Ubiquitous Birds of Riverside Park

Broadway shows, high end shopping, fancy restaurants, and ubiquitous birds.

Last weekend, Anne and I went to New York City to visit her son, Gregory, who is interning this summer. Because he it is not cost-effective to stay on campus, Gregory's is spending the summer renting a room in a friend's  fraternity house across the street from Riverside Park. Each day when we would get together with him, Anne and I would wait to meet him in the park. While there, with time on my hands and an interest in the commonplace in my heart, I snapped some pictures of the American Tree Sparrows that populate Riverside Park in New York City.

This species of bird also happens to regularly visit our backyard feeders in Western New York, as well as nearly every the park and backyard in your neighborhood (assuming your in the Northern United States and Canada), too! Though according to the Cornell Ornithology website, American Tree Sparrows "rarely seen south of northern Canada in summer," these everyday birds seem to be unbelievably prevalent year round! Of course, their pervasive presence in parks and yards does not make them any less interesting to watch...

Roadie: 2013 NCAA Division III X-C Atlantic Regionals

The Mens' race started promptly at 12:30. (11/16/13)

Yesterday morning, my wife and I drove out to Mount Morris, New York, to watch the Oneonta State Red Dragons, among many others, run in the 2013 NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships are at Letchworth State Park. The weather could not have been more pleasant and the conditions better for a mid-November cross-country race. Hosted by nearby SUNY Geneseo, the course was well laid out and as an added bonus for the many spectators, there were quite a few sight lines from which to view the races from a variety of locations along both the 6 and 8k race routes.

It was an historic day for both SUNY Oneonta teams as each posted their best team finishes in school history. Led by senior, Danielle Kennedy (Stony Point/Albertus Magnus), the SUNY Oneonta women's cross country team took fifth place overall. The fifth place team finish puts the team in strong contention for an at-large berth for the NCAA championships next Saturday in Hanover, IN.

A suitably simple tribute to our nation prior to the day's races. (11/16/13)

Once again, watching both teams reminded me of how important individual effort toward a group goal is necessary to succeed at any level. Despite the misconception that cross-country is an "individuals sport," the Oneonta teams have continued to demonstrate the power of group effort--while watching the race play out one might never pick Oneonta to be near the top. But is seems that after each race concludes, with each young woman or man pushing themselves, at the end of the run--when the totals are tallied--the Red Dragons find themselves rising to the occasion.

As the athletes are lined up on the start line, family and friends await the gun. (11/16/13)

Coach Angelo gives the Women's team some parting advice before the race. (11/16/13)

The Women's team on its way to a school-best ever team finish! (11/16/13)

The Men's Red Dragons finished seventh overall as a team; two spots better than its ninth place finish in 2009, its previous best finish at the championships. Leading Oneonta today with a 39th place finish was junior Charles Remillard (Peru/Peru), who crossed the line in a time of 26:05 for the 8K event. Freshman David Busby (New Paltz/New Paltz) was Oneonta's fourth finisher today in 60th place with a time 26:22.

The calm just before the storm of foot-strikes and arm-swings! (11/16/13)

A school-best finish and a tremendous tribute to hard effort and team work! (11/16/13)

Source:
SUNY Oneonta Athletics

Roadie: Houston's Discovery Green

Discovery Green from the tenth floor of the Hilton-Americas Hotel. (8/3/13)

Following eight days in Mexico, my mother and I began our journey back to upstate New York with a three-day intentional layover in Houston, Texas. While in Houston we stayed at the beautiful Hilton-Americas Hotel in downtown. Directly across the street from the hotel was Discovery Green, a public urban park in the heart of downtown. During the time we were at the Hilton-Americas, i took advantage of my mornings to walk around the city, always beginning and ending my excursions at Discovery Green. The pictures below capture just a small part of the park's offerings, as one can see from the official park map.

The Donor Walls at the Avenida De Las Americas entrance. (8/4/13).

The Grace Event Lawn. (8/3/13)

Two cats enjoy the park; apparently downtown Houston has a "feral cat issue." (8/3/13)

Synchronicity of Color, or the “art boxes,” by Margot Sawyer. (8/4/13)

One of two pieces which together comprise Doug Hollis' The Listening Vessels, which can be found
in the Wortham Foundation Gardens.  (8/3/13)

The Grace Event Lawn as viewed from The Transier Bandstand. (8/3/13)

One of the many special gardens; note The Listening Vessels to the left. (8/4/13)

Perspective shot of  Monument Au Fantome, Monument to the Phantom or
imaginary city in French, by French sculptor Jean Dubuffet. (8/4/13)

The Transier Bandstand backs up to a wild flower garden bed. (8/4/13)



Kinder Lake. (8/4/13)

Close-up of water lilies on Kinder Lake. (8/4/13)

Kinder Lake. (8/4/13)



Kinder Lake with Jones Lawn to the left. (8/4/13)

The park and city at night. (8/4/13)

Roadie: Braddock Bay Park

Jack on the boardwalk at Braddock Bay Park. (7/3/13)

Wednesday morning, my son, Jack, and I went on a field trip to Braddock Bay Park. Located  on Lake Ontario in Greece, New York, the park is just 20 minutes from our Rochester home and about a 5 minute drive from my place of employ. Braddock Bay Park is most widely known locally as a great place for birding, and advertises itself as such, which is why we decided to make the short trek. I had read a number of articles about the park and was looking forward to seeing what we could see.



The Laura and Neil Moon Hawk Lookout. (7/3/13)

It was a very foggy morning on the marsh, but this dissipated even over the relatively short amount of time that we were there. Excited by the prospect of possibly seeing some raptors in action, we were disappointed to find only the most common small birds, all of whom were also visible from our backyard.

Close-up of identification chart at the Hawk Lookout. (7/3/13)

View from the lookout to the bay-line. (7/3/13)

The "head" of the trail leading to the boardwalk out into the marsh. (7/3/13)

The boardwalk. (7/3/13)

Further into the marsh on the boardwalk. (7/3/13)

While the board walk (and the park as a whole) is purported to provide excellent viewing of waterfowl nesting, resting and feeding habitats, there is one thing that the visitor needs to bring with them: patience. This was our first ride out here, and the very peaceful environs alone made the trip worthwhile, as did the opportunity to walk around with Jack. Though we both wish there had been more unique aviary interactions going on, we did come to the conclusion that this would be a wonderful place to return with the intent of spending time waiting for observable events in the natural world to unfold. "Things" are not likely to happen right in front of you but taking one's time with an observable eye would definitely create a more engaging experience here.

View from the boardwalk. (7/3/13)

Expensive bay-front property. (7/3/13)

It is important to remember that the primary wildlife objectives for this area are to maximize waterfowl production and provide prime feeding and resting areas for migratory waterfowl, not to provide thrilling wildlife engagements a la National Geographic television. The opportunity to watch in such a peaceful locale can be a thrilling respite from an otherwise hectic day, though.

Red-winged Black bird, Agelaius phoeniceus. (7/3/13)

One species of bird we did observe flitting around the marsh was a Red-winged Blackbird. Given the bold red coloring on the upper part of the wing, these little fellows were easy to spot and identify. Taking a clear picture from a distance was another matter, but we were fortunate to snap a few shots worth posting.

Taking flight. (7/3/13)

"Bright fog" is not quite the oxymoron one would think.(7/3/13)