So true. When I was thirteen, I was bitten by my pet Tarantula, which was milder than a bee sting. The spider had a worse time, spending years in a glass box. I wouldn't discourage kids from catching bugs and lizards and such; it brings them closer to nature, but it always ends up teaching some serious lessons about life, death, freedom, etc. Maybe that's what "close to nature" means. Now I just spy on other life forms. I did help rescue a misguided warbler that got into the office building recently, but by and large we just see each other in passing. Then again, there's this (it's the sneakers that get me).
What warbler? In one eyeshot today
two Goldfinches, one Rosy Finch & a
Pine Siskin at the feeder with a pair
of Mountain Bluebirds busy at the box
all leery of some young magpies
buzzing Sister my mutt collie when Kris
pointed out a pair of Sandhill Cranes
way up & out there headed north.No
Warblers though. Where are they now
the warblers of my youth? That a man
could be so sad knowing he will never hear
those songs again. I mean we're talking
a serious sap for birds here.
It was a male Common Yellowthroat. Must have entered through an open door, then ended up flitting against the top level of a two story wall of windows, where I saw it and called the building management. Since it's a migratory songbird, and thus protected by US law and international treaty, you'd think the federal bldg staff would get on it, but their circus operation took a good three hours to get it down. They were using a platform riser, which hadn't been properly charged up, and got stuck halfway between bird and floor. Finally a ladder was summoned, and the passerine was eventually corralled. There was a nice young woman who had had some experience with distressed birds, and we put it in a paper bag and walked it over to a park on the Hudson. It flew into a tree, without so much as a wit-tit-tee of thanks. The next day I saw scads of them in Central Park, but couldn't say that any one was "mine".
That's about a close as I come to keeping pets these days. If you come to NY in May you can hear and see plenty of Warblers. I had 28 this time around, though I didn't hear all of them sing. I learned a little more about the songs, but it's tough. Unless you really live it, and can travel to the right places, the window of opportunity is too short. You need to be immersed in the song, which is best done on the breeding grounds. Recordings just ain't the same. There's a bit of info mixed up in this old thread. I'm sure there's some warbler in your vicinity, and if you go north far enough you'll find lots of them breeding in Canadian forests. The best of the migration is in the east, though.
The migrants have passed through, but it's surprising how many birds you can find in the city, if you look. I'm following a pair of Kestrels that I see near my subway stop on the way to work each morning. They should be nesting, but I haven't seen any proof yet. No question once I get to work, where I can see into a House Finch nest full of chicks on a light fixture right outside my window. At lunch I walk over to another skyscraper with one of several Peregrine Falcon nests around town. They have the birds on a video monitor in the lobby, but it's always better to see them with your own eyes, which can be done from along the East River. Five fledglings are just about ready to start flying. And that's without even mentioning the Park.
Here's a Peregrine webcam, and lots of bird links from Barbolink.
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- alex 6-13-2001 6:20 pm
What warbler? In one eyeshot today
two Goldfinches, one Rosy Finch & a
Pine Siskin at the feeder with a pair
of Mountain Bluebirds busy at the box
all leery of some young magpies
buzzing Sister my mutt collie when Kris
pointed out a pair of Sandhill Cranes
way up & out there headed north.No
Warblers though. Where are they now
the warblers of my youth? That a man
could be so sad knowing he will never hear
those songs again. I mean we're talking
a serious sap for birds here.
- frank 6-15-2001 7:12 am [add a comment]
It was a male Common Yellowthroat. Must have entered through an open door, then ended up flitting against the top level of a two story wall of windows, where I saw it and called the building management. Since it's a migratory songbird, and thus protected by US law and international treaty, you'd think the federal bldg staff would get on it, but their circus operation took a good three hours to get it down. They were using a platform riser, which hadn't been properly charged up, and got stuck halfway between bird and floor. Finally a ladder was summoned, and the passerine was eventually corralled. There was a nice young woman who had had some experience with distressed birds, and we put it in a paper bag and walked it over to a park on the Hudson. It flew into a tree, without so much as a wit-tit-tee of thanks. The next day I saw scads of them in Central Park, but couldn't say that any one was "mine".
That's about a close as I come to keeping pets these days. If you come to NY in May you can hear and see plenty of Warblers. I had 28 this time around, though I didn't hear all of them sing. I learned a little more about the songs, but it's tough. Unless you really live it, and can travel to the right places, the window of opportunity is too short. You need to be immersed in the song, which is best done on the breeding grounds. Recordings just ain't the same. There's a bit of info mixed up in this old thread. I'm sure there's some warbler in your vicinity, and if you go north far enough you'll find lots of them breeding in Canadian forests. The best of the migration is in the east, though.
The migrants have passed through, but it's surprising how many birds you can find in the city, if you look. I'm following a pair of Kestrels that I see near my subway stop on the way to work each morning. They should be nesting, but I haven't seen any proof yet. No question once I get to work, where I can see into a House Finch nest full of chicks on a light fixture right outside my window. At lunch I walk over to another skyscraper with one of several Peregrine Falcon nests around town. They have the birds on a video monitor in the lobby, but it's always better to see them with your own eyes, which can be done from along the East River. Five fledglings are just about ready to start flying. And that's without even mentioning the Park.
Here's a Peregrine webcam, and lots of bird links from Barbolink.
- alex 6-15-2001 9:41 pm [add a comment]