A Quick Shot of Spring

Walking the NYC pandemic

Over the past two weeks, I have twice strolled across Central Park to the Conservatory Gardens to see the blossoms.

I’d like to go again today, but with temperatures going up to the 70s, there will be too many people to easily maintain social distance.

So today, I’ll walk vicariously by sharing these photos with you.

Let’s enter the Gardens through the grand gated entrance at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street.

There are spirals on either side of the iron gates.

A wisteria-drenched pergola at the western end is not yet in bloom but already lovely.

Inside the gates, there are three gardens, Italian, English and French in style. Here’s a taste of what lies inside…

Click on any photo below to see it larger and to click through the gallery.

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  Romance blooms between the dancers.

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  Glorious.

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  Blossoms like fallen snow

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  Still tulips.

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  Fallen blossoms.

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  Bright, sweet.

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  Bandit in the Garden.

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  A closer look.

A mesmerizing allée.

I left the gardens and ambled down Fifth Avenue.

Not Art. Good to know.

Let’s look a little closer at what is Not Art.

Hello, I am not art either.

I took a look at the field hospital set up in Central Park’s East Meadow by an evangelical not-for-profit called Samaritan’s Purse. Partnering with Mount Sinai Hospital across Fifth Avenue, the field hospital has treated over 300 COVID-19 patients, but will be closing down its NYC operations and leaving under a cloud of controversy.

The organization’s leader Franklin Graham, son of preacher Billy Graham and a staunch ally of President Trump, has repeatedly made homophobic and anti-Muslim statements. And although the organization maintains it does not discriminate, medical personnel are required to sign a “declaration of faith” that opposes same-sex marriage. According to Gothamist, ‘Graham has previously said that homosexuals will burn in the “flames of hell,” described Islam as “wicked and evil,” and railed against the “transgender lie.”‘

Oy vey. Can I just receive my charity straight up, no chaser, please?

Back inside the park (whew), I saw a multitude of robins on the hunt for earthworms. Some worked the ground like tiny pneumatic drills in feathers. Like this fellow.

Before I say farewell, I want to thank my friend Jane for sending me a beautiful handmade owl mask. Jane runs Bridgetown Bow Ties where she makes, you guessed it, bow ties.

Thanks, Jane!

Gone Fishin’: Great White Egret in Central Park

Walking the NYC pandemic

At the northeast corner of Central Park is the Meer, a small lake stocked with fish and home to birds.

At the edge of a small island, I saw bright movement: a great white egret.

A mighty hunter seeking prey.

It flew across the small expanse of water and landed on the pathway.

How still it holds itself and how extraordinarily flexible is its neck. We humans have seven cervical vertebrae while an egret has, count them. eighteen.

Solitary human and solitary egret.

After a few minutes, the big bird opened its wings and swooped low along the shoreline to try its luck a little further on.

Hunting, waiting, flying ..

Beautiful.

For more on bird necks, including photos of bird contortionists and a brief anatomy lesson, see Bird Neck Appreciation Day.

White-Throated Sparrow Digs Up Central Park

Rustle rustle rustle.

Who’s that walkin’ around here?
Sounds like baby patter.
Baby elephant patter, that’s what I calls it.
– Fats Waller, Your Feet’s Too Big

Ah, it’s a White-throated Sparrow, digging through the leaves for tasty morsels hidden below.

Beautifully camouflaged in the ground litter, the sparrow nonetheless called attention to itself by kicking up an absolute ruckus. If you’ve never seen a little bird dig, it’s quite an impressive flurry of activity with wings, feet and beak all in motion at once.

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White-throated Sparrows have two color morphs, the striking white-striped bird above, and a subtler tan-striped variation.

Here’s what Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” website has to say about the color morphs:

The two forms are genetically determined, and they persist because individuals almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph. Males of both color types prefer females with white stripes, but both kinds of females prefer tan-striped males. White-striped birds are more aggressive than tan-striped ones, and white-striped females may be able to outcompete their tan-striped sisters for tan-striped males.

Okay, got that?

Here, take a quick look at The Sordid Lives of the White-Throated Sparrow, Kelly Rypkema’s one-minute video:

After mating with whichever-striped chosen consort, White-throated Sparrows build their nests on or near the ground, which makes the eggs and nestlings easy prey for that most adorable of vicious predators, the Eastern chipmunk.

Eastern chipmunk in Central Park.

Yes, these cute little rodents don’t confine themselves to nuts and seeds. In fact, they are notorious nest-raiders of ground-nesting birds, helping themselves to a quick blast of protein in the form of eggs and babies. Interestingly, a 2011 study indicates that some species of ground-nesting birds, notably oven-birds and veeries, pay attention to chipmunk calls and avoid nesting in chipmunk-rich areas.

I don’t know if the White-throated Sparrow eavesdrops on chipmunks. But watching them dig up the leaves, I’d think they could put up quite a defense with those wings and feet. And speaking of feet (hey, sometimes a good segue is elusive, okay?), here is Fats Waller singing “Your Feet’s Too Big.”

Listen up.