Inwood Hill Park at the northern tip of Manhattan is filled with oportunities for observation! High tide brings clear water and fish, low tide brings this expanse of mud thick with life and rank with decay.
Yesterday I was peacefully taking pictures of sandpipers at the Inwood Hill Park salt marsh when I heard furious flapping. I would actually describe it as a ruckus. When I turned around I see this poor duck in terrible distress. With the help of the zoom lens on my camera I was able to figure out exactly what was going...
Yesterday I went for a bird walk in Inwood Hill Park. I followed my usual rout ending at the White Pines to look for our resident owl. Why are owls so exciting? I have to admit that they are hard to see! A barred owl had been consistently at home in the pines over the past few weeks. The...
I am enjoying exploring through my camera's lens! I go out to the park almost every day and see so much that I want to remember and look at more closely. I take pictures of things so far away that I only see the details through the magic of the zoom lens and tiny details that I see up close...
It is easy to anthropomorphize birds. I see attitudes and behaviors as a observe these feathered creatures and interpret what I observe through the lens of my own humanity. This isn't right or wrong, but simply an observation about myself. That said, it is fun to watch birds and notice myself imagining their feelings. I also acknowledge that what...
This year my mom had a beautiful pumpkin for Halloween. We decided to draw a face instead of carving a traditional jack-o-lantern, so it was still intact on November 11, a week and a half after the holiday. The pumpkin's hour had come! It went home with me to be cooked.
Going outside to explore the natural world helps me. Lately I have been thrilled to discover that I can also help in a small way by sharing what I see on the iNaturalist app. This app from National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences brings all the tiny observations made by an enormous number of curious people...
It is interesting to see how my bird watching habits have changed over the past few months. In the spring I went out to "see the ducks" as a respite from work on zoom. In the summer I decided to make time for bird watching, and was rewarded by big, spectacular birds that were easy to find and watch. Besides...
I am one of the lucky ones! In March 2020 when we all had to suddenly work from home, I discovered how important it is to go outside and walk around each day. This has developed into a routine of walking or "going out to see the ducks" at least twice a day, rain or shine. It is just...