April Showers, April Flowers

New York is blooming these days. I went to Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Friday, and will soon post a video and lots of purty cherry blossoms from that visit. Saturday was a rainy day, so I spent a brief time in Central Park, part of the day watching a visiting wild turkey, and part of the day at Shakespeare Garden looking at the tulips, daffodils and other blooms.

Tulip, Shakespeare Garden, Central Park, April 22, 2017

The short Contemplate This! video does not include all of the gorgeous petals I saw on Saturday, but has quite a few of them, all set to Antonio Vivaldi's Spring (3rd movement), from the Four Seasons, performed by John Harrison and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source.

Despite the rain and dark lighting, I did manage to take some photos I really like.

Pink dogwood, Shakespeare Garden, April 22, 2017

Fritillaria, Shakespeare Garden, April 22, 2017

I didn't make it to the March for Science on April 22 — a cause I really believe in — no excuse, really, except that I was tired from a long day Friday in Brooklyn and a long night at the Metropolitan Opera for Der Rosenkavalier. I stood for the first two acts, and felt both hours of it in my back and legs, but a lovely woman gave me a seat for the last act, and I was so grateful. It was wonderful to hear and see Renée Fleming in the opera again (I saw her in the Strauss opera in Paris years ago). She owns the role.

I have put up a video showing the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawks and Pale Male and Octavia, the Fifth Avenue hawks. I will post here soon, too. A lot of editing to do, and a lot of pictures to take. Who thought retirement would wear me out so much!

Fred and Ginger, Still Trying

The red-tailed hawk pair that hangs out between 72nd Street and 96th Street on the west side of Central Park — known to many hawk watchers as Fred and Ginger — have been trying to breed for several years, but have been unsuccessful. A nest they tried to build on a building on Central Park West around 92nd Street was taken down by a maintenance worker about four years ago, and another nest they tried to build on the Beresford building failed to produce eyasses. Last year, the pair tried to brood on the San Remo building, but Ginger's egg rolled off the ledge.

Ginger and Fred in the Ramble, April 17, 2017

This year the pair built a partial nest on West 81st Street, and last week Ginger spent a day on those branches, raising hopes that the pair was finally brooding. But apparently it was a false alarm, because both hawks have been hunting and eating in the Ramble recently, and not sitting on the nest.

Yesterday (April 17), Ginger was spotted in the Ramble in the afternoon eating a meal, probably brought to her by Fred. After she finished her dinner, Fred came to her branch, and the pair mated again. I document nature, so here's the video.

It may be too late for a successful nest, but these two hawks are such a joy to watch that we are encouraged that they keep trying. These shots are of the pair, and then Ginger as she eats and then preens after mating.

A Cattle Egret, With No Cow in Sight

A cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) has landed on West 28th Street, and has spent three days eating bugs on the lawns of an apartment complex. We don't know why the bird chose this particular block to spend some time, but we have been delighted by the visit. We suspect the egret dropped by during migration to fatten up a bit before continuing north.

Cattle egret, West 28th Street, Manhattan, April 11, 2017

The Filming the Feathers video is set to the Bassoon Concerto in F Major by František Jiránek, performed by Robert Rønnes.

We often see great egrets in various parts of the city, and snowy egrets occasionally, but this is the first cattle egret I've seen in Manhattan. The birds are not native to this hemisphere. They were unknown in North America until 1952, and came to South America from Africa in the 1870s and 1880s. Where most egrets feed in water, these birds thrive in dry fields, where they wait for cattle (or other animals) to flush out insects. I didn't see any cows anywhere near this cattle egret when I filmed the bird on April 11.