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.

A Poem for April

A haiku, filmed and written on April 9 north of the Reservoir in Central Park. Inspired by Lee!

Blooms in the Bronx

The Orchid Show: Thailand at the New York Botanical Garden was stunning in the riot of color and variety of blooms. The orchids, cactuses, water plants and other blooms on display in the Haupt Conservatory this spring delighted the eyes and gave pleasure to all the other senses!

The Orchid Show: Thailand at the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York

I visited the show twice, on March 12 and March 29. The video is set to a string version of Léo Delibes's "Flower Duet" from Lakme, Robert Schumann's Blumenstück, Walter Niemann's Garden of Orchids, and Frédéric Chopin's Prelude No. 3, Op. 28. 

One of my friends has said that orchids aren't her favorite flowers because sometimes the resemblance to faces is a bit creepy. I don't necessarily share the creepiness view, but in looking at my photos, I do wonder why Underdog was in the middle of a flower in the Bronx!

Did Underdog visit the Orchid Show? One of the "faces" in the orchid blossoms.

I offer these photos from the show. This first grouping has many  of the blooms that took my breath away.

I was so taken by the jade vines in the aquatic room. The Strongylodon macrobotrys is so sensual that I couldn't stop taking photos.

Jade vine in the aquatic room at the NYBG.

Also very intriguing were the cactuses in the conservatory. I offer photos here.

In the cactus room at the conservatory.

The Orchid Show has now closed. But as I hope you will see on my New York Botanical Garden page, this Bronx treasure chest offers so many exciting sights worth many visits. Right now you can see two great horned owlets and at least the mama owl when you first enter, and soon there should be some red-tailed hawk fledglings. Wood ducks have been known to breed there. And during the Christmas season, you can see the train show.

Yes, I Know the Yankees Home Opener Is Today

Some might wonder from the headline of this blog posting if I intended to write about the Yankees, who have their home opener today. For the first time in a decade, I won't be sitting in my seat at the stadium in the Bronx. I gave up my season tickets. As long as the Yankees think it is acceptable to hire a closing pitcher who was suspended for abusing a woman, I won't be giving the team very much of my money. And since the team now allows electronic resale of season tickets only through StubHub, which still hasn't paid me for a ticket I sold in August, I see no reason to buy season tickets in any number. Yes, I think some of the young players will be very exciting to watch this year, and I probably will be going to some of the games on the senior days. But without Andrew Miller, I don't see much reason to stay through a whole game.