Sunday bird blogging

There were several great blue herons sharing the Pond in Central Park with Mandy the Duck and his friends, giving the frostbitten photographers something to focus on while we waited for the damn duck. (I kid, of course. I love that duck.)

Speaking of Mandy, he made The New Yorker this week, showing up in the daily cartoon as the front-runner for a White House job. “He's an unorthodox choice for chief of staff, but his approval ratings are through the roof.”

Saturday reflections

The city at night, reflected in the glass wall of a hotel (plus a peek inside one of the windows.)

Urban poetry

A thin film of ice on the lake in Central Park. It's been so consistently cold that I'm surprised the lake isn't frozen solid by now

Celebrity bird blogging

This is Mandarin Patinkin, Mandy for short, a Mandarin duck who has taken up residence in Central Park. Mandarins are native to East Asia, and though they are occasionally seen in North America, those birds are always escapees from zoos or private aviaries. (Mandy has bands on his legs, so he's been in human captivity at some point.)

He first showed up in October, and has been mostly living in the pond across from the Plaza Hotel. He's been quite the media sensation, with crowds turning up every day and New York Magazine naming him New York's Most Eligible Bachelor. I missed all the news stories -- not surprising since I was not taking much notice of the outside world during October -- until this past weekend when I saw a clip on CNN, featuring a reporter attempting to lure him closer with a recording of Barry Manilow singing Mandy. (Mandy the duck quite sensibly swam away as fast as his little feet could paddle him.)

On Monday, I finally went to pay my respects and found that he was not in the mood for photo opportunities and was hiding in the rocks. Or so the half dozen photographers and various interested passersby waiting eagerly by the water told me. I waited for 15 minutes or so, then went to have lunch and thaw out in the food court at the Plaza.

I had better luck after lunch; someone was feeding the mallards and Mandy came out to see what was going on and get his fair share of the goodies. He was even more handsome in person, unlike many celebrities, and posed agreeably for his many fans. So now I can cross Go See Famous Duck off my life list and go back to sorting through my books.

Astronomy Tuesday

When this beautiful Hubble image turned up as today's choice on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site, I was very glad I hadn't already picked one to run this week. I am always fascinated by the deep space images with their galaxies stretching back into infinity, and this is an especially good one.

The subject galaxy, Arp 188, the Tadpole Galaxy, is spectacular as well. That long tail is probably the result of a long-ago quarrel with another galaxy.

Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing: Faus Márquez (AAE)

Sunday bird blogging

A song fox sparrow rooting through the leaves looking for a treat.

They're allegedly quite a common bird, but I seldom see them -- this guy was surrounded by house sparrows and white-throated sparrows so maybe I just don't always notice them.

Saturday reflections

I wasn't sure if I liked this one better in color or black and white, but I've decided to go with black and white because the yellow of that taxi is too much of a distraction otherwise.

Those buildings are reflected in the windshield and hood of a car parked on Lexington Avenue (you can see the top of the Chrysler Building peeking out at the bottom.) The cab is nicely framed in the driver's side window. 

Winter seems to have settled in early this year, but as long as it isn't too windy I don't mind temperatures in the 30's. I've been putting my Antarctica gear to good use, although sleeping in my wool long johns generates so much static electricity that I can see bright blue sparks when I turn over in bed at night. So they provide entertainment as well as warmth!

Urban poetry

I have no idea what the cables dangling from this apartment building are for, but they add some interesting detail to this wintry twilight.

Astronomy Tuesday

That little speck in the upper right is Jupiter's moon Io rising above the vast horizon of its parent planet. The Juno probe took this picture in October.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstad/Justin Cowart

Sunday bird blogging

I love the patterns of shadow and light on the path, and the fat bluejay in the middle of them.

Saturday reflections

Another in the car series, a headlight plus some lovely reflections around the corner on West 44th Street.

I've been dealing with the early winter weather by crawling into bed early every night with a book and a cup of hot chocolate. Until I am up to traveling the world again, there are far worse ways to spend my time.

Headlights, as promised

I love the way these two came out in black and white.