile, at Bank Rock Bay, where the ice covered the water, I saw no ducks, but I did see duck prints on the snowy ice. The ducks themselves were in the Lake, going round and round in a pool surrounded by ice. This photo was one of the first I took on my walk, from the bridge separating the bay from the main lake.

These tracks put me in mind of Ancient Monster's paw prints (if you haven't yet read the last Saga, you might enjoy it on a cold, snowy night!).